Owners and managers of vacation rental properties in Bermuda have been urged to attend the first meeting of the organisation that is to be launched to represent them.The Bermuda Rental Association of Vacation Rental Owners (Bravo) will meet tomorrow at 6pm at the offices of Ignite Bermuda at 12 Wesley Street, Hamilton.Ralph Richardson is among eight members of a steering committee that has spent a year in near-monthly meetings in order to set up the association.He said it is important that property owners and managers turn out in strong numbers tomorrow in order to learn why a single representative body is necessary, about the benefits of membership, and how Bravo could benefit the vacation rental industry.Mr Richardson said: “It is critical that people come on Thursday. We have 35 members now, mostly through Facebook. If we get 100 people there tomorrow to add to those 35, we will be fine. At that level of membership, we could start the organisation, which hasn’t officially launched yet.“But we need to get some numbers at the meeting, that is the important thing. If we can’t get members, it’s not going to work.”The benefits of membership, Mr Richardson said, include lobbying power in negotiations with the Government, the power to negotiate supply discounts with wholesalers, the development of pricing structures for cleaning service businesses, sharing common challenges and solutions for issues that arise for members, assisting members to develop minimum standards for member-owned properties, the setting up of a directory of members by location so that any overflow can be shared among members, and having a group to work with the Bermuda Tourism Authority for promotion of the industry.Mr Richardson said steering committee members have drafted a constitutional document to govern how the organisation operates. He said members, once on board tomorrow, can at a later date approve or amend the constitution and thereafter hold an election of executive officers to lead the organisation for agreed terms.He said steering committee members will remain in order to assist members, but are not necessarily seeking leadership roles and are prepared to pass on the work they have carried out to the general membership.There is no membership fee at present, but Mr Richardson said the membership may decide in future to levy an annual fee to cover expenses as they arise.Bravo said there are some 630 vacation rental owners in Bermuda, representing more than 1,000 tourist beds. That is “at least a third” of the existing hotel and guesthouse beds available on-island, the organisation said.Anyone seeking a membership form, or who has general questions about the organisation, is invited to contact Bravo at bravo.bermuda@gmail.com