Episode
Direct Bookings, AI Agents & Why Airbnb Fees Are Going to 20% | Mark Simpson Returns
- Published
- Jun 1, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2972
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Summary
🔥 LAST CHANCE — STR AI SUMMIT, June 23-24 | Freedom Factory, Beverly, MA Only 20 seats left. Use code "PODCAST" for a flat $1000 discount: 👉 strsecrets.com/aisummit The coupon expires Monday This is where direct bookings, AI agents, and the next decade of STR get built — live, with the operators leading the charge. Yorkshire, UK — Mark Simpson spent $50,000 on human appointment setters last year. They did almost nothing. Then he built one AI agent named Icarus. In 7 days, it closed a $5,000 deal. Cost? Less than $20. Two months later, Mark has 18 AI agents running inside Boostly. They've generated $54,000 in revenue. And he says he's never hiring a human setter again. Mark Simpson is the founder of Boostly — the company helping STR operators escape over-reliance on Airbnb and own their direct bookings. He grew up on a farm in North Yorkshire, where his family ran a BNB. Over the last decade, he's refined the most complete direct bookings playbook in the vacation rental industry. Now on his 7th appearance on the show, he's back with the rawest, most honest take on AI agents we've had to date. This is his blueprint for direct bookings, AI agents, and what's about to happen to operators who don't adapt. What you'll learn: → Why Mark predicts Airbnb's commission is going from 15.5% to 20% — and what the data shows → The 65% direct booking goal — and why going 100% direct is just as dangerous as 100% Airbnb → The 3 things every direct booking website needs that 90% of operators still get wrong → The exact story of Icarus: how Mark built his first AI agent in 2 days and made his money back in 7 → How Boostly went from a team of 20 to a team of 150 without hiring a single human → Why 0.05% of people pay for AI Pro — and how $18 a month puts you in the top 99.5% globally → The…