Owner Advice•1 Mar 2026•Author
Direct Bookings vs Airbnb: Digital Strategy for Edinburgh Accommodation
How Edinburgh property operators can capture high-margin direct bookings while leveraging OTAs for peak occupancy.
Verified Specialist
Founder, TwoSquares | Marketing Partner behind StaysIn
Kiril Ivanov
Founder & Performance Lead, TwoSquares | Marketing Partner behind StaysIn | 20+ Years in Hospitality
Kiril Ivanov is a digital marketing specialist, Founder of TwoSquares, and the performance marketing partner behind StaysIn. Before dedicating the past 6+ years to performance acquisition, technical SEO, and conversion systems, Kiril spent over 20 years in high-standard international hospitality — including 3 years with Carnival Cruise Lines in New Orleans (USA), 7 years with Dishoom Edinburgh (UK), and 5 years managing Buddha House in Bulgaria.
20+ Yrs Hospitality | 6+ Yrs Marketing
Born in Bulgaria
English, Bulgarian
20+ Years in international hospitality operations
Before entering the digital marketing sphere, Kiril spent over two decades working at the heart of the hospitality industry across three countries.
His international experience includes 3 years with Carnival Cruise Lines based in New Orleans, USA, delivering hospitality within the rigorous, high-volume environment of luxury cruise travel where guest satisfaction and operational standards are paramount.
In the UK, Kiril spent 7 years with Dishoom Edinburgh, one of the city's most respected and demanding hospitality institutions, gaining deep familiarity with Edinburgh's dining and tourism ecosystem, peak festival demand, and consistent service delivery.
Earlier in his career, he served as Manager at Buddha House in Bulgaria for 5 years, overseeing venue operations, staff leadership, financial performance, and guest relations.
Bridging frontline hospitality with performance marketing
Having spent 20+ years on the operational side of hospitality gives Kiril an uncommon advantage in accommodation marketing: he understands what happens on the floor, not just on the analytics dashboard.
He recognizes how check-in friction, cleanliness standards, seasonal tourism waves, and guest communication translate into reviews, repeat stays, and overall property yield.
This practical empathy informs StaysIn's digital strategy, aligning marketing promises directly with guest reality to protect owner reputations and drive sustained direct-booking revenue.
Performance marketing & digital growth
Kiril specializes in full-funnel digital acquisition, search engine optimisation (SEO), conversion rate optimisation (CRO) and paid media architecture.
His career spans both large-scale international enterprise campaigns and high-growth independent companies, with a strong focus on building measurable, high-return digital systems rather than relying on vanity metrics.
His background includes leading advertising automation for global fashion retailer Michael Kors, as well as executing digital campaigns involving Canon, Dormeo, esure, DLG Group, Village Gym, and the Advertising Standards Authority.
Hospitality & accommodation experience
Within the hospitality and luxury accommodation sectors, Kiril has extensive hands-on experience guiding performance campaigns for prestigious Scottish and UK properties and hotel groups, including Cameron House, Crerar Hotels, and Cromlix Hotel.
This experience provides a deep understanding of traveller booking behaviour, high-intent seasonal demand, direct-booking incentives, and the delicate balance between third-party OTAs (like Airbnb and Booking.com) and direct brand reservations.
These principles directly inform StaysIn's direct-booking growth, empowering Edinburgh property owners to maximize net revenue through full property management and targeted pricing strategy.
TwoSquares: Strategic marketing partner behind StaysIn
As Founder of TwoSquares, Kiril leads the marketing agency that powers StaysIn's digital presence, search engine dominance, and direct-booking channels.
TwoSquares partners closely with StaysIn co-founders Angel Luis Almonte Perez, Solene Capaldi, and Joanne Higgins to connect Edinburgh property owners with premium management services and introduce domestic and international travellers to quality stays across Edinburgh and East Lothian.
From technical SEO audits, site speed optimization, and dynamic schema architecture to local search visibility, content strategy, and conversion rate testing, TwoSquares provides the complete marketing engine behind StaysIn.
TwoSquares is an active member of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Institute for Paid Media, advocating for transparent performance measurement and ethical data governance across the digital industry.
Technical architecture & data measurement
Kiril's technical expertise bridges modern web technologies (Next.js, React, Google Tag Manager server-side tracking) and analytical decision-making.
He builds robust tracking pipelines (GA4, server-side attribution, Meta Conversion API) ensuring every marketing pound and visitor interaction is accounted for with high data integrity.
This technical grounding enables StaysIn to present clear, transparent performance reporting to both guests and property owners exploring management options and results.
Editorial Perspective & Standards
“When writing about hospitality operations, property performance, and digital growth, Kiril combines 20+ years of frontline hospitality experience with 6+ years of technical data engineering. Having managed hospitality operations on cruise liners, landmark restaurants, and entertainment venues, he views short-term accommodation through the dual lens of guest satisfaction on the ground and commercial ROI in digital channels. Rather than treating marketing as isolated promotion, he advocates for unified operations where guest experience, service quality, and search visibility reinforce each other.”
Published & Reviewed Work
Articles written or professionally reviewed by Kiril Ivanov on StaysIn
1 article