9 & 10 News
May 18, 2021
Vacation home rental businesses, like many industries, struggled through the pandemic as they tried to adapt to safety protocols and a lot of uncertainty.
“We would come into cancellations each day and what we did is we offered to move them to the following year or offer a full refund,” said Ranae Ihme, owner of Leelanau Vacation Rentals and LVR Realty.
Those refunds meant tourism businesses took a big hit.
“It was pretty devastating,” said Connie Richards, owner of Leelanau Chalets and Properties Vacation Homes. “Everybody was canceling so we were giving, of course, 100% refunds.”
Over the last few months, rental companies say they’ve noticed more bookings, and less cancelations.