Vacation Rental Glossary

  • ADR - Average Daily Rate (ADR) is the calculated average nightly rate for a property or group of properties. This rate is calculated by dividing the total rental revenue by the total nights sold.
  • ARI - Availability, Rates & Inventory (ARI) is the minimum data set required to be synchronized between a VRM and a distribution channel to enable online booking.
  • Available Occupancy - Available Occupancy calculates the percentage of guest nights out of the total nights available for guests to book. Because owner reservations and hold nights typically take up some of the nights, Available Occupancy is a more accurate representation of the nights available for you to fill with guests.
  • ALOS - Average Length of Stay (ALOS) is calculated by dividing the total number of nights by the number of stays in a property or group of properties during a specified time period.
  • Cabin - A cabin is a type of rustic, small, and often secluded house that tends to be located in a scenic or natural setting such as a forest or lake, designed to provide a comfortable retreat for vacationers who want to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
  • Channel Fee - The channel fee is a fee charged to the guest by an online travel agency (OTA) or a booking platform for listing a property on their website and providing the property owner with exposure to potential renters.
  • Channel Manager - Channel managers are tools that allow property managers to manage their listings on multiple OTAs from a single dashboard. They are the middleman that provides a connection between a VRM and third-party distribution channels.
  • Complex - A vacation rental complex typically refers to a property or group of properties that are owned or managed by a single entity, such as a Home Owners Association (HOA), and are rented out to travelers or vacationers.
  • Condominium - A condominium, often shortened to condo, is a type of real estate property where each unit is individually owned but is part of a larger complex with shared common areas and amenities.
  • Condo-Hotel - A condo-hotel consists of individually-owned condo units within a larger hotel complex, often rented out to guests. The hotel management takes care of the rental process and provides hotel services to guests, such as housekeeping, room service, and concierge.
  • Destination Vacation - A destination vacation is a type of vacation where tourists visit a location, typically for its inherent, natural, or cultural beauty. The attraction to this location creates a desire to visit for an extended period of time.
  • Digital Nomad - A digital nomad is a traveler who performs their occupation entirely online while traveling.
  • Direct Booking - Direct bookings happen when customers book directly through the vacation rental property manager instead of a third-party channel or on listing sites like Monthly Rentals by Owner that connect guests directly to the property manager, allowing you to continue to book directly with them and avoid paying service fees.
  • Dynamic Pricing - Dynamic pricing is a customer billing mode where the price for a product frequently rotates based on market demand, growth, and vacation rental trends.
  • Estate - An estate refers to a large piece of property that is individually owned and often includes a variety of structures, such as a main house, guest houses, barns, and other buildings as well as gardens, parks, and other landscaped areas.
  • Gross Booking Revenue (GBR) - Gross Booking Revenue (GBR) is the total revenue the vacation rental property manager collects, including guest fees.
  • Guest Fee - Guest fees are typically one-time fees and can be a flat rate or a percentage of the total booking amount. They are used to cover additional costs associated with the rental, such as cleaning fees or maintenance fees.
  • KPIs - Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are business metrics used to evaluate factors important to the success of an organization. Examples of KPIs in the vacation rental industry are ADR and Occupancy Rate.
  • Length of Stay - Length of stay in vacation rentals refers to the amount of time that a guest stays in a vacation rental property.
  • Listing - A listing is the online advertisement of a vacation rental property. It includes photos, descriptions, and amenities, and it is the primary way that guests find and book vacation rentals.
  • Long-term Rental - A long-term rental refers to a type of vacation rental that is booked for an extended period of time, typically several months to a year or more.
  • Managed Distribution - This is a service that helps vacation rental property managers to optimize online distribution. This includes channel managers and service providers like accounting, revenue and management tools, and transaction processing.
  • Merchant Channel - A merchant channel is a distribution channel that charges the traveler's credit card. Examples of websites like these are Expedia and Priceline.
  • Merchant of Record - The merchant of record is the party that charges the traveler's credit card.
  • Mid-term Rental - A mid-term rental in the vacation rental industry refers to a type of vacation rental that is booked for a period of time that is longer than a typical vacation stay but shorter than a long-term rental. Typically, mid-term rentals are booked for a duration of 1-6 months.
  • Minimum Stay - A minimum stay refers to the minimum number of nights a property can be rented for. Some properties may have a minimum stay of one week while others allow shorter stays of just a few nights.
  • Monthly Vacation Rental - A monthly vacation rental is a type of vacation rental that is booked for a duration of one month or longer.
  • Occupancy - Occupancy refers to the number of people who can comfortably stay in a rental property. Property managers will often list the maximum occupancy for a property, and guests are expected to adhere to these limits.
  • Occupancy Rate - Occupancy Rate is the percentage of all rental units occupied or rented at a given time.
  • Off-Season - Off-Season is the low season, usually during the winter months in colder destinations or during the rainy season in tropical destinations. During this time, demand for vacation rentals is typically lower, and prices may be at their lowest.
  • Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) - An OTA is an online travel agency for online distribution, generating more exposure for your vacation rental properties.
  • Open Nights - In the vacation rental industry, open nights remain open for guest stays that are not otherwise already booked by guests or owners or blocked for any particular reason.
  • Peak Season - During peak season, vacation rentals can be in high demand, and prices can be significantly higher than during other times of the year. This is also the time when many families take their vacations, and the most popular destinations can be very crowded, resulting in the highest number of profits.
  • Property - A property refers to a vacation unit or home of any type.
  • Property Group - Typically used by revenue managers or channel managers, a property group is a group of similar properties in a vacation rental manager’s inventory that are priced together.
  • Revenue Management - Revenue management is defined as the application of disciplined analytics that predicts consumer behavior at the micro-market level and optimizes product availability and price to maximize revenue growth.
  • RevPAR - RevPAR is a performance metric in the hotel industry that is calculated by multiplying a hotel's ADR by its occupancy rate.
  • ROI - Return On Investment (ROI) is the return on an investment divided by the cost of the investment, and the result is a percentage.
  • Short-term Rental - Vacation rentals are typically properties that are rented out for the purpose of providing travelers with a place to stay. On the other hand, short-term rental is a broader category that encompasses any type of property that is rented for a short period of time.
  • Shoulder Season - The period between peak and off-season when demand for vacation rentals is lower is known as the shoulder season. This usually falls just before and after the peak season, outside of major holidays and school breaks.
  • System of Record - A system of record (SOR) is an information storage and retrieval system that is the source for a particular data element in a system containing multiple sources of the same element. For example, there can only be one system of record for one piece of information, typically a vacation rental property manager's PMS.
  • Third-Party Distribution - Third-Party Distribution Channels are external channels such as OTAs, including Vrbo and Airbnb.
  • Traveler Fee - Charged on websites like Vrbo, Airbnb, and TripAdvisor, these service fees are charged to the guest directly by the OTA for using their website, raising the total cost above the total from the vacation rental owner or property manager.
  • Urban Market Vacation - The urban market vacation is similar to a destination vacation, but it takes place in each country's large cities or urban areas.
  • Vacation Home - A vacation home is a general term used to define any vacation rental property that exits as a standalone property.
  • Villa - Villas are a type of large, luxurious house that can vary in size, but are generally spacious and offer a range of high-end amenities and features. They are designed for comfort and relaxation with an emphasis on indoor-outdoor living and natural surroundings.

For a more in-depth glossary of vacation rental terms, see VRM Intel's Revenue Management Glossary for Vacation Rentals.