The world’s Top50 short term property managers announced by Rentals United.
BERCELONA – Rentals United announced the World’s Top 50 Short Term Property Managers list. Dominating the prestigious list are European companies with Awaze, OYO Vacation Homes, Interhome, Sykes Holiday Cottages, Direct Booker, Feriepartner, Sol og Strand and Holidaycottages.co.uk heading the top 10, along with two companies from North America: Vacasa and Evolve. All top 10 primarily represent leisure rentals (villas, chalets, cottages).
With a whopping 110,000 properties, UK-based Awaze, formerly Wyndham’s vacation rental business spanning 36 countries, is the largest property management company in the world. The 30-year-old company has been growing through their various brands including James Villa Holidays, Novasol, Hoseasons, and Cottages.com.
The second and third spots go to two Zurich-based property management companies, OYO Vacation Homes and Interhome respectively. Interhome manages 50,000 vacation rentals in 31 countries – it was founded in 1965 in Switzerland and has 15 regional subsidiaries. OYO Vacation Homes manages 54,000 properties in Europe.
Shirish Damani, Chief Revenue Officer at OYO Vacation Homes CEO says, “We are delighted to have been included in the global Rentals United top 50. Even in a year in which the pandemic has impacted lives dramatically, we have seen our holiday homes become more popular than ever, for holiday breaks but also as a home office or your own private ‘bubble’ away from home.
This confirmed that our full service strategy and constant pursuit to use technology to offer differentiated experiences is the right one for the future.”
The only North American company in The Top 5 is Portland-based Vacasa with 25,000 short-term rentals, earning it the title of largest property manager in North America.
Rounding up the top 5 is Sykes Holiday Cottages, based in the UK, with 20,100 properties across the UK, Ireland and New Zealand with 20,000 exclusive holiday homes. The company won the British Travel Award for Best Large Holiday Cottage Booking Company 8 years in a row.
Graham Donogue, CEO of Sykes Holiday Cottages, says “We have been serving the market and watching it grow for nearly 30 years – although this year has definitely been different to any other. Working closely with our owners has helped us all to adjust to the new normal of 2020, managing rebookings and refunds, and guiding owners through what turned out to be one of the busiest summers yet for staycations. Being named on the Rentals United list is testament to the hard work of our entire team this year.”
The list also reveals that 60% of the largest property managers are located in Europe, with only one property manager in South Africa (Propr) and the rest in North America. The total number of rentals these 50 property managers represent is just over 380,000 which is only a fraction of the number of rentals in the world.
Close to 30% of the companies were founded in the last 5 years. The oldest company on the list dates back to 1959, a company called Elliott Realty based in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA. The youngest company on the list, Altido, was founded in 2019 through a merger between four pan-European property management companies.
When it comes to growth and funding, over half the companies are self-funded and more than 60% have grown organically while the rest are a mix of organic growth and acquisitions. Four out of the first 10 in the list are backed by equity. Three are part of a group: Interhome (Migros), onefinestay (Accor), Pillow (Expedia).
The World’s Top 50 Short Term Property Managers is an annual ranking by rental numbers of the largest short-term rental property managers in the world, compiled and published in October annually by the channel manager Rentals United. Members of this prestigious list receive a ‘Top 50’ badge for their website and gain tremendous visibility amongst property owners
worldwide.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
