We Are Supposed To Be Rivals (But We Collaborate Instead)
episode
The Accommodation Show - Hospitality Success Series!
32 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 23 days ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Why did the host invite a direct‑booking competitor to the show?
Well, hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of the accommodation show. This week I'm joined by the wonderful Mark Simpson from Boostly. Welcome to the show.
Thank you very much for having me and for getting up very early on the morning to speak to me.
Well, actually it's a bit of an evening one for you. So I appreciate you for coming on and staying up and staying awake for us. Mark, how's it going?
Yeah, good. Thank you very much. Uh just got off doing a couple of days doing uh book direct live, which was good. Uh which is exciting. Spreading the word of all things direct bookings. Um and uh yeah, so just started a year strong. Uh excited to see what what this year what this year holds for our little industry called short term rentals.
Would you say that you're the Um The mo m the the most influential person in direct bookings in the short term rental industry.
Now I'm one of, I'm one of, um I was obviously uh I I've I've been in this industry now for what fifteen, sixteen years doing Boosie for the last ten. And when I came in, you had the likes of uh who was do talking about direct bookings, Heber Beyer, Matlan Dow, uh, Yvonne Hallin, and then Amy Heino, who started Book Director, I think, all those years ago. And I've just sort of led my My voice to the to the amphitheater, so to speak. But the the cool thing now is that there is a lot of people talking about direct bookings, like way more than just one person. So it's cool to see and You know, I think it's having an impact. I really do think it's having i an impact. So long may it continue.
Yeah, I I think so. And it's interesting because I think i if we think about it in the hotel world, um, it was about so I would say the hotel world was much more sophisticated in the short term rental space. Um, and you'd have all the different distribution channels and they were constantly changing and evolving as time went on. I mean, you'd have salespeople picking up the phone and and that would be a a channel of of going getting more business. And book director was important but maybe also not as well understood as it could be. And now you have all the the major players, the the corps and the Marriott that have got massive loyalty programs and book directors. It's part of their core strategy and one of their value propositions that they offer.
You know, that's why you join a core is because people are booking directors. You can get that that um those direct customers coming in and that loyalty coming through. In uh for a smaller business it's been a lot less attainable, right? A lot less um uh you c you can't uh a bigger barrier to access to get direct bookings because it is a bit more complex. What are your thoughts?
Yeah, I think in the world of hotels, diary bookings are easy. I come from like a bed and breakfast slash small boutique hotel background and it was so easy getting dairy bookings. I really noticed a shift when we opened up our holiday cottages, which were more the rental side. It wasn't so easy. And uh I feel like hotels have got it made. I feel like short term rentals are a fight an uphill battle. But the good thing is is that it's not impossible, right? You are
How do hotels and short‑term rentals differ in their marketing approach?
There's there's two things I always say. You either got a ton of money and you haven't got a lot of time, or you've got a lot of time and you haven't got a lot of money. So either way you've got to try and figure out what you have and then either if you've got a ton of money and no time, go and hire great people that can come into your business, whether it's virtual or in-house, to do all the things for you. Uh there's a kind of topic on the side, which we'll talk about today, which is AI. And then on the other side, if you've got loads of time but haven't got the money, then you've got to get in and do the graph. You gotta do the work. That's why I wrote that book. I think you can see it on my shoulder, the book Direct Playbook.
It's a hundred and one tactics that I used and over two thousand people have used over the last ten years that have generated a billion dollars in booking.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why did the host invite a direct‑booking competitor to the show?
0:12–3:11
2
How do hotels and short‑term rentals differ in their marketing approach?
3:11–5:42
3
What’s the problem with “Mona Lisa” style websites versus functional design?
5:42–9:32
4
How can direct bookings increase a property’s exit valuation?
9:32–11:42
5
Which case study shows millions added by building a strong brand?
11:42–15:41
6
How does connecting email, web, and social media create a cohesive ecosystem?
15:41–19:27
7
Why are newsletters making a comeback and how can they be written to get read?
19:27–30:44
8
How will AI search and the evolving digital landscape impact direct bookings?
30:44–31:57
Speakers
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