Midweek interview with Dan Lynn, VP APAC, HomeAway

The challenge for the industry is… Trust. Our travellers have incredible experiences, but if you’re new to the whole process of booking a holiday home, you want to be sure the company you’re booking from is one you can trust to give you a great holiday home.

The things I like about my job… HomeAway and Stayz are the global and local market leaders in holiday home travel, but the market is evolving so fast that the opportunity ahead is more exciting than anything that has happened so far.

If I didn’t work in travel I would be… It would have to be something that similarly creates those unique moments in people’s lives that they treasure. If you are going to throw all your energy behind an endeavour, it should be something that creates the sort of positive chi that travel does.

Virgin or Qantas? Both are great airlines with great products. I’m lucky enough to get to fly on both.

My proudest moment was… The professional answer would be adapting a western business to become a market leader in Japan, but nothing beats holding my daughter in my arms for the first time.

The naughtiest thing I ever did was… Unprintable

I try to relax by… Running. It doesn’t exactly clear your head, more it provides a steady metronome for thinking things through in a controlled way.

If I can, I always try to avoid… Personal conflict and apportioning blame. There are very few bad people in the world, when tension arises it’s more often due to people approaching a problem from different ingoing contexts and assumptions, so it’s better to try and understand these.

I really wish I had… Taken a gap year before or after university and backpacked more. I missed experiencing more of the world in a way you can only do when young and broke.

The best advice I’ve ever received was… Follow your passion. Somehow I ended up being asked to take Richard Branson to lunch while I was at uni, and his advice was that whatever your passion is in life, follow that, as its only when you follow your passion that you’ll throw all your energy and ideas behind whatever you are working on and really do your best, and be energized by the work you are doing.

I don’t understand why people… Don’t strive to change things that they disagree with. The worse that can happen (in most countries at least), is that you are told no at some point.

My greatest weakness is… Impatience. When my team has a good idea, I really want to see it in action immediately.

And my greatest strength is… Self-awareness.

If I was prime minister I would… Focus on fixing the longer-term issues such as climate change and ensuring affordable long-term commitments. I’d probably then get voted out by a dissatisfied electorate.

If I won $1 million on the lottery I would… Invest it in low P/B, high ROE stocks.

If I could be someone else for one day I would be a… Architect. There would be something immensely satisfying in seeing an idea on paper appear before you.

I’ve always wanted to travel to… Patagonia. Being outside surrounded by nature in a part of the world that would be completely new to me.

My favourite holiday was… Traveling the Nile in Egypt with my wife.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au