About Brent Manning

Twenty years in search. One useful obsession: how people choose a place.

I help boutique hotels, wellness resorts and destination organizations turn search and AI discovery into more valuable direct demand.

The work sits between visibility and commercial action. It finds where travellers and planners choose someone else, improves the pages they discover and creates a clearer route to book, enquire or reach a local business.

Read the story

Muay Thai trainingPuerto Vallarta, Mexico

20: years working in search
40%+: organic traffic recovered at Expedia ANZ
#1: revenue channel achieved through organic search

A career shaped by places.

The route was not especially linear. The thread running through it was an interest in how people find things, make decisions and share value.

Byron Bay

A farm, a BBS and the early web

Growing up near Byron Bay in Australia led to an early interest in computers. Before search became a career, bulletin boards, printer repairs and website builds taught me how systems work and how to make them useful to someone else.

Sydney

Search became the work

Agency and in-house search work began in Sydney in 2006. The job changed constantly, but the useful question stayed the same: what is the person trying to find, and why does one result earn the next click?

Brent Manning during a visit to Google headquarters

Expedia ANZ

Inside the travel marketplace

At Expedia Australia and New Zealand, I helped recover more than 40% of lost organic traffic and grow SEO into the region’s number one revenue channel. That work connected hotels, destination pages, public relations and tourism partnerships.

Puerto Vallarta

The independent chapter

Today, the work runs independently from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Being surrounded by hotels, wellness properties and a tourism economy keeps it grounded in real choices: where people stay, what they book and which local businesses benefit.

Lessons from Expedia

The platform that appears first often owns the relationship.

Working inside Expedia showed how much commercial value is decided before a traveller reaches a property or destination website.

Marketplaces are useful, but independent hospitality businesses and destination teams should be able to compete for the demand that fits them best. The work therefore covers the complete path from search and AI discovery to the page, decision, booking action or partner referral.

Senior search strategy and hands-on implementation come together. The priorities stay tied to valuable stays, programmes, groups, visitor markets and the evidence your team can measure.

See the proof behind the work

Three niches. One direct demand problem.

Each market has a different customer journey, inventory model and measure of value. The consulting is shaped around those differences.

Boutique hotels

More valuable guests reaching the official hotel site before an OTA takes the reservation.

Wellness resorts

Clearer discovery for premium programmes, longer stays, private retreats and groups.

Destination organizations

Stronger paths from travel discovery into local hotels, venues, attractions and experiences.

Brent paddleboarding at sunset in Puerto Vallarta — Paddleboarding at sunset, Puerto Vallarta

Outside the work.

Home is Puerto Vallarta with my wife Gal and our pug. Most days include a long walk, a paddleboard, a smoothie or some time on the Muay Thai pads.

Dyslexia has made patterns, systems and unexpected connections a natural focus. Music is another outlet. Gal and I make a lot of it under Loopwalker and SavageBoost.

See the side projects

Sokal Foundation

Work should create capacity beyond itself.

In Bangladesh, the Sokal Foundation has brought together hundreds of volunteers around practical support for children and communities. It remains the clearest answer to what the commercial work is ultimately for.

Read the foundation story

Brent with children supported by the Sokal Foundation in Bangladesh

Start with one valuable demand gap

Start with a Direct Demand Review.

Bring one guest type, programme, group opportunity, need period or visitor market. The initial review will focus on it and show where the best opportunity sits.

The next step

Choose the niche that fits your business.
Share the demand you want to win.
Get a focused review instead of a generic audit.

Request a Direct Demand Review Prefer to talk first? Book a short call