The August 2010 Trend Report was recently released by Instant Software.  As the season comes to an end, many vacation rental industry managers and marketing directors look at the previous summer to forecast and plan for the upcoming season.

Instant Software warns marketers to be careful to take in consideration the inventory that was lost on the market from the Gulf states affected by the oil spill may have inflated their numbers for this summer.  “Destinations that experienced growth during June, July and August should seriously evaluate whether this growth is a temporary redistribution of renters from the Gulf States.”

Many of the South East vacation rental areas saw growth in July in arrivals, however the same did not stay true for August, according to the report.

Other things the report recognizes in consideration to planning were:

• For destinations that were able to raise rents during the summer (or resist discounting offered in 2009), there is no evidence these rent increases will be sustainable going forward.
• Destinations that served new Gulf state guests will work hard to keep them.
• Gulf States that lost guests will work hard to bring them back next year.
• Price competition will be a virtual certainty next summer as the Gulf oil spill stops threatening beaches (bringing Gulf homes back into the national inventory) and as regions fight hard for the patronage of guests dislocated this summer by the Gulf oil spill.

To read more about Instant Software’s findings please visit their data available at http://www.instantsoftware.com/images/research/August2010trendreport.pdf