VayKLife Acquired Xplorie. Guest Experience Just Leveled Up.

0:23Welcome back to Good Morning Hospitality. I'm here with Dan, who is the CEO of Vacay Life. As we're announcing some exciting news, good friends of ours over at Explory are now part of Vacay Life. And the two companies are now joining forces, gear and amenities meets experiences, which is a fun topic. I think this guest experience layer gets missed often, especially as we talk about funding and consolidation in the industry. So Dan, welcome to Good Morning Hospitality. Thanks for having me. of course this is a little last minute we kind of threw this together as i got the little scoop that you guys have made this acquisition of explorey so dan i want to ask just obviously outside of you know you guys were trying to get a deal done what is the origin of this what made the conversation with explorey start and kind of why or how did we get to the point of closing today yeah and you're one of the first to break the news as well so let's go got that scoop i like it You know, honestly, it started a few months back.

1:24We were really thinking about 2026 and beyond and trying to figure out what the growth strategy was for vacay life. And we've been very strong in beach coastal areas, have a strong reputation for providing gear, whether it's bikes, beach chairs, umbrellas, the watercraft. But beyond that, it's like, where do we grow from there? And I think that's when we started looking around and having conversations with Explorey. And we felt like we complemented each other very well. And there wasn't a lot of overlap in customers, but it really allowed us to kind of expand, you know, where we could take the business.

1:58And the way that I think about it is, you know, vacay life has traditionally been the gear and amenities that vacationers and travelers need on vacation. And Explorey is providing those activities and those attractions that people want on vacation. Right. So adding both of those together, we felt like was a pretty powerful combination that just made sense. And so far as we've started to talk to some of our partners and our customers, like you get a lot of the head shaking and the nods. That makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah, it seems like there's no conflict. And, you know, I was good friends with former CEO Matt Loney at Explorey and then obviously got to know a lot of the other team who has really stepped in since his exit at Explorey as well.

2:40And obviously like big fan of Explorey. So I'm excited by this because it's like great team, great product. I've known them for years, but I'm really curious just from a market point of view, I guess I never thought about when I go on vacation, do I have the lawn chairs? Do I have the pool toys? Do I have the paddle boards or the fun experience based gear? What kind of gap are you guys feeling for vacation rental managers? Because I know like for a small host, they usually provide a lot of things, but the bigger PMs, right? They have 50, 100, 200, 500 homes under their belt. That's a lot of equipment to spend money on.

3:19Just like, I don't know if I could put that in my P &L as an operator. So kind of tell me the gap that you guys are filling and what vacation rental operators could really look forward to as if they're Explore customers or maybe already using Vacay Life or even just struggling to fill those amenity gaps themselves. Yeah. I mean, you started off by talking about the Explorer team. And I would just like to say, since the moment we met them, we've been working on this for the past year and just an incredible team. They're so passionate about the vacation rental management industry and for their customers.

3:52And we share that same culture here. We never want anything that we do or the solutions that we provide to be a problem for the VRM. So we shoulder that and really make sure that we own that. But an extremely talented team. And I think the one thing I'd want to share too is that our customers shouldn't anticipate some massive changes, right? Like we acquired and brought these two teams together because we felt like they made each other more powerful together. And they're not going to be as powerful without that same team. So they're going to be working with the same team members, same familiar faces.

4:21You can expect a lot of the same right at the beginning. But I think when you think about like what Vacay Life and Explore really bring to the VRM and the property management groups is kind of removing some of of that operational headache, as you talked about, like there is a, a big expense and a lot of support and resources that go into as simple as a guest showing up and the bike's got a flat tire or the beach chair is missing because the last person lost it. Uh, there's a lot of expense that just keeps going, being spent by the property owners, by the property managers. Um, you know, and I think as a larger organization, we're able to absorb some of that and really make that, you know, less their worry, more of our worry.

5:03And, and we've gotten really good at it over the years. Explore has been in business for 30 plus years of AK life, 20 plus years. Naturally, these companies have come to grow. And obviously, both of us had a lot of growth post pandemic. And we've really settled in since then. And I think there's just been a lot of maturity between the two businesses and really removing some of that operational headache. But we like to call ourselves more than just an operational team too. We feel like we're a marketing company for them. It's, it's very competitive out there. Like, yeah, talked about the pandemic, and it brought a lot of properties on the market, right.

5:42And so it's even more hard today to differentiate yourselves. And I think that's a lot about why we're bringing these two organizations together. For sure. And any merger or acquisition is quite complicated logistically, right? Behind the scenes, there's P &Ls being looked at team members, roles, etc. software, operational tools, all the things. So what does a combined platform actually look like for VRM on day one, aka today versus, I don't know, six months from now? Because I know Explorey spans beyond 70 plus destinations with their experience footprint. So where does that kind of lead you guys with the equipment and gear side?

6:17But yeah, just give me the six month runway from today. I mean, day one is probably going to look a lot like it does today, right? We want to be thoughtful in the integration. The whole idea is to bring a better offering to our customers, but we want to be thoughtful in how we do that. We don't want to just integrate for the sake of integration. We want to do it where it makes sense. I think where you can expect to see us move vacay life is think about mountain areas and ski regions and lakes where we feel like we have gear and physical assets that could complement experiences very well. But maybe we couldn't go there by ourselves.

6:57Like, was there enough physical gear and assets at a lake community? Probably not standalone. But when you combine that with experiences, plus the kayaks, the paddle boards, or the skis and the equipment that goes along with your mountain stay, like you combine that with experiences, it starts to make a little bit sense. You start to create a little bit more value for the guests and for the property managers. Yeah, I love that. Yeah. And this is, I kind of want to maybe give a little tangent slash ramble to set up this next question because you and Fort Point, which is a private equity group that's backing VK Life and this acquisition, are clearly betting on the guest experience layer.

7:38Me personally, in the age of AI and every operator being inundated with a thousand AI tools now that are AI native, quote unquote, or whatever it may be. I was listening to a podcast with the founder and the CEO of WWE. He's also part of the ownership group of UFC and a bunch of live in-person experience based companies. Personally, I don't watch WWE, but I have a twin brother who does. And we went to an actual match and it was an incredible experience. I didn't expect that in-person experience to be as fun as it was. And he was on a podcast talking about how the in-person experience during this age of AI, as only as it gets better, is going to be even more important.

8:21Not just for you and me as everyday people, but for the traveler, right? Like they're traveling for Taylor Swift's Ares tour or Bad Bunny concerts or World Cup, you name the event. And so I love that this guest experience layer is being brought to light rather than another tech software integration. So what are you guys betting on with this experience? Are you guys betting on the anti-AI effect or is this really just a natural momentum move? Yeah, I think what AI is doing to our market in a lot of different areas is making everything very similar and the same, right? You could scroll through your feed and every advertisement is AI created design.

9:04Pictures are enhanced. And I think you're starting to see that with property management groups too. A lot of the same descriptions. It's a lot of copy, right? And it's going to be even more important to find ways to differentiate yourselves. And I think where these two can kind of complement and build upon that is going to really help the VRMs out. In terms of the experience, you talked about that. it like at vacate life i think the first impression is important too that that moment that you pull up to the house and you've got you know the items that you selected and they're all staged nicely and there's four bikes set up and there's the beach chairs and the umbrellas and the spike ball and the bucket ball and everything's there and ready to go for your vacation like it's it's a great first impression for a property management group um but beyond that like after the uh after the reservation that's really where the first impression and the experience kicks off is you We're providing day one, you get a shopping spree, a spending spree of, hey, here's$250 to go enhance your vacation.

10:06Let's go pick out and have some fun with the guests that you've invited. And then let's start planning what's the dinner shows, what's the attractions, what's the golf course we're going to go to. It really beyond just booking the house and having that first big expense. Now I can flip my mind to start thinking about, all right, what are we going to do for fun and how do I start planning around that? I think that's powerful. And I think property managers, when they see that and see how their guests get excited, it drives a lot of five-star reviews. It drives a lot of repeat customers coming back.

10:37They start to expect that type of experience. And I mean, you know, like the big brands have changed expectations of the consumer, right? And they, even though they're property managers and individual homeowners, they expect that, that, that, that Hilton, that Marriott experience. And I feel like we're, we're somebody, somebody there by their side that's kind of helping them give that type of experience. No, I love it. And to kind of wrap up with the final question, I know a lot of listeners of this show, um, we kind of talked about earlier on our podcast with Brandy and Michael on Monday, the day that before this episode is actually coming out.

11:15But the private equity kind of feeling in the room can be a little uncomfortable for a lot of VRMs are kind of expecting almost a a big cost of situation where just a bunch of money comes into space, does a roll up, comes in and then has a kind of epic crash. And so since you guys are backed by Fourpoint, I just have to ask in terms of what should VRMs who are thinking about partnering with AK Live Explore, the combination of the two for this different and better experience. Obviously, I think, yeah, it's just going to be pushing more and more that way. So is there any worry that they should have around a PE backed merger acquisition type situation on the experience front rather than the actual operator front?

11:59You know, I've seen good PE, I've seen bad PE. And, you know, I like to think we're on the on the good side of the on this one where, you know, you're bringing two companies together that are just ultimately better together and can achieve more than they could by their own. But, you know, I think it shouldn't scare anybody from what this means from our existing customers. I think it just creates more opportunity. I think if you really break down what Vacay Life does, it's very operational heavy in a lot of ways. Like a lot of our resources are spent driving, you know, the quality of delivery and the services that we provide.

12:31um whereas his explorer's got a lot of focus towards really you know from that marketing that sales and driving that activity and that experience you know so they they truly will complement each other very well and i think you'll see a product and an offering that i think you know it provides a little bit of choice depending on your territory and your market like what's going to make your your listing more attractive and i think you know we're gonna have more options uh it'll more options also increases utilization too of the guests so there's a lot of good that can come from it. I love it. Well, good, good answer.

13:05We'll, we'll, we'll continue to keep tabs on obviously how everything goes after the, you know, merger continues with the two companies and the teams and products. But I love it. I love guest experience layer being the focus of attention finally, instead of another AI product or a software update. So I think this is exciting news for the vacation rental sector. And we're in a year from now, probably going to have you guys back on revisit see how it's going and yeah just thanks for joining the show that'd be great we'd appreciate it thanks for the support we appreciate it my pleasure for all the listeners make sure to check out the links in the show notes if you're interested in more information about vacay life exploring and what is happening with the two companies as they continue to grow this experience based focus merger so thanks for tuning in and we'll see you guys next week.