The US recession hit the travel industry very hard in 2008 and 2009, leading big hotels to slash their prices to never before seen lows. However with the warming of the US economy, the vacation rental market is seeing a resurgence. And in San Francisco, the "City by the Bay", this is especially true due to the traditionally high prices of hotels in the region.

2007 saw the peak for the travel and tourism industry within the United States. But as the recession hit the US market in 2008 and into 2009, the travel industry suffered massive losses. San Francisco was hit particularly hard due to its notoriety of being a more expensive city than other similar destinations with the US. The once hot vacation rental market within San Francisco suffered big losses. But after the first half of 2010 winds down, it seems as though the San Francisco vacation rental market is beginning to rebound.

Because traditional hotel operators within the city tend to have higher price points than other major US destinations, San Francisco vacation rentals have been a hot business item for quite some time. It is only until recently, however, that vacation rentals in San Francisco have started to outgrow traditional occupancy level for hotels. While the world-wide recession disabled this growth in 2008 and 2009, 2010 has begun to see numbers gradually pick up in terms of occupancy rates for vacation rentals. This comes as welcomed news to the growing population of small business owners that have built their livelihoods around renting out vacation rentals.

The second reason why vacation rentals in San Francisco are becoming big business is due to businesses that are dedicated to online vacation rentals. One company, GoldenGateVacations.com, allows users to search and book San Francisco vacation rentals online and in real-time 24/7. Because these types of businesses are growing in number and prestige, this lends itself directly to aiding the vacation rental industry as a whole by legitimizing this type of online business. Big companies such as Vacation-Renter.com are agressively seeking inventory in the hopes of furthering the vacation rental business and industry.

2008 and 2009 were devastating years for the travel and tourism industry. Companies slashed budgets previously allocated for travel and the vacation rental business suffered greatly from these cutbacks and economic slowdown. The first two quarters of 2010 however has shown some significant progress and promise for this emerging type of business. While the idea of a turnaround within the US economy is still somewhat disputed, cities such as San Francisco has seen some slight improvement to its overall tourism numbers. As many hope that this trend will continue, experts within the vacation rental industry can only hope and wait.