Why Joining a Hospitality Association is Critical for your Business Success

Welcome to the Boostly podcast. My name is Mark Simpson and I give hosts all over the world the tools, the tactics, the training and the confidence to increase their direct bookings and cut down on their over reliance on Airbnb and the OTAs. And today I wanted to sort of go back to the roots of why Boostly was created. And the reason why Boostly was created is because when I went to hospitality association meetings in my town, I noticed that there was a big lack of support in marketing and training from our local tourism board and from our statewide tourism board. On the back of that, I created the hospitality community and the rest, as they say, is history. Now the question that I posed in a Facebook group was, are accommodation associations still a good resource for hosts? And I got speaking to somebody who has been on both sides of the tape who, who has joined an association in the UK and Australia and now, due to the fantastic work that she's been doing, is actually a director and a part of the Astra board. And the conversation that I wanted to have today with Kieran is a little bit about her background. So found out about how she got into hospitality, you know, how she came to get the property in the UK and then obviously moving out to back to Brisbane and Australia. What they're doing at Astra, what Astra is all about, and why a host should look to join an association, whether it be a local one, a statewide one or an international one. This is the first ever podcast that Kieran has put together. And if you could just do a massive favor in the comment section below or jump into her LinkedIn and just say well done because she did so well. You know, it was, it was a podcast that we recorded early morning in the UK just because of time zones, but it's one that is very important that you all tune into. So whether you're listening to the audio in the car or walking the dog or doing the dishes, or whether you're watching the video on, on YouTube, on LinkedIn or any of the socials, please do go and say a big well done to Kieran. And if you would like to appear on the Boosted podcast, all you need to do is slide into, inside, into the DMs and we'll, we'll get you booked on. We'd love to see and hear your stories obviously as well. If you haven't done already, go and submit your, your little one minute video, vertical video to minute of me. We're looking to push and promote more of you in 2023 to go to there. It's boostly.co.uk forward/minute of me. Fill in a form, add your video and who knows, you may be appearing on one of the Boostly socials in the near future. So without further ado, let me flip my screens over and we will join in the conversation that I had with Kieran Craig Jones, part of the Astra board. Thank you very much. If you, if you won't mind, could you just please give us a little bit more about your background in hospitality, how you got started, you know, and all that good stuff, please?

Yeah, of course Zach. So approximately 15 years ago, yeah I got into short term rentals as an owner, occup, owner operator in the uk. I personally owned a small portfolio of properties up in Lancashire, so northwest of the uk. I decided to then move back to Brisbane, Australia approximately 12 years ago and then I decided I would manage my property for Lancashire completely remotely from here in Brisbane. So that was exciting and challenging at times, but over the years obviously I've kind of perfected it. And then about one year ago I was presented with an opportunity to manage people's properties here in Southeast Greenfont in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. I had a, a friend who said, oh, I'm moving to Indonesia. I know you've been remotely managing your properties in the UK from Brisbane for 15 years, so here's mine. I'm sure you can do it being a local.

And there we go. So what was the most challenging aspect of running a business that was technically the other side of the world? Like we. It's very common in America where you find somebody that lives say in New York, but their properties in Tennessee, but you know, yours is not only a couple of states away. This is like the other side of the world. What was like the most challenging aspect for yourself? What was the thing that you had sort of really sort of get around most?

I definitely having reliable people on the ground obviously, you know, having different, you know, maintenance people, cleaners and things like that. I wasn't always upfront and telling them that I lived in Australia because obviously I wanted reliability from them and then of course time zones. So you know, it's not great when a guest checks in at 3pm and it's you know, 1am here and you get that phone call. But obviously I've tried to streamline my business over there with, you know, having everything smart and then just automating my business process with, you know, PMS and add ons and you know, guest vetting and deposit holds and things like that in one simple step. So there's a good guest experience as well. And then the guests don't even know I'm on the other side of the world.

That's lovely. And would you say, and would you attribute to the fact that because your business was in the UK and you were in Australia that it really meant that you were able to sort of get ahead in the trend compared to other Australian hosts? Because we're, we're chatting offline and I feel like a lot of Australia isn't really fully aware of the automation and the tools that are available to their business. But because your business was based in the uk, your eyes were open to automation a lot more. Would you say that's a fair assumption to make?

Yes, absolutely. And I think it's because of my connections with the UK and Boostly itself that I stay up to date and I know about the different trends and the changes and things like that, which is exciting. And then obviously I pass on my knowledge to anyone and everyone here in Australia that I can do what is.

Astray, what do they do and what's your role within it and what is your goals for personal goals for 2023?

So Astra is the Australian Short Term Rental Association. We support the Australian industry of short term rental owners and operators through different things like education, information, networking, research and then a key thing at the moment, definitely the advocacy. Obviously Australia is a very large country compared to the uk. We have different local legislation changes as well as state and federal, so lots of changes going on. Like you said, I was appointed just in November last year as the one of the directors as well as the secretary to Astra, as well as three other additional directors since the formation of the new board. We did have existing board members who stayed on as well. We have, you know, been coming up with different strap plans and we've decided to form four new subcommittees which will be very exciting, you know, for hosts in Australia. They are the Advocacy and Legislation subcommittee, the Marketing subcommittee, Revenue subcommittee and the Event subcommittee.

So you are right, the size of Australia compared to UK is huge. I've actually just googled it. It's 3,000 times larger than the UK. So that is a big area to fit in and that's obviously a lot of hosts. And you know, there's a lot of people, I would say in the last couple of years who have been made aware of short term rentals and it's becoming more of a thing. So there's going to be a lot of hosts maybe coming into this market for the first time. And what I like about Australia more than probably any other country that is probably out there in the Northern hemisphere is that, you know, you've still got a governing body that is very, very, very proactive. I've got to know a lot of people over the time of the last couple of years and you know, local tourism boards still do a heck of a lot for the members in, in, in their local sub subcommittees. And you know, when I first started Boostly, it was born on the fact that there was nothing in our subcommittee to help and support. So the association is, is really strong. So there are really good associations out there around the world. But I feel that hosts now maybe would shy away from joining, maybe maybe think that the membership fee could be best suited elsewhere. But from your own personal perspective, you've been on both sides of the table. You've been on now the director side. But you know, obviously with your company being based in the uk, you joined an association first. So why did you join and what now advice would you give to other hosts that are maybe sitting on the fence about potentially joining their local or national association?

Yeah, great question mark. So with my UK properties, I'm actually a member of STAR uk. I find it very, very beneficial. They run monthly zoom calls which you can attend. Obviously not always time friendly for me, but I do try my best to join. They just keep their members up to date with changes. They, you know, inform them of different suppliers out there, different tools that hosts can use as well. So. So obviously then coming in as a director at Astra, I'm exactly the same. Like I know firsthand what I have found beneficial from being a member and I just want to get it out there to hosts here in Australia so we have a better education because, you know, obviously I don't know if hosts are aware that there is that support system here and you don't need to be a huge managing agent over here. You could just be a host with one property and just want to have some kind of support and we're here to help.

I feel like as well, companies like, like Boostly, for example, we can only help so far. We like what we like to do is to give. Hey, so this is a tip that you can try, this is like a new tool that you can try, et cetera, but with associations, like you said, they've got great connection to suppliers. So if you bulk buy, you can get a discount because you're all doing it together, part of the same program. They keep you up to date with local, national, regional legislations. That, you know, companies like Boosie just haven't got the eyes and the years for. What is Astra looking to do for hosts in 2023? What are you looking to bring in to help?

So we have an exciting year ahead of us. Obviously we have the appointment of the four new directors and the formation of four new subcommittees within Astra. Within the subcommittees, we're actually working through strap plans at the moment to identify IT areas for the assistance of coast and our members. You know, part of the event subcommittee, they are currently looking at doing regular catch ups in different states.

Nice. Lovely. And let's bring it back to your portfolio, your management company that you're setting up. What, what, what are your own personal goals for 2023? Are you looking to, to grow and expand or are you just going to test the water and see how you can juggle both roles at the moment?

Yeah, personally I, I've never had that aspiration of growth at the moment. I, I run off word of mouth so I have people find me and they say, oh, you manage your property in our complex, can you take ours on as well? Because you're amazing and we've heard all about you. So I'm definitely not out there to push my business. I'm happy if people contact me. I'm more about just, I really just want to try and educate hosts in Australia and really myself personally as a director to Astra, I really want to look after those, you know, mum and dad hosts that have one and two properties that they're obviously coming into this scary thing that they have no knowledge of and we can hold their hand through the process.

Love it. I love it. Which is, which is fantastic for, for an early entry and I definitely think more people in Australia need, need the help and support and that is why Astra is doing phenomenal. So Kieran, thank you so much for jumping in. If there's anybody who is tuning in and is in Australia or Australasia, where's the best place to reach out to you directly? How would you like someone to get in contact if they want to find out more?

They can look me up on LinkedIn if they would like. So it's Kieran Craig Jones and I'm happy to share my other contact details or alternatively they can contact us myself through Astra as well.

Brilliant. And what's the website for Astra?

So our website is myastra.com au lovely.

Thank you so much for doing this great work. I know this is your first time doing it and you are a natural. So thank you again. And we'll be back again very soon with another Boostly podcast.