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Outer Banks - Big Mama's

Survey Shows Increased Interest in Vacation Rentals, With 40 Percent of Travelers Planning a Rental Stay in 2011

TripAdvisor®, the world’s largest travel site, recently announced the results of its second annual vacation rentals survey of more than 1,400 U.S. travelers.

Thirty-three percent of travelers said they stayed in a vacation rental in 2010, and forty percent of respondents said they are planning a vacation rental stay in 2011, indicating that rental homes are poised for a busy 2011.

From Hank Hudepohl, director of vacation rentals at TripAdvisor: “With an increased interest in vacation rentals on TripAdvisor and a similar trend shown in our survey, it’s shaping up to be another strong year of growth for rentals. For travelers staying with larger groups in 2011, a vacation rental is a great option to consider for its home-like amenities and affordable pricing compared to hotels.”

Here are some of the results from the survey:

Summer is the busiest vacation rental season…
Summer projects to be the most popular season for vacation rental stays in 2011, with 52 percent of U.S. travelers planning a rental home stay during the warmer months. In addition, 47 percent of respondents are planning to stay in beachfront villas, making them the most popular vacation rental type for 2011. The most popular U.S. region for rental stays in 2011 is the Southeast (31 percent) according to the survey. This was followed by the Southwest and the Northwest, which came in second and third, respectively.

Best part of a vacation rental…
When asked what travelers liked the most about vacation rentals as a lodging option:

28 percent cited more space
23 percent of travelers enjoyed having access to a full kitchen
13 percent liked that rentals were often less expensive than hotels

In addition, 41 percent of respondents said vacation rentals were the best option for a trip when staying in a destination for a week or more, while 33 percent thought they were the best option when staying with a large group.

Booking early pays off…
Twenty-nine percent of travelers either always or often stay in the same rental year after year. Of the travelers who stayed in a vacation rental in the past:

22 percent booked their rental home more than six months prior to the trip
34 percent of travelers booked their rentals between three and six months out
22 percent booked between one and three months out
2 percent of travelers booked their vacation rental less than one month out

Vacation Rental vs. Hotel…
Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they would choose to stay in a vacation rental over a hotel if it were significantly less expensive. In addition, 80 percent of travelers would book a last minute vacation rental stay if they found a great deal.

Luxury vacation rental features…
If travelers had their pick of luxury vacation rental features:

51 percent would choose a rental home with a private beach
12 percent would choose a rental home with maid service
9 percent would choose a rental home with a hot tub
8 percent would choose a rental home with a personal chef

Vacation Rentals and life events…
According to the survey, 36 percent of travelers who have rented in the past have stayed in a vacation rental for a milestone life event, such as a wedding, birthday or reunion.

Know Before You Go…
When deciding between different rental properties, the key influences cited by respondents are:

Photos of the home (42 percent)
Traveler reviews (27 percent)
Cost of staying at the properties (13 percent)

Power of the internet and friends’ advice…
Most travelers find out about vacation rental properties on the Web, both on vacation rental property websites (70 percent) and online travel websites (55 percent). In addition, 25 percent of respondents find out about particular homes by word of mouth from friends and family.

The Outer Banks is the perfect beach vacation…a great combination of peaceful relaxation and fun local activities/attractions; gorgeous beaches, a wide variety of water sports, world-class fishing and surfing, great local art and shopping, delicious local food, history, nature, etc.

The OBX offers great vacation rental homes for all types of travelers; small beach bungalows to large beach front estates.

Please let us know if we can help you plan your next trip to the Outer Banks: www.OuterBanksVacations.com.

The Outer Banks Voice recently ran a story written by Willo Kelly, a representative of BlueGreen Outer Banks, that points out some great facts about recycling on the Outer Banks. Did you know you can get free crushed glass to use in landscaping?…freelicious! The list of facts is below, and at the end of the list is a link to a survey about recycling on the OBX…the survey takes less than five minutes.

Outer Banks recycling facts:

It is illegal to put aluminum cans, plastic water bottles/other plastic containers and oyster shells in North Carolina landfills.
Establishments that sell alcoholic beverages are mandated by state law to recycle all of their glass.
Dare County is the only North Carolina county that has its own glass crusher. The crushed glass can be picked up free and used for landscaping, driveway surfaces, etc. Look at the sparkling entrance to Jockey’s Ridge.
Out of 100 North Carolina counties, Dare County ranked No. 1 last year for per-capita recycling. This ranking is somewhat skewed because it is based on the weight of recyclables per year-round resident and does not count seasonal population numbers.
Recycling is the easiest way to reduce waste in our landfills. Considering the environment of the Outer Banks, you might wonder why recycling is not mandatory. The Towns of Duck and Southern Shores provide curbside recycling service. Other Dare County towns have recycling “centers” and have contracted with a vendor to provide curbside service to those who voluntarily pay for it.

There is still so much more we can do to increase and improve recycling on the Outer Banks and your help is needed. BlueGreen Outer Banks – Tomorrow Matters Inc. has worked with East Carolina University’s Center for Sustainable Tourism to develop a survey to find out what Outer Banks residents and visitors think about recycling.

The BlueGreen Recycling Survey – click here.