{"podcast":{"title":"Behind the Stays","slug":"behind-the-stays-3506810","podcast_index_feed_id":3506810,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/behindthestays/feed.xml","website_url":"https://www.behindthestays.com/","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/10635360/BTS-Artwork-1400x1400.jpg","author":"Zach Busekrus","episode_count":383,"summary":"Welcome to Behind the Stays — a podcast that shares the stories behind your favorite boutique hotels, short-term rentals, and hospitality brands and the hosts, operators, and entrepreneurs who’ve brought them to life. Every Tuesday and Friday you’ll meet the military veterans, retired flight attendants, tech entrepreneurs, school teachers, single moms, hoteliers, and real estate investors who are all, in their unique ways, shaping the future of travel and hospitality. Discover how these visionaries — from all over the world — have built stunning landscape hotels in the mountains, designed bohemian bungalows on the beach, erected eclectic off-grid and nature-immersed escapes, and so much more. Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. And I’m your host, Zach Busekrus, Head of the Journey Alliance. Alright friends, enjoy the show!","last_synced_at":"2026-09-12T02:22:44.365150+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/behind-the-stays-3506810"},"episode":{"title":"This Week in Hospitality: AI-Generated Hotels That Don't Exist, Airbnb Cuts Fees for Hosts Who Bring Their Own Demand, and Google Turns the Search Bar Into a Booking Engine","slug":"this-week-in-hospitality-ai-generated-hotels-that-don-t-exist-airbnb-cuts-fees-for-hosts-who-bring-their-own-demand-and-google-turns-the-search-bar-into-a-booking-engine","published_at":"2026-09-04T07:12:11+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/behind-the-stays-3506810/this-week-in-hospitality-ai-generated-hotels-that-don-t-exist-airbnb-cuts-fees-for-hosts-who-bring-their-own-demand-and-google-turns-the-search-bar-into-a-booking-engine","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/behind-the-stays-3506810","url":"https://behindthestays.podbean.com/e/thisweekin-hospitalityai-generated-hotelsthatdont-exist-airbnbcutsfeesforhostswhobringtheir-owndemand-and-googleturnsthesearch-barintoa-bookingengine/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/dv9q7j4uxdsgerv2/TWIH_42bf4oo.mp3","summary":"TikTok Go was supposed to turn creators into a hotel distribution channel. Instead, a Skift investigation found dozens of AI-generated fake videos attached to real properties — fabricated suites, nonexistent amenities, faceless accounts — with one Sedona luxury resort racking up 17 flagged videos. The kicker: the hotel doesn't even sell through TikTok Go's booking partners. Scott says forget the AI part — someone can now recommend a hotel they've never visited, show rooms that don't exist, and disappear while the property deals with the fallout. Then Airbnb quietly drops the most telling number of the year — testing reduced host fees as low as 6% when hosts drive their own bookings. Ben does the math: Airbnb just told you demand generation is worth nine points of margin. The host does the marketing. Airbnb keeps the customer. Edwin rattles off a staggering list of global STR bans and argues this is less generosity than regulatory hedging. And Google rolls out hotel bookings inside AI mode. Edwin delivers the sharpest take: hotels get the booking, but Google keeps the reason they booked. Discovery, intent, the \"why\" — all inside Google's walled garden. Hotels become the fulfillment layer. Plus: Marriott bets big on the NFL, Booking.com lets a fake 10 Downing Street listing stay live for six weeks, and Scott closes with a rant the industry needs to hear — hospitality has a technology obsession and a people problem. Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https…","meta_description":"TikTok Go was supposed to turn creators into a hotel distribution channel. Instead, a Skift investigation found dozens of AI-generated fake videos attache…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4141,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/behind-the-stays-3506810/episodes/this-week-in-hospitality-ai-generated-hotels-that-don-t-exist-airbnb-cuts-fees-for-hosts-who-bring-their-own-demand-and-google-turns-the-search-bar-into-a-booking-engine/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/behind-the-stays-3506810/this-week-in-hospitality-ai-generated-hotels-that-don-t-exist-airbnb-cuts-fees-for-hosts-who-bring-their-own-demand-and-google-turns-the-search-bar-into-a-booking-engine.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}