Why 100% occupancy means you lost

Everybody in this industry talks about pricing.

Almost nobody talks about what your pricing actually reveals.

How mature your operation really is.

The real health of your market.

And where hospitality itself is heading next.

That's the conversation I just had with Julie Brinkman, CEO of Beyond, on the latest STR Global Unlocked.

Julie has had a front-row seat to the entire evolution. She walked into this industry as COO in March 2020 - days before global travel shut down - and has spent the years since running one of the platforms that brought serious revenue management to STR at scale.

So we went well past pricing algorithms.

A few things from the conversation I haven't stopped thinking about:

→ Why hitting 100% occupancy usually isn't a win - it means you left money on the table. Julie's line: "if everyone shows up to your party, you invited too many people."

→ The single mistake operators are making in this market right now and why panic-discounting into a soft booking window quietly costs you more than just holding your rate.

→ The most dangerous sentence an operator can say out loud: "I know my market better than anyone." Why the people who believe it hardest are the ones getting left behind.

→ What Beyond's own data shows about how few operators are actually pricing dynamically and why the real bottleneck isn't the technology at all.

→ Where AI genuinely drives revenue today, and where it just hands you confident, plausible nonsense. (If you've ever dropped your calendar into a chatbot and asked for a pricing strategy, you'll want to hear this part.)

We also got into the institutional money pouring into PMCs, the convergence of hotels and rentals, and the one set of levers Julie thinks almost the entire industry is still ignoring.

If you run a property management business and you're trying to work out what separates the operations that scale from the ones that plateau - this one is for you.

Watch Episode 35 here

Pricing was never really about pricing.

Best,

Simon

PS: If your business is the one in this episode, growing but losing margin to platforms, and you want a direct read on your distribution position, that is the work I do one to one with operators. If it is relevant, book a call with me here. No pitch. Just a straight conversation about where your business is.

Connect with Julie Brinkmann on LinkedIn and learn more about how revenue management, AI, and profit optimization are reshaping the future of short-term rentals and hospitality.

WORTH A READ

Stay current on the industry. Each edition covers key insights, major headlines, and the technology shaping travel and short-term rentals.

The very nature of vacation rentals is what makes them one of the more complex options within hospitality. There are many variables and many opinions. 

That is why many people bet on technology to make managing them easier. But it is not about simply piling on new technology. It is about educating your partners and understanding that humans are still essential, especially at the last mile. 

This newsletter and podcast are brought to you thanks to AJL Atelier.

AJL Atelier is a globally recognized consultancy, specializing in the Short-Term Rental (STR) industry, known for our unique blend of trend forecasting, consumer insight, brand strategy, and innovation.

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