Advertising and Rental Program
Home Page : http://www.floridasunshine.com
USA Tel: 407 932 3683 (9 AM to 5 PM)
UK Tel:   0871 7115371 (2 GM to 10 GM)
Fax:  407 870 2060
Toll Free: 800 621 7888 (USA & Canada)

Dear Home Owners;

This year and beyond:
The big question for this year  is: Where is the market going?  Due to recent events of September 11, 2001, and more recently the 2005 and 2006 hurricanes we are looking at a very uncertain market.  The competition is fierce and many clients are nervous to travel. We took charge of that situation in 2006 and were sold out for the holidays. Therefore, we as a Company took steps to secure the best possible clients and still support our Tour Operators during these difficult times.  If industry experts are right, then there will still be over 51 million people visiting Orlando this year. One other change is that  in the year 2000 there were an estimated 12,000 vacation homes in Central Florida. Today there are over 26,000 spread between the four counties with many thousand more poised to be built. Orlando ( Orange County ) resisted vacation homes since the early 1990's but that has recently changed. An estimated  10,000 vacation homes will be developed  near International Drive over the next decade. What we as a company must do is find the most cost-effective ways to promote your villas.  As in the last four  years, we need to expand our Internet program and spend even more on direct advertising through major magazines across  North America and the United Kingdom.  We are also one of the very few companies with an American Automobile Association 3 Diamond rating in the Orlando market. That is the highest level they offer for self catering accommodations. That rating alone costs almost $ 10,000 per year. This  costs a lot of money but we feel it is well worth it.  The first step is the Internet. We need to make sure our website is larger each year.  We are currently  the largest vacation website in Florida. Making sure clients find that site and / or telephoning us will be the result of Magazine Advertising is a formidable task.

• Does the Internet work in generating reservations?
  Let us point out that when we started in 1994, there were an estimated 2 million people using the Internet.  Today, surveys indicate close to 165 million people use the Internet on a daily basis.  Studies indicate 65% of the users are ages 15 - 30 and 45 years and older. These are two of  the ideal target markets.  Studies also show that over 70% of all people on line research travel  on a regular basis. More than any other Internet category out of the millions of available websites.
   

• Do British, Irish and European  families use the Internet? How about Americans and Canadians ?
  In 1998  we would say no.  Today we generate daily reservations from the UK then any other market  finding us on-line.  Per capita more residents of the United Kingdom use the internet then do Americans.  British families are, for the most part,  more educated about Orlando and America in general. The Irish market is exploding as that nation connects to the internet at record levels. Europeans in general find Florida to be a complicated market  and currently are prone to multi-destinations in America as opposed to settling in one location only. Informed clients typically will pay more to know where their accommodation is and what it looks like beforehand. Why do we focus on the  British market ? In Central Florida they represent over half of the consumers who rent vacation homes even though the also represent less then 15 % of the Florida travel market. They also own over half of the vacation homes. Simply put, North Americans prefer hotels and condo's over vacation homes although we must admit that is slowly changing. Canada: for the last thirty years the Canadian dollar suffered badly against the USA dollar. This year the Canadian dollar has reached record levels and that market is exploding for Florida. That being said, Canadians view Florida as a 5 to 7 night market while overseas visitors will stay on average 10 to 14 nights. USA residents view Orlando to be a 3 to 5 night destination.
   

• What must you do to get involved?
  If you are interested, contact Bob Hill or myself. Read the current offering.  Mail or Fax it back to us. If you have your own private website you already know this is not enough. Already we have 250 villas listed on our site and we can’t keep up with the requests on many of these homes during certain times of the year.   This year will probably be the most complicated year in the history of marketing Central Florida.  Our offering is Low-Cost and will generate results. Will you be the next to benefit? 
   

• Will we place reservations in homes that do not participate in our rental program?
  The simple answer is not too often if at all. Owners who have their own advertising program may only need  our property management services. We do manage several homes  of owners who handle all their own reservations. Those that participate in the program  benefit from specific leads directed at their home. In the event that we have general requests from travel agents we will place them in participating homes first.  As well the Alexander's reservations staff will  always suggest to clients villas that participate in our advertising program over those that are not involved. Ultimately, those that participate benefit from a variety of reservation sources. Participation in voluntary and as mentioned is not part of the property management process.

• How is your home defined in our rental program ?
  We get this question all the time. Simply put, location is not enough. A well equipped home generates more rental income    then one that has the basic amenities. Before we decide to manage you home an inspection must be made and we  can then discuss whether your home fits within our Executive, Luxury or Value priced rental program. We can tell you Executive homes generate the fewest number of requests and lowest occupancy rates. In the end, you own the villa and must decide how you want your villa priced. Our staff of trained professionals will be happy to meet with you and discuss our rental program in detail.

Thank you from Florida

The rental program is included in your management package and therefore becomes part of your responsibilities should we manage your villa. There will be a signed contract required before we place you in our rental program. As mentioned this is optional as you may have your own marketing program.

EMAIL  us for details how to participate in our Rental Program

Bob Hill                        bobhill@kua.net