Some vacation rentals near Disney World now allowed to reopen with limits

Osceola County’s plan to reopen vacation rental homes and give a boost to the local economy was approved by the state of Florida on Wednesday afternoon.

The county, which is just outside of Walt Disney World and where part of Disney World resides, sent its reopening plan to Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday. The request came after the rollout of the full Phase 1 of the Governor’s recovery plan went into effect on Monday. His executive order allowed vacation rental homes to open with a county’s plan submitted to and approved by State Department of Business and Professional Regulation

“We know that this action will have a ripple effect in our community as there are so many small businesses that support the vacation rental market – from housekeepers, to lawn and pool maintenance workers, to security staff and caterers, to property managers and companies that handle the numerous details that surround a successful vacation,” Osceola County Chairwoman Viviana Janer said.

In Osceola County alone, there are 30,000 licensed vacation home rentals that represent half of the County’s $60 million tourism development tax dollars. Osceola previously estimated that vacation home rentals have a $2 billion impact on Osceola County’s economy. 

Highlights of Osceola plan for vacation rentals includes: 

• Property owners and managers shall adopt the CDC related guidelines that are for public spaces, businesses, schools and homes. These re-open guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting expand upon what the State of Florida & DBPR already have in place for safety and sanitation for all lodging. 
• Property owners and managers shall provide COVID-19 guidance of local restrictions that are in place during the guest stay including closures, curfews, and other related local information. The County will post online where this updated local information can be accessible to lodging operators and guests. 
• All vacation rentals shall follow the SAFEHOME Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professional (VRHP) and Vacation Rental Management Association (VRMA) Cleaning Guidelines for COVID-19 which is both attached and can be found here: https://www.vrma.org/page/vrhp/vrma-cleaning-guidelines-for-covid-19. 
• Any person coming from a highly-infected area, as defined per the Governor’s guidelines, must reserve a minimum stay of 14 nights and follow CDC self-quarantine guidelines. 
• Vacation rentals may not be used for events or group gatherings that exceed maximum occupancy.