VRA President to speak at Vacation Rental Managers Association

(News Item #0047, Published: 10/02/07, Author: William Victor May, VRIA.org)

The world's top Vacation Rental Managers will met in New Orleans October 13th through the 17th, 2007 to review the state of the industry and William May, President of the Vacation Rental Owners Association was one of the featured speakers.

May will address the growing complexity of marketing and reveal how his company Sunspot Resorts uses a centralized technology center to acquire & manage lodging inventory in unique locations previously thought to be too sparce or isolated to be managed efficiently - all while pursuing traditional goals of close owner relations, accelerated growth, refurbishing of aging units and diversion of hotel guests.

George Volsky a long time industry consultant said, "I was intrigued with Sunspots direction from the time I heard about it. Their approach is just so strong they have found a new and better path to building a national brand in vacation rentals."

"Much of what we do follows the ideas of all great lodging companies," said May, "We just off-load the tedious parts of the job - like accounting, 24-7 reservations, marketing, advertising, systems and adminstration to a central office where they can be undertaken more efficiently, completely and reliably.

Technology is the key, says Lynnette Gulsvig, Sunspot VP Operations, "None of this could have been done 10 years ago, maybe 5. We use programmers from Scottland, Romania and Pakistan for our back office software and multiple websites - all integrated." Internet phone systems and office web cams make even the most remote operator feel like they are in the next room.

"I don't see why we can't have operations in all U.S. States and some foreign countries within the next few years," observes May. "We are on the road right now enrolling operators."

Volsky, added "Sunspots is opening locations by partnering with very strong local managers. The staff love it because they get to focus on the owners, the homes and the guests, while Sunspots does the details."

May will also participate in an industry round table at the conference on the subject of how to turn obstacles into opportunities by building relationships with community leaders and anti-rental activities to overcome potential restrictions.

The event is the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) annual five day conference to be attended by over 1,000 industry insiders, vendors and consultants. Learn more about Sunspots at (Sunspots.info)Sunspots.info and VRMA at (VRMA.org)VRMA.org.

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