A vacation rental is basically a well furnished house or apartment that is rented out on a short term to tourists and mostly acts as an alternative to hotels. Although similar to hotels in the sense that it can be rented just for a night, they are mostly used by tourists during holidays with many cases being for more than just a night stay. A good number is however run in a similar fashion to the hotels as they offer the same services like housekeeping and twenty four hour maintenance.

Vacation Rental

Villas are common in Europe whereas vacation rentals are mostly found in the United States. Although almost similar to a timeshare, it is important to note that the latter is a totally different asset owned by multiple partners and can only be used for rental purposes when the owner is not occupying the house. Holiday rentals on the hand must be available at all times to clients who are willing to rent the house at any given time.

All holiday rentals are booked in advance through the owner or an agency before being occupied and this some days, weeks or even months before ones’ vacation. Given the fact that every property owner has his or her rates when renting the houses to clients, many find it easier to deal with the owners rather than a third party. Online booking is also an option for vacation rentals that offer those services through their website. Vacation rentals that deal with agencies tend to be slightly costly because of the extra fee that is paid as commission to the agents. Tour operators are also another alternative in the marketing and booking of the vacation for short term rental as it is the case in the United Kingdom.

Apart from being popular and loved or rather preferred by many tourists, vacation rentals also face a number of threats in the market. Tourists’ concern is a major threat in the sense that some of the tourists have their fears when it comes to booking the rightful place with an order. Many for instance have the fear that the rentals not turn out to be what they expect as advised and therefore opt for hotels that they are sure of. Another worrying trend that tends to scare the clients is internet fraud whereby one may fall into a trap of a fake agent and end up losing his or her money in the process.