The Check-In
The real scoop on the deals, the data and the drama in short-term rentals.
The Check-In
STR News Round Up
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
New York's 'own goal', the AI voice revolution and a preview of the latest Scale events:
What happens when a global event like the World Cup meets hyper-restrictive rental regulations? Leo is joined by Steve Taggert and Damian Sheridan to discuss why New York City is missing out on a massive tourism windfall, and why New Jersey is the one cheering from the sidelines.
The trio dives into the "boring" trajectory of Airbnb’s latest updates, the risk of "corporate homogenization" in hospitality, and a fascinating look at the future of guest communication. Steve shares how he is using a conversational AI layer to handle 92% of guest inquiries via WhatsApp and voice, proving that technology can actually make hospitality feel more human, not less.
And with Scale with AI and Scale UK just around the corner, Damian and Steve discuss what we will be treated to, at the events this June.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the check-in. You'll see I'm joined by two familiar faces today. We've got Steve and Damien. Hello, chaps. How are we? Good afternoon, Leo.
SPEAKER_00Great to be here in person. Love it. Indeed. Yeah. I know I've got the microphone. I can talk. Yeah, very good, thank you.
SPEAKER_02Our second time, I think, Steve. Well, definitely our second time. Second time recording here. You let me use the space when I first moved, remember?
SPEAKER_00I do. You like this office, don't you, Lady?
SPEAKER_02I do. I didn't have Wi-Fi at the time. It was really nice. Except I kept showing up and then it got weird, didn't it?
SPEAKER_00It's great on a sunny day like today when you can look out the look out the window over the sea and you know. Yeah. That's what Brighton's all about, if you can get it. Two days a year, it's perfect.
SPEAKER_02Um all right, guys, so let's get into it today. I'm going to start by talking about um a topic that's hot for us at the moment, which is the World Cup. We're all big football fans. Um one thing I think it's fair to say is that short-term rentals provide really, really good accommodation options when you have events in your towns, in your cities, when things are stretched. And by the looks of things, talking about um stuff that's going on and that's topical, it looks like New York's missing out because they've got really, really strict short-term rental rules, and as a consequence, they're not catching this World Cup boom. But the great state of New Jersey is taking all the bookings. Um, guys, what what do we think? Is this an own goal from New York City?
SPEAKER_00Sounds like it, doesn't it? Sounds very much like it. And it's one of those um be careful what you wish for. You know, New York being really strict on the short-term rental market, and all of a sudden they have one of the, if not the biggest event in the world, um, certainly most internationally renowned, and um, you know, all of a sudden they haven't got the spaces to host everybody. So New Jersey's a winner.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's it's really interesting, isn't it? Like, I feel like there's uh especially with these once in a four-year type of events, it's not like it's every single summer and you could say, well, I don't want it here every summer. Like Edinburgh Festival might be a good example. Some locals love it, some don't love it. But wow, something like this every four years seems like a loss. What do you think, Damien?
SPEAKER_01See, look, the three of us massive football fans, and we perhaps uh know m more than maybe your your average person, how much the World Cup means to your your average football or soccer fan. Um yeah, every four years, it's a it's a huge gig, even if our team doesn't get there. We we love it, we absolutely love it. Uh look, I guess the conversation about New York, New York City, and short-term rentals is a slightly different one. But yeah, they uh have absolutely dropped the ball here, and and there's been no significant change in affordable housing in New York um since this ban was introduced, what was it about two years or so ago? I'm guessing maybe maybe two or three years. And now, you know, your your average football fan who wants to go to see these these games at I mean that the stadium is in New Jersey. Um, you know, we have to recognise that. But how many people want to experience Manhattan uh as part of their trip? Imagine like families now, if they you know they they really only have the option just to stay in New Jersey because short-term rentals are effectively banned, I think, unless you've got a host in the same in the same property with you, which is you know quite unlikely. So it's just it's just a yeah, it's an own goal all round. It's it's a poor experience. Um, and for all of those games, you know, not being able to take in Manhattan as as easily as you might want, that's it's it's it's disappointing, I think. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It it to me it brings out the wider debate though, like uh you know, we as an industry, why are we allowing ourselves to always be on the table instead of, you know, sorry, on the menu instead of at the table. It frustrates me. Like, you know, surely there's something that could have been done to give people a limited period of time where they could have rented out. But we're just nowhere near these discussions with policymakers. It's so frustrating.
SPEAKER_00It's super frustrating. I think um You know, when you think about the you know, the extra income we bring into all of our cities, all around the world and and towns around all over the world. Uh and you know, the the extra income revenue we bring into bars, hotels obviously for use of their function facilities, to restaurants, uh amusement arcades, ice cream parlours. I mean it's crazy to be missing out on that revenue. I I certainly know in our case here in Brighton, you know, um our our our guests alone, just for a small property management company in Brighton spent ten million pounds in the local economy last year. When you rolled it up for two thousand rentals in in the city, you know, that's two hundred million pounds for a small city of three hundred thousand people. Um and yet we're still on the bleeding edge of being considered a serious um part of the tourist accommodation mix.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's frustrating, especially given the fact that if you're in a short-term rental, you're much more likely to go and eat your dinners out and about in a restaurant and not in said hotel. Um let's move to a topic that we got onto last time quite heavily, which is Airbnb. Now, I'd like I'd would like to hear m what your current experiences are, Steve, with with Airbnb. But before we do, I read a piece in the news about how they are bringing in um airport transfers general, like in the US bringing in transfers and just general you can book cars. And I found the news initially very disappointing that here we are, and people looking for this next great bit of innovation from them, and that's all they could come up with. And the question I wanted to pose before we go on to just like what's what's going on at Airbnb at the moment, how what's it like being a host working with them, is are they going a bit stale? Is it all going a bit boring?
SPEAKER_00Look, I they've definitely got to innovate a little further. Um I'm not sure that that's the right route, being the Uber of short-term rentals is is not really the I'm sure they wouldn't class it as that, but that's basically what it is. They're taking the peak bit of business out of um Uber, which is airport runs, uh, and trying to trying to you know monetize that. It's not very exciting, is it? Um, you know, but there's plenty more things they can do. Um, but you know, they have to stick to the knitting. Uh and I think they've lost their way with that a little bit over the last two years. My relationships go back 11 years with Airbnb. So um, you know, an early adopter in the UK as well. Great relationship with them as a as a partner, as I've spoken to you about before. And the last couple of years that's definitely, you know, that's been kicked into the kicked into the grass a little bit. Um I you know, I'm hoping that comes back, you know. Um my experience with Airbnb has been patchy over the last couple of years. We're lucky to have a fantastic account manager at Airbnb. Unfortunately, uh on a lot of cases his hands are tired when he's trying to get stuff resolved, you know. So um the jury's still out for me on Airbnb. Um, you know, we're gonna talk about conferences soon, but um they have been in touch and asked me to meet with them at the Short Stay Summit, um, some high-level managers from Airbnb to discuss how we can build these bridges again. Uh and I'm glad they've done that. That's uh that's a positive step forward. If they're if they're gonna do anything about it, we'll we'll we'll see. Because uh every time I seem to run into a problem, it seems to be some anonymous department that deals with it who um has absolutely um, you know, th they just don't seem to have a line manager to be able to reach out to and say, this is wrong, you know. Um as much as my guys doing as best as best he can. Um I think there there needs to be some thought process to their organization um as a whole.
SPEAKER_02You say stick to the knitting. I love that phrase. So really, would your view, and don't know if you put words in your mouth, would your view be as a property manager that they shouldn't be stretching into new verticals, but just essentially d providing a good service to hosts and guests?
SPEAKER_00Look, we've all done it. Leo, you've got a business, I I've got a business, Damien's got a business. We've all gone down a pathway that's led to a dead end or causes problems when we first went into it, we were doing it with complete enthusiasm, and we got to the halfway down the road and realised actually this is going to cost me a lot more money than I thought, and actually it's not gonna give me the return I thought. And while I'm doing that, I'm taking my eye off the ball and not looking after for me, number one, um, our guests and owners. Um, you know, because I was too busy running down the road of another technological step because I love my technology. So um, you know, we've I think we've all been there. I've certainly learnt from it. I know Damien we're we're really good friends, and I know he's learnt from that experience. I think I hope that Airbnb maybe do the same, get back to what they're really good at, which is, you know, putting people in properties, giving them unique experiences of of properties all over the world, and um, you know, a and working with professional property managers like myself, uh and furthering that relationship.
SPEAKER_01What do you think, Damien? Um I'm you you you you said did you say the word dull? No, what was your your word for this, Leo, when you were describing this this move? Did I say boring? Did I say boring? Something along those lines. I I actually I think it's a bit sad um because uh uh uh uh profit margins are so tight for property managers now. Airbnb clearly want to own the whole process from from end to end from the guest booking process, be it travel, be it any uh any additional um upsell that a property manager might might be able to offer, uh like travel like um transfers, like um in stay in chefs, for example, all of these experiences where that guests might want to book, where then whereby they may have actually booked it with the property manager in the past, property manager may have got a little kickback from a partner or something like that, those opportunities are now really slim. And if Airbnb want to take over the whole process from start to finish um and cover all options, you know, the the the just not only the property manager is gonna lose out, but the local providers are going to lose lose out. So I j I just find the whole um the the ambition of of Airbnb to try and just take over everything is is a little bit sad.
SPEAKER_00I I can add a little bit to that. I mean I think there's actually a missing point there, um, in that actually the experiences are gonna change too. The experience has become much more corporate because um those that are providing the experience, which in the past would have been absolutely you know unique. A chef isn't just a chef, a chef comes with several layers of what makes them special because they make special things. A chef is an artist, effectively, but that chef is now effectively serving up, you know, one step up from McDonald's, you know, because that's what Airbnb want them to achieve. Um, you know, Airbnb are not the experts in in creative arts. Um they're just not. Um what they are good at is building systems uh um and marketing, they're fantastic at marketing, building systems, really good at marketing, um, connecting with the guests and connecting them with a host that has a unique stay.
SPEAKER_02I think when it works at its best, that's exactly what they do, and they can showcase an area's brilliance. And then it's up to that team on the ground to make that person want to come back. So, you know, like they can be like so Airbnb can make Brighton feel like a great place to visit through its marketing, through its website. When they actually get there, I d I think it's hands-off Airbnb, right? Like, let's let those local people run it and build it. Otherwise, the whole thing just becomes so much more generic. Corporate homogenizes as you say. So yeah, I think SAD is an interesting way of is an interesting way of putting it, Damien.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I a corporate. I think that that's a you know, you uh how many of us want a giant San Francisco corporate company taking over the the every step of the guest booking journey? I certainly don't. You know, and it's this isn't an anti-OTA sentiment at all. It's really just about looking after the property managers or or hosts and the whole ecosystem around that. Um and uh uh for me that shouldn't be taken over because it it's it's hard enough for for property managers, you know, to not necessarily have the guest data and be able to communicate effectively and transparently with a host. Um, you know, it if if the whole procedure has been lost and you know you only have that certain percentage of uh of profit upon the booking and you can't make anything else, it's sad.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and all it does is limit the guest experience, right?
SPEAKER_00Dramatically. Um, you know, dramatically. It's um it's limiting the guest experience. And this isn't 1988 where you go on an organized tour and you get on a coach and they take you around five or six different, you know, great places to see, uh and then you go to a p a bar and have a a beer and have a meal. You know, this isn't that time. That's not what guests want. Guests are choosing our market because they're looking for that different experience than they would normally have. They want to live like a local. Airbnb's one of Airbnb's old very good marketing was you know, experience it like a local. And and it was uh, you know, I think property managers, individual hosts bought into that. You know, yeah, this makes sense. We can we can help with that. We'll give them a unique experience. Unfortunately, that's been taken away by well, first of all, the margins are are not there to be able to do it. And actually you have to work Airbnb's away or no way. That's the highway. Um which um for an experienced property manager like me is uh you know is like um i it's like putting fire, you know, is setting fire to what we do. You know, you know, Leo already, we build systems, you know, we are very professional in our outlook, but guests do get in a unique experience. If they stay with my getaways, they will come back to stay with my getaways. They're used to staying with us, they know what we do. We've created our own mini brand, if you like. And I call it a mini brand because all of our properties are different. You know, we don't have 200 apartments in the same building. We have individual apartments, individual houses, some with parking, some without, some with gardens, some with not gardens, some with sea views, some with not sea views in the city centre. You know, people get the option to choose where where they want to go. But I think, you know, people want that with experiences. They want different they want a different flavour.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I agree. I think if you're right, you can't have both, you know, is Airbnb shouldn't be greedy in that respect. It's like if you want to bring unique inventory to the platform and not just service departments. This is not this whole service department website. You have to accept they have different ways of working and you have to allow for that. And the best way to allow that is to get out of the way and let them talk to their customers, right?
SPEAKER_00But but why why why are they adding these extra things on Airbnb? Is it because they're looking for new ways to find money, or is it because actually their core is to make as much money for them as it used to? We don't know the answer.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I agree. I think it's a it's a really good question. Uh my my gut tells me it's it's about trying to also um play in the guest loyalty space, right? It's trying to it's trying to, you know, that I think they are worried increasingly that that the guests can just come back and book with my getaways the second, the third, the fourth time. And then where does that leave them? So it is a play for, well, if I'm threading myself around the experience and I'm your in-stay concierge, it gets harder to book without me, right? We could talk about this one all day, can we? I really like this one. This is fun, isn't it? It's good. We should do this with a beer in our hand, that'd be nice, wouldn't it? I totally agree. We could do it in about 20 minutes. Yeah, I've got the car anyway. Sounds better when you say it. Got the car is the truth. Um Damien, this year we've uh tell us about what you've what what um which scales event scale events you've already had, what's coming up, and crucially, what's different what's being talked about in the room now as opposed to what was being talked about a few years ago.
SPEAKER_01I don't want to go too much down the AI route because obviously AI is people are just quite obsessed with AI. Namely Steve. Steve is right. Actually, we're looking at some screens here that are uh using Claude and and the likes. Um but that is the you know, that that that is the biggest trend at the moment. Um But look, we're we're seeing other topics uh that have been spoken about in the past, like say revenue management. Oh, always is something that that property managers have in common. But uh something that's really interesting is the um how property managers, what I'm seeing is they're not just relying on dynamic pricing and and setting it, it's how involving a revenue manager now as well, and just seeing like like some of these tools don't necessarily work for themselves. You know, we really need to um be a part of it. I know, Steve, you've had revenue managers working with you well for years now. Um, but I I see that across the board. Uh direct booking uh strategies are always important. We kind of see similar things really over the last couple of years. I'd say AI is is probably the biggest change. Uh but yeah, we've had scale um uh Central and Eastern Europe last week. That was that was amazing. That was so good. It's great to see our our partners and property managers in uh in Bulgaria, but across that whole region. We met so many from uh Chechia, so many from Poland, and just the the the enthusiasm to embrace and take on these uh AI products and and um and just talk about it and learn is just so rewarding to see. So it's it's great.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I love it. And obviously we'll always gather the same for Scale UK, and you've got a dead you said you didn't want to talk about AI, we've got a you've got a whole day dedicated to AI.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we do, yeah. We've got to scale with AI um in Brighton on the 9th of June. Yeah, really because it was starting to take over most conversations, and we thought we can't have every session in Scale UK, you know, speaking about uh or you know, loosely focusing on AI. So we said let's dedicate one day, the day before, the 9th of June, to to AI. Got some amazing speakers coming. Uh several from the US as well and Canada. Uh Graham uh from Sykes is going to be there. So, and uh your good self, Steve. So we're it's it's gonna be a fascinating and uh we're hoping it's really a pioneering day. Right.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna stand outside, haven't got a ticket, but maybe someone let me in. Um Steve, my friend. Um we have to talk about AI. It's never been a time that I've been involved in the industry where things are changing so rapidly in the day-to-day of being a property manager. Can you give us a little bit of a flavor of that? When it when it comes to TetStack, how you're thinking about your systems. I I know you've always been someone who doesn't buy a load of technology, right? You tend to build it yourself. So for you, especially, this is like you're a kid in a kid in a sweet shop right now, right?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. I mean, you know, um I'm trying to embed it into AI into all nooks and crannies of of my team, but there, you know, there are there's some stuff happening out there at the moment that could have only have happened in the last three or four months at most. Um we are at the bleeding edge of some of the new technology. It's really about having conversational layers um across the top of your existing systems. You know, for instance, um we're playing and beta testing a toy called um Sidekick at the moment. And this Sidekick from the guys at Borenhost uh.ai, um these guys are looking at adding a conversational layer to your PMS, for instance. And you can actually have a conversation with your own data. But you can have it in a conversational way, not just send me a spreadsheet of this or download me a CSV so I can analyse. No, no, analyze the data for me and tell me what I should be looking at here. Um these are the next, this is the next dimension of of AI as far as I can see for our sector, is adding these conversational layers on. So your existing tech stack, um, which we've done with our own self-built PMS um with voice agents and WhatsApp agents have been around for a long time. Some great companies in the space that have um Boom particularly have been you know groundbreaking in uh adopting AI and adding that to their PMS, and they'll definitely be adding conversational layers to it. But that really for me is the next step. But from from our point of view, um, you know, actually training your voice agents for your guest facing or voice agents, uh, and there isn't many out there doing it at the moment to actually understand what the guest is saying, empathize what the guest is saying like a human being, but like a human being that isn't having a bad day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is absolutely gold dust. You know, and I think about um our engagement um and how much AI is lifting within a very few short weeks on a voice agent. I think we're about five or six weeks in now. You know, we're we're hitting just on voice alone, 70%, but our overall communications, 92% we're hitting, um now are being handed by AI a first portal call, and actually in most cases they're wrapping up the conversation too.
SPEAKER_02That's fascinating, isn't it? And um you played something to me when we had a drink a while ago and it when it was in its early stages. Can you just give, just for the people at home, just uh what what does the guest do to access it? Like how how does that like how does that work for them? What what do they see?
SPEAKER_00Well, well let me ask you let me ask you in a in a very AI way. How what do you think the guest has to do to access it?
SPEAKER_02So I would imagine that they are reading something in the house rules that gives them a phone number to call. Is it like that?
SPEAKER_00Well let's go let's go well further back than that in the guest journey. Let's go back to the guest has just booked. The guests are getting information sent to them via uh AI with um a WhatsApp number straight away. So they can call or they can sp they can text that WhatsApp number. That's our communication tool. So right from the from the second that the guest has booked, they've got a line of communication to us. Let's say the guest, which most guests, as any property manager anywhere in the world will already know, you can send as much structured data as you want to to a guest. Really can. You can send them millions and millions of emails and lots and lots of text messages. If they read one or two, you're very lucky. Guests don't communicate in that way anymore. They buy with their eyes instead of buying with their photos, and they want to talk either with their mouth or they want to talk via communication tools they used to, like WhatsApp, for instance. Absolutely number one, head and shoulders above the other. So if you give them a comfortable way to contact you, immediately they're not going to read anything you send them. They're going to use that comfortable way of having a conversation. And guests are already got that AI agent in their hand. In the most cases, actually, uh from our experience and seeing the conversation, in the main, guests do not realise they're talking to an AI agent, especially on WhatsApp, but even on voice, they're engaging in a conversation with them that is out of the realms of the stuff that I ever expected. But most importantly, the AI um agent is is responding in a way that kind of blows me away at times. So conversational.
SPEAKER_02That's fantastic, isn't it? That that makes a lot of sense. So you're meeting them on a tool they're already using, and that's how you start the whole process. And that allows them to go to to phone that communicate so so the voice agent or the or the chatbot is all is all within WhatsApp.
SPEAKER_00Or the same number. It's actually the the text is in WhatsApp. As far as they're concerned, they're calling one number. They're calling or texting one number either on WhatsApp or they can call that number. They can call on a normal landline if they want to. That number would would still, if you give them the booking reference, they'll still recognise that they are. If they call from their mobile phone, it doesn't matter how they communicate with them. As long as as long as it's coming from that mobile phone, the um the voice agent or WhatsApp agent will recognise that person immediately. Greet them, say hi, what can I help them? What can I do to help you today? I need to know the Wi-Fi code. Yeah, no problem. Do you want me to text it to you or WhatsApp at you, or do you want me to read it to you over the phone? It's that simple. Yeah, I love it.
SPEAKER_01It's great. Damien? If I can just come in there, uh from a guest perspective, uh like yeah, you're both of you, uh travel a lot and stay in many places throughout the year. I'm a real planner. When I go somewhere, I'm a planner. I want to know exactly where the place is, you know, how do I get there from the airport, or the nearest restaurants, or or whatever. There is this tendency, especially on Airbnb properties, to only give you the important information within 24 hours of your stay. That to me, it drives me mad because I want to know it where everything is, especially if you're coming in late. Um and and I include hotels in this as well. So for me to have that a point of contact to ask any question I want about the property where that I know I'm gonna get that answer when I need it and not have to wait for this this procedure whereby it'll be sent out 48 hours, 24 hours prior to the booking. I would love that. And um, you know, I'm not really I'm not relying on having maybe to find a document somewhere that might be hidden. Couldn't agree more.
SPEAKER_02Couldn't agree more. It's it's the idea that you don't know where it is. Yeah. So was it emailed to me? Am I supposed to log into a portal they're using? Where am I? What am I doing with it? The idea that it's in one place and I can communicate with it. Plus, it it's it's funny, isn't it? Because we talk about um the use of AI and you think it becomes you think about systems and automation, but really what you've just described there is a much more natural way for a human to want to communicate. Yeah, talk and be like, Can you tell me this? Can you help me this? Oh, I've just thought actually, it's my wife's birthday. Can you you know that sort of thing is much more normal for us than oh god, which fucking email was it? I've got a rifle through this, rifle through that.
SPEAKER_00Like, you know, it's it's essentially it's all about that. You know, immediately as soon as you've booked with us, you're gonna get that WhatsApp number. And that WhatsApp number you can call, you can phone, you can ring the office number if you want to. All of them are connected to you or to your number, so that's how we qualify. We know who you who's booked. Um if you've got some three or four different people in your party, you can say, hey, can or you can call them, say, hey, can you add um my friend John, please, to the um booking? His number is you know XXXX. And uh, yep, no problem, Steve. That's absolutely fine. We'll add that to the booking. Next time John calls in, John will be able to do exactly the same. Not just you've been able to communicate with that booking, but anybody in your group that's been qualified by you, because you're the lead booker. You paid for it at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_02I love that. It's good.
SPEAKER_00It's conversational. It's called a conversational layer, but these conversational layers for now are the future, but AI moves so, so fast. Um, who knows where it'll be in six months' time.
SPEAKER_02Trying to ride the tiger, aren't we? Um Brilliant. Well, look, let's let's call it there because I don't want Damien to feel like, you know, we we want to encourage people to come to Scale with AI on June 9th to get the real uh power of Steve's brain, don't we, Damien?
SPEAKER_01So yeah, Steve will be speaking. Um he's got a session, well, kind of talking a little bit about this, but also just about automation and how you can do yourself a massive favor by um implementing AI. But as as we have many people speaking. So yes, we invite everybody to come and have uh what we think is gonna be a really a really groundbreaking day and uh and a really exciting day as well. You know, not because we're uh I see many people on LinkedIn, for example, just talking about AI solidly, like non-stop all day. At a different level. At a different level to 99.9% of everyone else, which is a really kind of uh daunting experience to see this, and you think, oh my god, I should I should be involved in this, and uh, but I don't have the time. You know, I'm I'm busy you know cleaning toilets or I'm you know I'm busy doing shit. Um but we want to kind of bring that one step back and just see, look, this this is how we can do this from from the beginning um and learn about why you should do it, but also do it in your own time. You know, we all have our somebody from Host Rate last week was explaining this. We all have our own different um educational journey or um something like that, but to the point that we're all different, we all work differently, um, and what is necessary for one huge company or one person is totally different to the next. So it's you know about learning what's important for you and how you can implement it to suit you.
SPEAKER_02Can't wait. And I always and I really do like talking to you about it, Steve, because what you do is you provide practical use for the technology. So often you go online and it's just people are are bragging. I've I've I've got a thousand agents doing all of these things for me, and it just seems very like almost your question, like, well, why? You know, what are you achieving? What's the output here? And your your focus is always on you've just got yourself into the mindset of the guest and gone, what does my guest need to feel like they're having a great experience? Okay, they want to use their phone, great, let's start there. They want to use WhatsApp, they want to use natural language, and that's how you've built it, and that's what we as hospitality professionals need to be focused on, not like, oh, look at all the agents I've got or looking at how I'm doing it. It's it because otherwise it's just uh you're just bragging on LinkedIn, right?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I think I think there's um uh definitely an element in that. I think you need to, as Damien's saying for scale AI, which is in my hometown, which I'm I'm really pleased about, but uh with scale AI later this year, it has to be about um you know bringing it back to what you're actually using it for. What's the real world scenarios here? And in the room, I would hope that nearly everybody in that room is gonna be property managers. So I would hope the property managers on the stage, like myself, um, certainly won't be going um, you know, um over their heads with it. I'm gonna um try and ensure I only have one way of doing it anyway, and that's actually finding practical uses for business tools that actually make my guest life easier, my owner's life easier, and my life easier and my team. And it give them a better experience. I mean that's what it's about, really. It's trying to get at three o'clock in the morning, you're not gonna get um a happy um guest support person, doesn't matter where you are in the world, um, you're not gonna get that. And I think taking some of that off their hands and making it easier for them means my team, and I haven't taken away any of my team from AI, by the way, um, can focus on much nicer stuff, a much less repetitive task, because humans aren't good at doing things repetitively. What they're good at is hospitality. And my team are getting used to being back in hospitality. And when there is a problem with a guest, they're a lot less stressed about it because they can deal with it a lot easier.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I love that. Love that. Guys, let's wrap it because it's there's a great bright and sunset coming, so we should all go and get a drink. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Leo, as always.