The Long Game — What 54 Years in STR Teaches You About Airbnb's Big Moves

Airbnb just announced hotels, car rentals, grocery delivery, airport pickups — and flights are coming. So we asked someone who's been doing this since before Airbnb existed what he actually thinks. Tom Goodwin is CEO of Mountain Laurel Chalets in Gatlinburg, Tennessee — a family business now in its 54th year. He runs 75-80% direct bookings and only joined Airbnb two and a half years ago. His perspective on this week's summer release is unlike anything you'll hear from a typical operator. In this episode: Why Airbnb's expansion into ancillary services threatens operator revenue The review system problem nobody talks about honestly Why operators who scaled fast in 2021 are now struggling What 54 years of repeat guests teaches you about hospitality Why the pendulum is swinging back towards human connection Abundance vs scarcity — the mindset that separates the long-term operators 🎙️ Subscribe for weekly conversations on the future of short-term rentals.