VRS654 - VRNation, Education, and the Next Chapter of the Vacation Rental Industry
Release Date: 03/11/2026
VRS677 - Who Decides What Good Looks Like?
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Most people in short-term rentals describe how they got started with a slight apology...
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VRS676 - My AI Tool Stack, and What It Actually Costs
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Five days before recording this episode, Heather added an AI agent called Viktor to...
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VRS675 - If You Don’t Own Your Guest, You Don’t Own Your Business
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Twenty-five years ago, Heather could get on the phone with every guest who booked...
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VRS674 - What Hyperlocal Really Means, and Why the Owner Is the Real Customer
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode started on LinkedIn. Gil Chan posted about hyperlocal property...
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VRS673 - When the Work Comes First, the Magic Follows
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Paul Anderson first appeared on the Vacation Rental Success Podcast in 2021, when he...
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VRS672 - Direct Bookings, AI Websites, and the Search That's Changing Everything
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Gil Chan came at the short-term rental industry from a direction most operators...
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VRS671 - 10 Things I'd Do With AI If I Was A Property Manager Again
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode almost wasn't the one you're hearing. Heather had already recorded,...
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VRS670 - When Hospitality Leads and Tech Follows
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sab Mulligan came into the short-term rental industry from a decade in media...
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VRS669 - Connectors, Skills, and the AI Business Brain - with Jodi Bourne
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Jodi Bourne is back for the latest installment of the new regular segment with Heather, built around a simple premise: AI is moving...
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VRS668 - Purpose Before Polish: AI in Business and Hospitality
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by Lodgify If you have been thinking about building your own direct booking channel and reducing your reliance on the OTAs, Lodgify is worth a serious look. It brings your booking website, channel management, guest messaging, and unified inbox into one place. VRS listeners can get 20% off yearly and bi-yearly plans with code VRS-20, valid through to the end of June. Visit Lodgify and use code VRS-20 to get started. ...
info_outlineIn this episode, Heather Bayer sits down with Heidie Henriksen, Executive Director of VRNation, to talk about how the organization is helping to strengthen the short-term rental industry through education, collaboration, and community.
Heidi shares her 25-year journey in the vacation rental industry - from starting as a host, to working in property management and technology, to now leading a national nonprofit focused on supporting operators across the sector. They discuss the evolution of VRNation, the success of its roadshow events bringing education directly to local markets, and the launch of the new VRNation Pro Academy, designed to raise professional standards across the industry.
Heather also shares a quick update from Gulf Shores, Alabama, and talks about the upcoming 2nd cohort of the AI Ambassador Program, launching in early-April.
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📣 STRAIT Chat & the AI Ambassador Program
This episode is brought to you in part by the STRAIT Chat Community - an exclusive space for short-term rental pros who want deeper conversations, smarter systems, and more collaborative learning.
And if you're curious about using AI in your business - whether it's for guest communication, operations, or even marketing - check out our AI Ambassador Program. It's designed to help you learn, lead, and get hands-on with the tools shaping the future of hospitality.
🌐 Learn more and join us at VacationRentalFormula.com/AI
Are you listening to this podcast on the move? Get to the show notes here:
https://www.vacationrentalformula.com/podcast/VRS654