David Angotti, Guesty’s Chief Evangelist |

A serial entrepreneur with successful breakouts in both the EdTech and travel tech sectors, David Angotti brings a wealth of experience that: HospitableA leading property management software platform for the short-term rental (STR) industry, and had a big closing earlier this year $130 million financing roundAs Guesty’s ambassador and leader, Angotti has a front-row seat to the rapid evolution of this dynamic market. The STR sector, currently valued at $277 billion, has witnessed a surge in demand in recent years, outpacing traditional hotels. This growth has been fueled by changing traveler preferences, increased investment, and the emergence of new technologies that are transforming the way property managers work and interact with guests.

In this Spotlight Interview, Angotti addresses the challenges facing property managers in today’s STR environment and highlights the critical role technology plays in a market characterized by explosive growth, increased competition, and ever-changing guest expectations. The author, who expressed the striking changes he has witnessed since entering the sector approximately fifteen years ago, stated that there has been a shift from a niche market dominated by small businesses to a mainstream accommodation option driven by platforms such as Airbnb and supported by rapid technological developments.

The STR market has exploded in recent years. What have been the most significant changes you have witnessed and how have they affected property managers?

In summary, the industry has seen explosive growth, additional inventory, expanded investment, increased consolidation, and technology driving innovation at dizzying speeds.

When I entered the industry in 2010, the industry was primarily small businesses and the majority of travelers had never stayed in a short-term rental before; it was a niche accommodation solution. A few years later, Airbnb and online booking helped the industry rapidly gain market share and gain mainstream attention.

With interest and revenues increasing, investors flocked to the space and new technology was being developed at breakneck speeds. Most property managers agreed that solid property management software was an absolute must, but there was a lively debate about online bookings, dynamic pricing, connected home software, task management solutions and high-tech distribution of properties to increase bookings. Ultimately, each of these was necessary to compete in the newly defined market.

Small businesses were grappling with the decision to adapt to rapidly changing market dynamics or sell. Technology was no longer an option; it was necessary to compete. To complicate matters further, Covid-19 shifted the demand curve to new levels and challenged property managers in new ways.

How does Guesty’s platform address the challenges faced by property managers in today’s dynamic STR market?

The rapid evolution of the short-term rental market requires a technology partner with the right vision, funding, and team. With over a decade of experience and the most talented team in property management software, we can leverage our internal resources of hundreds of talented engineers, developers, and product managers to deliver real results for property managers.

Practically speaking, the proof of the above statement is acquisitions, team additions, best-in-class, marketing tie-ups, and rapid product iterations. If you want more bookings from Airbnb or need a better contactless arrival solution, we have you covered.

The Guesty marketplace is another way we deliver results in a practical way. Just as an iPhone user can access an app store for a multitude of solutions, a Guesty user can use our Marketplace to quickly implement new technology solutions without the usual barriers. Our marketplace includes over 100 reputable companies and we even include competitor products to ensure our users’ needs are met! Ultimately, it’s all about solving the challenges a property manager faces in their daily operations and we are neutral about who profits from the solutions.

Guesty particularly highlights its AI-powered capabilities AnswerAI and PriceOptimizer. Can you explain how these tools use AI for the benefit of property managers?

AI is an enabler for our property managers. This solution meets the property manager at the intersection of two key challenges: profitability and guest experience.

Imagine, you and your team can now effortlessly respond to a guest or potential guest in a personalized and professional way that fits the company tone. That’s exactly what ReplyAI can do 98% of the time. This scalable solution analyzes the sentiment and creates the perfect response for staff to approve. Because it’s natively built into Guesty Inbox, your team will see efficiencies and no additional training.

One of the most critical and time-consuming tasks for property managers is pricing; the bar is perfection or lost revenue. Price a unit a little too high and occupancy will drop. Price too aggressively and you will miss out on revenue and lose homeowner confidence. PriceOptimizer uses a combination of proprietary and public data to provide full market visibility and create an actionable, actionable pricing plan that generates maximum revenue for our stakeholders.

How does Guesty’s technology adapt to the unique needs of different property types and rental scales, from individual homeowners to large management companies?

While the needs of an individual property owner, a small business, and a large organization may have some overlap, they are fundamentally different. Unfortunately, too many property management software companies try to be a one-size-fits-all solution and don’t have the scale to properly serve every type of customer.

Through a combination of responsible growth and select acquisitions, Guesty is uniquely positioned with products as unique as its customers.

Aimed at homeowners and hosts with 1-3 properties, Guesty Lite takes advantage of Guesty’s technology in a unique way, but in a way that less advanced users with fewer properties can maximize. Guesty Pro is perfect for the majority of businesses – this platform is specifically designed to scale up to 200 listings and deliver meaningful results for the majority of today’s market. Finally, Guesty Enterprise is a software laser-focused on the 200+ audience segments that may need a fully customizable solution.

With a team of around 1,000 employees, we can fully support and develop all three product lines in parallel. This means winning solutions for a homeowner with one property, a business responsible for 20,000 properties, and everything in between.

What new technologies do you think will have the most significant impact on the STR industry in the next 3-5 years?

Over the next few years, AI will change the technology landscape across the board, and travel tech is bound to be an early adopter. We’ll see hyper-focused, AI-powered booking experiences that answer questions and help match travelers with the perfect property, flight, and experience. Once the traveler arrives at their destination, there will be tech-enabled solutions that help with check-in, maintenance issues, reservations, and even complaints. These solutions won’t replace human workers, but they will provide better experiences and efficiencies for both staff and guests.

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