After 20 years in institutional trading, Natasha Martsekis left banking to follow her passion for hospitality. In 2014 she founded Bright Blue Villas, a luxury villa rental company built on the principles she learned on the trading floor: trust, accountability and treating owners as strategic partners.

In this conversation recorded in the PhocusWire Studio at Phocuswright Europe 2026, Martsekis explains why that institutional approach paid off and why she wishes she had grown the portfolio faster early on. Bright Blue Villas now manages 325 villas across 20 destinations in Greece, and she sees room to scale as exceptional new properties go up on the smaller islands.

She also shares where AI fits in luxury travel. In her view it supports the human touch rather than replacing it, with the biggest gains in pre-booking, pre-arrival and repeat stays. Martsekis discusses operational challenges, destination evolution and the role of the experience concierge.

After 20 years in institutional trading, Natasha Martsekis left banking to follow her passion for hospitality. In 2014 she founded Bright Blue Villas, a luxury villa rental company built on the principles she learned on the trading floor: trust, accountability and treating owners as strategic partners.
In this conversation recorded in the PhocusWire Studio at Phocuswright Europe 2026, Martsekis explains why that institutional approach paid off and why she wishes she had grown the portfolio faster early on. Bright Blue Villas now manages 325 villas across 20 destinations in Greece, and she sees room to scale as exceptional new properties go up on the smaller islands.
She also shares where AI fits in luxury travel. In her view it supports the human touch rather than replacing it, with the biggest gains in pre-booking, pre-arrival and repeat stays. Martsekis discusses operational challenges, destination evolution and the role of the experience concierge.

A regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

A regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

In Phocus is a regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

In Phocus

Former institutional trader Natasha Martsekis explains how a banker's focus on trust and accountability built Bright Blue Villas into a 325-villa luxury portfolio across Greece and where AI fits into the guest experience.