SPI Sees Opportunities In Growing Vacation Rental Industry
By R. Daniel Cavazos |
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Tom Goodman, the president of the Vacation Rental Managers Association of South Padre Island, urged conference attendees to work toward lifting professionalism of the industry. |
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The vacation rental industry is seeing rapid growth on South Padre Island and with it comes a range of issues requiring immediate attention.
Travelers nationally in the post-pandemic era are turning to vacation rentals as an alternative to more traditional public space lodging. The traveling shift is reflected in the fact that vacation rentals now collect and remit more than half of the hotel occupancy taxes generated on the Island. The Vacation Rental Managers Association of South Padre Island (VRMA-SPI) recently held a half-day conference to address issues associated with the growth.
The key issues the conference focused on are: - Elevating the professionalism of vacation rental management on South Padre Island.
- Working closely with local government to avoid overregulation of their industry.
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Making technological updates in systems dealing with reservation and property management systems.
- Be better informed on key metrics and data to more effectively compete against other Texas Gulf Coast destinations.
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Elevate Industry "We're no longer a mom-and-pop industry," said Tom Goodman, the president of the Island's VRMA-SPI. "It's become a different animal. We need to lift the professionalism of our industry so we're not stuck with the stigma of being party houses." |
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Analysts say many families are willing to pay more to enjoy privacy and lodging free of concerns about other visitors. |
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Goodman provided those insights in welcoming attendees at the Feb. 16 conference at the South Padre Island Convention Center. He said the association is working to provide a more unified voice for the local vacation rental industry. "We formed this association because we need to do more together," Goodman said.
The Island's vacation rental industry has surged since 2020, the height of COVID-19, with Goodman saying, "People saw the Island as a place to escape, (the pandemic)."
Lori Moore, the Operations and Service Manager for the SPI Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the tourism industry has taken note of the shift to vacation rental properties. She said they have become preferable for travelers who enjoy the privacy those properties provide, even if it can mean paying more for lodging. "Families can be at their own place with their own pool and not have to worry about their neighbors," said Moore, of the months following the worse of COVID-19. |
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Vacation property rentals at the Island have seen a surge in occupancy and revenues in the post-pandemic era. |
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Facing Competition The conference included a look at key metrics that revealed the Island's strengths and weaknesses as compared to its competitors.
Port Aransas is considered South Padre's chief Gulf Coast competitor in the vacation rental market. Carlos Casas, representing Predictive Data Labs, provided an array of information which showed SPI enjoys a far higher average occupancy rate than Port Aransas, but the latter has a better average daily rate. This means Port Aransas is generating more revenue per guest room than SPI. |
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"You guys have a better product than Port Aransas, but in ADR, you're considerably lower," Casas told the conference attendees.
The same goes for another metric know as RevPAR, which stands for revenue per available room. South Padre trails its competitors in that performance indicator as well, Casas said. The challenge for the local industry, he said, is steadily raising its ADR and RevPar averages without seeing a resulting hit to the Island's high occupancy rates for its rental properties.
Moore of the CVB highlighted effectively targeting key traveler segments which include the urban traveling family, the urban power couple, and the millennial aged demographic that is attracted to entertainment events. What remains in this mix is essential role Rio Grande Valley residents and families continue to play on the Island economy, Miller said. |
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She described RGV travelers as "our bread and butter who fill up our slow weekends" before moving on in her presentation to show the marketing the CVB is doing in the San Antonio, Austin and Houston markets to attract visitors from the other visitor demographic groups. Moore said the CVB is working on rebranding the Island's image away from external perceptions that it's spring break oriented to a destination that attracts diverse visitors from families to young professional couples with a strong interest in the environment.
"We need to do more and compete while not forgetting we have a tremendous destination here," said Goodman of the VRMA. |
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The Island enjoys higher occupancy rates than its Gulf Coast competitor cities, but trails in metrics measuring revenues generated per room. |
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