Why VTSTRA Participates in the Right to Rent Collaborative

As conversations about housing, tourism, and short-term rentals continue across Vermont, we believe it is important to be transparent about who we are, how we operate, and how organizations like ours sustain themselves over time.

The Vermont Short-Term Rental Alliance (VTSTRA) is a Vermont-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing homeowners, property managers, hospitality professionals, and small businesses across the state. Our work is rooted in Vermont communities and focused on Vermont-specific issues, policies, and conversations.

VTSTRA Joins the Right to Rent Collaborative

VTSTRA is also a new member of the Right to Rent Collaborative (R2RC), a nonprofit that supports state and local advocacy groups working in the vacation rental space across the United States. R2RC exists to help state organizations sustain the long-term work required to participate responsibly and consistently in public policy discussions around short-term rentals. R2RC was co-founded by VTSTRA founder Julie Marks in 2024.

Local advocacy work is time-intensive. It involves attending meetings, reviewing ordinances, communicating with members, participating in public hearings, responding to legislation, helping educate communities, and staying engaged in conversations that often continue for years.

Many homeowner and small-business organizations across the country are volunteer-driven and operate with extremely limited resources. Without sustainable funding, many local perspectives would simply be absent from these discussions altogether. Participation in R2RC helps organizations like VTSTRA continue doing this work in a more organized, professional, and sustainable way.

Importantly, VTSTRA’s positions are developed locally, by Vermonters, based on Vermont-specific concerns and conversations. Membership in R2RC does not dictate our policies, messaging, or priorities. Our role remains the same: representing and educating on behalf of Vermont’s vacation rental community while participating constructively in local and statewide conversations.

Supporting the Future of Travel

The growth of organizations like VTSTRA and R2RC also reflects something broader happening across the travel industry itself.

The way people travel has changed.

Families increasingly gather in shared homes for reunions and milestone celebrations. Friends organize group getaways around experiences and destinations. Travelers seek cabins, farms, cottages, lake houses, ski homes, and unique stays that allow them to experience communities differently than traditional lodging often can.

Vacation rentals have become an important part of how modern travelers connect, celebrate, and experience places together.

For many travelers, these properties are not interchangeable with hotels. They provide:

• larger gathering spaces for families,

• kitchens and common areas for longer stays,

• accommodations in rural areas without hotels,

• opportunities for multigenerational travel,

• and access to unique, locally rooted experiences.

At the same time, these conversations are becoming increasingly complicated nationwide as communities try to balance housing pressures, tourism economies, infrastructure, and changing travel patterns.

Organizations like R2RC help ensure there is long-term support for responsible, community-based advocacy so these conversations can continue thoughtfully rather than reactively. The goal is not simply preserving an industry. It is helping communities navigate the future of travel in ways that balance housing concerns, economic realities, visitor demand, and the needs of local residents.

Transparency Is Essential for Public Trust

Housing and tourism are deeply important issues. Reasonable people can disagree about policy solutions, but communities deserve informed, multi-faceted discussions grounded in facts rather than assumptions or stereotypes.

At VTSTRA, the goal is not to “fight” communities or avoid regulation altogether. In fact, VTSTRA has consistently supported reasonable regulation focused on communication, safety, accountability, and education.

What we advocate for is balanced policymaking that considers:

• demographic and housing development realities,

• economic impacts,

• property rights,

• small business sustainability,

• and the role tourism plays in Vermont communities.

Organizations like VTSTRA are emerging all across the country because these conversations have become increasingly complicated and consequential for homeowners, workers, and local economies in destination communities everywhere, not just Vermont.

Vermont communities benefit when all stakeholders are given a seat at the table and the opportunity to engage in constructive, professional conversations.

That is the work VTSTRA has been doing since 2021, and will continue to do indefinitely.