We have some exciting news to announce. The Society is now a member of the LuxuryRealEstate.com family. It’s great news for travelers, luxury home owners and property managers alike. The official announcement was made this afternoon (press release below).
SEATTLE, June 3, 2010 - LuxuryRealEstate.com, the most viewed luxury real estate website in the world announced today it has acquired The Society of Leisure Enthusiasts (”The Society”), an online marketing solutions company focused in the luxury vacation rental industry… READ FULL PRESS RELEASE.
In October, we introduced some wonderful success stories/highlights that our clients have reported since the launch of The Global Bundle. Around the world, homeowners, property managers, resorts, developers and fractional owners have found The Global Bundle to be the perfect solution for their online marketing efforts.
The testimonials keep coming in, and below is a recap of November and December including success stories and some select new properties we’ve added in the past two months.
Success Stories: Paradise Valley, AZ: This $10 million estate received its first qualified inquiry within 24 hours of listing. Little over a month later, Bramasole booked for an entire month for $30,000. On top of that, the owner was contacted via another Global Bundle inquiry for the home to be used as the site for the next “Go-Daddy” commercial starring Indy-Car celebrity and Go-Daddy spokeswoman, Danica Patrick. A nice $5,000 booking for a quick, 4-hour commercial shoot. See home here: http://thesociety.com/vacation+rental/23829
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico: Villa Las Palmas, a 13,000 square foot paradise, arguably one of the finest luxury villas in all of Cabo was brought to us for help in November. The home was still available for Christmas/New Year’s, and it was specifically urgent to get a qualified holiday booking. Within the 1st week on listing, Villa Las Palmas was booked for New Year’s, a $20,000+ booking. See home here: http://thesociety.com/vacation+rental/24009
Breckenridge, CO: This property located on Main Street was not seeing results from previous online marketing strategies. The home was listed through our Global Bundle back in mid August. To date (December 11th), this home has been booked for 59 nights through Global Bundle inquiries. See the home here: http://thesociety.com/vacation+rental/23906
Selected New Properties Added to The Global Bundle in October:
Let us help you drive qualified inquiries and bookings efficiently and cost-effectively. View more information and sign-up for more information on our Global Bundle at: http://thesociety.com/gb
When a reporter asked Jesse James “Why do you rob banks?” his answer in all its simplistic elegance was “Because that is where the money is.” When we at The Society have been asked “Why did The Society create The Global Bundle?”…
Our answer is more complex based on years of demographic research, statistical analysis, data mining, unique visitor data, response rates and cost-effectiveness for our clients participating in The Global Bundle. OK, the simplistic:
“Because this is where the pre-qualified eyeballs are looking and booking.”
We know our vacation home owners and property/estate managers are successful entrepreneurs and marketers in search of cost-effective marketing opportunities to promote their vacation rentals to a pre-qualified and pre-screened clientele.
While The Global Bundle may seem intimidating at first; we have heard the comments i.e.
So many portals, is it truly effective?
Do I have to load data to each portal?
How can I keep track?
The reality is, we at The Society have made the process as simple as possible allowing our clients to 1) attract qualified eyeballs to their inventory 2) track inquiries and portals used and 3) load data once and let our IT technicians handle the rest.
While The Global Bundle has been designed and facilitated for marketing to an highly educated and affluent clientele including storied names such as The Robb Report, WSJ Online, The DuPont Registry, Luxury Real Estate and others, we have designed the Bundle to cross-market to multiple demographic groups thus enhancing booking opportunities.
One client in particular had an interesting situation. He owns a vacation rental in a community where seasonal rentals are the norm i.e. summer. For a seasonal rental, this owner received multiple inquiries from The DuPont Registry, known for its affluent readership coupled with a younger demographic i.e. average age of 37.
Yet, in the off-season the home generated minimal interest. We suggested pitching the home on the weekly rental market i.e. Sat. to Sat. via Craigslist markets within a 3-hour drive distance. Our hunch was correct as “aspirationals” who may not have the disposable income for a seasonal rental could afford an “off-season” week and live the lifestyle once only envied. In addition, one “weekly” rental client is considering a “seasonal rental” as relayed by the client “I was able to try the house for a week; I enjoyed the home, the location and the on-site amenities. I plan to book the home for the 2010 summer”.
Since the launch of our new Global Bundle product just a few months ago, we have a wealth of success stories that we would like to share. Around the world homeowners, property managers, resorts, developers and fractional owners have found The Global Bundle to be the perfect solution for their online marketing efforts.
Below is a recap of October including success stories and some select new properties we’ve added in the past 30 days.
Success Stories: Beaver Creek, CO: Ski Safari home was booked within the first week of being listed through The Global Bundle. The booking was for over $10,000. Now that’s an ROI we like to see for our clients. Every booking from now one just adds more to the bottom line. See home here: http://thesociety.com/vacation+rental/23987
West Vail, CO: This “accessible luxury” condo had zero bookings through the first few weeks in The Global Bundle. Our account management team worked with the owner and adjusted the headlines and offered a reasonable discount for early bookings. The result: immediately saw 4x’s the inquiries, 3 of which ended up booking in October alone. See home here: http://thesociety.com/vacation+rental/23907
Ambergris Caye, Belize: Las Terrazas Resort booked the entire resort for a 40 person Wedding. 40 guests staying for 7 nights. The Global Bundle reaches travelers and large group planners. See the resort here: http://thesociety.com/vacation+rental/23844
East Hampton, NY: This unique Whale Rock home, which is up for sale, was put into The Global Bundle to earn rental income as it was on the market. Within the first couple of days of listing, this property was filled for Labor Day and 2 off-season bookings. See the home here: http://thesociety.com/vacation+rental/23668
Paradise Valley, AZ: This $10 million estate had very few inquiries for the previous months. It was placed into The Global Bundle to target affluent audiences and the owner reported a qualified inquiry within 24 hours of listing. See the home here: http://thesociety.com/vacation+rental/23829
Selected New Properties Added to The Global Bundle in October:
Let us help you drive qualified inquiries and bookings efficiently and cost-effectively. View more information and sign-up for more information on our Global Bundle at: http://thesociety.com/gb
How is your booking activity for the December holidays? At TheSociety.com we produce a weekly newsletter/blog which is blasted out to travel agents and client directs. We are always looking to promote our partners, their inventory and specials.
If you have availability coupled with incentives or specials, please let us know. We would like to include your property in our weekly Travel Agent/Client Direct publication. Please note, those clients who have chosen to affiliate with The Global Bundle will receive priority concerning enhanced marketing via our Newsletters.
Not a member of The Global Bundle, please contact-us! We can explain how our Global Bundle members have seen increased inquiries from pre-qualified clients leading to profitable bookings. We help make the phone ring and the e-mail buzz.
October 20th, 2009 (Seattle, WA) – LuxuryRealEstate.com today announced plans to launch a new portal for developers of the most sought-after communities in the world. Building on the success of the award-winning LuxuryRealEstate.com, the company plans to unveil the new section of the website in January 2010. Offering the most comprehensive collection of world-class developments using state-of-the-art search functions, the new portal will help developers drive traffic to their websites and inquiries to their sales teams.
“The new Luxury Communities Portal is poised to be the single most comprehensive source for consumers using the web seeking detailed, customized searches of the top new developments in the most desirable locations around the globe”, states CEO/Publish John Brian Losh.
The latest offering from LuxuryRealEstate.com was designed specifically with buyers in mind. You can now go to a single location to research every aspect of a community and initiate direct contact with the development team. Customizable searches with criteria the buyer sets forth are immediately populated and will provide buyers with a wide range of details about each community. Developers will have the ability to showcase each aspect of their project with video, mapping, blogs, an image gallery, inventory of all current listings complete with photos and direct links to representatives from each property.
LuxuryRealEstate.com, a 2009 Webby Award Honoree, has been voted ‘Best of the Web’ by Forbes magazine multiple times, praised by the International Herald Tribune, Town & Country, the Wall Street Journal and has been ranked ‘Best Website’ by consumers according to a survey by the Luxury Institute LLC. Since its debut in 1995, LuxuryRealEstate.com has remained the #1 portal for luxury properties on the internet, consistently driving more traffic to member websites and generating more qualified inquiries than any other website.
LuxuryRealEstate.com (also known in the industry as the Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate network) is a global collection of the finest luxury real estate brokers in the world. This group of more than 1500 brokerage firms and 100,000 professionals in more than 65 countries collectively sells in excess of $180 billion of real estate annually, with an average sale price of $2,650,000. Members sell homes for record prices and handle transactions of incredible complexity and magnitude with complete discretion. Every member is carefully selected by CEO/Publisher John Brian Losh, an entrepreneur and broker of fine properties and estates through his Seattle-based brokerage firm, Ewing & Clark, Inc. and one of REALTOR Magazine’s 25 Most Influential People in Real Estate.
Last week, The Society Co-Founder Michael McFadden and Account Executive Therese Lewis attended the 14th Annual Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference held at the exclusive Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch in the Vail Valley of Colorado.
Attendees of the conference, while concerned about the present challenges of the luxury real estate market, continued to express enthusiasm as luxury real estate is always in demand no matter the market conditions. For many, luxury is an aspiration, for those who have become accustomed to the deluxe lifestyle, downgrading is not an option.
While recent media reports may suggest the luxury market has “fallen off a cliff”, attendees suggested the media hype may be due to select high-profile properties not selling due to their inflated price based on conditions of the bull-market circa 2007. Properties from primary residences to vacation homes are selling when priced correctly for today’s market conditions.
Rental of luxury homes and estates continues to increase. For prospective buyers, the opportunity to “try before you buy” as become an attractive alternative to the hyper-inflated market of multiple contracts above asking price just a few years back. Buyers are able to take their time to assess their purchases in a pressure-free environment and in many instances, usually with a vacation home, to “rent before they purchase”.
For sellers, while the market has become more challenging, the luxury buyers are out there and are ready, willing and able. Many prospective buyers are sitting on the sidelines or using the present economic conditions to pick and choose the most appropriate luxury property for their needs and desires, both immediate and for the future. Sellers in the luxury arena while concerned about news reports also are aware the luxury buyer can be a “cash-buyer” and not beholden to the whims of mortgage brokers, suppliers and appraisers.
From the prospective of The Society, we see the overall luxury marketplace moving towards equilibrium. Markets which gain 20% on annum over 5 years is not a sustainable market. Corrections happen and lead to new opportunities for capital investment and appreciation. Many luxury homeowners are considering “vacation rental” as an option to provide cash-flow for their under-utilized vacation residences. Many of our newest Global Bundle affiliates are such owners. As one broker attendee mentioned in passing “Even Sir Richard Branson makes his Necker Island property available for vacation rental”.
The Society.com has commissioned several reports and articles to assist our property management firms, vacation homes owners, estate representatives and vacation rental partners to navigate through the challenges facing those in the hospitality, tourism and vacation home rental industries. The first of several publications is entitled “Salvage the Summer Rental Season and Beyond” and written by Joseph Sobin, CTC/CTIE.
INTRODUCTION
As we enter the prime vacation season of the year, all of us in the transient lodging industry are concerned about present and future bookings. The downturn in bookings and subsequent decrease in RevPAR (revenue per available room) has not been seen since the immediate months following the attacks of September 11, 2001. While the attacks of 9/11 sent a chill into the hospitality industry, the rebound was spectacular as business and leisure travel increased in line with the expanding economy. Hotels and resorts were generating record revenues. The sale of 95% of Four Seasons Hotels Inc, a management firm for $3.8 Billion to Bill Gates and Saudi Prince Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal was the symbolic crescendo of the marketplace.
The first signs of trouble for the hospitality industry started during the summer of 2008 with record high prices for commodities across the board from oil (fueling cars and planes) to corn (increasing the cost of basic food staples). Followed by the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the questionable fiscal health of large money-center banks, the world entered a deep recession, the worst since the worldwide depression of the 1930’s.
Yet, all hope is not lost. Hotels and resorts have been cutting room rates to attract business (both leisure and corporate). With commodity prices stabilizing and the belief the worst of the economic downturn is behind us, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. The following article looks at the changing zeitgeist of the vacation culture. A movement towards “last-minute bookings”, a renewed interest in travel to relax and enrich, the desire for quality time with family and friends, a shift in attitude from materialistic boasting to value orientation. Of particular interest, the growing popularity of vacation home rentals.
To download the entire 9 page report including 16 tips to salvage your summer rentals, submit your information below. Once you’ve submitted your information the page will refresh and a link to the pdf will appear where the form was.
When LuxuryRealEstate.com was founded in 1995, many pundits questions the “logic” of a website with such specific and discriminating standards allowing only the top 10% of property listings in any given market to have access to the site. Well, the pundits must be embarrassed as our Global Bundle partner, LuxuryRealEstate.com just secured their 1,000,000th listing, a stunning waterfront Belle Epoque villa in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, France along the Cote D’ Azur.
When TheSociety.com developed the Global Bundle, targeting the affluent demographic was paramount. LuxuryRealEstate.com was pursued as a partner entity for the Global Bundle as a leader in not only the high-end real estate marketplace but also at the forefront of technology, all focused on the luxury niche market which has been able to endue the present economic downturn with little effect on their travel, leisure and real estate spending habits.
What does this mean for affiliates of TheSociety.com acquiring access to The Global Bundle? The most tangible benefit is a listing on LuxuryRealEstate.com, the most-viewed luxury real estate specific website in the world. However, we at TheSociety.com would suggest considering peer entities who provide the listings and editorials for LuxuryRealEstate.com. The content is generated and continually updated by members of the Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate network which includes 1,500 of the world’s finest real estate companies and individuals with properties in over 100 countries. The following visitor statistics are sure to impress:
Daily Hits: 1,700,000+
25-54 Age Range: 82.5% of visitors
Traveled in the Prior Year: 91%
Plan to Travel in Next 12 months: 94.7%
Travel via Business/First Class/Private Air: 59.2%
What do the statistics above mean for a Global Bundle Partner? Many, affluent, educated, qualified viewers and word of mouth marketing all providing qualified leads to your posted content.
Are you looking to promote a specific vacation home property? Maybe offering specials including discounted rates or free nights? Do you need assistance in copywriting and distribution?
The Society is able to assist our clients with various marketing opportunities including but not limited to:
Copywriting for promotions, opportunities, brochure development, blogs.
Distribution to targeted audiences.
Special e-mail blasts to targeted market segments i.e. client-direct, travel agents, property managers, charitable organizations.
Press Releases and distribution
The above services are only offered to those affiliated with The Society. If you may be interested in discussing options to have your messaging reach a targeted audience ready, willing and able to book, please contact Mike McFadden at Mike@thesociety.com.
Press RSS feed.
When a reporter asked Jesse James “Why do you rob banks?” his answer in all its simplistic elegance was “Because that is where the money is.” When we at 
As we enter the prime vacation season of the year, all of us in the transient lodging industry are concerned about present and future bookings. The downturn in bookings and subsequent decrease in RevPAR (revenue per available room) has not been seen since the immediate months following the attacks of September 11, 2001. While the attacks of 9/11 sent a chill into the hospitality industry, the rebound was spectacular as business and leisure travel increased in line with the expanding economy. Hotels and resorts were generating record revenues. The sale of 95% of Four Seasons Hotels Inc, a management firm for $3.8 Billion to Bill Gates and Saudi Prince Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal was the symbolic crescendo of the marketplace.
