There are only two ways to survive an oversupplied market. You stand out, or you drop your prices. Most operators pick the second option without realising they've made a choice at all.

Bali's Airbnb listings have grown from roughly 40,000 to over 70,000. Supply overtook demand in 2025. Market ADRs have dropped 20 to 30 percent in two years.

Villa Finder's ADR dropped 6 percent.

In this episode I sit down with Daniel Rouquette, founder of Villa Finder, to break down exactly how they did it. The Villa Positioning Plan, guest personas built with AI, the record player in the hero photo, the $200 family kit that changes what market you compete in, and how to make invisible service visible through reviews.

Whatever market you're in, supply is probably growing faster than demand. Bali is just the loudest version of what's happening everywhere. This is the playbook for holding your rates while everyone else quietly cuts theirs.

scuss:

00:00 – Introduction: Daniel Rouquette, founder of Villa Finder01:16 – The Bali gold rush is over: standing out in an overcrowded market03:13 – The three big topics: regulation, oversupply, and AI04:10 – ADRs down 20-30%: how supply overtook demand in 202505:27 – Why $500 salaries kept Bali from automating (and why AI changes that)09:05 – The numbers: 40,000 to 70,000+ listings, and the missing European market11:22 – Who stays in villas: families, groups, and the supply problem14:08 – The Villa Positioning Plan: personas, AI research, and standing out14:47 – The record player trick (picked up at STRive Melbourne)16:37 – How Villa Finder held ADR to -6% while the market fell 20%19:54 – Making invisible service visible: reviews that name staff, 15-minute callbacks24:52 – Standardisation vs personalisation across a portfolio26:46 – The $200 family kit: pool toys, baby cots, and changing your category27:31 – Why Bali never automated, and the opportunity that just opened31:10 – 50 staff vs 5: the real difference between Bali and Western operations33:10 – The rise of operations management as its own software category35:53 – Daniel's AI bootcamp: train the person who knows the process, not the techie39:51 – The one thing to do this week: block time to think with AI41:25 – Wrap-up

#STRPositioning #BaliVillas #ShortTermRentals

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ACCOMMODATION OWNERS AND MANAGERS FREE RESOURCES!

📧Join the mailing list for freebies and critical industry updates: https://news.theaccommodationshow.com/🌍 Join the Accommodation Owners and Managers Facebook Community:https://bit.ly/AMoFacebookCommunity🔗 Connect with Bart Sobies for industry insights, tools, and resources:https://www.ibooked.online/bart/🎙 Catch every episode of The Accommodation Show here:https://www.theaccommodationshow.com✨ Ready to take things up a level? Come to STRIVE:https://www.striveconferences.com

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Disclaimer: The content shared on this YouTube channel, Podcast, or associated posts reflects personal opinions and insights. This content is not intended as legal, financial, or investment advice. Always consult with licensed professionals before making decisions. The hosts and guests disclaim liability for any consequences of using this content. Actions taken should be based on your personal due diligence.

It has been a couple of weeks since Bali Villa Connect 2026, and the conversations I had on the ground are still rattling around in my head.While I was at the conference I grabbed a microphone, found nine of the smartest operators and suppliers walking around the floor, and asked all of them the same question:What should short-term rental operators be thinking about for the end of 2026?Nobody gave the same answer twice. But the themes that came through say a lot about where the industry's head is at right now. From AI and automation, to compliance, to the surprisingly grounded reminder that good beds and a clear identity still win.

Timestamps

00:00 — Intro: Bali Villa Connect 2026 with 1,200 people on site

00:39 — Kadek (BVRMA Chairman): networking is your net worth

01:30 — Deepanshu (PriceLabs): the volatile market, and why the early bird wins

03:43 — Julie George (Million Dollar Host): automate, don't complicate

05:39 — Bali hospitality: face-to-face check-ins and the human touch

05:50 — Max Del Vita: 2026 is the year of the AI agent, embrace it

07:18 — Diego Lanzi: good beds, good bathrooms, the basics still win

08:39 — Yoav Tourel: compliance is unsexy and absolutely essential

10:06 — Tejas Halbe (Strategy Q's): automate the repetitive, focus on guests

11:44 — Reto Wyss (Elevate): stop letting guests be your quality assurance

13:52 — Adhiguna (BVRMA): stay true to your identity. Trends are short-lived, identity lasts forever.

16:17 — Wrap-up

#HospitalityLeadership #SystemiseToScale #STRGrowth

Don't forget to hit that subscribe button! This also keeps us going and creating more useful content for free!

ACCOMMODATION OWNERS AND MANAGERS FREE RESOURCES!

📧Join the mailing list for freebies and critical industry updates: https://news.theaccommodationshow.com/

🌍 Join the Accommodation Owners and Managers Facebook Community:

https://bit.ly/AMoFacebookCommunity

🔗 Connect with Bart Sobies for industry insights, tools, and resources:

https://www.ibooked.online/bart/

🎙 Catch every episode of The Accommodation Show here:

https://www.theaccommodationshow.com

✨ Ready to take things up a level? Come to STRIVE:

https://www.striveconferences.com

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

🥊 Hotel - BNB - STR Owners! 🥊

Need more direct bookings or a brand new website?

The trusted tech partner you can count on. We deliver results.

🥊 https://www.ibooked.online ​​​​​​​​​​​🥊

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Disclaimer: The content shared on this YouTube channel, Podcast, or associated posts reflects personal opinions and insights. This content is not intended as legal, financial, or investment advice. Always consult with licensed professionals before making decisions. The hosts and guests disclaim liability for any consequences of using this content. Actions taken should be based on your personal due diligence.

Affiliate Disclaimer:

This blog, podcast & youtube channel; will occasionally contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission on a purchase without additional cost to you, if you buy something through my links.

This show aims to educate viewers and share everything I know about improving your accommodation, STR and AirBNB business. I believe in the products and services we link to and that you may benefit from them.

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Speed has become a virtue all on its own. Everything has to be faster, cheaper, more automated, more efficient. And in the rush to optimise everything, we've quietly stopped asking whether the thing we're optimising actually matters.

That tension is everywhere in our industry right now. Operators are pouring time into revenue management, dynamic pricing, OTA visibility, and direct booking funnels. All of it important. But while everyone is fighting for the booking, the part that comes after the booking, the actual stay, is often held together with manual workarounds and hope.

In this episode I sit down with Corrine Harris, General Manager at Operto, to talk about the middle of the guest journey. The part that decides whether someone leaves a review, comes back, or quietly never books with you again.

We get into why getting the guest into the property is still the biggest pain point, how to automate without losing the human touch, why guest expectations have quietly caught up with hotels, and why chasing every new AI tool is the fastest way to burn six months on the wrong project.

Corrine has been at Operto for five years and ran her own property management business before that, so this isn't theory. It's lived.

Corrine Harris — General Manager, Operto

🌐 operto.com

00:00 — Intro: Corrine from Operto, calling in from Canada

01:00 — What Operto actually does: from booking to checkout

01:19 — Corrine's background: 5 years at Operto, ex-property manager

02:43 — Why guest communication still gets pushed to the bottom of the list

03:51 — The current state of tech adoption in short-term rentals

04:38 — Breaking down the guest journey by booking channel

05:18 — Why OTA vs direct changes the rules of guest comms

07:05 — Defining "the middle of the journey" (booking to post-checkout)

07:39 — What good pre-arrival communication actually looks like

08:59 — Why the digital guest experience has to feel like one ecosystem

10:23 — The blended approach: automation plus human when needed

12:35 — The biggest guest pain point: getting into the property

14:51 — Why a generic guest guide isn't enough

15:25 — When a PMS isn't enough, and where Operto goes deeper

16:42 — Integrating with 70+ PMS platforms

18:36 — Cleaning, maintenance and the operations behind the scenes

20:14 — How guest expectations have caught up with hotels

21:59 — Speed: why everyone now expects instant responses

22:52 — AI and the future of hospitality staffing

24:23 — How AI removes the bottleneck on training new staff

25:31 — The pressure to keep getting faster

25:54 — Corrine's advice for operators feeling overwhelmed by tech

27:04 — The trap of trying to change everything at once

27:46 — Why holding back on shiny new tools is sometimes the smart move

30:08 — Final advice: focus on what will actually move the needle

31:30 — Wrap-up

ACCOMMODATION OWNERS AND MANAGERS FREE RESOURCES!

📧Join the mailing list for freebies and critical industry updates: https://news.theaccommodationshow.com/

🔗 Connect with Bart Sobies for industry insights, tools, and resources:

https://www.ibooked.online/bart/

🎙 Catch every episode of The Accommodation Show here:

https://www.theaccommodationshow.com

✨ Ready to take things up a level? Come to STRIVE:

https://www.striveconferences.com

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

🥊 Hotel - BNB - STR Owners! 🥊

Need more direct bookings or a brand new website?

The trusted tech partner you can count on. We deliver results.

🥊 https://www.ibooked.online ​​​​​​​​​​​🥊

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Disclaimer: The content shared on this YouTube channel, Podcast, or associated posts reflects personal opinions and insights. This content is not intended as legal, financial, or investment advice. Always consult with licensed professionals before making decisions. The hosts and guests disclaim liability for any consequences of using this content. Actions taken should be based on your personal due diligence.