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Monaker Group (MKGI) is Exploring the Travel Industry’s New World of Alternative Lodging Rentals

At the dawn of the sixteenth century, who in Europe would have thought that another continent existed? Not many, it seemed. The Florentine explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, after whom the continent is named, coined the term Mundus Novus (New World) in a letter to a scion of the Medici family. In that missive, Vespucci set out his supposition that the lands encountered to the west were not the eastern bounds of Asia but an unknown continent. His revelations, when published, stirred Europe with an energy and excitement not seen since the Crusades.

Today, there is a similar buzz in the wanderlust industry. This time, the undiscovered continent is the vast expanse of private properties that have the potential to enter the alternative lodging rentals market, and with the well-positioned portfolio of online travel agencies (OTAs) offered by Monaker Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MKGI), the modern explorer can explore this new world and globetrot to his or her heart’s content.

Great things have small beginnings. According to this feature (http://nnw.fm/TCs3f), the seed of the alternative lodging rentals market in the U.S. was planted when David and Lynn Clouse founded VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) in 1996. The difficulties the couple encountered in trying to rent out their ski condo in Colorado made them realize that others would be experiencing similar challenges. VRBO was a huge success. In 10 years, it was listing about 65,000 vacation properties. Its sparkle of success caught the eye of HomeAway.com, which snapped it up in 2006. In turn, last year, HomeAway.com was acquired by Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) for $3.9 billion.

This trend of big fishes eating smaller fishes is a sure sign that the alternative lodging rentals sea is spreading. Predictions of its growth are truly astonishing. A recent report from Research and Markets (RAM), titled ‘Global Vacation Rental Market 2015-2019’ (http://nnw.fm/0SMzI), estimates that the market ‘will reach $169.7 billion by 2019’. At present, the global industry has a market size of about $100 billion, with the U.S. accounting for approximately one-quarter of that. That means the industry is expected to grow by almost 70 percent over the next four years.

Growth is likely to be greatest in Europe and North America, since these regions harbor widespread awareness of the vacation rental concept. The RAM report cites a number of factors for the upcoming boom:

“The entry of new technologically oriented start-ups and higher interest in vacation rentals among travelers is one of the reasons for market growth. Travelers are more inclined to using business intelligence software and data mining tools to harness their data to improve their decision-making. Also, price optimization by utilizing revenue management software is gaining popularity in the market.”

Monaker Group and its subsidiaries have amassed vacation home inventory with the aim of becoming one of the world’s largest online marketplaces for the alternative lodging rental industry. Its flagship online marketplace, NextTrip.com, offers over one million listings in Europe, Asia, South America and the United States with links to 115 websites in 16 languages. The NextTrip platform earns fees in two ways. Fees may be paid by property owners and managers as subscription amounts for an annual period. In addition, fees may be paid on a performance basis. Under such an arrangement, properties are listed without initial charge and a commission is paid when the property is booked.

At present, about 100,000 listings are subscription-based. Monaker is currently encouraging owners and managers to convert to the performance-based format. The company believes this format offers greater transparency and reduces the risk incurred by owners and managers. Monaker will also benefit from the performance-based arrangement since ‘no-charge’ listings should increase total inventory. In addition, commission charges will undoubtedly reflect the added benefit of reduced risk provided to property owners.

For more information, visit www.monakergroup.com