VRMA-SPI
Vacation Rental Management Association of SPI
Mission Statement
Tourism and real estate are the two primary industries driving the economy of South Padre Island. Short-term vacation rentals are of critical value to both. Short-term vacation rentals provide more than half of all accommodations for guests visiting the island and contribute more than half of the State and local Hotel Occupancy and Venue tax collected by the island. The ability to generate an income stream from short-term vacation rentals as an offset to the cost of property ownership, allows vacation rental property owners to invest in second homes on South Padre Island. These property owners, most of who live elsewhere, make a substantial contribution to local hotel occupancy tax, property taxes, and the local economy.
In South Padre Island, as in most communities today, we are presented with the challenge of balancing the quality of life needs and concerns of residents with the needs of the tourism industry that feeds the island. South Padre Island has the additional unique challenge of being so small and so narrow, that it is not practical to designate rental and non-rental zones effectively. (although there are a few designated non-short-term rental zones from the past.) The mission of the Vacation Rental Management Association of SPI is to bring the professionally managed vacation rental community together to use our unified voice, elevate the industry and strengthen our businesses by promoting professionalism and delivering exceptional guest hospitality to the visitors of South Padre Island while providing client homeowner satisfaction and being good island neighbors.
The primary goals of the Vacation Rental Management Association of SPI are:
- to increase public awareness of the value to the local economy of professionally managed vacation rental accommodations, through effective community communication
- to increase knowledge of the value of vacation rentals to the real estate community by providing realtor education
- to establish professional standards and become an example for others engaged in short term vacation rentals
- to proactively influence political action by reviewing existing STR ordinances and making recommendations for reasonable enforceable new or amended ones
- to help direct island marketing efforts through representation on the CVA Board and recommendations to the CVB Director
- to empower our members through business networking to hold irresponsible vacation rental owners/managers accountable to the community
- to increase HOT compliance by all short-term vacation rentals