Economy Posed to Motivate Second Homes Owners to Rent Their Vacation Homes More Frequently According to PhocusWright

Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:02am EST REUTERS

BOSTON, MA, Jan 15 (MARKETWIRE) --

With the vacation rental marketestimated at $24B, the growing and

popular lodging sectormotivated PhocusWright -- a leading travel

research firm -- to conduct theindustry's first ever dedicated market

study. Co-sponsored by 14industry players including FlipKey.com -- a

leading vacation rental sitefeaturing the industry's largest collection

of verified guest reviews --the study estimates 1.26M second homes are

available for rent in the U.S.for families looking for an alternative to

hotels and other lodgingoptions.

    The study identified that 56% of thevacation rental market is represented

by rent-by-owners with theremaining 44% of vacation rental homes managed

by professional propertymanagers. Encouraging for the growth of the

industry, the study highlights50% of rent-by-owners are casual renters,

offering their units primarilyto friends, family and through

word-of-mouth. As the economycontinues to place additional financial

burdens on second homes owners,FlipKey expects more of these casual

renters to become increasinglyactive, working independently or through a

property manager to offer theirhome more frequently and to travelers

beyond family and friends.

    "Although there are 1.26M vacationhomes that have been rented, it doesn't

mean they were made availableto the general traveler," stated TJ Mahony,

CEO of FlipKey.com. "Whenwe pealed back the layers of the study we

estimated there are 350K casualrenters that don't necessarily make their

home available beyond theirimmediate friend and family network. It's

reasonable to assume thecurrent economic environment will help motivate

many casual vacation rentalowners to become more active."

    FlipKey defined an 'active' renter as anowner that markets their home to

travelers beyond their familyand friends network. Mahony summarized, "If

an owner actively markets theirproperty online and rents their unit to

two or more people completelyoutside their personal network each year we

consider them active."

    When renting a vacation home its imperativevacationers feel comfortable

and confident in the home andmanager/owner of the property. Vacation

homes overseen by propertymanagers and active owners often provide strong

customer support, clearcheck-in / check-out processes and other support

services consumers value.Mahony concluded, "Given the economy and

growing support and marketingservices available, there is a clear

opportunity for more of thesecasual participants to become more active,

renting their homes more often,yielding increased rental income."

    About FlipKey

    FlipKey(TM) is a leading vacation rentalservice featuring the world's

largest collection of verifiedvacation rental guest reviews. FlipKey

believes reputation, trust andfeedback from past guests are the best

resources to ensure consumersfind the ideal vacation home. FlipKey

currently features more than60,000 vacation homes offering vacationers

the unique advantages of morepersonal space, superior amenities and ideal

locations throughout the UnitedStates, the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico.

FlipKey is majority owned byTripAdvisor, LLC, and is a member of the

TripAdvisor Media Network,attracting more than 32 million unique monthly

visitors* across 12 populartravel brands. FlipKey is available at

http://www.flipkey.com

    *Source: comScore Media Metrix, May 2008

    Copyright 2008 TripAdvisor LLC. All rightsreserved.