Destination Marketing Episodes

Send us a message! Destination marketing is in a pressure test. Short-term rentals have become a major part of how people travel, yet many DMOs still struggle with how (or whether) to include them. At the same time, AI is speeding up the research-to-booking journey and forcing destinations to rethink what “relevance” even means. In this episode, Alex and Annie sit down with Stuart Butler (President of Visit Myrtle Beach) and Adam Stoker (President of Brand Revolt) to unpack what’s getting in t...

In this episode, we sit down with Steve Turk, founder of Tangy Management, a vacation rental management company known for its unique hotel-inspired approach to hospitality. With over 24 years of experience in luxury hotels, Steve brings a fresh perspective to the vacation rental industry, blending high standards from the hotel world with the flexibility of short-term rentals. Steve shares the story of how he shifted from a career in luxury hotels to founding Tangy Management, and the unique valu...

In this special re-air of one of our most popular episodes, Alex & Annie revisit our insightful conversation with Tom Goodwin, CEO of Mountain Laurel Chalets. Tom’s remarkable journey in the vacation rental industry, from unexpected beginnings to building a brand rooted in community, continues to inspire. Tom's Journey: Discover how Tom's unexpected entry into the vacation rental world, through his wife's family-run business in Gatlinburg, evolved into a thriving venture. His initial 18-month...

Get your Scale Italia 2024 tickets here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/scalerentalsitalia/1074426 Exclusive offer for Alex & Annie listeners: Get $400 off your onboarding fee when you partner with Hostaway using this link: http://get.hostaway.com/alexandannie In this week’s episode, Alex & Annie welcome the team behind the Scale Italia - Gianpaolo Vairo, Damian Sheridan, and Cristiana Carpini - to discuss their rapidly growing conference series for professional vacation rental manage...

In this insightful episode of "Alex and Annie, The Real Women of Vacation Rentals," we had the pleasure of sitting down with Katie Briscoe, the CEO of MMGY Global. Katie, a seasoned destination marketing expert with a wealth of experience, takes us on a journey through her remarkable career, providing insights into her role as the CEO of MMGY Global and shedding light on the evolving landscape of the travel industry. MMGY Global's Transformation: Katie detailed MMGY's growth from a hospita...

In this captivating episode of “Alex and Annie: The Real Women of Vacation Rentals, we sit down with Tom Goodwin, a seasoned professional in the vacation rental industry, to explore his remarkable journey and the transformative power of community and branding in business. Tom's Journey: Discover how Tom's unexpected entry into the vacation rental world, through his wife's family-run business in Gatlinburg, evolved into a thriving venture. His initial 18-month commitment turned into an 11-year...

In this episode, Alex and Annie are joined by David Angotti, the Chief Evangelist at Guesty, an end-to-end property management software designed for short-term property managers who seek to save time, increase revenue, and grow their businesses. David's journey in the vacation rental industry began after he exited his first company, SpeedyPrep, in 2009. Retirement at the age of 29 quickly lost its allure, so he purchased a few rental properties. This quickly evolved into a property management bu...

In this very special anniversary episode, Alex & Annie are joined by Travis Wilburn and Rebecca Lombardo - Co-Founders of The 100 Collection. The 100 Collection is a prestigious evaluation program that recognizes exceptional vacation rentals managed by industry-leading companies committed to excellence in hospitality across a multitude of destinations. Travis and Rebecca are huge believers in the value that local brands bring to the vacation rental space and the importance of a “Doyen/Doye...

Join us for an insightful conversation with Adam Stoker, president and CEO of Relic Agency and guru in the world of tourism and destination marketing (DMO/CVBs/Chamber of Commerce). Discover how he stumbled into the tourism industry, built an 8-year relationship with the Cedar City, Utah Tourism Bureau, started the Destination Marketing Podcast and is now one of the largest DMO agencies in the country. In this engaging episode, we discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism industry, inclu...

On today’s episode, we’re featuring our recent panel at DESTICON, a virtual conference that brought together tourism and hospitality professionals from the DMO (Destination marketing organization) space. In our session, we discussed how professional managers can work with their DMOs and CVBs to promote responsible tourism. (DMO = designated marketing organization and CVB = convention visitor’s bureau. These organizations are typically funded by local and state tourism dollars, and exist to pr...

THE KEY TO A GREAT TEAM IS AUTHENTICITY In today’s episode, Alex and Annie welcome Alex Zemianek, the Founder and CEO of JZ Vacation Rentals. He shares how trial after trial left him broke and almost broken. However, when he allowed himself to be vulnerable with his team, they rallied behind him during their darkest days. Alex says that it was through an authentic relationship with the people who make up his team that this was even possible. Find out more about Alex and JZ Vacation Rentals in this latest episode of Alex & Annie: The Real Women of Vacation Rentals. “REAL” TALK ALEX ZEMIANEK: AUTHENTICITY CREATES A TEAM THAT STAYS "The biggest thing is making sure that you have some kind of authentic relationship. And when people feel that you're genuine, then they're probably going to perform a little bit differently." ALEX ZEMIANEK: GIFT KNOWLEDGE THROUGH EDUCATION "I genuinely feel that education is the best gift you can give and receive as well because people can …

We often talk about the importance of not building your marketing house on someone else’s land (Airbnb, Vrbo, Google etc), but in this episode we discuss how creative marketers are building their brands on their own channels. Stuart Butler, CMO of Visit Myrtle Beach and undeniably one of the sharpest minds in all of hospitality marketing joins us today to explain the concept of creating gravity in a destination, and why creating branded entertainment is key to distinguishing your destination or...

Tune in for Part 2 of our episode with Ed St. Onge, President of Flip.to and Founder of the first ever channel management software for hotels, EZ Yield. On last week's episode, Ed took us through the early days of channel and yield management and how the technology his team build became the foundation of an industry. On today's episode, Ed shares his story of Flip.to and how they are transforming the guest journey to drive more direct bookings, grow profits, and enhance the quality of the conve...

Tune in for today's episode with David Krauss, CEO and Co-Founder of Rent Responsibly, the organization that has helped thousands of managers from coast to coast as they deal with the influx of short term rental laws that are infringing on the industry. In most cases, short term rental laws are enacted by municipalities to combat issues created by the new wave of individual hosts that can now easily rent properties on Airbnb and Vrbo. Disruptive guests and hosts that don't pay taxes are among th...

On today's episode we are joined by Jennifer Barbee, CEO of Destination Innovate and a dynamic leader who has worked with over 400 hospitality and destination brands. She has been credited with many innovative firsts in the industry; including the first personalized destination website, tapped to lead digital account strategy for the first inbound travel campaign for the US Department of Commerce and the first destination campaign to be used as a Facebook Business Case study. She is a contributo...

Wake up, wake up, wake up... it's the 1st of the Month! On this new bonus series, we'll look back on the previous month and look ahead to the next, examining booking trends, pacing and anything timely and newsworthy within travel and vacation rentals. Tune in on the 1st day of the month for these short and SUITE bonus episodes with Alex & Annie! CONTACT ALEX & ANNIE AlexandAnniePodcast.com LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram Alex Husner - Linkedin Annie Holcombe - Linkedin Podcast Sponsored by Cond...

On this first episode of 2022 we dive into the most pressing issues facing the vacation rental industry with Amy Hinote, Founder/CEO of VRM Intel and one of the most recognized and respected thought leaders of the past decade. This is a fireside chat you don't want to miss! Topics we cover: How the unique format of the Vacation Rental Women's Summit was a major benefit for attendees AND vendors How branding has changed for vacation rentals – is the industry giving up on the #bookdirect movemen...