A website for travel claims that violate the European Union’s Passenger Bill of Rights is http://www.euclaim.co.uk/. These claims may arise for several reasons including flight delays, cancelled flights and getting involuntarily sacked from a flight programme. The website boasts 1,200 successful claims for individuals. Be sure and carefully read the awards criteria before you file any claims.

Orlando villa rentals are an excellent alternative for European travelers. Most of our area Floridian style villa rentals have full amenities like individual pools, self-catering kitchens and washing machines. Our vacation villa consumer blog reviews most of the home subdivisions in the area so you can spot the best values, and make a great decision. We profile each of the communities based on extensive criteria. We do the research for you to give you peace of mind for your Orlando vacation.

There really is credence to the fact that vacation home communities are in fact brands. This is simply a new paradigm for the general public, and for the travel and tourism blogosphere.

I’ll give you a personal example that occurred late last week which exemplifies the power of brands.

I traveled to several communities, made some notes for our blog, and then did tours of several rental houses. Although my observations are not empirical, I was shocked to see the high occupancy in Windsor Hills Review and Emerald Island Review versus many of the other vacation home communities.

This trend was especially noticeable as you moved down the quality spectrum. The lower rated communities, referencing our quality reviews, appeared to be relatively slow.

There are powerful Orlando area vacation home community brands at work that drive rate and occupancy and are derived from reputation branding and referrals. This also confirms an earlier post on Orlando villa comparison rates for rental homes regarding the impact of quality on rental rates.

For some reason, the vacation rental business became commoditized. In other words, vacation rentals have been marketed as short term rentals on the Internet with no differentiators for quality other than mostly size of home and time of year. Contrast this with the marketing of real estate which does just the opposite. Location of the homes and perceived quality of the neighborhood (as reflected in a per square foot sales price) often drive home pricing.

Our core belief for this site, and on our home page, is that all vacation home communities are NOT created equal.

Visit our website for independent reviews on over eighty vacation home community brands along with travel and tourism news of interest to Orlando visitors.

There are lots of brands to choose from in the Orlando area!

Orlando Vacation Home Brands

1. Know Your Customer – These times demand changing tactics. As we have indicated on another blog post, international travel may make up a smaller percentage of your overall occupancy than they did in 2008. However, as we write this, the tourism and travel market is very dynamic and always stay attuned to your customers. Always segment your customer base to better understand their tastes and preferences.
2. Emphasize Family Values – Don’t stray from the competitive advantages that vacation homes have over other traditional means of lodging. These include, but are not limited to privacy, value, and quality. A sacrifice in any of these core values will impact your core business significantly. Moreover, referral marketing based on past rental experience is a low cost way to generate value as well.
3. Flexible Pricing Strategies – As we have indicated on other posts(1), the general travel market is quite uncertain moving into 2009. Price cuts may need to be on the table for a temporary promotion to boost the bottom line. However, clearly establishing and communicating a strong value proposition for your rental home should always be the primary and first driver of any strategy.
4. Maintain Marketing Spending – Although difficult to do, it is not advisable to cut marketing spending during a business downturn. It is also not the time to pull support from vacation home management companies who may be able to garner high visibility on the internet which is often the lifeline for Orlando vacation home rentals.

There is possibly no better time for prospective vacationers to visit Orlando than in the coming year. Promotions for area theme parks and attractions abound. As we have established on several other posts(2), there is also no better value for Orlando lodging than renting area vacation homes. As always, do your own due diligence using the appropriate independent professionals when making a decision of any kind.