Vacasa Turnaround Exec Cites the Need for a Vacation Rental Reset Post-Covid
Photo Credit: A file photo of Vacasa's Portland, Oregon headquarters. The company said technology can improve operations and host relations. Vacasa
Skift Take
If ever there was a put up or shut up time for vacation rental tech, it is now. Vacasa and top exec T.J. Clark are bent on improving direct relations with homeowners minus nearly 1,600 employees since October.
T.J. Clark, property manager Vacasa's new chief commercial officer, is in the proverbial hot seat, charged with reversing unacceptably high rates of homeowners leaving the platform, and increasing sales after the company laid off up to 300 sales and marketing staff and 1,000 field personnel in January.
That came after Vacasa fired 280 employees in October.
Clark, who previously headed the company's business development and was co-founder of TurnKey, which Vacasa acquired in 2021 for $619 million, mostly in stock, assumed the position under new CEO Rob Greyber in February after Clark's predecessor left the post following a four-month stint. Clark wasn't a speaker during Vacasa's fourth quarter earnings call last week, but the CEO and analysts mentioned his name nine times.
During the call, Greyber seemed to say that competitors are likewise subject to homeowner angst over diminished revenue following the Covid-era boom. However, others in the industry
