Leisure … more than a word, it's a lifestyle

Today marks the day when the Obama family vacation comes to an end.  The family spent its summer vacation last year at a vacation home on the Blue Heron Farm, in the sleepy enclave of Chilmark, and they enjoyed it so much that they returned this year.  All good things come to an end though and now it’s back to the White House after a relaxing 10 day stay on Martha’s Vineyard.

It’s been quite interesting to see how the media have covered the story of the President going on vacation. On one hand Obama has been catching so much grief from the common taxpayers for taking vacations that the White House is asking for these vacations to not be called vacations! And on the other hand we have the White House trying to defend his vacation time by comparing the time spent on vacation by George W. Bush. It’s comical.

The Obamas Martha’s Vineyard vacation includes a stay at Blue Heron Farm, a lavish $20 million, 28.5 acre compound in the town of Chilmark that rents for $50,000 a week. Chilmark, by the way, was named the most expensive small town in all America by Business Week back in 2007.

The Blue Heron Farm has a swimming pool, a small basketball court, horse paddocks, an apple orchard, and even a golf tee for the President to practice that sketchy swing of his. There are four homes to choose from which considering the secret service, aides, and guests sure to be invited, seems about perfect for the extravagant needs of the Obamas.

Blue Heron Farm also has private access to a stretch of Squibnocket Beach — which may keep those ‘Obama topless’, ‘Obama bodysurfing’, and ‘Michelle Obama shorts’ photos to a minimum.  Oh and a fun fact about Blue Heron Farm? This is strictly business. The owners, registered Republicans, contributed money to Fred Thompson’s and John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaigns!

One thing’s for sure though… the President clearly understands that vacation homes are the best way to enjoy a family vacation.

Is something sinister going on?

Yesterday I received a couple of requests from journalists asking if I was seeing any cancellations for bookings in our vacation homes because of the oil slick problem. Have to say I found the requests more than odd considering I’m based in Orlando and the chances of any oil penetrating Central Florida, other than through spills from old vehicles, seem next to none.

Is the media now scaremongering? Are they trying to kill businesses with yet another “scare” story that stops people from traveling and taking vacations? I don’t know what to make of it.

Further, having just journeyed back from a very pleasant weekend on the Gulf Coast I can testify that there’s no oil there either. In fact, all I saw was a lot of very happy people enjoying themselves and living life to the full.

Seems to me that despite some of the reports of impending gloom (most dating back to the start of May…and here we are on 25th May) the oil isn’t affecting the wonderful beaches and resort areas on the Gulf Coast of Florida and that folks should continue with their Memorial Day plans as normal.

I was in Dallas this weekend….I was trying to work out whether it was an immigration protest or a protest against staying in hotels…

Under pressure from Congress and space boosters from across the country, President Barack Obama  is visiting Kennedy Space Center today and in a huge about turn he is expected to announce  that he plans to revive part of the Constellation moon program, start a new heavy-rocket development project and create a $40 million initiative to help Kennedy Space Center  workers find jobs after the space shuttle is retired later this year.

Obama is scheduled to deliver remarks at KSC’s Operations and Checkout Building and afterwards, a conference of space experts will discuss how to make the new plan work.

Up to 9,000 KSC workers are set to lose their jobs when the shuttle era ends. But the White House says Obama’s plans for KSC — including nearly $2 billion for a five-year modernization program that had been previously announced — would add 2,500 jobs “as compared to the prior path” that included the Constellation moon-rocket program.

Earlier this year the President stated that he intended to cancel the Ares rockets, Orion crew capsule and Altair  lunar lander that made up the Constellation program that was slated to replace the space shuttle and return astronauts to the moon by 2020.

Obama’s plan ran into fierce opposition from members of Congress with NASA districts, even though Constellation was over budget and years behind schedule. They complained that Obama has not laid out details of when — or how — NASA would return to the business of exploring the cosmos.

Now, according to administration officials, Obama is expected to say that he plans to revive Constellation’s Orion capsule, reconfiguring it to fly aboard a commercial rocket to the space station, where it would serve as an emergency lifeboat for the six-member crew. That would mean as many as 400 jobs at Kennedy Space Center to assemble and integrate the Apollo-like spacecraft before flight.

We’ll see… looks and sounds to me that no-one really has a plan and that it’s all political pressure driving this as the economy is in a mess and it’s not going to look good throwing more people out of work. I read a sign yesterday that said “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money”… mmmmm.

Over the last few days I’ve been following an interesting article about Napa County changing a ban on vacation rentals. The full article by Dan Verel is here but the basic gist is that the Board of Supervisors in Napa County are seriously considering over turning the restrictions that exist on renting out vacation homes.

For me, I’ve never understood the people who want to do this. Seems crazy to me that property owners are prevented from a basic right of ownership and that is to rent out their property. Sure, I understand some of the people who are concerned about noise, trash and the comings and goings of transient vacationers but having been involved in this business for a long time the evidence just doesn’t stack up for banning vacation rentals.

Having being President of the local vacation property manager’s association (CFVRMA) not so long ago, I know only too well what our industry contributes to the local economy. For a start there’s thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly supporting the industry and then there’s the small matter of the tax dollars collected by the local government that far outweighs any other argument as far as I can see.

In Central Florida, vacation rentals are a $4.1 Billion business. In Polk county alone we contribute over half of the sales tax revenue and we surely can’t be far away from that in Osceola county where the number of rental units is similar. So that’s the monetary side…what about the environment and the “feelgood” factor.

Well, in addressing that, I have to say that most owners are absentee owners and that means they have to choose a professional property management company to look after their property. From the evidence I have seen all over Central Florida, vacation rental property is indeed far better looked after than residential property on the whole. A quick ride around the neighborhood will show that lawns are being kept in good condition, that houses are painted regularly and general maintenance is being attended to. Compare that with the average residential unit and it’s not uncommon to see long grass, awful looking homes and maintenance on the deferred list.

Sure, the chances of getting a bad neighbor are there but usually that neighbor is only there for a week or so and then they are gone. Now, what can you do about the bad neighbor who is a full time resident?

In Napa they are saying there are around 300 illegal vacation rentals currently in operation. Well, in Central Florida our number is nearer 20,000 and frankly, we contribute more to the economy than most people in high up positions like to acknowledge. Napa say that by legalizing these rentals that hotel tax revenue could increase by up to $1.45 million… go figure… I guess some folks need time to wake up and smell the coffee.

Vacation rentals are a win-win-win scenario. First of all the guests renting them win because they love staying in this type of property, second the homeowner wins because he can offset some of the running costs and over time have a decent investment and then thirdly, the local economy wins by the collection of taxes and spin offs for local business.

To me it’s crazy that bans like this are in place. All this does is cause ill feeling and ultimately it keeps property values down as you restrict the market to whom you can sell. It’s time to move out of the dark ages Napa. People who own vacation properties are not your enemy… they are the people trying to spur interest in your area and to bring people there to enjoy a great vacation.

Napa is a great place and one day I’d love to rent a home there so I can enjoy the great food and wine. In fact, I tell you what… any of you who still have any lingering doubts about vacation rentals…why not pop over to Orlando and see how we do it… it would be my pleasure to show you around.

Space shuttle Discovery with its crew of seven astronauts roared into orbit this morning. It was a wonderful site to see it arcing over the horizon just before sunrise as it started its journey to the International Space Station.

There are now just three launches left as the agency races to stock the space station with spares, supplies and scientific gear before the shuttle fleet is retired later this year.

On this journey, Discovery is carrying eight tons of cargo and science equipment for the station’s laboratories. The 13-day mission, dubbed the “Experiment Express,” has three planned spacewalks to to install a fresh ammonia tank assembly for the lab’s coolant system and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior.

Discovery is commanded by Navy Captain Alan Poindexter, the crew includes rookie pilot James Dutton, flight engineer Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson, Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki and veteran spacewalkers Richard Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson.

This is the last shuttle flight to have a crew of seven and this is the first time that four women will be in space at one time as Metcalf-Lindenburger, Wilson and Yamazaki join up with  NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson who is already onboard the station.

The main goal of Discovery on this trip is to deliver supplies that will keep the station operating long after shuttles have been sent to become museum attractions and while no-one quite knows what will happen once these supplies run out  I’m sure there’s a game plan…as I’ll reveal later.

During this mission the crew will be unpacking “Leonardo,” an Italian-made orbital moving van the size of a small bus. Also known as a Multi-Purpose Logistic Module, or MPLM, Leonardo is loaded with science experiments and precious cargo, including a new crew sleep station and a lab freezer.

Shuttle Discovery is pretty well loaded on this mission and evidence of that is the fact that it is estimated that it will take 100 man hours to unload into the ISS.

So while the astronauts are kept busy, the attention of many will likely to be on Kennedy Space Center as President Barack Obama  is scheduled to make a speech on April 15  in regard to his plans for spaceflight after the shuttles are retired.

Obama created something of a furor in the aerospace community in February when he proposed killing NASA’s Constellation program, which had been aimed at returning astronauts to the moon. The end of the shuttle program and the canceling of NASA’s planned replacement program means thousands of looming job losses at KSC and other NASA centers so we’ll all hold our breathe as the White House maintains that its plan to outsource crew and cargo flights to private space companies and replace Constellation with a rocket technology development program will put the agency on a more sustainable footing and will ultimately provide a more a diversified space sector that will lead to more aerospace jobs over the long term. Who are we to question them given everything that’s happened in the last 18 months?

The Winter White House this year is in Hawaii as President Obama takes his friends and family to a wonderful vacation home on the beach. The home costs $4,000 per night and has a wonderful beach and ocean views from almost all rooms.

The President has also rented two houses next door to house friends and other family members and it is believed the house he is actually staying in is on the market for $8.9 million.

The Obamas will spend 10 days on the island of Oahu, where the President grew up, and a favorite vacation spot of his over the years.

They will rent the same Kailua home they stayed in last year for the holidays during a brief vacation before moving to Washington and into the White House.

The Obamas’ rental property is 7,000 square feet of paradise on the southeastern coast of the island, complete with large open spaces built around a lagoon pool.

Looks like a wonderful home and the Obamas have made a great choice. It’s not just President’s that can rent vacation homes though and if you’re coming to Orlando you need to check out the vacation homes that are available close to Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld from Florida Leisure Vacation Homes.

Just recently I had a comment on a blog post of mine that demanded I be a little more honest with my readers. Here was the comment :

Hotel Manager
askmeDave@gmail.com

Hello,

What is the current occupancy for vacation homes? The reason occ is up is because the aggregate occ numbers for homes are almost nil to begin with. Be a little more honest with your readers…

Well the only thing I can do to reply to that is quote some facts and figures to back up my case isn’t it?

So the aggregate occupancy numbers for homes is almost nil to begin with is it? That’s obviously a statement from someone who feels threatened by the vacation rental industry in the Orlando area and by someone who clearly doesn’t know the numbers involved.

Studies commissioned by Central Florida Vacation Rental Managers Association, Kissimmee CVB, Polk County CVB show that the economic impact of the vacation rental business in just two counties, Osceola and Polk county show that the combined economic impact is approximately $3.3 BILLION. That would be clue number one that occupancy in vacation rentals is and has never been “nil to begin with”.

If we then go a stage further and take a look at the actual sales tax collected by Joe Tedder, the Polk County Tax Collector in 2009, then we’ll see a number of 62.6% being collected due to the vacation rental business as opposed to 33.7% by the hotel/motel industry.  That’s clue number two.

Clue number three is to compare those percentages with last years numbers and we’ll actually see that hotels actually increased their number marginally from 33.4% to 33.7% whereas vacation rentals went from 61.4% to 62.6%.

I’d say that my original post from 27th October was pretty much on the money and in no way misled my readers. What do you think?

Visiting Orlando this week was the Peter and Tamara Lowe event “Get Motivated“. For those that don’t know anything about it’s origins you’ll need a little background. For more than 25 years, corporate leaders, Fortune 500 companies, educators, business owners, sales people, medical professionals and a whole host more have been attending Peter & Tamara Lowe’s events, making them the leading seminar business in America. Peter and Tamara co-founded the business all those years ago and since then over 3 million people have attended to listen to the truly great speakers that Peter and Tamara have put on stage.

The list of the rich and the famous is enormous. Five United States Presidents (Bush, Carter, Clinton, Ford, & Reagan) have spoken and numerous world leaders and news makers like Lt. Col. Oliver North, Lady Margaret Thatcher, Barbara Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. Additionally, there have been entertainers and journalists like Bill Cosby, Goldie Hawn, Charleton Heston, Ed McMahon, Mary Tyler Moore, Christopher Reeve and people from the music world, Johnny Cash and Reba McEntire, to name but two, have given their words of wisdom from the Lowe stage. Astronauts Aldrin, Duke, Kranz, Lovell and Aldrin have spoken along with many stars of the sports arenas, people like Curt Schilling, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Don Shula, Larry Bird, Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, Jackie Joyner Kersee and Jeff Gordon. From the business and literary world such names as Debbi Fields, Seth Godin, Billy Graham, Mark Victor Hansen, Tom Hopkins, John Maxwell, Suze Orman, Tom Peters, Jim Rohn, George Ross, Brian Tracy and I could go on and on. The list is practically endless.

So, having never been to one of these events before I decided that it was time to trot along. The line up was equally impressive, Rudy Giuliani, Gen. Colin Powell, Laura Bush, Lou Holtz, Zig Ziglar, Dr. Robert Schuller, Terry Bradshaw and Tamara Lowe herself.

I found myself arriving fairly early at the Orange County Convention and Visitors Center and it wasn’t long before I was seated in an excellent seat just four rows from the stage. A great view. Lou Holtz, the football head coach, was one of the first to enter the arena and he gave a rousing opening speech about life being the attitude you choose to take. After that Zig Ziglar came on stage. I wrote about Zig in an earlier blog so check that out here. We then listened to former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani as he recounted the events of 9/11 and the way the City came together under his leadership to overcome the events of those sad days.

General Colin Powell then made his way to the stage and told us about the afterlife of his days as Secretary of State and Commander in Chief and how he can now get a hot dog in New York without being troubled too much. Laura Bush was up next and she went into quite a bit of detail about the events of September 11th and how deeply they affected her husband President George Bush at that time. She spoke from the heart of the upset she felt when the media attacked her husband and also, about how her family is now doing now the spotlight has moved away from them.

Overall it was well worth a visit and a day away from the office to hear the stories told by these people and of the one common theme they shared… a real determination to succeed. To not let bad times affect them and to fight back in adversity. The seminar was also well timed as we start to pull out of the recession…if we choose to believe the media that is! Around 10,000 people attended the event and hopefully the message sank home to those that were there… “don’t rely on the Government to pull us out of this… it’s you, the people, who will do that”. And I guess, we always have and that we always will.

A new trend is emerging that is taking the meeting place of the small and big business world to new levels. CEO’s, Presidents and top level managers are now beginning to see the advantages of hiring a vacation rental property to host their meetings.

Of course, the biggest attraction in this day and age is the ability to save a lot of money over more traditional meetings at hotels where not only do you need to hire a meeting room but you also have to pay for several guest rooms to house staff on overnight stays. It can be quite an expensive proposition.

A vacation rental often has two, three, four or even more bedrooms and this means that the cost of housing those who attend a meeting is significantly lower and of course, hiring a meeting room is totally unnecessary as the vacation rental has ample room to spread out, formally or informally.

Business people are also seeing the huge benefits of keeping everyone in the same place and not spread out over the campus of a large hotel. A good team spirit is a critical factor in the business world today and creating that winning team is a difficult task that can take a long time if it’s not managed correctly. A vacation rental truly helps foster the right spirit as everyone gets to work and play together and that means it is much easier to keep everyone focused on the business goal.

Vacation rentals also score very highly when it comes to meals. Large bills are often run up everyday in the business world by entertaining clients and hosting staff meetings but a vacation rental offers both the chance to save money and a unique setting to do business. Most vacation rentals have a fully equipped kitchen so you can prepare snacks and meals as and when you want, just like you would in the office or at home. Some vacation rental companies even have professional chefs available to pamper your guests and your staff but more often than not, there is usually someone who likes to show off their culinary skills by cooking a delicious meal for everyone and this can be a surefire winner when it comes to creating partnerships and profitable relationships for the future.

Another great attraction about a vacation rental is that very often they will have two or more areas where you can meet. Focus groups are easy to set up as most rentals have a formal area and an informal area and nothing beats a poolside lunch or a dinner with a great view such as in the mountains to get that important business matter finalized.

Very often business people have reported their best results after their colleagues and business partners have relaxed a little at the vacation rental. Taking a swim, a walk on the beach or playing board games together very often gets people in a better frame of mind to make better business decisions and keeps them feeling fresh to make the next big decision.

Hiring a vacation rental for your next meeting just makes good business sense, so maybe it’s time for you to find out what a vacation rental can do for you and your business?