Short Term Rental Workshop Set For Next Week

UCDD will host a Short-Term Rental Workshop next week for rental property owners.

The workshop will give guidance to owners on how to manage and operate a rental property. Northeast Tennessee Tourism Executive Director Alicia Phelps said the workshop important because more and more people are going into the tourism rental business.

“Tourism is among the top industries in the state and I would assume it would also be the same for the Upper Cumberland area as well so it’s really important to invest in that industry as you see that economic impact that goes directly into those communities via visitor spending.”

Phelps said she wants people who attend to cross-reference information with each other and build a better quality of short-term lodging for visitors of the Upper Cumberland. Phelps said the workshop is unique as it was put together because it was something the area was lacking.

“It’s a program that our organization built from the ground up we didn’t see anything similar like it in Tennessee or the surrounding states,” Phelps said. “So that’s what got Tennessee Tourism very interested in investing it as well, to my knowledge this will be the first time that we had a workshop of this manor in the Upper Cumberland area, so we are really excited to meet the folks up there and also connect them with the tourism officials.”

Phelps said a common mistake most short-term rental property owners make is not providing poor pictures of the property.

“Primarily we’ll see folks not wanting to invest in good photos of their listing and that’s a make it or break it kind of thing that’s really important, so we stress things like that you’ll learn how to take your own photos if you’re not ready or can’t afford that just yet, so we really want to equip the folks that attend on how to be successful.”

The workshop will take place at the Upper Cumberland Development District building in Cookeville on June 17th from 6:00-9:00 PM.