In this fourth episode of First of the Month Wrangle, presented by Lasoh, we are joined by Orlie Benjamin, Founder and CEO of Lasoh, and Eric Goldreyer, Founder and CEO of Savvy, to unpack one of the latest conversations surrounding Airbnb and direct booking.
Airbnb has been testing a program that allows some hosts and co-hosts to drive their own demand to an Airbnb listing in exchange for a reduced platform fee. The company may be calling it direct booking, but Orlie and Eric argue that the definition gets more complicated when the reservation still happens on Airbnb and the operator does not fully control the guest relationship.
That question opens the door to a much bigger conversation about what direct booking actually means, who owns the guest relationship, and what operators gain or give up depending on where that relationship lives.
Episode Chapters
00:57 - What Airbnb is testing with “direct booking”
05:53 - Is Airbnb’s direct booking link really direct?
08:30 - If you are doing the marketing, who owns the guest?
13:02 - Guest data, remarketing, and the customer relationship
23:30 - Why direct booking has a trust problem
26:23 - Why your guest list is part of the value of your business
29:05 - Owning versus renting the customer
30:02 - The opportunity in referrals and repeat guests
39:31 - Solving the discovery problem for direct booking
41:56 - How AI, AEO, and GEO are changing travel search
49:04 - Why there will never be only one booking channel
51:31 - Building around customer feedback and relationships
For vacation rental operators thinking seriously about reducing OTA dependence, strengthening guest relationships, and building more value beyond the next reservation, this episode offers a useful look at what “direct” really means and what it takes to build a business around the customer relationship.
Learn more about Lasoh:
Website: https://tinyurl.com/52nvyw8t
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lasoh/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Lasohio/61575721958679/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lasoh.io
Connect with Orlie:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orliebenjamin/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585160391720
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orlie.benjamin/
Learn more about Savvy:
Website: https://www.savvy.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stay-savvy/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savvy_stay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savvystays
Connect with Eric:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericgoldreyer/
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#vacationrentals #shorttermrentals #directbookings