Affordable Travel, the catalyst in the rental of vacation homes in the Orlando Disney World area has grown by 113% in fiscal year 2007.
As of June 1, 2007, Trey Duling Executive Vice President of Affordable Travel stated that the number of homes represented by Orlandovacation.com and other affiliated sites has grown to 137 units.” In three years Affordable Travel has grown from only 26 homes in its inventory to last year 64 units and now to its present state of 137.
This is a very vibrant business and one that many Americans are discovering is the answer to their lodging needs. It use to be that 90% of all rentals came from visitors from the UK who had experienced vacation homes at resorts overseas.
Now Americans, from stockbrokers to top execs to assembly line workers have all found that one can rent an “executive” pool home complete with first-class furnishings located literally minutes from Disney World for the same price as they might pay for a four star hotel room.
Mildred Johnson, a recent guest of orlandovacation.com, from Des Moines said “we were looking to stay on Disney property for our most recent spring break. When we compared prices of a mid-range Disney hotel to that of a new three bedroom executive pool home, there was simply no question which way to turn. We have a teen age son and an eight year old daughter. With each child having their own room, it made our vacation much more stress free and enjoyable. It is difficult seeing us return to a cramped hotel if and when we visit Orlando again. Here we had it all including a large heated swimming pool and we were quite close to all the attractions.”
Seasonality plays a part in the rate equation. Rates go up and down based on high and low season. Trey Duling said “the best way to determine the seasons is for parents to look at schedules when their kids are out of school. There are about 13 weeks of high season per annum. The rates will be the highest over the summer vacation weeks, the Christmas Holiday period, and of course spring break. Prices during high season are usually up some 30% over the rest of the year due to peak demand. The lightest months and where rates are extremely reasonable can be found in early fall September through November.
Needing the ultimate in convenience, at http://www.orlandovacation.com a home rental client can avail himself of purchasing Disney and all other attraction tickets at wholesale prices. “We price the tickets at the rock bottom price, matter of fact we challenge our guests to find better pricing anywhere” said Joan Tardiff of orlandovacation.com. “Further, instead of having to stand in line, which could take up to 45 minutes at Disney, we pick up the tickets and have them for the guests when they pick up their keys.”
Where home sales have taken a nose dive in the central Florida real estate market, the opposite can be said for Orlando vacation home rentals especially those close to the attractions. “We are constantly amazed at the top quality, first-class homes we carry in our portfolio,” Trey said. And for this reason, our best marketing tool is our former clients as they tell their friends and relatives.
Based on our exit polls, Trey Duling said that of those guests that come to Disney once every three years and have experienced the luxury and “value” in renting a vacation pool home they have indicated a willingness to return to us to fill their lodging needs.
Vacation home rentals was discovered by the Brits and brought to the states. It is alive and very attractive in Orlando.
