I last spoke with today’s guest a year ago and we discussed his passion for the vacation rental industry and the background to his fledgling community organization, the American Vacation Rental Owners Association. At that time, Rod was working on yet another iteration of his website, and although he had a lot of motivation to make it work, there seemed to be a lot of obstacles in the way, notably getting the technical side running smoothly.

Fast forward a year, and with help from some highly respected industry experts, the newly minted Association of Vacation Rental Operators and Affiliates has been launched.

Tweet: #AVROA @Cottageguru @RodFitts talk new direction, benefits to #VacationRental operators http://ctt.ec/uKEcU+ pic.twitter.com/VsAbjh6edq

Founder and Chairman of AVROA, Rod Fitts, joined me in this episode to bring us up to date on the changes; to talk about the work that went into the re-launch and to share his thoughts on its contribution to the vacation rental industry.

Membership of AVROA is inexpensive so I would encourage all owners and managers to look at the website and consider joining. Rod encourages owner groups to form and create community websites where they can harness the power of numbers, access discounts on services and share enquiries.

We discussed

• Why a global trade association for owners and managers was so necessary
• The 6-month journey to the name change and re-branding
• How the concept of ‘chapters’ brings independence to owners and property managers
• Low-cost community websites where owners can share enquiries and services
• The key people who made it all possible
• AVROA Certification and how to get it
• Membership features
• The LinkedIn group

Links Discussed:

AVROA
Rentivo

Where you can find Rod:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Google+