Part of our job as your property management company is to keep you informed and educated on changes in the vacation rental industry.

The vacation rental market is extremely competitive. Vacationers have lots of choices. As a property owner anxious to maximize your vacation rentals, you're competing with thousands of other owners, individual units and properties.

According to the Travel Industry Association of America, 40% of the U.S. adult population uses online resources to research and plan their vacation rental accommodations.

Travel review websites, where vacationers comment on their experience are on the rise. Additionally, widely popular social media outlets continue to grow at a rapid rate as their demographic expands. But few vacation rental owners have come to understand the far-reaching implications of this technology.

For those not familiar with it, Social Media is simply another form of communication that can take the form of a blog (Blogger), a social network (Facebook), a microblog (Twitter), and can include any number of online alternative vehicles such as YouTube (video).

The emergence of the smart-phone has powered the proliferation of social media even further with the convenience of anytime, anywhere connectivity.

Facebook.com is listed as the number one most visited website in the world.

Social media sites can be described as tools or platforms which allow anyone and everyone to share information or engage in conversation. It's a conversation in an instant with anyone, anywhere, anytime that gives control back to the individual & consumer in unprecedented ways.

Social media is the ability to put out a message and have a worldwide audience and receive responses via e-mail, text message, tweet, etc. in a matter of seconds. A negative tweet can be instantaneously multiplied into hundreds-of-thousands of views.

Youtube.com gets up to 2 billion viewers per day.

User-generated content (social media) has a strong influence on booking decisions. Before booking a stay, potential guests check online sources and use social media to get feedback from other guests on the conditions of accommodations.

All of these social media outlets can help a vacation rental property or unit thrive through positive travel reviews. On the flipside, negative reviews, especially those supported by photos and videos can hurt an individual rental unit or even an entire resort or community.

"Social media is one of the most powerful forces driving vacation planning today."

- Travel market research firm Phocus Wright

The click of a mouse is just as powerful, if not more so, than word of mouth. If your rental unit pales in comparison to others it will have a much harder time being rented.

Due to the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico, many vacationers are visiting Myrtle Beach for the very first time. Please keep in mind that even though it's peak season, furniture can still be delivered between check-ins. Flat-screen televisions can also be installed during this time.