Endless Vacation Rentals: The Mass Market Moves UP

“As you are probably aware, RCI got its start in timeshare. We have been amazingly successful, to the tune of $24B in 2008 in the U.S. alone. A record year, actually,” said Jessica Kornacki, SVP of Endless Vacation Rentals, with over 200,000 properties worldwide – villas, condos, cottages and private homes, in over 100 countries.

“Our strong root system lies in timeshare and shared residences, and we have thousands of them, all over the world, all different kinds and varieties. Three years ago, RCI launched Endless Vacation Rentals where we, as always, focused on working with the mass market, but with EVR, we have noticed that many people are renting in the higher end. Not that we are renting the Palace of Versailles yet! But some of our properties are exceptional Italian and French Villas, luxury beach resorts on the Mayan Riviera and in Latin America. We also offer a great collection of United Kingdom luxury properties, from converted farmhouses to medieval castles, throughout England, Scotland and Wales.”

Endless Vacation Rentals is the direct-to-consumer vacation rental business of Group RCI, the world’s largest vacation exchange network and among the world’s largest global marketers of vacation rental properties. They serve more than 4 million vacationing families each year.

“We have never approached the fractional ownership or destination club universe,” continues Jessica, "but with EVR, anyone who wishes to compare cost to value, or is interested in the club concept and wishes to explore a part of the world that has been intriguing but usually considered too expensive, EVR may be a solution. The amenities list for EVR is not as expansive as the high end PRC or Destination Club, but it is also not as expensive, and the stays can go from one week to much longer. And the prices are reasonable.”

“How much things costs certainly depends on the destination and lengths of stay, but an Italian Villa can cost between $1000 and $1500 a week. Compare that with the $1000 to $3000 per day rates at other clubs. And further, we have no annual dues, and you pay for what you use, no long term contracts. It’s an old idea with a new audience: one that grows daily because it makes sense in this complex economy.

“We believe that the use of an independent vacation home is a major wave of the future, as well as having basic amenities: a 24 hour telephone concierge service, maid service, and if you need or want airport service, the concierge can arrange that, restaurants, chefs, just about anything. We also believe that one of the great new trends, one that will be with us for a very long time indeed, is one toward wiser vacation spending – conscious rather than conspicuous consumption, and EVR operationalizes that idea quite well.”