The Future of Direct Bookings, AI, and the End of OTA Dependence
The Boostly Podcast
Mark Simpson
5 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
🎙 Welcome back to the Episode 780 of Boostly Podcast! 🎙
In this episode, Mark Simpson the founder of Boostly sat down with Oriol from Mr. Alfred to share his journey—from growing up in UK hospitality to helping short-term rental hosts around the world generate over £50 million in direct bookings through Boostly. Mark talk about the early days, building a global brand, and why he's on a mission to help 1 million hosts take back control from OTAs.
We dive into why over-reliance on Airbnb is a dangerous game, the importance of building a guest database, and how he is using AI to transform guest communication and streamline operations for hosts. Mark also shares his thoughts on the future of the industry, global market trends, and the game-changing tools he think every host should be paying attention to right now.
Whether you're new to direct bookings or scaling fast, this episode is packed with tips to help you grow your business on your terms.
Let’s jump in.
Connect with Boostly
https://Boostly.co.uk
https://Boostly.co.uk/5steps
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Max Simpson, the mastermind behind Busley. |
| 0:02.4 | You don't have a business, you have a job, and Brian Chesky is your boss. |
| 0:05.7 | But I kind of disagree with this statement. |
| 0:08.8 | In the world of hospitality, if you break it down to what we're selling, we are selling an experience. |
| 0:14.4 | The problem is, what happens when that plate stops with? |
| 0:16.4 | Anybody who works with me, I want to get you to 65% direct. Well, my opinion, direct bookings, to have a quality layer of bookings that you don't get |
| 0:23.6 | with Airbnb. |
| 0:24.6 | This is all about building a database that we've got a new demographic network traveler coming out of COVID. |
| 0:29.6 | So how do you see the difference between Dubai, other markets? |
| 0:32.6 | The different rules and regulations here that you may not see elsewhere. And you've got to be here to understand it. |
| 0:39.3 | For example, with the tourism board where they make sure that you have to |
| 0:43.3 | hand all of your guests' IDs in within a certain timeframe. |
| 0:46.3 | Welcome to another episode of Connecting Dots with Oriole Planner. |
| 0:50.3 | In this episode, we are joined by Mark Simpson, the mastermind behind Busley, the number |
| 0:55.6 | one recommended agency in the short-term rental industry for direct bookings. Mark has been |
| 1:01.9 | recognized as one of the top 20 most influential people in the vacation rental industry, |
| 1:07.5 | that's longer, and has helped property managerate over 50 million pounds in direct |
| 1:12.8 | bookings. |
| 1:14.9 | His mission, maybe he can explain it later. |
| 1:17.8 | So welcome to the show. |
| 1:19.8 | Yeah, yeah. |
| 1:20.8 | Thank you. |
... |
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