I think it makes a ton of sense as vacation rental managers and travel agents need each other. For non-hotel vacation lodging options to take off, trusted 3rd party sources such as travel writers and travel agents can be a great help in “validating” vacation homes as a great option for travelers. Conversely, travel agents have gotten squeezed by the Expedias of the world and need products to sell that show their know-how that can’t be easily replicated by a general purpose online travel site. It’s all about building confidence in the travel consumer so they try a vacation home for the first time. Once they experience it, the data I saw in one of the sessions validated what most of us know — when people experience a vacation home, they are very satisfied.

If you are interested in sharing the powerpoint I gave during the keynote on “How Vacation & Villa Managers get their Fair Share”, I’m happy to have you post or excerpt from it. It touches on some themes you’ve discussed here as well as a few other ideas. Just drop me a note. I had a lot of people ask for a copy after the session.

Finally a tip of the hat to Rick Fisher and Paul Muir for taking on the financial risk to put on this event at a time when the economy is tightening. It’s something the industry really needs IMHO.