VRMA International 2026: Your inside track on the Nashville event

3 days ago
4 min read

VRMA International is one of the biggest dates in the short-term rental calendar – the flagship event of the Vacation Rental Management Association, and the industry's largest annual gathering. This year it heads to Nashville's Music City Center from 4-6 October 2026. To get the inside track, we sat down with Anne Gardner, Executive Director of the VRMA, on the Host Planet Podcast. Here's what to expect – and why 2026 is one to circle in the calendar.

Key takeaways on VRMA International 2026

VRMA International 2026 runs 4-6 October at Music City Center, Nashville.
It builds on nearly 2,000 attendees from last year's Las Vegas edition – including property managers, suppliers, and partners across the whole ecosystem.
The 2026 focus is practical, take-home knowledge: leave with a strategy, a plan, and the steps to get there.
Programming is layered for every size of operator – from one unit to enterprise scale.
Host Planet is a proud Media Partner for this year's event, and is co-hosting the invitation-only Golden Ticket side event with yhangry.

What is VRMA International?

VRMA International is the professional convening of the vacation rental industry – three days where property managers, suppliers, and partners come together not just to network and learn, but to plan and do real business. "It really is the convening of the industry," Anne told us. Held each October, it moves cities year to year; after Las Vegas in 2025, Nashville takes the stage for 2026.

Why Nashville? It's a natural fit, Anne explained: a central US location that's easy to travel to, a genuine hospitality city, and a venue in Music City Center that gives both the education programme and the show floor room to grow – with hotels and properties all within close proximity. The association is also seeing a notable boost in international attendance this year, part of a broader trend of operators travelling further to be in the room where the industry comes together.

What's new in 2026

This year's programming goes deeper on the practical. "It's not the theoretical," Anne said. "It's what people can actually use and take away." Expect sessions built around real applications rather than hype – including how operators are genuinely using AI, how companies are scaling, and how to navigate the wave of consolidation and M&A reshaping the industry. The goal: leave after three days with a business strategy, a plan, and concrete next steps.

Peer-based learning and networking have been expanded significantly, and there's a new group attendance ("Join and Go") programme that makes it simple to bring a team – whether that's two people or 20 – so you can spread out across sessions and regroup to compare notes.

Built for every size of operator

One thing Anne was keen to stress: VRMA International isn't only for those already at scale. "We all started with one – one owner, one unit." The education is deliberately layered to take you from hosting a handful of properties all the way through building for scale. Whether you manage five doors or 5,000, the programme is designed around how you're building your business today, in a rapidly changing environment.

More than sessions: advocacy and community

A huge part of the VRMA's work is advocacy – protecting and promoting the industry through its advocacy fund, lobbying, and evidence-based research (recent studies include Idaho model policy, a first-of-its-kind Cape Cod study, and a South Carolina state study). As Anne put it, telling the positive story of short-term rentals matters, "because nobody's volunteering to tell that story for us." Much of that work is powered by 100+ volunteer collaborators building standards and education together.

And the real magic? It happens between the sessions – in the coffees, the halls, and the hotel lobbies. Music City Center's open areas and pods are built for exactly those deeper, in-between conversations.

Host Planet at VRMA International

We're proud to be a Media Partner for VRMA International 2026 – and we'll be on the ground in Nashville throughout. We're also co-hosting one of the most talked-about side events of the week: Golden Ticket, an invitation-only evening from Host Planet and yhangry, bringing 120 founders, operators, and investors together for food, Tennessee cocktails, and live music. It's intentionally small, and the only way in is with a Golden Ticket – request yours here. Huge thanks to our sponsors – Beyond, Enso Connect, Hospitable, TechTape, and ExtenTeam – for helping us bring this event to life.

How to register

Registration is open here. Some ticket tiers are already approaching sell-out, so it's worth moving early – and if you're bringing colleagues, register as a group of two or more to take 20% off (several hundred dollars back in your pocket).

Listen to the full episode

Anne shares much more – first-timer tips (around 40% of attendees are new), the welcome programming, and the advocacy wins shaping the industry – in the full conversation. Catch the full episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts – and we'll see you in Nashville.

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