The Next Chapter of Escapia: Meet Joel Schoen

For 25 years, Escapia has helped vacation rental businesses manage the complexity behind exceptional stays. Now the company is entering a new chapter — one focused on innovation, openness, and a faster pace of progress for property managers.

At the center of that chapter is Joel Schoen, Escapia's new general manager.

Joel brings roughly 20 years of experience across vacation rentals, hospitality, technology, distribution, and property management. He's worked as an operator, strategist, and technology leader — a rare view of the industry from nearly every angle.

In this conversation with Tim Rosolio, Vice President of Vacation Rental Partnerships at Expedia Group, Joel shares what brought him to Escapia, what he sees ahead, and why the next generation of vacation rental technology needs to be more flexible, connected, and customer-led.

Built for the business behind the stay

Escapia's history matters. The platform has earned the trust of property managers by helping them run the operationally complex parts of their businesses. From industry-leading trust accounting  to tailored reporting and analytics, and day-to-day property management.

But a strong foundation isn't the same thing as standing still.

The opportunity ahead is to build on that legacy while creating a more modern, intuitive, and flexible platform for the evolving needs of enterprise property managers and the broader vacation rental industry.

That means listening closely to customers, moving with greater speed, and continuing to invest in the tools that help property managers operate efficiently, grow their businesses, and create better guest experiences.

As Joel put it, "We've got a great core product and a real opportunity to build on that.”

A 360-Degree View of the Industry

Joel's career has been shaped by the constant change of travel and vacation rentals. Over the past two decades, he's worked across marketplace and distribution businesses, property management, hospitality, and SaaS technology.

He's run a vacation rental management company, helped Choice Hotels and Marriott build and scale their vacation rental management businesses, and led commercial strategy, product, and operations for a software company in the space.

That combination is especially valuable in an industry where technology decisions have immediate operational consequences. Joel understands not just what a platform needs to do, but what it feels like to depend on it every day.

“I bring a diverse and unique perspective to the industry, having seen it from all sides,” Joel says.

For enterprise property managers, that perspective matters. The right technology partner needs to understand the realities behind the software: the teams relying on it, the owners and guests affected by it, the business outcomes it supports, and the cost of friction when systems don't work as they should.

Why Joel chose Escapia

Joel has been in the vacation rental industry long enough to understand Escapia's role in it. He'd partnered with the company before joining and saw firsthand the strength of its foundation.

What attracted him wasn't only Escapia's legacy, but its potential: a trusted platform with the opportunity to become simpler, more intuitive, and more powerful for the businesses it serves.

“It's got this rich history. It's been a pioneer in this industry,” Joel says. “It's a platform that is trusted, it works, it solves the core needs of our customers.”

He was also drawn to Escapia's place within Expedia Group — a position that gives customers a focused vacation rental technology business backed by the scale, resources, and investment of one of the world's leading travel companies. For property managers, that's a powerful combination: the nimble focus of Escapia, powered by the reach of Expedia Group.

Building toward simpler, more intuitive technology

The next chapter of Escapia isn't about change for its own sake. It's about practical innovation — technology that removes complexity, improves efficiency, and helps property managers perform at their best.

Joel's focus is to keep investing in Escapia's stable core while modernizing the experience around it: improving existing tools, creating more simplicity, and exploring new technologies that help customers make better decisions and deliver stronger guest experiences.

“How do we help remove some of that complexity? Make it easier for our customers, allow them to operate more efficiently, and create great guest experiences?” Joel asks.

That question captures the philosophy behind this next chapter: fewer manual steps, clearer insights, more connected systems, and more time for property managers to focus on their business — without losing the stability and trust customers already expect from Escapia.

Best-in-class connectivity, built for choice

Property managers need technology that works across the full distribution ecosystem. No single channel meets every business objective, and no two property management companies run exactly the same strategy.

That's why Escapia is building toward best-in-class connectivity across channels and integrated partners — with a goal of becoming one of the most flexible, open platforms in vacation rental technology.

Joel puts it simply: “We need to be best-in-class across all channels.”

Escapia's relationship with Vrbo and its position within Expedia Group are real advantages. But the goal isn't to limit property managers to one path — it's to give them the connectivity and choice to build the right distribution strategy for their own business across Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and more. The ambition is to help customers maximize their overall business, not just their performance on any single channel.

Customer partnership is part of the product strategy

Innovation starts with proximity to customers. Joel believes the best ideas come from understanding how property managers actually work, where their teams hit friction, and what they need from technology as their businesses evolve.

“The best ideas come from being close to the people that are using the software every day,” Joel says.

That's why Joel is making time to talk directly with Escapia customers — and encouraging more of them to share their experiences, priorities, and ideas. For a platform serving enterprise property managers, that relationship isn't optional: the needs of a growing portfolio or a multi-market operator can't be understood from a distance.

The best of both worlds for property managers

Escapia's next chapter brings together strengths that are rarely found in one place:

• The specialized focus and nimbleness of Escapia
• The financial backing, scale, and travel ecosystem of Expedia Group
• Deep vacation rental and hospitality technology experience
• A commitment to customer partnership
• A more flexible, open approach to connectivity
• A faster pace of development focused on practical business impact

A leader who understands the business behind the technology

The interview closes with a glimpse of Joel beyond the business. His favorite vacation rental amenity is a kitchen, where his family cooks and shares meals together while traveling. He prefers an aisle seat, for the freedom to move on longer flights. And his bucket-list destination is Africa, for a safari.

Those answers are personal, but they reflect the same thing the vacation rental industry is built on: creating space, flexibility, and experiences that make travel memorable.

“I'm really excited about the opportunity here,” Joel says. “We've got a great core product and a real opportunity to build on that.”