A hotel sales manager is a professional hired by a hotel to develop and manage sales strategies, with the aim of increasing brand visibility, bookings and revenue.

What does a hotel sales manager actually do?

What does a sales manager do in a hotel? A hotel sales manager’s responsibilities can include:

• Identifying new markets and sales opportunities
• Developing and executing sales strategies
• Building and maintaining relationships with travel agents and corporate clients
• Negotiating contracts and agreements for events, conferences and group bookings
• Coordinating with other departments and leaders, particularly the hotel revenue manager.

What is the primary purpose of a hotel sales manager?

The primary role of a hotel sales manager is to drive more bookings and revenue. Experienced professionals will accomplish this goal by implementing a range of strategies, from targeting untapped audiences to developing more tempting hotel deals.

In this guide we’ll take a closer look at hotel sales managers through the lens of the hotels who hire them.

Why are hotel sales manager jobs important?

Hotel sales managers are valuable because they are dedicated sales professionals. Many medium-sized hotels treat sales as an extension of marketing, and therefore miss out on the vast opportunities that a dedicated sales manager and team can capitalise on.

Hotel sales manager job description example

The specifics of a job description will depend on the role – you’ll describe a freelance, remote hotel sales manager very differently to an on-site department head, for example. But for the most part a hotel group sales manager job description will be structured something like this:

• Job title: Create a clear title for the open role, e.g. “Hotel Group Sales Manager”
• Job Summary: Provide a brief, paragraph-long overview of the role in the context of the broader business.
• Responsibilities: List the key hotel sales manager duties, e.g. developing and implementing sales strategies and managing corporate/group bookings.
• Requirements: List the skills, experience and qualifications that the sales manager is expected to bring to the role.
• Benefits: Provide a summary of benefits, such as hotel sales manager salary, hotel sales manager commission structure, and career development opportunities.

Hotel group sales manager vs senior hotel sales manager

There isn’t much difference between a hotel group sales manager and a senior hotel sales manager.

As the name suggests, a hotel group sales manager works for a hotel chain or group. A senior hotel sales manager, meanwhile, can work in any hotel business – group or single property – large enough to employ multiple sales managers, a group which they lead.

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Essential hotel sales manager skills

What talents do effective hotel sales managers bring to the table? Here are five must-have skills:

• Negotiation skills: To secure favourable contracts and rates. 

• Communication skills: To build strong client relationships and work well with others.

• Analytical skills: To understand the industry trends that will inform sales strategies.

• Time management: To effectively manage responsibilities, deadlines and client communications.

• Leadership abilities: To guide junior staff and coordinate sales initiatives.

What are the strengths of a hotel sales manager?

The number one strength of any hotel sales manager is communication. Whether we’re talking about clients, sales teams or other hotel departments, a sales manager needs to be able to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, to get their job done.

What makes the best hotel sales manager?

The best hotel sales managers will combine elite communication skills with a constant drive to earn more sales. There’s no real end point to this role – the aim is to always make more money – so a great hotel sales manager will be able to maintain the hunger.

Core hotel sales manager responsibilities

Some of the key tasks that hotel sales managers are responsible for include:

Team management

Leading and supporting the sales team by setting clear goals, providing guidance and creating a collaborative work environment.

Client management

Building and maintaining strong relationships with clients to maximise satisfaction and earn repeat business.

Stakeholder management

Communicating and coordinating with internal stakeholders – marketing, operations, leadership – to ensure sales activities are aligned with the hotel’s broader goals.

Process improvement

Identifying and implementing improvements in sales processes to increase efficiency and streamline operations.

Sales improvement

Developing strategies to boost sales and revenue.

What are seven basic functions performed by a hotel sales manager?

A hotel sales manager performs a number of key functions as they manage their team, maintain client relationships and work to boost revenue. Seven of the most basic functions include:

• Setting sales targets

• Tracking performance

• Optimising sales strategies

• Coordinating with other departments

• Identifying sales opportunities

• Negotiating contracts
• Managing client relationships

“With SiteMinder’s platform, we can reach more points of sale and boost our presence in key markets. We are more efficient and we can now reach more locations while taking the same steps.”

Javier Aranda,

E-commerce Senior Manager

Palladium Hotel Group

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Hotel sales manager daily checklist

The specific responsibilities of a hotel sales manager will vary from role to role, but a daily checklist for a run-of-the-mill hotel manager might look something like this:

1. Check emails and respond to client enquiries
2. Track sales KPIs against targets
3. Review sales goals and priorities
4. Update and monitor key client accounts in the CRM
5. Follow up with potential leads and contact current clients
6. Review upcoming bookings or events with the relevant departments
7. Analyse competitor rates and market trends
8. Use insights to review and adjust sales strategies
9. Prepare for and participate in sales team meetings
10. Plan tasks for the next day and set follow-up reminders

In order to set your sales managers up for success, it certainly helps to equip your hotel with the best technology and automation on the market.

A hotel subscription is a service that allows guests to pay a recurring fee—typically monthly or annually—in exchange for ongoing benefits like room access, discounts, or special perks. This model is different from traditional bookings because it offers flexibility and consistent access, often at a reduced rate for long-term or repeat guests.

Subscriptions appeal to frequent travellers or remote workers seeking more flexible lodging arrangements, and they help hotels build a steady flow of income while strengthening relationships with their guests.

Why should hotels consider subscription plans?

Hotels that adopt subscription plans can enjoy several key advantages:

• Predictable revenue: Subscriptions ensure a steady stream of income, which helps balance cash flow during off-peak seasons. This provides financial stability and allows for better planning.
• Guest loyalty: Offering exclusive perks to subscribers builds stronger, longer-term relationships with guests, increasing the chances they’ll return to your property multiple times.
• Differentiation from competitors: A well-crafted subscription plan can set your hotel apart from others by offering a unique value proposition that attracts repeat guests who want flexibility and added benefits.

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What are the different hotel subscription models?

There are several types of hotel subscription models that hotels can explore depending on their target audience and business goals:

• Monthly or annual room subscriptions: Guests pay a recurring fee for access to a room or suite for a set number of nights per month. This model works well for business travellers, remote workers, or frequent visitors.
• Loyalty-based subscriptions: These subscriptions offer exclusive perks like room upgrades, complimentary meals, or access to premium amenities in exchange for an annual fee. They appeal to guests who want to feel like VIPs every time they visit.
• Work-from-hotel subscriptions: Designed for remote workers, these subscriptions provide access to a hotel room or workspace during the day. Guests may also receive high-speed internet, discounted food, or access to hotel facilities like gyms and pools.

How to implement a hotel subscription model

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to implement a successful subscription model at your hotel:

Step 1: Assess your guest needs

Understand your target market and what they value most. Are they frequent business travellers looking for convenience, or digital nomads who need flexible workspaces? Tailor your subscription plan to meet these needs.

Step 2: Determine your pricing structure

Set competitive pricing that aligns with your hotel’s offerings. You’ll need to find the right balance between affordability for your guests and profitability for your business.

Step 3: Integrate with your current systems

Make sure your subscription model integrates smoothly with your existing booking and property management systems. This ensures seamless coordination between subscriptions and traditional bookings.

Step 4: Promote your subscription

Market your subscription plan effectively by highlighting its benefits across your website, social media, and guest communications. Consider offering limited-time discounts or exclusive perks to attract early subscribers.

Step 5: Monitor and refine

Track the performance of your subscription model by analysing guest feedback and booking data. Adjust pricing, perks, or promotional efforts based on guest preferences and market demand.

“At first I thought it was just a myth that using SiteMinder could boost revenue. But it turned out to be true. Revenue did increase, we are also more efficient in terms of time; we can get more work done.”

Shadi Wijaya,

Corporate Director of Revenue

The Phala Group

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Hotel subscription trends for independent brands and groups and chains

The subscription model is quickly gaining popularity across independent hotels and larger chains, and here’s why:

Growing effectiveness over traditional booking models

As guests increasingly seek flexible and long-term accommodation options, hotel subscriptions offer an appealing alternative to traditional bookings. They provide guests with stability and convenience, making them ideal for frequent travellers and remote workers.

Increasing number of guests opting for a subscription over regular bookings

More guests are choosing subscriptions for their travel needs, driven by the desire for flexible lodging arrangements and access to exclusive perks. Hotels offering these services are seeing higher engagement and repeat visits.

Growing interest in introducing a hotel subscription service

With the success of subscription services in other industries, hotels are beginning to explore how these models can work for them. Hoteliers are finding that subscription services not only attract more loyal guests but also enhance the overall guest experience.

Factors contributing to success or struggle with hotel subscriptions

Successful hotel subscription models rely on understanding guest preferences, setting the right price points, and offering meaningful perks. On the other hand, poor implementation, lack of promotion, or pricing that doesn’t align with guest expectations can hinder success.

Hotel influencer marketing involves collaborating with influencers—individuals with a strong online presence and a loyal following—to promote your hotel. These influencers create content that showcases your property, offering an authentic perspective that resonates with their audience. Through blog posts, social media updates, and video content, influencers can boost your hotel’s visibility and help attract new bookings.

Influencer marketing has become a powerful tool in the hotel industry, helping hotels connect with their audience through authentic voices. For medium-sized hotels, particularly those looking to boost their brand visibility and drive bookings, leveraging influencer marketing can be incredibly effective.

What are hotel influencers?

Hotel influencers are content creators, bloggers, vloggers, and social media personalities who share their travel experiences with their followers. By working with hotel influencers, you’re tapping into their established audience and creating a more personal and relatable way to showcase your property. Influencers are trusted by their followers, and their recommendations often carry more weight than traditional advertising.

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to create a successful hotel influencer marketing program, find the right influencers, and measure your return on investment (ROI).

Why does hotel influencer marketing matter?

Today, traditional hotel marketing methods are often not enough to capture the attention of modern travellers. Hotel influencer marketing matters because it adds a human touch to your marketing efforts, allowing potential guests to see what a real experience at your hotel looks like through someone they trust. Influencer marketing builds credibility, creates buzz, and allows hotels to reach a wider audience without relying solely on traditional advertising methods.

What is the role of influencer marketing in the hotel industry?

Influencer marketing plays a vital role in boosting brand awareness, particularly in the hotel industry where visual storytelling is crucial. Influencers create engaging content that highlights your hotel’s unique offerings, from amenities to location and service quality. Their content often includes real-time reviews and experiences, helping potential guests feel more confident in choosing your hotel for their next stay.

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Why is hotel influencer marketing beneficial?

Hotel influencer marketing offers several key benefits:

1. Reach a targeted audience: Influencers have dedicated followers who trust their recommendations, making it easier to reach the right audience for your hotel.
2. Build credibility: A recommendation from a trusted influencer carries more weight than a traditional ad, increasing the likelihood of bookings.
3. Increase bookings: By showcasing real experiences and positive reviews, influencers drive repeat visits, direct bookings, and bookings through a partnered OTA.

How to create a hotel influencer program

Setting up a successful hotel influencer program involves a few key steps:

Step 1: Define your goals

Before reaching out to influencers, you need to define clear goals for your campaign. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, promote a special offer, or boost bookings during a particular season? Clear goals will guide the entire influencer marketing strategy.

Step 2: Choose the right influencers

Finding the right influencers is crucial to the success of your campaign. Look for influencers who align with your hotel’s brand values and target audience. For example, if you’re a luxury hotel, you’ll want to collaborate with influencers who cater to a high-end, luxury-seeking audience.

Step 3: Establish terms and expectations

Once you’ve selected your influencers, set clear terms for the collaboration. Discuss the type of content they’ll create (photos, videos, blog posts), how often they’ll post, and any specific hashtags or messages you want to include. Make sure both parties are clear on deliverables and timelines.

“The channel manager has been invaluable as we expanded from three to 11 channels. It made the process seamless.”

Ahmad Zainal Arifin,

Revenue & Front Office Manager

Grün Resorts

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Finding the right hospitality influencers for your hotel

In influencer marketing, it’s not only about who is influential right now, but also who is the right kind of influencer for your hotel and its audience.

Hotels that work with influencers

Look at similar hotels to see which influencers they’ve collaborated with. 

• Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts: This global luxury brand collaborates with influencers across its properties worldwide. Influencers are invited to share their experiences at locations like the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles, using visual storytelling to promote everything from hilltop spa retreats to exotic island views. This helps the brand maintain its elite image while attracting a global audience.
• Radisson Hotels: With over 1,100 properties worldwide, Radisson regularly partners with influencers to showcase its diverse range of hotels, including the Radisson Blu Bali Uluwatu. The influencers help highlight the unique experiences at these locations, such as beachside stays in Bali, through engaging content that appeals to a broad audience
• Hurawalhi Maldives: This adults-only luxury resort in the Maldives partners with travel influencers to showcase its incredible underwater restaurant and stunning coral reefs. Influencers often share breathtaking visuals that highlight the resort’s appeal as a dream vacation destination.

This can give you a good idea of the types of influencers who resonate with your target audience. You could also:

• Use influencer databases like Upfluence or Traackr to find creators in the travel and hospitality niche.
• Search relevant hashtags on Instagram (e.g., #luxuryhotels, #boutiquehotels) to discover potential influencers.
• Collaborate with local influencers to promote your hotel’s regional attractions alongside your property.

Measuring return on investment for luxury hotel influencer marketing

Measuring ROI is essential to understanding the impact of your influencer marketing efforts. Metrics to track include:

• Engagement rate: Measure likes, shares, and comments on influencer posts to gauge how well the content is resonating with your audience.
• Traffic and conversions: Use tools like Google Analytics to track the amount of website traffic and bookings that come from influencer content.
• Promo codes or affiliate links: Assign promo codes or affiliate links to each influencer to track direct bookings and revenue generated from the campaign.

Addressing challenges and solutions in your hotel influencer marketing program

Every influencer marketing campaign comes with its own challenges, but with the right strategies in place, you can overcome them.

• Challenge: Finding the right influencer who aligns with your brand.
• Solution: Use influencer databases and thorough research to identify influencers whose audience matches your target guests.
• Challenge: Measuring the true impact of influencer marketing.
• Solution: Track data such as bookings, traffic, and social engagement to get a clear picture of the campaign’s effectiveness.

A hotel blog is a section on a hotel’s website where the hotel shares useful and interesting content for its guests and potential visitors. It can include posts about travel tips, local attractions, upcoming events, and special offers the hotel is running. The goal of a hotel blog is to engage with guests by providing helpful information that enhances their stay or inspires them to visit.

Why are blogs important for the hotel industry?

For the hotel, a blog helps boost its online visibility, improving search engine rankings by using relevant keywords and regularly updated content. It also allows the hotel to show off its unique features, connect more personally with guests, and establish itself as a trusted source of travel information. Ultimately, a well-maintained hotel blog helps drive more traffic to the website and encourages bookings.

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Top reasons to start hotel blogging

It’s incredibly likely that your guests will visit your hotel’s website before their trip.

But is it informative and engaging? Does it give a voice to your hotel brand? Does it boost your property’s ranking in online search? These are just some of the benefits of including a blog.

Yes, it’s a commitment of time and resources, but it’s worth it.

Here are 5 reasons why your property should have hotel blogging. 

1. You have a story to tell

This means you have stories to share that make your property, on-site restaurant, amenities, and the surrounding destination unique and interesting.

Maria Leifer, sales and marketing assistant at the Boutiquehotel Stadthalle in Vienna, is in charge of the hotel’s blog, which is published in English and German. “You need to find out what your unique selling point is, or which topics represent you the most,” Leifer advises.

Because the Boutiquehotel Stadthalle is a “green” hotel following environmentally-sound business practices, content often relates to sustainability, including this post; “5 tips to go green.”

However, the hotel blog also incorporates information on local events, new city restaurants, holiday packages, and even job openings.

2. You want to reach new guests

A frequently-published, well-written hotel blog can bring potential guests to your website by improving your hotel’s rankings in search engines, which put a higher value on dynamic and fresh content.

Incorporate the hotel blog on your main website, rather than as a separate web domain, so it’s easier to find.

When you write posts with search engine optimisation (SEO) in mind, and use keywords in headlines and sub-headers, you can be discovered by potential guests with specific interests – like people who love cooking, gardening, or interior design.

For example, the Omni Hotels blog featured its Boston property’s claim to fame as the birthplace of Parker House rolls, and provided the recipe. You can bet this post comes up in generic recipe searches and puts the hotel in front of a completely new demographic.

3. You have a growing social media presence

You can get more marketing power from each new post by promoting it across your other social media sites. Leifer recommends using every digital avenue available to promote your blog.

“Talk about it everywhere, and especially on the internet, via your homepage and in social media channels,” she says.

4. You have a multi-layered content marketing strategy

A hotel blog supplements your overall strategy, if you strategically repurpose content. You can use excerpts in your email newsletter, on Facebook, and in Twitter posts. You can lead readers from the blog to a contest you’re running on Facebook, or vice versa.

All of these actions, it should be noted, offer measurable return on investment. You can count the page views of the blog, track the traffic from the blog to other pages on your website, and calculate how many times a post is shared or retweeted.

5. You want to react quickly to travel trends

A hotel blog can adapt quickly in response to new travel trends. Do you have a spa? Start talking about how your guests who are following the mindfulness movement can participate in guided meditation sessions there.

Blog designs can be changed, new writers with fresh voices can be introduced, and new types of content can be integrated quickly, especially compared to updating brochures and ad campaigns.

Some reasons NOT to have a hotel blog

If you plan to invest in developing and publishing a blog, it has to be an earnest effort for best results. Honestly assess your abilities to do it well. Here are 3 reasons not to bother with a hotel blog:

• You can’t update it regularly — Infrequent posts don’t improve your website’s rankings, as well as fresh and frequent content. It also reflects poorly on your business if your latest post features local Christmas markets, for example, and it’s now July.
• You just post it and leave it — New content on your blog won’t be discovered unless someone stumbles upon it on your website, or you promote it in other channels. You have to draw eyes to the blog by mentioning and linking to it on your Facebook page, Twitter feed, and email newsletter.
• You leave it to the interns — Yes, young people are adept at social media, so student interns can help publish and promote posts. But don’t completely leave it in their hands. They won’t write in the same professional voice as your seasoned staff.

How do I write about my hotel?

When writing about your hotel, the key is to craft a description that not only informs but also captivates potential guests. Here are some tips to help you create compelling content:

• Start with the essentials: Begin by covering the basics, such as the location, number of rooms, and types of accommodation your hotel offers. Make sure to highlight nearby attractions and why your hotel’s location is ideal for travellers. Use descriptive language to paint a picture of what guests can expect.

• Highlight unique features: Emphasise what makes your hotel special. Whether it’s a luxurious spa, a rooftop pool, or an on-site gourmet restaurant, these details can make your property stand out. Focus on the amenities that add value to the guest experience, such as free Wi-Fi, shuttle services, or breakfast.

• Know your audience: Tailor your description to appeal to the type of guests you want to attract. If your hotel caters to business travellers, mention conference rooms, business centres, or easy access to transport hubs. For leisure travellers, highlight nearby attractions, relaxation options, and family-friendly services.

• Create a sense of experience: Instead of just listing amenities, describe how they enhance the guest’s stay. For example, rather than simply mentioning a swimming pool, explain how guests can enjoy a relaxing afternoon by the pool with scenic views. Make potential visitors imagine themselves there.

• Use vivid and engaging language: Descriptive language can make your hotel sound more appealing. Words like “luxurious,” “modern,” “cosy,” or “spacious” evoke emotions and help guests envision what their stay will be like.

• Include guest feedback: If your hotel has positive reviews, consider incorporating guest testimonials or awards you’ve won. Social proof reassures potential guests that others have had a great experience.
• Call to action: End your description with a clear invitation to book or learn more. A strong call to action, such as “Book your stay now for an unforgettable experience” or “Explore our rooms and rates,” encourages visitors to take the next step.

Hotel blog ideas to inspire guests

Here are some blog ideas to help you connect with your audience and keep them coming back:

Showcase your hotel speciality

Highlight what makes your hotel unique. Whether it’s a signature service, luxurious spa, or stunning location, creating posts that showcase these special features helps set your hotel apart. For example, if your hotel offers eco-friendly amenities, write a post about your sustainability efforts and how guests can enjoy a guilt-free stay.

Celebrate guests

Dedicate posts to celebrating your guests. You could feature stories about their stays, memorable events they’ve held at your hotel, or even conduct guest interviews. This personal touch makes guests feel valued and turns your blog into a community-building platform.

Celebrate awards

If your hotel has won any awards or recognitions, share the news with a celebratory blog post. Highlighting your achievements not only boosts your hotel’s credibility but also reassures potential guests that they’re choosing a high-quality place to stay.

Local events

Keep guests informed about local happenings, such as festivals, concerts, or cultural events. Write guides or event previews, showing how your hotel is the perfect base for exploring what’s on offer. This can inspire guests to visit during key times of the year and create excitement around their stay.

Hotel industry insights

Share your knowledge of the hospitality industry with blog posts that offer insights into trends, new technologies, or tips for better travel experiences. Positioning your hotel as a thought leader helps build trust with your audience and keeps them engaged with your content, even after their stay.

“Our previous direct booking option was very confusing and not very user-friendly. SiteMinder’s booking engine is a lot better integrated on the website and makes it easy for guests to book. So far, we have increased our direct bookings by 15%”

Mirja Wolf,

Manager

Hotel Kragemann

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Examples of the best hotel blogs

It’s best to learn from the best for your hotel blog. Here are some of the best hotel blogs that inspire and engage their audience:

1. Radisson Hotels Blog

The Radisson Hotels Blog stands out for its rich and varied content that focuses on both travel inspiration and hospitality insights. The blog offers destination guides, travel tips, and cultural experiences for guests. It also features posts about their sustainability efforts and exclusive hotel services, helping travellers plan trips while showcasing the best of what Radisson has to offer. This mix of practical advice and behind-the-scenes hotel details makes their blog a valuable resource for both guests and potential travellers.

2. Marriott Traveler

The Marriott Traveler Blog is another excellent example of a hotel blog done right. The blog dives into in-depth travel guides and local experiences, giving readers ideas for what to do at destinations worldwide. Marriott focuses on storytelling, with real travellers and local experts sharing tips on culture, food, and adventure, making it more than just a platform to promote the hotel. This human-centric approach keeps readers engaged and positions Marriott not just as a hotel brand, but as a companion on their travel journeys.

3. Four Seasons Magazine

The Four Seasons Magazine is another great example of a luxury hotel using its blog to inspire guests. It offers content on luxury travel, wellness, and fine dining experiences, often showcasing the exclusive services offered at their properties. With high-quality photography and beautifully written posts, the blog immerses readers in the world of luxury, encouraging them to explore Four Seasons hotels.

4. Stories from Hilton

Stories from Hilton is a storytelling-driven blog that focuses on Hilton’s guests, employees, and the communities they serve. It highlights inspiring stories of travellers and team members alike, showcasing Hilton’s commitment to making a positive impact. The blog touches on real-life experiences and the emotional connection between Hilton hotels and the people they host, making it a heartfelt and engaging platform.

Agoda ads are a targeted advertising solution offered by the Agoda platform, allowing hoteliers to promote their properties more prominently. Through strategic placements within the Agoda website and app, these ads aim to enhance the visibility of hotels among potential guests by appearing in prime locations such as search results and featured listings. 

This tool is designed to help hotels attract more attention and, subsequently, increase their booking potential by reaching a wider, more relevant audience actively looking for accommodation options.

In this blog we’ll tell you everything you need to know about succeeding with Agoda ads.

Why try Agoda advertising?

Standing out to potential guests is more crucial than ever. Agoda advertising offers a powerful platform to elevate your hotel’s visibility and attract more bookings. Here’s why it’s worth considering:

• Grow your online presence: Your property gains prime positioning on the Agoda platform, immediately increasing its visibility among potential guests. You can reach potential guests through display and video banners, social media extensions, programmatic buy, and more.
• Target your audience more precisely: Ads are shown to users based on their search behaviour and preferences, ensuring your hotel reaches the most relevant audience.
• Get more bang for your buck: Pay-per-click models mean you only spend when interested guests engage with your ad, making it a cost-efficient strategy.
• Pay to play – and win: Quick setup and immediate ad visibility lead to a swift increase in traffic and potential bookings. You can advertise your listings with in-app pop ups, push notifications, and email marketing, as well as content marketing with blog posts, branded travel guides, and branded landing pages.
• Get the need-to-know on your guests: Access to detailed performance data helps you understand guest behaviour and refine your marketing strategies for better results. This includes opportunity reports, travel insights, and domestic trends.

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What is the Agoda Partner Hub?

The Agoda Partner Hub is an online platform designed for accommodation providers partnered with Agoda. It serves as a central portal where hoteliers can access a wide range of tools and features to manage their listings, understand booking trends, and leverage insights to optimise their presence on the Agoda platform. Key functions include:

• Updating room availability, 

• Adjusting pricing strategies, 

• Accessing booking reports, and, 
• Utilising marketing tools like Agoda ads to enhance visibility. 

This hub is an essential resource for partners to effectively manage their operations, improve guest experiences, and drive increased bookings through the Agoda platform.

How to set up Agoda ads on Agoda Partner Hub

There are a few different ways to advertise on Agoda and boost your listing performance on the platform. Depending on your goals, your resources, your audience and your preferences, you might focus on one specific method or spread yourself out over all of them to see what works best.

Before anything else, however, you must set up your Agoda hotel profile in full:

1.  Register your property

To feature your medium-sized hotel on Agoda, start by verifying that your establishment adheres to the required operational standards, including holding a valid licence, following local laws, and meeting Agoda’s quality benchmarks. Begin the process by creating a profile at www.agoda.com/homes, selecting “List my Hotel,” and entering your personal and hotel details to establish your account.

2. Manage reservations

Agoda equips you with the tools to oversee guest bookings directly on the platform. This encompasses confirming bookings, managing cancellations, and addressing guest queries. The platform includes a communication feature for interacting with guests before, during, and after their stay, enhancing the guest experience despite its limited scope compared to specialised solutions for medium-sized hotels.

3. Adjust your rates and availability

Determine your room pricing and availability next. Agoda allows you to offer various pricing options, such as standard, non-refundable, and special promotional rates. Set stay restrictions and keep your availability calendar up-to-date to ensure guests book only when you have openings.

4. Showcase your hotel with quality images

When setting up your listing, include key details about your hotel like its name, location, and contact information. High-resolution images are essential to attract guests, so upload professional photos that highlight the unique attributes of your hotel, from exterior facades to the individual charm of rooms and facilities.

5. Complete the Review Process

After filling in all necessary details and uploading your images, submit your listing for Agoda’s review. Your hotel will be assessed against Agoda’s quality criteria, and upon approval, your listing will go live, ready to welcome bookings from travellers around the world.

Once complete, you can activate Agoda advertising by contacting the Agoda team at ams@agoda.com to begin the process. You may want to invest in:

“In the past, our team only had enough time to actively manage a limited number of booking channels. Thanks to the channel manager feature, we can connect to more channels while putting in less work. As a result, our online bookings rose by about 10%”

Matthias Gerber,

Co-owner

Town Hotel

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Sponsored Listings

If you’re familiar with Google Ads, you’ll be familiar with Agoda Sponsored Listings. These are pay-per-click advertisements that boost your hotel’s listings on the website and the app by reserving a spot in either the Top 3 or Top 15 search results for given search keywords. You have the choice of picking cost-per-booking or cost-per-campaign.

Display Advertising

Display Advertising allows you to showcase your hotel’s offer on the Agoda website or social media through images or video banners. In many ways, this is similar to Google Display Network ads, though targeting specifically the Agoda website and social media presence.

In-App and Email Marketing

Agoda In-App and Email Marketing adverts are what they say on the tin. You can send push notifications and EDMs to encourage customers to engage with you even when they’re off-platform, as well as reach app users as they browse through Agoda itself via pop-ups.

Content Marketing

If you’re working with hotel software that doesn’t have its own website builder, you may not have the required tools to own your own content marketing. Agoda fills that gap, allowing you to host content pages on Agoda itself to boost awareness and brand recognition through articles, advertorials, branded landing pages, and influencer marketing.

Travel Insight

Travel Insight isn’t technically Agoda advertising, as your guests won’t see it themselves, but it’s important to mention as it can significantly influence your advertising choices and performance. Agoda offers Opportunity Reports, Travel Insights, and Domestic Trends reports to help you understand the current market and better target existing customers and emerging audiences. Combine these with the detailed analytics offered by SiteMinder for competitor pricing and your own hotel’s performance and you have a full sweep of insights.

Holiday bookings refer to the reservations made by individuals or groups for accommodation, travel, and other related services during their vacation period. These bookings can encompass a range of options, from luxurious five-star hotels to quaint bed and breakfasts, from international flights to local train journeys, and from guided tours to self-driven adventures. 

For hotel managers, effectively managing holiday bookings is crucial. It ensures that guests have a seamless experience from the moment they make a reservation to the time they check out. With the rise of digital platforms and online travel agencies, the process of making holiday bookings has become more streamlined, allowing travellers to plan their perfect getaway with just a few clicks. 

For hotels, this underscores the importance of having robust hotel management software to efficiently handle the influx of reservations, especially during peak holiday seasons.

Top three traveller expectations for holiday bookings

Personalisation, real human interaction, and a willingness to be flexible: those are the three most important factors contributing to the modern holiday experience for travellers, according to a report from American Express, titled ‘Future of Travel’. Here’s what hoteliers need to know:

1. They will look for a more personalised travel experience

More than 75% of those surveyed by American Express said a personalised and meaningful experience can make or break a trip, and 63% said they would support a hotel or other travel service provider, using personal data to deliver an experience that’s specifically tailored to them.

“Travellers today are highly diverse and resourceful, and they are looking for travel providers who can deliver this,” said Yana Gutierrez, vice president, strategic partnerships and representative travel network, for American Express Travel.

“Based on our research, we believe that our industry will thrive if we continue to focus our talent and digital resources on addressing the needs of the individual and offering them the connection – to people, experiences – that they seek.”

2. They will seek human interaction to compliment technology

Despite the continuous innovation of technology, travellers say the human touch will be the aspect that differentiates unforgettable travel experiences from those that are simply good.

Almost all survey participants in the US (92%) said using a travel professional, completely or somewhat, enhanced their holiday experience. Additionally, 88% of respondents from the UK prefer to book hotels and alike with the assistance of a person during travel.

Travellers said they believe technology helps make routine travel tasks and destination research easier – such as when they visit online travel agents to compare their hotel options.

They also said a trusted travel professional can help with the emotional highs and lows of a holiday experience, for example lost luggage or help enhancing an itinerary during a trip.

The report flagged the hotel industry as an example of a sector working to leverage technology to help provide a more premium service. Processes such as check-in and room service will become increasingly automated, allowing hotel staff to focus on enhancing the guest experience.

Many hotels are already using integrated technology, such as SiteMinder’s booking engine, to build a rapport pre-arrival and secure guest loyalty post-departure. And the personalisation that travellers increasingly look for also comes into play here, as the emails are fully customisable by the hotel, ensuring the message really speaks to guests.

3. They will be happy to combine luxury and budget travel options

Many respondents said the cost of a holiday can be a barrier – more than 70% of US millennials agreed, followed by 58% of Gen Xers, 49% of baby boomers, and 45% of mature travellers.

These holidaymakers told American Express that in the future they will find a way to travel on their own terms, even if that means combining luxury and budget extremes within the same holiday experience.

Capitalise on the holiday booking season

SiteMinder provides everything you need to make the most of the busiest holiday seasons; from listing management to guest communications.

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How to increase holiday bookings online

There are opportunities to influence other travellers both before, during and after
their holiday. Each consumer’s experience feeds into another consumer’s decision-making process – and more often than not, they’re complete strangers.
Booking a trip is evolving into a metrics-driven process as travellers assess a combination of star ratings, consumer review scores, and price. 

Here are some ways you can increase your holiday bookings online.

1. Use travel comparison sites

Travel comparison sites have been instrumental in empowering consumers, and usage in the UK is high. Websites such as Trivago and Skyscanner are experiencing rapid growth (68% and 42% year-on-year respectively), and a study by Momondo forecasts the comparison sites market to grow more than 40% by 2017.

2. Use a CPC model

Even huge industry players are evolving their online presence as they respond to the travel industry power shift. TripAdvisor, one of the world’s largest travel sites with more than 225 million reviews, has introduced a unique function called TripConnect Cost-Per-Click giving hotels the opportunity to cost effectively generate bookings.

Travellers can now quickly compare pricing and availability directly within TripAdvisor. Using a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) model, accommodation owners can compete for direct bookings and drive visitors directly to their own hotel’s booking page with no commission payable.

3. Improve hotel reputation

The reputation of your hotel can be make-or-break for your business. Whether it’s Google reviews, customer feedback on OTAs, critic reception, or even plain old word-of-mouth, a poor reputation (even a newly acquired one) can quickly result in a drop in bookings. In some cases, it can even be more important than price.

Here’s what we mean. Guests are not necessarily always looking for the lowest price, instead opting to use these available metrics as a tool to assess value for money. Deloitte’s survey reveals that a guest’s previous experience (47%), as well as the hotel’s reputation (38%), are listed as the next most important factors when choosing to book with a particular company.

4. Leverage social media

Social media is now a lynch pin in many hotel marketing campaigns, but recent years have demonstrated just how powerful these platforms have become for the travel industry. One study from Skyscanner (quoted in a 2023 Deloitte report) shows that around half of all survey respondents made travel plans that were inspired by the content they had seen on social media.

Then add in the new generation of travellers. Almost 40% of Gen Z travellers use social media platforms to plan their holidays (compared to just 29% of older generations). In fact, almost 20% of Gen Z follow a travel influencer, and social media platforms rank even higher than information from friends and family and a random online search as a source of decision-making.

What does this mean for your hotel? Social media is powerful, and only becoming more so. If you don’t have a presence on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, you may be missing out on valuable bookings.

5. Utilise promotions or special offers

Offering discounts and specials has been a long-standing part of driving direct bookings. In fact, research has shown that a third of travellers would never buy a hotel room that hasn’t been discounted, and discounting and special offers have quickly become a regular part of hotel pricing schemes. 

By balancing the lowered profits from discounts against the advantages of avoiding an OTA commission, hoteliers can generate more bookings while also building a broader customer base. 

Unsure of where to start with effective promotions? One study from 2022 compared the effectiveness of a percentage-off discount compared to a free resort fee. The percentage-off discount on a room fared better.

6. Create holiday-specific packages

Hotels aiming to enhance their online presence should consider crafting holiday-specific packages, especially focusing on group holiday bookings. 

For instance, Christmas bookings could be amplified by offering packages that cater to families and friends travelling together. This could include group discounts, festive-themed events, and communal dining experiences that allow guests to celebrate the holiday spirit collectively.

This is also an excellent time to update room details to better reflect the holiday seasons. High-resolution images, virtual tours, and detailed descriptions of Christmas bookings can provide potential guests with a clear picture of the festive experiences awaiting them, for example.

A hotel customer journey maps the entire experience of a guest, from the initial spark of interest to the post-stay engagement. Customer journeys are crucial for successful hotels, as they reveal the key touchpoints that drive a guest’s decision to book – or not book – with their business.

Where do hotel customers begin their booking journey?

More than half of travellers begin their planning with more than one destination in mind, and even in the week leading to a booking decision there are still multiple destinations under consideration.

This makes it clear that choosing a destination is a time-consuming process for a traveller and one that draws on many different resources. Without a predetermined destination, your hotel has plenty of chances along the way to influence the choice a traveller ultimately makes.

Customer journey insights with SiteMinder

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International vs domestic travel

An Expedia study found distinct differences between the three regions in this regard. Americans were twice as likely to search for domestic destinations, while UK and Canadian travellers were twice as likely to set out for international trips.

The data also made it clear travellers have multiple regions across the world in mind when planning their trip – with Europe the most popular ranking in the top three for American, UK, and Canadian travellers.

Thanks to new opportunities and infrastructure, some smaller locations are seeing a huge rise in online search interest. Domestically in the US, for example, the top five growing destinations are:

1. Fort Washington
2. Gatlinburg
3. Washington, DC
4. Colorado Springs
5. Detroit

While internationally, Cuba’s fresh accessibility has made a big impact:

1. Havana (Cuba)
2. Sodankylä (Finland)
3. Varadero (Cuba)
4. Lisbon (Portugal)
5. Thera (Greece)

How do hotel customers make their destination selection?

In the seven weeks leading up to a booking, travellers log 140 visits to travel sites. That’s an average of 20 per week – demonstrating the intensity with which travellers plan their trips.

Online travel agents capture more traffic than other sites, accounting for around 33% of visits across all travellers in the study. Hotel sites were next with 17% of the share.

This represents a huge opportunity for hotels to put themselves front and centre to capture bookings. Making sure your OTA profile is optimised and managing your online reviews are two vital tasks you need to perform.

You also need to build a website that is functional for all devices and incorporates engaging and relevant content for travellers. This way your SEO will be improved and travellers will find you when doing their online research.

What are the biggest influences on choosing a destination?

While OTAs may take the lion’s share of website traffic, family and friends exert an equal amount of influence on traveller decision-making.

Expedia says that 18%  of UK bookers, 14% of US bookers and 19% of Canadian bookers report that friends and family influence their decision.

These numbers are on par with OTAs, while search engines ranked as the third-biggest influence, with UK travellers at 11% saying search engine results could sway them.

The different stages of the hotel customer journey

One of the trickiest parts of creating a customer journey strategy is figuring out precisely what the different stages are. Every traveller is slightly different, and it’s rare for any of them to follow the same precise steps and stages on their way towards finding, selecting, booking, enjoying and (hopefully) returning to your hotel. 

Potential guests will go forwards, backwards, reconsider, reconsider again, change their mind, adjust their booking – it’s hard to keep up. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some consistencies across the process that you can leverage to deliver a better and more profitable booking experience.

Hotel customers will often touch on similar points, sometimes called “micro-moments”, most notably by Google, which breaks it down into its well known Dreaming, Planning, Booking, Experiencing, and Sharing stages of the travel journey. These micro-moments are defined as a moment in time when a searcher relies on their smartphone or tablet device to answer a particular, immediate need.

What happens during these micro-moments ultimately impacts all the decisions that the traveller will make during their online booking journey. So as a hotelier, how do you influence travellers during these powerful yet fleeting moments?

This gives you plenty of detail to work with. However, there are even more touchpoints in and around these key stages identified by Google that you can use to influence travellers.

In a world that now runs predominantly online, there are very few moments in time where you can’t have an impact on your customer’s behaviour.

Let’s see how you can influence your revenue potential at each stage…

1. Dreaming stage

If we’re focusing on leisure travel, the dreaming stage of a trip is all about fantasising. When travellers first begin their search, a fifth have no defined destination in mind, preferring to use search engines to inspire them.

The guest knows they want to take a break or go on an adventure but have no idea where or when yet.

They will jump all around the internet during this stage including:

• Browsing travel pages on Instagram.
• Looking at photos from friends and family.
• Chatting with people on Facebook.
• Reading travel blogs.
• Entering countless queries on Google.
• Watching videos on YouTube.

They want all possibilities on the table because it’s exciting to dream about where travel might take them. Gradually they will start to get a firmer idea of what they want out of their next trip.

Key tactics for dreaming stage

While you may not be able to unlock direct revenue at this stage, you can certainly start to put your brand front and centre of a traveller’s mind with the right approach.

Social media and destination marketing tactics are recommended here. In particular, you should:

• Use your Instagram account to post the most breathtaking images of your property and the local area, making sure to use the most popular travel related hashtags.
• Encourage all guests to tag your property in any photos they post on Facebook or Instagram.
• Publish videos on YouTube that have a global flavour or the potential to go viral – what’s something unique about your property or destination that people will find fascinating.
• Ensure your hotel is affiliated with travel associations and travel boards for your area.
• Interact with your online community and encourage sharing – perhaps with giveaways or competitions.
• Make sure your website focuses on improving your ranking for specific phrases, such as “best time to visit the United Kingdom” or “honeymoon packages in Jamaica”.
• Publish blogs about your destination and your property. Make sure they are informative, relevant and accurate.
• Prioritise visual content. More than 54% of leisure travellers report that photographs and videos have an influence over where they decide to go.

Basically, you want to make as much ‘noise’ as you can online to capture the attention of dreaming travellers, however this is not a point where you want to spend too much time or budget.

2. Planning stage

By now the traveller has decided on a destination but they now have to obsess over finding the perfect hotel to stay at. It must deliver what they need from an experience perspective but also deliver value for money.

They’ll be visiting a LOT of websites in their search, including online travel agents, metasearch channels, review sites, and hotel websites. This can be a very messy part of purchasing, as Google outlines in this study.

Keeping their options open will still be a priority but they will be looking to create a shortlist of options to book so they can make their final decision by comparing features, location, price and more which we’ll discuss later.

Key tactics for planning stage

Your potential guests will be on the hunt for information in this phase of their trip. They want answers, and they want content that is clear, concise and accurate. This is where you can win or lose a valuable booking.

Remember this is an exciting time for them, as they anticipate the enjoyment of upcoming travel. However the hotel is only one part of the trip they have to organise so they don’t want to be bogged down or frustrated during their research.

You should focus on SEO opportunities, your OTA profile, and your website content here by:

• Making sure your hotel information is available and up-to-date on public listings such as Google My Business.
• Increasing discoverability and providing key information with a blog on your website.
• Treating your OTA profile as if it was your own website, with all the details and high quality imagery a guest might need.
• Ensuring key pages on your website are easily accessible–this includes image galleries, room types and features, address and contact details, amenities, and local activities.
• Listing your property on Metasearch channels such as Google Hotel Ads and Trivago.
• Knowing where your customers are coming from via country mix and channel mix reports, so you can target your messaging more effectively.
• Your website should have a responsive design that adapts to mobile platforms, and offers simple mobile booking options.
• Transform your website into a local guide. Provide information about transportation, local restaurants, shopping options, excursions and day-trips.

Think about the most frequently asked questions a traveller might have about your hotel or your destination and make sure you have content that answers them.

3. Select stage

This is the first of the ‘non-Google’ stages that you must pay attention to. In the Select stage, guests have settled on a particular destination, but they are now creating a shortlist of the accommodation they plan to book with. This stage is just as frenetic as the previous ones: the average traveller can visit over 20 different travel websites before they finally make a booking decision. 

This is where your website has to be strong. Build a website that is functional, SEO-friendly, and optimised for all devices. You should also ask yourself how compelling your images are and how engaging your content is. Another factor, which is just as important, is your presence on OTAs. Work hard to perfect your profile and manage online reviews.

The best way to think of this stage is imagining that your hotel is one of a dozen or so favourited listings, with your customer flitting between them and sorting them into buckets of “yes” and “no”. How will you stay in the “yes” bucket? Will you beat the competition on price? Will you present a more interesting experience? Will you have better reviews? Or will your website or listing simply provide more information that your guests want to know?

4. Booking stage

The booking stage is where it gets serious. The traveller has their shortlist and it’s just a matter of making their final booking decision.

Guests will be prioritising value for money and the promise of memorable experiences, as well as superior convenience and customer service.

They’ll be open to increasing their spend if you can convince them it’s worth it. Not only is it about how attractive the hotel offering is, but also how easy the booking process itself is.

Key tactics for the booking stage

During the booking stage you have to balance a perfect booking process with boosting the value of every reservation.

An effective online booking engine is paramount here, Ideally, guests will be able to make a booking within a couple of clicks and have the options to to pick and choose extras and packages that appeal to them. Your booking engine should also integrate seamlessly with your website and channel manager for improved functionality and data collection.

Even if a guest has chosen you it can all go pear shaped if they encounter friction on your website or within your booking engine so make sure your tech stack is optimised. This includes business intelligence tools that make you aware of competitor rates, so you can price your offers ‘just right’. On top of that, it’s key to be able to make payment processes seamless to give a greater chance of securing the booking.

When it comes to increasing revenue you can try:

• Offering add-ons such as airport transport or express check-in.
• Selling extras such as food and wine options on arrival, additional bar fridge items, extra creature comforts in-room, and bonus amenities such as bike hire.
• Encouraging room upgrades – sell the extra value not the total cost. For example, ‘for only $50 more’ instead of ‘for $400’.
• Creating packages that include access to on or off-site amenities and partnered attractions – value added for the guest and extra cash in your pocket.
• Selling VIP experiences for an extra fee – this might include off menu cocktails made especially for the guest, or private use of certain amenities.
• Add a PCI Compliance badge near your booking button so guests know that their transaction will be secure. You can learn more about PCI compliance here.

This the perfect chance to take advantage of a guest’s excitement and enhance their experience with special offers.

Make sure that the booking experience is seamless. Do not redirect your guests to another website, or force them to wait for a confirmation. Allow them to book directly with you and provide them with automatic confirmation of their booking.

To increase your bookings and generate more revenue using micro moments customer journey, you need to make it as simple as possible for guests to book directly with you on mobile devices.

SiteMinder’s website builder allows you to create a search engine optimised website. And paired with SiteMinder’s booking engine, you’ll be in the best position to accept direct online bookings to attract and convert travellers online.

5. Preparation stage

Once the booking is made, the traveller is then focused on planning for their time away by buying items they may need, organising house or pet sitters, sorting what they need to pack, and booking annual leave from work.

Anticipation is high in this stage and spirits are high. Capitalise on this by communicating with them regularly.

Key tactics for the preparing stage

You need to keep the good times rolling by communicating with guests. This is where you need to strengthen the relationship between guests and your brand, and follow-up on revenue opportunities.

• Send pre-stay emails to reiterate the available extras, add-ons, and deals available to guests
• Remind guests of the amenities and attractions they can book or buy tickets to
• Let them know a superior room has become available if they want to pay a little extra
• Leverage any events happening at the time they may be interested in
• Mention again the small fees they can pay to enhance the luxury and convenience of their stay
• Use your hotel app or email to message them and offer additional services, provide information on amenities in your hotel, or advise them on things to do in the local area
• If you don’t use any marketing automation software, your booking engine can take care of this pre-stay communication

Now that all the hard stuff is out of the way, guests will have more time to pay attention to value-added offers.

6. Experience stage

Well the guest has arrived and is looking to enjoy their trip to its fullest. They’ll be playing close attention to all parts of your hotel.

Customer service and cleanliness are the most crucial aspects to get right as it’s what the guest will remember and is vital for ensuring they leave you with a smile on their face.

If this is satisfying for the guest, they’ll be more likely to spend and you can earn ancillary revenue.

Key tactics for the experiencing stage

Some ways you can encourage guests to spend during their stay include:

• Sell other hotel products like soap, utensils, towels etc – especially if your hotel has a unique sense of style.
• Keep in mind a third of guests are willing to pay more for personalised experiences – so gather data on your guests and identify what you can offer that’s special for them
• Let guests know your restaurant meals can be delivered to rooms for an extra fee
• Similarly, allow guests to upgrade specific items, such as comfier pillows, towels, robes, and slippers
• Offer guests an extra night at a discounted rate – and win extra revenue through your amenities or food and beverage services

Remember to always listen to your guests and treat them like the individuals they are – paying close attention to their preferences.

7. Sharing stage

The reason it’s so important for you to keep guests happy is that the more they’re enjoying themselves, the more likely it is they’ll share their experiences. A huge 97% of millennials say they share pictures while travelling (on channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat).

Guests may share details and photos of their trip all the way through, but especially as it draws to a close and after they’ve left.

They’ll be looking to reminisce and keep the (hopefully) positive emotions alive.

Key tactics for the sharing stage

How guests share feedback and where they share it can have a long term impact on your revenue potential so it’s important that guests are not only pleased but motivated to talk about their experiences with family, friends, and other travellers.

What you can do:

• Give guests a reason to tag you in photos by setting up perfect selfie scenes
• Ask guests if you can tag them and publish photos you take on the property during social events
• Encourage guests to check in on social media with giveaways like a free drink
• Follow-up with guests post-stay asking them to leave a review on sites like TripAdvisor or Google
• Offer guests a reward on their next stay for referring other travellers to your property
• Offer incentives or loyalty rewards

You should consider internal guest surveys so you can pre-empt any issues in the future and continue to work to make the guest experience even better in the future, to please returning guests, and encourage new ones to recommend your hotel.

8. Return stage

The best hotels know that once you have a relationship with a guest, it should never end. While loyalty may be fading, many travellers will still return to the same hotel if they enjoyed their stay. A returning guest is always cheaper to acquire than a new one and if you can make it happen, it means you’re providing exceptional service. 

This will naturally mean your reviews will improve and engagement on social media will increase.

Use tools like email marketing, remarketing, and compelling loyalty programs to remind guests of the great time they had at your hotel and make them offers to return that they can’t refuse.

It’s important to remember that with each passing moment, a strong digital presence is becoming more important.

Among digital users in the UK, 75% consume travel content, spending an average of 2.4 billion minutes per month on travel content collectively. That represents a 44% increase year-over-year. It’s never been so prudent for hotels to push forward with their marketing and distribution strategies to make sure they’re not missing opportunities on search engines, OTAs, social media, or their own website.

Customer journey map hotel example

1. Dreaming Stage

Emma’s journey begins with her dreaming of a relaxing beach holiday. She’s captivated by vibrant images and enticing descriptions of coastal retreats on Instagram, sparking her desire for a seaside escape.

2. Planning Stage

Motivated, Emma starts researching destinations. She browses travel blogs and TripAdvisor, seeking the perfect spot. Her attention is drawn to the Blue Horizon Hotel, thanks to its stellar reviews and stunning beachfront location. However, she spots a few other options that are also interesting, and begins making a list.

3. Select Stage

Comparing various options, Emma is impressed by Blue Horizon’s spa facilities and family-friendly amenities. Its standout features, like the ocean-view rooms and dining options, edge out the competition.

4. Booking Stage

Emma decides on Blue Horizon and books a room through their user-friendly website. The clear pricing, room options, and easy navigation make her booking experience smooth and hassle-free. Were it a hassle or non-responsive, she might have booked somewhere else.

5. Preparation Stage

After booking, Emma receives a detailed confirmation email with a local guide and tips for her stay. She spots a recommendation that she hadn’t considered herself, and adds a few odds and ends to her suitcase so she can better enjoy her time away. The hotel’s proactive communication helps her plan activities and enhances her anticipation.

6. Experience Stage

Upon arrival, Emma is greeted warmly by the hotel staff and shown to her room, which is even better than she thought. The hotel exceeds her expectations with impeccable service, a beautifully maintained room, and personalised experiences, like a surprise beach dinner.

7. Sharing Stage

After a delightful stay, Emma shares photos and positive reviews on social media and TripAdvisor. She praises the hotel’s exceptional service and unique experiences, influencing others in their dreaming stage.

8. Return Stage

Post-stay, Emma receives a thank-you email from Blue Horizon, inviting her to join their loyalty program for future discounts. This thoughtful gesture, combined with her memorable stay, makes her keen to return, bringing her journey full circle.

The role of tech stack in the hotel customer journey 

Your ability to be seen everywhere travellers are spending their time online is crucial for being able to reach every stage of the guest journey. Using features such as a channel manager, booking engine, and payments solution especially will enable you to target and sell much more effectively – and an optimised website is crucial for conversion, ensuring visitors don’t abandon before they book. To do this with the level of efficiency, control, and simplicity that we see in ecommerce giants such as Amazon, you need a solution that meets all your administrative needs, as well the needs of your guests, in one central location – such as via a hotel commerce platform like SiteMinder.

Just as important as the solutions themselves, is the ability to integrate and manage them all from one single location and the ability to access and integrate with an ecosystem of hotel technologies that matters to your property and situation. This gives you full control over your operations, the ability to easily adapt and makes it easier to roll out your strategy, capture insights, make smarter decisions, and save valuable time.

Centralising your tech stack via a hotel commerce platform like SiteMinder offers you greater freedom and clarity, simplifying the work you shouldn’t have to worry about so you can focus on your property and your guests.

Emotional journey mapping

When figuring out the best way to build or boost your guest satisfaction in your hotel, following your guests on an emotional level is a crucial step. Despite emotions being known as a relative aspect, an emotional journey map provides a clear understanding and data of your guests’ feelings throughout their stay. Learn how to upgrade your customer journey map with this innovative technique.

What is an emotional journey map?

The emotional journey map is a UX research technique to visualise and map customers’ emotional experiences through their interactions during various actions of their stay.

It is an extension of the usual experience journey map that visualises the process that the guest goes through to accomplish a goal, but an emotional journey map gives this some more closure.

Simply said, it allows you to know how your guest feels at each touchpoint with you during their whole hotel experience.

The emotion can be represented by a graph from moments of frustration to delight or by adding pictograms or emoticons to the specific steps of the journey.

The goal of emotional journey mapping is to understand customers’ emotions and improve the quality of your guest experience, providing consistency and a smooth experience at all touchpoints on the journey.

Why do you need an emotional journey map?

An emotional journey map allows you to add another objective dimension to your customer journey map to see the emotions your customer goes through at every stage of the experience. This can help your team to make sense of and have a visual aid of the systems and learn to improve the quality of your guests’ touchpoints. An emotional map will increase your customer satisfaction, positive feedback and reviews, bookings and revenue.

It helps your hotel team to understand and empathise with the emotional highs and lows guests experience throughout their stay. By visualising these emotional states, your team can pinpoint areas where guest satisfaction may be at risk and proactively address them.

How to create an emotional journey map

1. Create a user persona

To get started with creating the map we need a user. User persona will represent an average guest or one type of guest (if you would like to create a map for each customer group) of your property. Each user has different expectations and needs so it is good to be comprehensive and create multiple maps to understand different personas present on your property.

• Draw a simple picture of your user.
• Give them a name.
• Make sure to specify who the user is.
• Use the standard user story format: As a… I need… so I can

Example: As a young 32-year-old mother of 3 children I need a hotel that has child care and entertainment facilities so I can relax and rest after a long work year without always taking care of the kids.

2. Create a scenario

Going forward, we need to create a scenario that addresses their expectations and what they need to accomplish their end goal. The scenario could be about experiences with events, processes or objects. Use scenarios that are likely to happen or have already happened in your hotel.

3. Goals and tasks

Now it’s time to identify the goals and the tasks. Each journey has different goals with separate tasks.

A goal is a higher-level action the user needs to complete. For example, in this case, the mother wants to relax and rest from a long work year.

A task is a lower-level action the user needs to achieve the end goal. For example, in this case, a mother needs to find a hotel with childcare or entertainment opportunities.

Therefore, from the example above, the mother has to complete the task of finding the right hotel to reach the goal of a relaxing holiday.

Example:

• The customer journey is to go on a vacation with children.

• The goal is to relax and not worry about the children 24/7.

Solution: In addition to entertainment facilities, have a person who keeps an eye on the children, so the parents don’t have to at all times.

4. Research and interviews

To deeply understand your guests, employ contextual inquiry research complemented by in-depth customer interviews. This approach is designed to gather real data by exploring the guests’ world, their context, and their experiences with your hotel. 

Focus your questions on uncovering the emotions tied to their experiences at every touchpoint, stage, and interaction during their journey with your establishment. 

Active listening is key here, not just to the answers provided, but also to how guests express themselves — the words and tone they use to describe their experiences can be revealing and offer additional insights.

5. Making sense of the data

Once you’ve gathered a wealth of information from your guests, it’s time to organise and make sense of it. 

Utilise affinity clustering to sort the gathered data — customer discussions, emotions, feelings, thoughts, and actions — based on their similarity, relevance, and importance. By working through the data in teams, patterns will start to emerge. 

Group these conversations into clusters according to the stages of the customer journey, the steps involved, and the thoughts and feelings experienced during each interaction. This process will highlight emerging themes and help in identifying the emotions of your customers throughout their journey.

6. Put a graph together

Taking the evaluation points derived from your data, connect them to form a cohesive line graph. This graph should narratively illustrate the emotional journey of each persona created, with different colours used to distinguish between them. 

Incorporate emoticons and an emotion graph to visually represent the highs and lows of a customer’s journey, from beginning to end. 

Add actual words, sayings, and expressions used by customers, providing a more authentic and complete perspective of their experience.

7. Make improvements

Finally, analyse the journey map to pinpoint areas for improvement. By evaluating both the highs and lows, you gain valuable insights into the entire customer journey. 

Use this analysis to identify specific opportunities to enhance guest interactions with your property. The goal is to refine and elevate the overall customer experience, turning even the smallest touchpoints into memorable and positive aspects of their stay.

Late bookings are often spontaneous, last-minute, reservations that often come in days, hours or even minutes before the guest’s intended arrival time. These bookings often occur due to sudden travel plans, business needs, or even whimsical decisions to take a quick getaway. 

While they can be a wild card in the hotel management game, they offer a unique opportunity to maximise occupancy and revenue. However, they do require a level of agility and real-time responsiveness from the hotel’s end to ensure a seamless guest experience. 

This blog will provide a full guide to late and last-minute bookings, and how your hotel can benefit from them.

What are the benefits of last minute bookings in hotels?

Last-minute bookings can be the answer to unused – and therefore unprofitable – vacancies, often filling rooms that would otherwise go to waste. However, it isn’t just a matter of “more = better”. 

Last-minute hotel room bookings have a range of benefits including:

• Maximised occupancy: Filling rooms at the eleventh hour ensures that you’re making the most of your available inventory. An occupied room, even at a discounted rate, is better than an empty one.
• Boosted revenue: Late bookings often come with higher price tags, capitalising on the urgency of the guest’s needs. This allows you to maintain or even increase your average daily rate (ADR).
• Diverse clientele: Last-minute bookings attract a wide range of guests, from business travellers catching a late flight to spontaneous weekend adventurers. This diversity can enrich your customer database and allow you to access new audiences.
• Reduced cancellation risks: The closer the booking is to the stay date, the less likely it is to be cancelled. This adds a layer of reliability to your occupancy rates.
• Operational efficiency: Knowing you have a full house can streamline other operational decisions, from staffing levels to food and beverage orders.
• Enhanced guest experience: Last-minute bookings give you an opportunity to impress – and provide relief to – a new segment of clientele with your impeccable service, potentially turning them into loyal customers.
• Market competitiveness: Being able to efficiently handle last-minute bookings positions your hotel as agile and responsive, qualities that modern travellers highly value.

Last-minute bookings offer a multi-faceted advantage, optimising both revenue and guest experience.

The growth of late bookings from mobile users

If mobile technology has already transformed everyday life in ways we could not have imagined a decade ago, it is set to deliver even more profound innovations in the years ahead.

Almost three-quarters of the world’s population now has a mobile device, with practically everyone now having a cell phone in their pocket and available for booking hotel rooms.

If you think innovation is just the domain of nimble start-ups or big brands, think again. For hotels, it is equally a case of innovate or die, with mobile disruption extending into the familiar territory of travel and hotel bookings.

More and more customers are booking travel via mobile devices, according to recent research..

The report states that almost 45% of travellers used a mobile app to book their accommodation and tours, while nearly 85% of travellers booked activities using their mobile device.

Increasing last minute booking accommodation

The portability and immediacy of mobile devices seem to be driving a change in travel booking behaviour. Recent data from Hotels.com shows that 50% of travellers who book via mobile devices do so for last minute or next-day stays.

Similarly, Phocuswright found that 30% of searches are on online travel agent (OTA) mobile websites, and nearly one in four on hotel mobile sites are for same-day or next-day check in.

The trend towards mobile bookings and the accompanying trend towards last minute bookings represent a huge opportunity for hotels to sell their very final rooms, right up to the last minute. But only hotels with the right technology in place will be able to take advantage.

Many hotels are still operating on an inventory allocation model. With this method, the hotel allows each of its channels a certain number of rooms. 

This means splitting up inventory according to how much you think each channel will sell and reserving some for direct bookings. There are several drawbacks to this approach…

Preventing last minute overbookings

Firstly, you may overbook your rooms. For example, you accept a booking over the phone, but within minutes the room is sold via a booking site, before you can log in and update it.

With your room now double-booked, you have to upgrade your guests or turn them away completely. Many hotels keep back a number of rooms to avoid this happening, losing out on valuable revenue by holding rooms ‘just in case’.

This is not the only way the allocated inventory model creates waste. For example, you could give two channels 10 rooms each. Channel one sells them all, while channel two only sells one.

Channel one could have sold all the rooms, but instead you have nine rooms sitting empty because you allocated them to channel two.

The answer is a pooled inventory system via a tool like SiteMinder’s channel manager. This allows you to increase your revenue and reduce waste, by ensuring all inventory is available across all your channels – and you can keep all available rooms listed right up to the last minute.

When a room is booked, SiteMinder’s channel manager automatically updates it across all channels. You can also change the room rates across all channels without logging into multiple sites to make updates.

How to manage late bookings for your hotel

Real-time inventory management

Real-time inventory management is crucial for handling late bookings effectively. By synchronising room availability across all distribution channels, you eliminate the risk of overbooking. This real-time update allows you to confidently accept last-minute reservations, knowing that the room is genuinely available. It also enables you to make quick decisions about offering special rates or packages to fill any remaining rooms.

A dynamic approach to pricing strategies

Dynamic pricing is a game-changer for late bookings. By adjusting room rates based on real-time demand and availability, you can price rooms attractively for last-minute bookers without undercutting your profit margins. This strategy not only makes your hotel appealing for spontaneous travellers but also ensures you’re getting the best possible revenue for each room.

Automated communication

Automated communication systems streamline the reservation process by sending instant confirmations and essential check-in information. For late bookings, this is invaluable. Guests are sometimes already en route to the hotel, and immediate communication removes any uncertainty and enhances their experience, all while freeing up your staff to focus on other tasks.

Flexible staffing

Flexible staffing models, such as on-call or part-time staff, can be activated to handle increased workloads during high occupancy periods. When a late booking comes in, you can quickly ramp up staffing levels to ensure that the room is clean, amenities are in place, and the guest’s experience is seamless.

Express check-in/check-out

Late bookings often mean late arrivals. An express check-in and check-out service can be a lifesaver for weary travellers who’ve been on the road or in the air. By speeding up these processes, you not only improve the guest’s experience but also reduce the workload on your front desk, making it easier to manage sudden spikes in occupancy.

Mobile room keys

The use of mobile room keys can significantly expedite the check-in process, a feature particularly beneficial for late bookings. Guests can bypass the front desk entirely, heading straight to their room and unlocking it with their smartphone. This not only impresses the guest with your tech-savviness but also streamlines operations.

Pre-arrival upselling

Late bookings offer a narrow window for pre-arrival upselling, but it’s a golden opportunity. With the guest already committed to staying at your hotel, targeted offers for room upgrades, spa treatments, or dining options can be sent via email or app notifications. This not only increases revenue but also enhances the guest’s stay.

Post-stay feedback

Collecting feedback after the guest’s stay is crucial for continuous improvement, especially concerning how well you managed their late booking. Understanding the guest’s experience will provide insights into what worked well and what needs tweaking, allowing you to refine your strategies for managing late bookings in the future.

The future of late bookings in hotels

Expect further innovation in the hotel industry as these trends play out, offering the opportunity for canny operators to further grow revenue and reduce the waste associated with empty rooms.

With the UK hotel sector experiencing continued growth, hotel groups including Marriott, Novotel, Holiday Inn and Ibis are using hourly micro-stays as a way to increase occupancy and generate revenue from rooms that would otherwise be empty during the day.

Customers are using hotel micro-stays for a variety of reasons – such as a comfortable stop-over between flights, for informal business meetings or as a convenient base for a day’s shopping or sightseeing.

Today, independent hotel operators need to be on the front foot to capitalise on the opportunities offered by the boom in mobile and last minute hotel bookings. Change is a given – it’s what you do with it that counts.

Manage late bookings with ease and increase room revenue with SiteMinder

SiteMinder’s leading hotel platform has everything you need to capitalise on late bookings and secure unbeatable revenue results in the process.

• Maximise revenue with intelligent rate management: SiteMinder’s business intelligence allows you to adapt in real-time, allowing you to attract last-minute guests without sacrificing profitability. Turn empty rooms into revenue-generating assets effortlessly.
• Streamline operations with real-time inventory updates: Eliminate overbooking worries with SiteMinder’s real-time inventory management that synchronises room availability across all channels. Confidently accept late bookings while maintaining operational efficiency.
• Enhance guest experience through automated communication: SiteMinder’s automated features send instant booking confirmations and essential check-in details. Elevate the guest experience and free your staff to focus on delivering exceptional in-house services.

Get started with SiteMinder for free or watch a demo to learn more.

A hotel virtual tour is an immersive, interactive experience that allows potential guests to explore a hotel’s premises without physically being there.

Utilising 360-degree panoramic photography or video, this digital tool offers a comprehensive view of various areas within the hotel, such as guest rooms, lobbies, restaurants, and amenities like swimming pools or fitness centres.

The virtual tour is often embedded on the hotel’s website and can be easily accessed through desktop or mobile devices.

This blog will discuss the what, how and why of creating a hotel virtual tour, including best practices, best methods, and common pitfalls to avoid.

Virtual reality in hotels

With technology on an exponentially advancing trajectory, it’s never been more important to keep up-to-date with how a hotel can incorporate the latest innovations into their business.

Virtual Reality (VR) is currently one of the most progressive tech sectors and it’s something hotel’s should be using to attract more guests and secure direct bookings.

VR made its first big splash in the gaming world to immerse players in new worlds and onto amazing life-like adventures. The hotel and travel industry quickly realised the potential selling points this technology offered.

Hotels are tapping into this phenomenon by using Google technology to create ‘virtual tours’, a method by which a hotel can give their potential guests a 360-degree walkthrough of their room options and facilities.

Rather than still photos and 2D imagery, viewers can now fully immerse themselves in the property, moving within the rooms as if they are actually inside them.

The saying ‘a picture tells a thousand words’ no longer applies because a virtual tour is much more valuable, offering guests complete transparency in the features a hotel has to offer.

Create websites that can display virtual tours

Explore how an easy-to-use website maker allows you to embed virtual tours, take direct bookings, and increase hotel revenue.

Learn more

Hotel virtual reality vs  augmented reality

There is still some underlying confusion around all that hotel virtual tours entail. Professional photographer, Marc Charette of WorkPics, clarifies the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality as follows:

Virtual reality has become a catch-all term mostly because of the headsets that people often wear to see the 360° content around them and it is very immersive. VR really means the creation of things that are not real, while 360° photography comes in two forms: 2D and 3D.

3D images need to be shot with a stereographic camera that can capture imagery as if it were two eyes just like humans use, giving way to the next level of content; augmented reality (AR). This means taking reality and essentially enhancing it in some way.

What really makes hotel virtual tours a high value AR experience though is when additional content is layered on top of the imagery to enhance or ‘augment’ the viewer’s available interactions.

This may mean improvements in navigation or even pop up info cards, videos and even direct links back to your booking engine just as long as that information is available on the website or online via another link.

Displayed below is an infographic that explores key facts and figures behind virtual technology and clarifies some frequently asked questions that hoteliers may have about them:

Why are virtual tours effective in attracting more guests?

Hotel virtual tours help with ranking and relevance in search results. Sharing highly immersive imagery also allows potential guests to feel like they are there in your hotel and adds a very authentic perspective for them.

Take into consideration all the years of people complaining about how they look at pictures of a place and when they get there then it’s not what they’d expected. With virtual tours, hotel businesses can improve the likelihood of gaining the trust of their potential guests.

In fact, travellers not only prefer a virtual tour, but they are also expecting one, and often won’t book a room without having access to a tour first.

Statistics show that:

• Virtual tours reduce the amount of wasted viewings by 40%.
• Properties with a virtual tour included are clicked, on average, 10 times more than those without one.

On top of this, a staggering 92% of internet users say the ability to view a 360-degree panorama is essential when they are browsing online.

This alone will give you an indication of how important the technology is for cultivating bookings. The most powerful aspect of a virtual tour is that it submits all control to the viewer.

They can move through at their own pace, looking in every direction from multiple angles to gain an unprecedented level of knowledge about what they’re going to be paying for, all from their desktop or smartphone.

It adds a wow factor to your website, positioning your marketing as cutting edge and fun.

Additionally, adopting a Google virtual tour for your hotel will rocket you to the top of rankings on search engine results, with the tour front and centre on your profile summary and featuring heavily on Google Hotel Finder

Best Western has even gone a step further, converting stationary photo tours into YouTube videos that lead through the hotel. The possibilities even extend beyond the hotel to activities such as local restaurants and landmarks.

Examples of hotel virtual tour 360

Virtual tours sound great – and they are – but they can also be intimidating, even for seasoned hoteliers.

Matterport Hotel Virtual Tour

In this example tour, the user is taken through a sample of rooms, amenities and features of the hotel, highlighting the best parts of the experience at the best times of day for maximum impact. It’s a video version of a 360 degree tour, demonstrating how to use an interactive tour as a video.

Holiday Inn Express Sydney Virtual Tour

This video from the Holiday Inn Express demonstrates perfectly how a virtual tour doesn’t have to be big and flashy. Using YouTube’s built-in 360 degree feature, it shows a typical journey of a guest from the lobby to their room. We especially love how important amenity descriptions have been integrated into the experience, with “Power Shower”, “Twin Room” and “Free WiFi” appearing over the relevant features!

Budapest Marriott Hotel Virtual Tour

In this example tour, every aspect of the hotel is shown off and, true to its promise of “Iconic Beyond the View”, the Marriott staff show off business conferencing facilities as well as sweeping, dramatic shots of the local scenery, in-hotel amenities, and recent events.

“Thanks to the website builder, we were able to create an attractive online presence without much effort. This helped increase direct bookings, which now make up about 30% of our bookings.”

Constanze Gehmacher,

Co-owner

The Little Guesthouse in Salzburg

Read more

Benefits of hotel room virtual tours

A customer’s desire for modernity, efficiency and simplicity can’t be overstated.

Enhancing your website with a virtual tour helps to attract traffic and make it stick, increasing a customer’s willingness to book with your hotel.

Why? A virtual tour will increase the amount of visitors you get, captivate them for longer and encourage them to return – effectively, intriguing new customers and keeping old ones interested.

Of course, all this will mean nothing if the guests don’t have an easy and immediate way to book their stay. You’ve just excited them with your virtual tour, so you want them to carry that enthusiasm straight into a booking.

Hotels can benefit from using hotel virtual tours, here are some examples:

Boost sales

A well-crafted virtual tour can significantly increase your hotel’s booking rates by providing potential guests with a realistic, immersive experience of what you offer. This level of transparency can tip the scales in your favour when guests are making their final booking decision.

Competitive advantage

In a saturated market, a virtual tour can set your hotel apart from competitors who only offer static images or text descriptions. This unique feature can be the deciding factor for guests comparing multiple options, giving you a competitive edge.

Showcase hotel amenities

Virtual tours allow you to highlight your hotel’s amenities in their full glory, be it a state-of-the-art fitness centre, a luxurious spa, or a rooftop bar with panoramic views. This comprehensive showcase can attract guests who are specifically interested in these features, helping you target different market segments more effectively.

Time and cost saving

While the initial setup of a virtual tour may require an investment, it can save both time and money in the long run. A virtual tour reduces the need for site visits, which can be both time-consuming and costly for potential guests. This convenience can be especially beneficial for corporate clients or event planners who may need to approve the venue remotely.

Marketing tool

A virtual tour is not just a feature but a powerful marketing asset. It can be integrated into various promotional strategies, from social media campaigns to email marketing, enhancing your overall brand image and reach. The shareable nature of virtual tours also encourages organic dissemination, further amplifying your hotel’s visibility.

Where to display your hotel virtual tour

Displaying your hotel virtual tour in strategic locations is crucial for maximising its impact. One of the most effective places to feature it is directly on your hotel’s official website, ideally on the homepage or within the booking funnel, where it can serve as a compelling visual prompt for potential guests. 

However, considering how valuable a virtual tour can be, don’t be afraid to use it anywhere – or everywhere – else that may catch attention. This could include:

• Social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
• Travel aggregator sites where your hotel is listed.
• Email campaigns targeting prospective or returning guests 

If you have created an interactive experience, consider filming a non-interactive “walkthrough” where you or a staff member goes through the interactive tour, then hosting it on places like YouTube or other non-interactive platforms. That’s two sets of collateral in one! See some examples a little further down the page.

By placing your virtual tour in these key digital touchpoints, you not only enhance its visibility but also significantly increase the likelihood of converting interested viewers into actual guests.

Hotel promotions are tailored offers aimed at attracting guests and enhancing bookings. Often, they are built around particular themes, such as the season, a local event, or a holiday (e.g. Valentine’s Day or Christmas).

These are not merely discounts on room rates; they can be comprehensive packages that include additional amenities such as complimentary breakfast, spa credits, or exclusive experiences like guided city tours.

Why should hotels offer booking promotions?

The hospitality industry is highly competitive, making differentiation essential. Booking promotions serve multiple strategic purposes:

• Increasing occupancy rates: Promotions can help fill rooms during low-demand periods and help a hotel “piggyback” on subjects that are already front of mind for their audience.
• Fostering customer loyalty: Guests who benefit from a promotion are more likely to return, thereby increasing lifetime customer value. Not only that, but they may spread the word to other potential guests, earning your hotel powerful social proof.
• Enhancing the guest experience: Complimentary services or amenities as part of a promotion can elevate the overall quality of a guest’s stay. In turn, this leads to more positive reviews, an integral part of earning more bookings.

Consider the average business traveller. She has several options for accommodation, but she (or her organisation) opts for your hotel due to a “Book two nights and receive a complimentary airport transfer” offer. This not only secures her booking but also provides an opportunity to exceed her expectations, making her more likely to return. She could potentially even share her experiences with the wider business, earning your hotel more bookings from the organisation across the board.

The same logic can be applied to other audiences: families, students, couples, retirees. Every demographic that you can think of can be enticed more effectively through a tailored booking promotion that offers better value based on their specific preferences.

How does a hotel room promotion drive more bookings?

Hotel room promotions are effective because they appeal to the decision-making psychology of potential guests:

• Creating a sense of urgency and scarcity: Time-sensitive offers encourage immediate action, leading to quicker bookings.
• Encouraging word-of-mouth: A guest who has a positive experience due to a special offer is more likely to recommend your hotel to others.
• Providing upselling opportunities: Once a guest has booked a room, there are additional opportunities to upsell services such as dining or spa packages, thereby increasing overall revenue.

You can also use promo codes to easily get more guests booking through your direct booking engine.

Using promo codes at your hotel

Promo codes and/or coupons are a great way for your hotel to sell last-minute inventory or to get more guests through the door when you really need to. They’re also a useful way to re-engage past guests, and are often appreciated by most guests since they feel like they’re getting value for money.

You can share your promotion code via advertisements to entice guests with an exclusive rate, distribute it through your pre-arrival or post-departure emails to boost repeat stays, or use the promise of posting regular promotion codes to grow a following on your social media page or encourage newsletter signups.

Hotel promotion codes can be easily set up and implemented via your hotel booking engine. This will allow select guests who have the code to access a special rate for specific rooms. 

Here are some FAQs you might need answers to:

What do promotion codes do?

Promotion codes allow guests to book with a discount by entering a code in your direct booking engine. When guests enter the promo code along with their search criteria in the booking engine, they are able to view and book the rooms that are linked to that code.

How do promotion codes work?

As long as you have at least one active promotion code, a field where your potential guests can enter the promotion code will appear on your direct booking engine. When your guests enter a valid promotion code in your direct booking engine, it will show the selected rate plans with the discount you chose for the promotion code.

Why should I create a promotion code?

Creating and using promotion codes can make guests feel special, create a sense of urgency, help you win bookings around particular events or seasons, and help you retain existing customers.

Can I set restrictions for promotion codes?

While you can’t set restrictions specifically for a promo code, you can instead create a new rate plan that has the restrictions you need and then apply the promotion code to that rate plan.

Can I use promotion codes that show specific room types or rate plans?

Yes! You can use promotion codes to choose what rate plans you want to display first and create URLs to show specific room types or rate plans first.

Take a free trial of SiteMinder’s booking engine to see for yourself how it all works.

Remember that promo codes are best used as limited time offers, so it’s a good idea to periodically change or remove them.

Hotel promotion name ideas to get your guests excited:

If you need some ideas on how to name your promotions, here are 35 examples:

1. Family Fun Adventure Package
2. Romantic Retreat Getaway
3. Find Yourself Wellness Retreat
4. Golf Getaway Package
5. Festive Holiday Spectacular
6. Culinary Delight Experience
7. Weekend Wine and Dine
8. Ultimate Spa Indulgence
9. Business Bliss Package
10. Culture and Heritage Tour
11. Oceanfront Serenity Special
12. Shop ‘Til You Drop Deal
13. Honeymoon Heaven Package
14. Girls’ Weekend Extravaganza
15. Pet-Friendly Paradise
16. Ski Slope Adventure
17. City Explorer’s Quest
18. Eco-Friendly Green Getaway
19. VIP Luxury Experience
20. Art and Museum Enthusiast Package
21. Birthday Bash Special
22. Extended Stay Savings
23. Digital Detox Retreat
24. Local Experience Package
25. Last-Minute Escape Deal
26. All-Inclusive Luxury
27. Seasonal Splendour
28. Foodie’s Paradise Package
29. Yoga and Mindfulness Retreat
30. Adrenaline Junkie Adventure
31. History Buff Package
32. Tropical Island Escape
33. Scenic Mountain Getaway
34. Early Bird Special
35. Suite Dreams Upgrade

Best hotel promotion ideas to try

If you’re trying to boost bookings and increase revenue flow at your hotel, there are few easier or more effective ways to do it than introducing some simple promotions.

Hotel promotions are great because you can be very flexible and targeted with what you offer, and often they’ll grab the attention of travellers searching online.

Here are just five examples of hotel promotions you can run to increase occupancy and revenue when needed.

1. Seasonal hotel promotions

Most destinations experience a low season, where tourism is not as active as other parts of the year. However, with the right deals your hotel doesn’t have to suffer through empty rooms and hallways.

Simply reducing the room rate might not be the best idea, as it won’t necessarily guarantee an increase in occupancy. Instead, try to incorporate discounts with more eye-catching promotions like ‘Summer Getaways’ and

‘Winter Retreats’ and remind travellers how beautiful your destination is and how much they can see when there are less crowds.
Seasonal promotions can be a great way to bring back customers who have stayed with you before.

2. Themed hotel promotions

There should be plenty of opportunity to offer specific promotions around certain activities or the typical market that you attract. These will be attention-grabbing and very relevant for travellers looking into booking a stay in the area.

For example you might offer promotions around honeymoons or anniversaries if you’re in a romantic locale, adventure deals if you’re out of the major cities, or ultimate relaxation experiences if you’re a coastal hotel. Appealing to different lifestyles or family setups is always a good idea.

3. Event-based hotel promotions

It’s likely your destination will be involved in a number of large events throughout the year. It makes a lot of sense to capitalise on these and include them in your promotions. People will already be researching these events so if your hotel has a deal in conjunction with them, awareness of your hotel should increase along with site traffic.

These events might include music or art festivals, Easter or Christmas events, circuses, travelling markets, sporting events etc. With a booking you might offer discounted tickets, adapt the hotel experience to match the events, create special rates.

4. Direct booking promotions

Placing exclusive promotions within your booking engine on your website will give travellers an incentive to book directly instead of via an OTA.

It will also help establish your hotel website as your most important distribution channel and help increase profit by eliminating OTA commission fees. The incentive might be a discount, or it might also be an added extra such as a bottle of wine, restaurant voucher, or amenity gift cards.

5. Partnership hotel promotions

In most cases, your hotel will be situated in a thriving location where you’re not the only business looking to capitalise on the many travellers to the area.

Combining with other businesses will reduce the cost of promotion and marketing, and give you wider coverage as long as your partner holds up their end of the bargain. It may also give you access to a new market and create ongoing business.

Common partnerships include those with theme parks, restaurants, cinemas, museums, sporting arenas, adventure and tour guides.
It’s one thing to create your promotions, but remember you need people to see them. Always advertise on your social media channels and ensure your search engine optimisation is strong to gain as much online traction as possible.

Entice guests using hotel promotions and increase bookings with SiteMinder as your trusted partner

• Automated campaign management: Eliminate manual errors and save time with our automated system. SiteMinder ensures your promotions are consistently distributed across multiple channels for maximum reach.
• Data-driven insights: Our robust analytics dashboard empowers you to make informed decisions. Understand the performance metrics of your promotions and refine your strategies for greater success.
• Personalised guest experience: Use our advanced segmentation features to create targeted promotions. Whether it’s a package designed for couples or families, you can tailor your offers to meet the specific needs and desires of your guests.

Get started with SiteMinder for free or watch a demo to learn more.

The Wix website builder is one of several platforms for building a business website, including for hotels. It boasts a user-friendly interface, template designs, and the ability to arrange website elements through a simple drag-and-drop interface, including text, images, videos and forms.

For many businesses, Wix is a popular choice for building a website. However, does this popularity mean that it should also appeal to hoteliers? Let’s explore what Wix has to offer your business, and whether it’s the right choice for you.

Is Wix a good website builder for hotels?

Pros and cons of Wix as a hotel website builder

Pros:

• Simple interface: Wix provides a user-friendly interface and drag-and-drop functionality, making it accessible to users without technical expertise. It allows users to easily create and customise their websites with a visual approach.
• Design templates: Wix offers a vast selection of professionally designed templates across various industries, including specific templates tailored for hotels. These templates provide a starting point for customisation and help users create visually appealing websites.
• Customisation options: Wix allows users to customise their websites to a certain extent, including layouts, colours, fonts, and content. It provides some flexibility to create an online presence that aligns with the brand identity of the hotel.
• App market and integrations: Wix has an App Market that offers third-party integrations and add-ons. Users can enhance their websites with features such as online booking systems, event calendars, contact forms, social media integrations, and more – though this does sometimes rely on parties outside of Wix and extra costs.
• Mobile optimisation: Wix is reportedly optimised for websites on mobile devices, ensuring they are mobile-friendly and responsive. Mobile responsiveness is crucial in today’s mobile-driven world, as it improves the user experience and helps with search engine rankings.

Cons:

• Template limitations: While Wix offers a wide range of templates, customisation options may be limited within each template. Hoteliers will face design constraints or find it challenging to achieve a highly unique or customised look for their website.
• Poor scalability: Wix is suitable for small to medium-sized websites, but it may not be the most scalable solution for large or complex hotel websites with advanced functionality. Users may encounter limitations as their website grows or requires more sophisticated features. This can extend to poor performance when dealing with high numbers of visitors as well, turning what should be a blessing into a hurdle.
• Code access: Wix does not provide direct access to the website’s underlying code. This means that users cannot customise or modify the website’s code directly, which may restrict advanced customisation options or limit integration possibilities with certain external services.
• Monthly subscription: While Wix offers a free plan, many advanced features and functionalities require a premium subscription. Users may need to pay a monthly fee to access specific features or remove Wix advertisements from their website.
• SEO limitations: While Wix provides basic SEO tools and guidance, some users may find it limited compared to other website builders or custom-coded websites. Advanced SEO techniques or fine-grained control over certain aspects may not be as easily achievable with Wix.

How to use the Wix website builder

The Wix website builder tutorial is straightforward, and is similar to many other website builders, including WordPress and Squarespace. The basic steps are:

1. Sign up: Visit the Wix website and click on the “Get Started” button. Enter your email address and create a password to sign up for a Wix account.

2. Choose a template: Browse through the collection of professionally designed templates. Select a template that best suits your website’s purpose or industry. You can preview and explore different templates before making your choice.

3. Customise your site: Once you’ve chosen a template, enter the Wix Editor. Here, you can customise the design and layout of your website. Use the drag-and-drop functionality to add and arrange elements like text boxes, images, videos, and contact forms. Edit and personalise the content to match your brand or individual style.

4. Add pages: Create additional pages for your website by clicking on the “Pages” menu. You can add pages such as Home, About, Services, Blog, and Contact. Rearrange the page order as needed.

5. Customise settings: Access the “Settings” menu to personalise your website further. Update your site’s title, description, and SEO settings to optimise its visibility on search engines. Set your preferred domain name or connect an existing domain.

6. Add functionality: Enhance your website’s functionality by incorporating Wix apps. Explore the Wix App Market to find apps for contact forms, social media integration, e-commerce features, booking systems, and more. Install and configure the desired apps to extend your site’s capabilities.

7. Preview and publish: Before publishing your website, preview it using the “Preview” button to ensure everything looks as expected. Once you’re satisfied, click on the “Publish” button to make your website live on the internet.

8. Update and maintain: Remember to regularly update and maintain your website. Use the Wix Editor to make changes, add new content, or modify your design whenever necessary.

Learning how to use the Wix website builder is intentionally standardised, but there are some factors that make the Wix experience different from others – particularly for hoteliers.

For example, the Wix platform builder does have some features designed for hoteliers, but it requires an additional app (Wix Hotels) to use. In addition, the templates provided by Wix have some hotel-specific designs, but they are the exception, not the rule. In fact, of the 900+ templates offered by Wix, only 4 are specific to hotels, at the time of writing.

This means there are fewer templates suitable for hotels, which can result in you having to use the same template as another hotel – maybe even one of your competitors. You can’t buy a template for exclusive use either. Coupled with Wix’s limitations around in-depth customisation, and you may end up with a site that looks generic.

Compare this to SiteMinder, which provides high quality and top performing website templates, all designed exclusively for hotels, with features like direct booking as standard without the need for additional apps. This makes our website design process fast, easy, and tailored, and perhaps most importantly, results in a truly unique site that will help your hotel stand out from the crowd.

Wix website builder review: Are users happy?

Is Wix a good website builder? Check out these reviews below from real users that talk to both the pros and cons of Wix.

• “I used to direct clients to purchase Wix plans that I would build their sites on. I had a positive association with Wix when I started but realised the limitations on designing the more I used Wix. When clients want extra functionality on their site, they seem disappointed when I have to tell them they have to upgrade their plan in order to do that feature. I don’t recommend using Wix anymore.”
• “Wix is great for first-time website designers and people who don’t want to spend much time putting up their website. The cons are that it does look less nice than websites made on other platforms, there are fewer features you can customise to your website, and their customer service is subpar.”
• “For a fast simple easy website, Wix is a great option. If you are looking to customise, create your own theme or move your website to another host, then Wix is not for you.”

Wix website builder cost: Worth it?

Wix has several different tiers for the Wix website builder pricing. They are:

• Basic: $17/month
• Unlimited: $26/month
• VIP: $35/month

The higher the tier, the more features and capacity your Wix website would have. Basic and Unlimited plans, for example, can’t receive customised reports about website performance. They also have far less storage space than the VIP option – and only the VIP option allows you unlimited video hours. Ironically, the ‘Unlimited’ plan video hours are capped at 10 hours, and storage space is capped at only 35 GB.

It’s important to note that these prices, particularly the cheaper tiers, lack some critical functionality for hotel websites. For example, if you want to access the Wix Hotels Channel Manager, you must pay an extra $15 a month as well as install the additional Wix Hotels app. This is in stark contrast to a website builder like SiteMinder, where what Wix calls “advanced features” are included all in the same price.

Lastly, there are cheaper tiers in the basic Website Plans, but these are significantly limited, especially around being able to accept payments. These are more suitable for personal and professional websites for individuals, rather than hotels. 

If you’re concerned about how much a Wix website builder experience is, there is also a free Wix website builder option, but this is the most limited choice of all, and requires that you retain Wix branding, even in the URL (e.g. hotelname.wixsite.com).

Unlike SiteMinder’s 30-day opportunity to try out the software, Wix doesn’t offer a “free trial”. Instead, you can upgrade to a premium plan and, if you want a refund, you must cancel within 14 days. Not a free trial, but the next best thing (with the need to manually cancel).

Is Wix a good website builder? For many businesses, it is. But is Wix the best website builder for hotels, considering the cost compared to other providers? There may be better options out there.

Create a professional hotel website with SiteMinder and attract more direct bookings online

With SiteMinder, you gain access to everything you need to thrive in the hotel and accommodation world. Our hotel website builder is designed exclusively for medium to large sized hotel businesses, combining high performance, an easy-to-use interface, dedicated hotel designs with full customisable, and built-in integration with the broader SiteMinder tool set (including our world-class booking engine).

Signing on with the SiteMinder website building experience means you can enjoy:

• More profitable direct booking experience. We get you everything you need to bypass OTAs and generate a loyal customer base that returns to you year-after-year. This includes a free website domain bundled with our builder and absolutely no “extra fees” for channel management and embedded booking.
• Better results from search engines. Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, TripAdvisor – these are all platforms that SiteMinder can help you rank better on through our channel management service. Meanwhile, our highly optimised website builder will help you appear in the top results on search engines too. The best of both worlds.

• Faster bookings, more returning guests. The SiteMinder website builder uses best-in-class templates and design to create a fully customisable, highly professional website. We even include the option of including a TripAdvisor feedback form directly on your site to rapidly earn positive guest feedback and better leverage the experience of your guests.

Whether you’re managing a single hotel, a group of hotels, or an international hotel chain, SiteMinder gives you a single place to manage every aspect of your enterprise – real time insights, bookings, distribution of listing, guest management, payments, and much more. Start a free trial today or watch a demo below.

The Squarespace website builder is a platform that offers a user-friendly interface for creating and customising websites. It provides website templates and layouts that users can choose from to design their websites according to their preferences. Users can add and arrange various elements such as text, images, videos, and forms using a drag-and-drop interface.

Overall, Squarespace is a popular website builder for a range of businesses, including hotels. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best website builder for your hotel; and it certainly isn’t the only option for your website.

Should hotels use the Squarespace website builder?

If you’re considering using Squarespace as your chosen website builder for your hotel and pursuing an internally created website rather than a custom-built one, there are a few important considerations before you settle on this specific platform. Here are a few of the major considerations:

• Simplified building process (but with major limitations). The Squarespace platform is designed for a wide range of users, including those who are unfamiliar with the technical side of building a website. This means that the user interface is simple and easy to use – but it also means that there are significant limitations in what you can do on the platform. Hotels with specific design requirements or unique needs may find it challenging to make a Squarespace site do what they need it to do.

• Easy templated designs (that can end up generic). Standing out in the crowd is crucial for success in the competitive hotel industry. Squarespace provides a good number of templates to kick start your website build without a drawn-out design stage, but there’s a good chance that one of your competitors is using the same or similar template. This can make your website end up boring and generic – not the engaging, unique site that you really need it to be.

• Integrated features (but not always hotel-relevant). Squarespace offers some built-in tools around e-commerce, blogging and basic SEO tools. However, they are more limited around their ability to integrate booking engines and channel management. Often, you’ll need to rely on a third-party tool for hotel-specific features.

Ultimately, while Squarespace is a popular option for businesses looking to build a professional website, it has not been designed specifically for hotels. Hotels have unique needs for their digital presences, and while Squarespace can tick many, perhaps even most, of the necessary boxes – they don’t always tick all of them. Compared to a purpose-built website builder like SiteMinder’s offering, the process of building a website on Squarespace starts simple but can quickly become overly complicated with underwhelming results.

Squarespace website builder review

Here are a few examples of reviews for Squarespace: 

• “Squarespace was ok for a beginner because you can use templates. As long as you don’t mind a very simple, clean design with not many options, you are good with Squarespace.”
• “Squarespace makes it easy to get websites up quickly — we’ve built three, and all went from zero to launch within three days. If you just need some standard startup landing pages, Squarespace is for you. Their customer support is great if about the basic blocks.”
• “While Squarespace excels in simplicity and hassle-free website creation, it may not meet the advanced needs of web designers. ”

How to use the Squarespace website builder

Building a website with Squarespace is a similar process to many other website builders, such as WordPress and Wix. The basic steps are:

1. Choose a website template.
2. Build your website by creating and designing important pages.
3. Customise each page with the drag and drop builder.
4. Add apps and add-ons for booking, payments and channel management.
5. Choose and pay for a custom domain.
6. Optimise your website for SEO so it can be found by search engines.
7. Choose your paid plan (after the 14-day free trial).

While the building process is relatively standard, the Squarespace website building experience is in the detail.

For example, while it does have an intuitive user interface that results in a fast, pain-free website build, the fact that Squarespace isn’t built for hoteliers means that you can run into problems both early on in the process and, potentially, many years down the track.

The worst part for a hotel website is finding, installing and customising the necessary third-party add-ons for basic hotel functionality, such as direct booking. This can turn what appears to be a simple process into a long and time-consuming slog – particularly when compared to tools built specifically for medium- to large-sized hotels like SiteMinder’s hotel website builder.

Squarespace website builder cost: Worth it?

Squarespace offers several different payment tiers, depending on the features that you want to access:

• Business: $35 per month.
• Basic Commerce: $40 per month.
• Advanced Commerce: $61 per month.

It’s important to note that these prices do not include your custom domain, as well as all the hotel-specific functionality you’ll need to add. This means that adding your  booking system and channel manager may inflate those prices even further. 

Compared to Siteminder’s website builder, which is designed specifically for medium- to large-sized hotels, Squarespace falls short in a few areas. Our solution is far more than just a website builder – it comes with all the features and functions that you need as a competitive hotel. That includes channel manager software, a booking engine, a payment processor, and even a digital front desk. That’s all wrapped up in the same price; no nickel-and-diming.

We also offer a 30-day free trial – more than twice as long as Squarespace – so you can check to ensure that our website builder ticks all the boxes you need it to. Combined with 24/7 phone support, you get one of the best website builders for hotels on the market with no money down.

Is Squarespace the best website builder available for your hotel?

Squarespace is a popular choice for many different businesses, alongside WordPress, Wix, and other familiar names. However, familiarity doesn’t spell suitability.

SiteMinder’s website builder is purpose built for hotels experiencing the unique challenges of building an online presence for a medium- to large-sized property.

Is Squarespace the best website builder out there? Maybe. But is it the best hotel website builder out there? Not necessarily.

Create a professional hotel website with SiteMinder and attract more direct bookings online

SiteMinder means business. We bring together everything you need to succeed in the world of online hotel commerce. This includes a dedicated hotel website builder, designed exclusively and explicitly for the needs of large accommodation businesses that need excellent performance combined with a user-friendly interface.

Here’s a taste of what you can expect from the SiteMinder website builder:

• Make your website your most profitable booking channel. With easy integration with the rest of the SiteMinder suite, a free website domain, and the ability to display promotions and optional extras to convert last-minute bookings, our website builder helps you turn your website into a powerhouse of direct bookings.

• Be seen where it matters most. With SiteMinder, your listings are more visible on sites like Google Hotels Ads, Trivago and TripAdvisor, but our website builder ensures that your hotel appears in the top results on search engines too through SEO-friendly design.

• Turn heads and earn guest loyalty. Our website builder uses modern templates and design with full customisation options for your chosen design. You can even embed a TripAdvisor widget on your website to quickly earn positive guest feedback and attract more guests with powerful social proof.

SiteMinder is the #1 Hotel Commerce Platform. Whether you’re managing a single hotel, a hotel group or a large chain, SiteMinder gives you a single place to manage everything—with access to real-time insights, bookings, guests, distribution and payments.

The WordPress website builder is a popular tool that allows users to create an online presence or website for their blog, business or organisation. It’s a platform that a creator or developer uses to build a website, either from the ground up or through using the pre-installed templates or ‘themes’, which give sites different looks, features, capabilities, and customisation options.

Many hotels use WordPress as a site builder to establish the foundation for their digital identity. However, popularity doesn’t necessarily mean suitability for your business. The WordPress website builder is certainly widely used, but there are other options that may be better for your hotel’s unique needs.

Is WordPress a good website builder for my hotel?

WordPress website creation has gained considerable popularity as a versatile platform that caters to various industries, including the hotel sector. However, before settling immediately on WordPress, it’s important to consider its suitability for your specific hotel management needs and whether the WordPress website builder cost is worth it for your business.

Here are some of the major points to consider about the WordPress website builder:

• Flexibility and customisation. WordPress is renowned for its wide range of themes and plugins, offering hoteliers the opportunity to create visually appealing and functional websites. However, while WordPress offers flexibility, keep in mind that meaningful customisation beyond the base themes will usually require professional technical and design expertise.
• Ease of Use. WordPress is designed to be accessible to beginners and non-technical users. Its intuitive interface enables you to update content, add images, and manage your website. However, the initial learning curve might be steep for those unfamiliar with WordPress, and mastering its full potential without knowledge of HTML, CSS, Javascript, and other common coding languages can require some time and effort.
• Technical maintenance and security. As with any software, maintaining and securing your WordPress website is essential. Regular updates, backups, and security measures are necessary to protect your hotel’s online presence. While WordPress provides a wide range of security plugins, ensuring comprehensive protection may require additional investment. The platform’s popularity makes it a target for hackers, so vigilance and proactive security measures are vital.
• Performance and speed. Website performance and loading speed play a crucial role in delivering a seamless user experience. While WordPress offers optimisation features and caching plugins to enhance speed, your website’s performance can be affected by the sheer number of plugins and third-party integrations you may need to utilise. Careful consideration and testing are required to maintain optimal website performance without sacrificing functionality.
• Support and Community. WordPress benefits from a vast and active community of developers, designers, and users. This means you can find answers to your questions, access tutorials, and seek assistance when encountering issues. However, it’s important to note that the level of support may vary, and some resources might require a fee. Additionally, relying on the community for technical support might not always provide the level of assistance needed for hotel-specific challenges.

How to use the WordPress website builder

While the WordPress website builder is intended to be accessible to all levels of technical skill and digital know-how, the reality is that setting up a website with WordPress still has a number of steps.

1. Web Hosting and a Domain Name

Your website will need somewhere to live – a URL, such as www.siteminder.com. While WordPress provides a free website builder, you must still use a web hosting service for your site to be available on the web with a standard URL.

These domains require some investment, depending on the domain you want to use – and if it’s already been reserved. If you want to use a URL that has already been claimed, you may need to purchase it from the person holding it.

Some common WordPress hosting services are:

• GoDaddy
• DreamHost
• BlueHost
• SiteGround

You can also host your site through WordPress themselves.

Once you have purchased a domain name and chosen a web host, you’ll need to install WordPress itself. This can be done through the user dashboard through your hosting provider – the exact process will vary slightly depending on the hosting provider.

2. Choose a WordPress theme

A WordPress theme is a website template, which controls how your site looks and what it’s capable of doing. Choosing the right theme is probably the most important part of building a website through WordPress.

There are thousands of both free and paid themes available, though not all of them are up to the same standard. Free themes may be tempting, but they also often end up costing more in the long run as they lack important functionality for hotels (such as booking engine integration).

Installing a theme, depending on what kind of hosting you are using, can either be as simple as clicking a button, or can require manual upload and adjustment in the back end of the website.

3. Installing crucial plugins

Different themes may have required plugins which must be installed before the site can be customised. You’ll also have a choice of optional plugins – thousands of them – which do everything from improve security to help with search engine optimisation to add a live chat to your site.

As a hotelier, plugins can also provide functionality such as:

• online booking systems,
• property management integrations, and/or
• reservation management tools.

While it’s tempting to install every plugin that catches your attention, the more plugins your site relies on, the worse it will likely perform. We advise selecting only the best and most necessary plugins. If your site performs poorly regardless, it may be better to invest in a website builder that has these functions built in, such as SiteMinder’s dedicated hotel website builder.

4. Setting your website hierarchy

Your newly created website will likely be populated with demonstration content – lorem ipsum dolor and stock imagery. Before you begin adjusting this content, you’ll need to configure your settings, including:

• Setting your homepage
• Setting your blog post page
• Updating your site name
• Updating your site tagline
• Updating the site icon

This can all be achieved through the Appearance tab in your WordPress back end (www.yoursitename.com/wp-admin).

This is also a good opportunity to plan how your site will look after you’ve customised it. Consider the pages that you’ll need, the hierarchy of your site, what your menu and navigation will look like, and so on. The WordPress website builder can manage some aspects of this for you automatically, such as automatically updating the menu with new pages, but the majority of the work will be on your shoulders.

5. Adding Your Own Content

It’s finally time to start adding your own content, imagery, and design. This is the part where you will start creating and formatting your webpages, which make up your website. The vast majority of hotel websites built through WordPress will include pages like:

• Home
• Hotel information
• Locations
• Room descriptions
• An image gallery
• Packages/pricing
• Local events
• Local amenities
• A direct booking page
• A contact page
• News and/or a company blog

These pages can be customised, created and added from the page builder for WordPress, on the Pages tab in the WordPress back end. The blog can be changed on the Posts tab.

An important note: Websites for large hotels may differ slightly from websites with a more local footprint. The Hilton website, for example, has a more advanced site hierarchy that provides information for each individual hotel, rather than the business as a whole. Keep this example in mind if you are managing an international or multi-site accommodation business.

6. Publishing and marketing your site

Once you’re happy with the look, feel and content of the WordPress site, you can publish it. This will make it available for people to visit directly or through a search engine.

However, the work doesn’t stop here. Successful hoteliers tweak, update and market their website with the same rigour they applied when they first built it.

Digital marketing for a hotel is a skill in itself, but there are some basics you can begin with:

• Submit your URL to Google Search Console to help it rank more quickly.
• Create social media accounts for your website and include links in your posts (e.g., a Facebook Business Page, an Instagram account or a Pinterest business account).
• Add your website to relevant online directories and hotel metasearch engines (i.e., Yellow Pages, Tripadvisor, Yelp).
• Create a Google My Business account to get found in local search – create a listing for each hotel if you are managing multiple sites.
• Add your business to the Better Business Bureau or the equivalent in the local country.
• Add your website’s URL to your email signature, business cards, or any other marketing materials you may use.

WordPress hotel templates

The WordPress website builder has thousands of free and paid templates, many of which can be used for a hotel website. However, not every template is of equal quality, and many free WordPress website builder templates that may appear to be suitable for your hotel on the surface can end up costing you more in the long run due to limited functionality and poor performance.

The most successful WordPress hotel websites tend to be built on premium themes. These are themes designed with additional features and integrations. However, they can still suffer from the same problem as all WordPress themes – they appeal to a broad audience rather than catering to hotel challenges specifically, and so can have significant gaps in their capabilities around software integrations (particularly direct booking engines).

This puts it in stark contrast to a dedicated hotel website builder like SiteMinder. Our offering has a range of dedicated, premium website templates that come built-in with the platform and are designed exclusively for hotel websites.

What is the best website builder for hotels?

While WordPress is a popular choice as a website builder for hotels, it is certainly not the only one – nor is it the most suitable option.

At SiteMinder, we’ve designed a website builder with the medium- to large-sized hotel manager and owner in mind. It gives you the ability to build a beautiful and professional hotel website that also seamlessly integrates with the SiteMinder hotel commerce platform and direct booking engine.

This gives you a single place to manage your direct bookings, a single place to handle your day-to-day property management processes, a single place to house your data, guest information, and financial performance. Perhaps best of all, you benefit from 24/7 support from a single provider – us – rather than relying on a sometimes thinly-stretched WordPress support team and the sometimes-inaccurate wider WordPress community.

Create a hotel website with a booking system using SiteMinder

SiteMinder is the #1 Hotel Commerce Platform. Whether you’re managing a single hotel, a hotel group or a large chain, SiteMinder gives you a single place to manage everything—with access to real-time insights, bookings, guests, distribution and payments.

Here’s a taste of what you can expect from SiteMinder’s website builder:

• Expert design. We’ve worked with the experts so you don’t have to. All SiteMinder themes are built with best practice, modern methodologies to ensure maximum performance and the best possible guest experience.
• Integrated with leading providers. Our website builder isn’t only designed for SiteMinder integrations. We offer a wide range of built-in compatibilities, such as the embeddable TripAdvisor widget that allows guests to quickly and easily share their feedback and grow your social proof.
• Full customisation. Your website is the digital face of your hotel. With SiteMinder’s complete customisation options, you can convert more bookings by showcasing all your property has to offer, from rooms and amenities, to local events and attractions. Our site builder lets you do it the best way possible – your way.

Ready to upgrade your website without the hassle of coding or third party consultants? Try out the SiteMinder website builder for free or watch a demo below.

Hotel conferences are professional gatherings that enable hoteliers to discover vital insights or solutions that can improve the performance of the business, hotel leadership, and staff.

Running a successful hotel demands networking, relationship building, and innovation.  Speaking to potential clients, suppliers and even competitors can lead to all manner of opportunities to grow your brand and increase performance. 

Some of the perfect places to do this are at hotel conferences and hospitality trade shows – where you can learn about new strategies, new technology, and listen to new perspectives.

Why are hospitality conferences important?

The purpose of hotel conferences and importance of hospitality conferences revolves around collaborative learning, discovering and unearthing innovation, building reciprocal partnerships, and establishing strong customer relationships.

In many cases, hospitality conferences are important for learning about new market trends, business strategies, or technologies that will help a business succeed.

This is why conferences are often a melting pot of the industry with attendees including hoteliers, technology providers, restaurant owners, consultants, developers, analysts, market experts and more.

Here are the best conferences and shows for hoteliers to attend in 2024, including those where you can catch-up and chat with SiteMinder!

Top hotel trade shows and hospitality shows

There are few places in the world where hoteliers can’t find a great trade show to attend. Most major cities and markets have a number of conferences throughout the year.

Here are the top 7 hotel trade shows to put on your calendar:

1. International Hotel Technology Forum

Where: Barcelona, Spain

When: 16-18 April

2024 will be the 21st anniversary of this forum. With exclusive content, one-to-one business meetings, industry-led case studies and unprecedented networking, it’s the perfect show to learn about today’s challenges and innovations when it comes to hotel technology – something all hoteliers should be very invested in.

It will bring together OTAs, management companies, hoteliers, and solution providers across three packed days at the Hyatt Regency Tower.

2. Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC)

Where: Charlotte, North Carolina

When: 24-27 June

The world’s biggest and oldest hotel tech show comes to the US in 2024. 

With unique content, speakers, and tech showcases, it’s the perfect place to find much needed education and resources to help your business grow and thrive in a modern marketplace.

3. No Vacancy Hotel & Accommodation Expo

Where: Sydney, Australia

When: 18-19 September

Held at a world-class facility with globally recognised and respected figures in the hotel and accommodation industry, NoVancancy is an expo not to miss.

Come together with other hoteliers and experts to learn how to tackle challenges, explore new trends, and understand new technology.

4. Equipotel

Where: São Paulo, Brazil

When: 17-20 September

Across what will be 60 editions, Equipotel has become a key reference point for hoteliers and suppliers in Latin America.

It provides a wonderful opportunity to network, discover solutions, and discuss a wide range of challenges that need to be overcome.

5. Travel Tech Asia

Where: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

When: 23-25 October

A must-attend for travel professionals and tech suppliers, Travel Tech Asia is a chance for hoteliers to look at what they could be doing better with their tech investment to drive business growth.

Check out some of the industry’s leading suppliers and discover the latest technologies that can help drive your property to success.

6. WTM London

Where: London, UK

When: 5-7 November

A massive, world-leading travel event awaits you at World Travel Market. With four decades of history, the event now facilitates £2.8 billion in industry deals and has around 5,000 exhibitors from 182 countries and regions and more than 51,000 participants.

Come and hear from the best in the industry about how they have reshaped their businesses and data insights into trending destinations and products – and visit exhibitors to see if there’s a perfect tech solution waiting for you.

7. Phocuswright Conference

Where: Arizona, USA

When: 19-21 November

With a focused theme and an aim to inspire meaningful conversations and steps forward, Phocuswright has a great event set-up for all within the travel industry to attend.

Learn about what the future of travel holds as Phocuswright Conference explores the current state of the market in detail.

Make your conference learnings meaningful

Use SiteMinder’s platform to turn insights into action and maximise revenue at your hotel.

Learn more

Australia hotel conferences

Australia, headquarters of SiteMinder, has its own thriving tourism industry and accompanying hotel conferences.

Of course, we already mentioned NoVacancy which is a highlight but here are some others you may be interested in:

Maximum Occupancy

Where: Perth (Australia), Sydney (Australia), Auckland (New Zealand)

When: 16 April 2024, 23-24 July 2024, 25-26 February 2025

Maximum Occupancy is the place where the Asia-Pacific accommodation industry comes to meet. 

Taking place across three dates and locations, the conference features 100+ global experts divulging secrets on how hoteliers can maximise market share, direct bookings, and revenue.

It’s also a chance to network with both domestic and international attendees so don’t miss out!

VTIC 2024 Vision Summit

Where: Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Victoria

When: 16 April 2024

Victoria Tourism Industry Council partners with Tourism Australia to produce a show that will be focusing on growth as a theme.

The summit will look at the key factors that will influence tourism growth in the region over the next four years, giving hoteliers an idea of how they can capitalise on the opportunities.

Australasian Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition (AHICE)

Where: Adelaide Oval, South Australia

When: 1-2 May 2024

In its 15th edition, this conference sees leading industry experts speak to more than 1400 attendees about the most pressing topics that hoteliers are tackling.

It’s a time to learn, inspire, network, and succeed so make sure you book your spot!

Best hospitality conferences to meet SiteMinder

Speaking of industry leaders, SiteMinder keeps itself busy as the industry’s leading tech provider too. There are plenty of conferences and shows throughout the year where you can come and meet us. Take a look at the following list:

Hospitality Indonesia Conference

Where: Jakarta, Indonesia

When: 30-31 January

Get the best of all worlds with a hotel investment and development summit running parallel with a hotel revenue summit at Hospitality Indonesia Conference.

Get an in-depth view of Indonesia’s travel and tourism sector, and why not chat to SiteMinder while you’re at it?

Gala Vallarta

Where: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

When: 8-9 February

The 28th edition of this unique show provides a platform for international and domestic wholesalers and operators to make pre-arranged appointments with hoteliers. Explore your opportunities to grow your business and say hi to SiteMinder to see how we can help.

Philippines Accommodation Industry Summit 

Where: Manila, Philippines

When: 21 February

Learn about new trends and technology products on the market, as well as expand your overall business management skills.

Make an appointment with SiteMinder and let us know how we can help you!

IHF Showtel

Where: Co.Cavan, Ireland

When: 26-27 February

Meet and network to discover the latest solutions and trends that your hotel can take advantage of.

SiteMinder will be in attendance so make sure you visit our stand and say hi.

The Asociación Colombiana de Agencias de Viajes y Turismo (ANATO)

Where: Bogota, Colombia

When: 28 February – 1 March

Catch SiteMinder at the most important tourism event in Colombia, operating since 1982.

Come and talk about current happenings in the industry and explore ways that technology can help you solve challenges and grow your business online.

Bolsa de Turismo de Lisboa (BTL) 

Where: Lisbon, Portugal

When: 28 February – 3 March

One of the most popular and successful events on the calendar, BTL is the perfect place to network, meet new contacts, and learn about the latest innovations.

With experts like SiteMinder in attendance, you can bet all your burning questions will be answered and then some.

Internationale Tourismus Börse (ITB) 

Where: Berlin, Germany

When: 5-7 March

The world’s leading travel trade show is back live in 2024 for the second time since the pandemic.

Attend an exclusively B2B show and help shape the future of travel. This is where decisive trends are uncovered and analysed to provide a roadmap for hoteliers to follow towards success.

Internorga

Where: Hamburg, Germany

When: 8-12 March

This leading trade fair for hospitality businesses and restaurants is a place to look out for the latest trends and products, while mixing with key players in the industry.

Don’t forget to speak with SiteMinder and see how we can help your accommodation business thrive.

CRH Pro Expo

Where: Corse, France

When: 10-12 March

This event is now in its fifth year and showcases a number of prominent exhibitors in the industry, providing hoteliers a chance to look at new products and solutions.

Come and see how SiteMinder delivers unbeatable revenue results for hotels.

Food Hotel Tech

Where: Paris, France

When: 3-4 April

Learn to master staff management, performance, and customer experience as a sustainable and eco-responsible business in our industry.

Chat to hundreds of exhibitors, including SiteMinder, to learn how to improve your business.

Hospitality Vietnam Conference

Where: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

When: 3-5 April

The seventh edition of this show brings together inspirational speakers on a number of topics including interior design, finance, property development, hotel revenue and more.

Catch SiteMinder in attendance and learn about our smart hotel platform.

Tianguis Turistico

Where: Acapulco, Mexico

When: 10-12 April

As Mexico continues to establish itself as an international tourism destination, come and join a conference that promotes all things Mexico.

You’ll also find some fantastic exhibitors on display, including SiteMinder, that can help your hotel overcome any business challenges you are facing.

INDABA

Where: South Africa

When: 14-16 May

Discover one of the largest African travel and tourism events on the calendar which showcases the best travel and tourism products on the market.

Visit SiteMinder at the event and see how your hotel can grow using our platform.

Hospitality Thailand Conference

Where: Bangkok, Thailand

When: 15-16 May

A pivotal conference in the Thailand calendar, it will give hoteliers insights in the transformative nature of the industry and how to navigate accelerated growth.

SiteMinder will be on hand to chat and answer questions about the industry and our leading software solution.

Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association (HEDNA)

Where: Munich, Germany

When: 4-6 June

As the only global forum dedicated to distribution, HEDNA will help shape your strategies and tools as your hotel looks to optimise occupancy and revenue.

Visit SiteMinder to see how our platform delivers superior connection and control when managing hotel distribution.

ROC Americas

Where: Charlotte, North Carolina

When: 25-26 June

Get the lowdown on hotel strategies surrounding marketing, revenue optimisation, and other commercial functions. 

Check out workshops, training lessons, and roundtables and catch up with SiteMinder while you’re there!

Travel Meet Asia

Where: Jakarta, Indonesia

When: 3-4 July

A premium event for networking and thought leadership within the travel industry. Connect with big players and learn new perspectives on running your business.

Enjoy meeting with SiteMinder and see how we can help your property.

Hotel Data Conference

Where: Nashville, Tennessee

When: 7-9 August

Learn about the latest hotel performance trends, and be exposed to never-before-seen analysis that will drive results in your business.

Chat to SiteMinder and learn how our platform can generate revenue for your hotel.

The Hospitality Show

Where: San Antonio, Texas

When: 28-30 October

This brand new show focuses on helping hotels operate effectively and efficiently. Take the chance to network with industry leaders and learn how to optimise your business.

Chat to SiteMinder about how our smart platform can deliver unbeatable revenue results for your property.

EquipHotel

Where: Paris, France

When: 3-7 November

The theme for this year is ‘time to dare’, which challenges businesses to be collectively audacious and innovative. Come together and see how you can take your business forward in a creative way.

Don’t forget to visit SiteMinder and see how a leading hotel platform can drive superior revenue results for your business.

Hotel advertising is one of the main ways a hotel can generate business. It is a group of marketing strategies in which a hotel pays to be presented to an audience via a range of channels, such as digital, print and broadcast form.

Just like advertising in any industry, hotel advertising is a way for you to communicate with potential guests about your services and offers.

Every piece of advertising should deliver a clear message for the prospective customer; for example you might use advertising to let everyone know your hotel restaurant and bar have exciting new menus. 

This has the potential to attract new and returning guests, as well as drive ancillary business from the local community.

Hotel advertising is crucial for ensuring that travellers first discover your business, and then also gain a lasting impression of your brand that convinces them to book their stay with you.

In a competitive environment like the hotel industry, there’s an art and a science to ensuring your business is found, noticed, and booked by travellers instead of your closest competitors.

In this blog, we’ll explore the key role of advertising in bringing your hotel success, and how you can make your advertising strategy the best it can be.

Types of hotel advertising

Hotel advertisements come in a wide variety of forms. Hospitality advertisement examples include: 

• Hotel online advertising: With the overwhelming majority of travellers now booking their stays online, digital is a hotel’s single most important type of advertising. It encompasses a large variety of ad types which we’ll take a closer look at below.
• Hotel commercials/broadcast advertising: Hotel advertisement examples like TV and radio remain important ways for you to get in front of potential guests, as they allow you to reach a huge audience all at once.
• Hotel print ads: Hotel print advertisements, such as hotel magazine ads and newspaper ads, can significantly increase brand awareness. In-flight magazines are a particularly valuable advertising channel for hotels, as they specifically target travellers while they are travelling.
• Hotel outdoor ads: From hotel billboards to bus stops, outdoor advertising is another way for your hotel to put its name up in lights, and can be particularly effective for motels and other driver-focused accommodation providers.

Importance of developing a hotel advertising strategy

Today, there are more avenues to explore for advertising than ever before. This still includes traditional methods such as physical billboards and direct mail, as well as channels brought on by the age of the internet like social media and search engines.

A successful hotel advertising strategy will depend on choosing the right channels, allocating the appropriate budget, and targeting the most ideal audience. The benefits of getting it right include:

• Increased brand exposure for your hotel(s)
• Additional occupancy
• Boosted revenue
• Elevated reputation
• Improved engagement and customer loyalty
• An advantage over competitors
• Business profit and growth

It doesn’t have to be all about guests either. You can use advertising to establish key partnerships with other travel brands, local businesses, and industry influencers.

Get more out of your online advertising

SiteMinder helps you to put your business up in lights. Manage your distribution effectively, build a more optimised website, and let us help you win metasearch bookings.

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How to get started with a hotel advertisement strategy

Here’s a general overview of everything you should consider when developing your hotel advertising strategy.

1. Research

Knowing who you want to attract is obviously priority number one. Often a ‘catch-all’ approach won’t work – since guests want a unique, authentic, and memorable experience that feels like it was made for them.

So you need to think about who is likely to be interested in your particular property and who is commonly travelling to your destination. Once you have some key audience segments in mind, this will inform how you execute your advertisements.

2. Visibility

As we mentioned, you only exist to guests if they can find you. The first step is making sure you are listing your hotel on as many top booking channels as possible, as well as any niche channels you know your typical guest may gravitate towards.

For example, some of the most popular online travel agencies are Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, Airbnb, and Hotelbeds.

3. Reach

Consider how you can expand your reach to engage even more customers and keep in touch with those already familiar with your brand. This may include channels such as search engine optimisation (SEO), social media, email, and direct mail.

4. Engagement

Travellers won’t book with you simply because they discover you. They need to be won over with a promise of quality service and an exceptional experience.

It’s important to use your advertising channels to engage the senses and the imagination of your potential customers and showcase the greatest strengths of your hotel. Stunning imagery, videos, and user generated content will help.

5. Booking capability

It’s vital that your advertising is combined with a quick and easy booking function, or it will all come to nothing.

Using an online booking engine will make it simple for guests to complete a booking whether they are on your website, coming via social media, or interacting via metasearch.

6. Reputation

The stronger your brand and reputation become, the easier it becomes to advertise. Once you have established yourself, your advertising can focus more on new offerings and exciting announcements, rather than on finding new business. 

For this to happen, you need to foster a loyal customer base and create ambassadors for your brand. This all starts with providing a great experience of course, but it’s also imperative that you manage customer reviews efficiently and responsibly.

How to write an advertisement: Example for hotels

You’ve developed some hotel advertisement ideas, now it’s time to turn them into reality. How you write your ad, and what you write, will depend on the type of ad you’re creating, but in general the best hotel advertisements tend to be written using the following formula:

• Choose your medium: Digital, print, broadcast, outdoor? Browse the hotel ads examples listed above and choose the form of advertising that best aligns with your marketing goals.
• Do your research: Define the audience you want to target (perhaps with a buyer persona) and review how your competitors are advertising, taking note of the things they’re doing well and not so well.
• Create a theme and hook: Decide the intent of the ad (brand awareness, reputation management, driving bookings, etc.) and craft an enticing hook that draws the audience in.
• Build out the ad: Beginning with the kernel of the theme or hook, build out the ad, including things like problem and solution, your competitive advantage, stats, quotes and testimonials. Ensure you meet any hotel ad compliance requirements.

Best hotel advertising examples

While all hotels have varying budgets and are at different stages of their brand journey, it can never hurt to take inspiration from others who have been successful.

Here are just three key travel advertisement examples we found of hotel advertising done right.

1. Marriott Bonvoy – ‘Where can we take you’

Designed to promote inclusivity, growth, healing and celebrate all the reasons for travel, Marriott’s video spot succeeds in getting an emotional reaction from viewers in only 1 minute.

Watch the video.

2. Hilton – ‘Travel with purpose’

There’s a driving desire from travellers to be more sustainable and to demand that businesses be more sustainable. Hilton has committed to that goal and delivered a message that says it cares about what their customers care about with its campaign.

3. Belmond – ‘Let’s Italy together’

Here’s a great holiday advertisement example of showcasing the best of a destination through different lenses to inspire travellers to see and experience it for themselves. Belmond also does a great job of focusing on the message and subtly including its brand.

Watch the video.

How to do online advertising for hotels effectively 

We’ve briefly mentioned some of the ways you can successfully advertise your hotel online but let’s look at them in a little more detail.

1. Have a hotel website that works

You need a website, but not just any website. You also need one that works properly, and is discoverable by your potential guests.

If you have a web presence that is unappealing or that is too complicated for guests to use, they are simply not going to book directly with your hotel. It’s important to be direct and informative and to make your site clean and inviting.

Having a website that can be found by any guest on any device at any time should also be one of your top priorities. As more and more guests are opting to book their accommodation on mobiles, a responsive design makes sure your guests stay and make a booking on your site.

Designed by hotel technology experts, SiteMinder’s website builder includes the best in hotel ecommerce and functional designs to help you effectively market your hotel.

2. Online travel agencies

Online travel agencies, such as Booking.com, are one of the most popular places for travellers to book their stays nowadays. The best thing about them is that once you list your hotel on them, they do all the heavy lifting. With huge marketing budgets, they can ensure people are visiting their site, finding your business, and completing a booking. To make the most of it, ensure your profile is filled with all the same details and images as you would use on your own website.

Connecting to OTAs will help your hotel increase its visibility and maintain a higher occupancy rate. It can even help you rank higher in search engines.

But don’t just leave your best hotel images and content for your hotel website, to effectively promote your hotel on these channels you need to put your best foot forward, always.

If you need help managing your inventory on multiple channels, use a channel manager to save time, reduce errors, and limit double bookings.

3. Social media

Social media is obviously a huge marketplace and can be useful from both a paid and organic perspective to help you attract new customers and keep followers engaged.

Facebook and Instagram in particular offer a lot of flexibility around what content you can post, as well as how you can target audiences. In recent years, it was found that at least 80% of Instagram users have used the platform to inform purchase decisions.

You can even capture direct bookings via social media using an online booking engine. It’s important to post regularly and provide valuable content.

If you build up enough followers it can be well worth spending some budget to boost your posts to ensure they reach the maximum number of people.

You should be engaging your guests and potential guests on the social platforms where they are most active. This includes creating engaging content such as holiday inspiration, exclusive offers or tips.

Be mindful that today organic reach on social media channels is limited and you should set aside a small budget to boost your most important messages to highly targeted audiences.

4. Search engine optimisation (SEO)

SEO can be one of your most effective channels if you work hard. Given a third of global travellers begin their research on Google or other search engines, it’s incredibly important to build a presence with useful content focused on keywords.

This might mean creating a blog that focuses on all the great things to see and do in your destination. When travellers find and read your article, you can offer them a stay at your hotel.

The next step is to optimise the content on your site. First you should define a keyword list. Ask yourself, what search terms do I want to rank for? Then, check the search volume and competition on a tool like Google’s keyword planner.

It is also important to register your hotel on Google Hotel Finder. 

Remember that keeping your listing up-to-date and verified is crucial for your SEO ranking.

5. Metasearch

Metasearch is a great way to spend your advertising budget. For a fee, you can ensure your hotel is seen by the waves of travellers flocking to research on metasearch sites such as Google Hotel Ads, TripAdvisor, Trivago, or Kayak for example.

Metasearch advertising is a way to help your hotel stand out from the competition and also give you extra direct bookings, so you don’t have to rely so heavily on OTAs. This means you get to own and control a direct relationship with your guest.

6. Hotel display ads

Also known as banner advertising, hotel display advertising combines video, photos, logos, text, and other graphics that run on social media platforms, your hotel website, or mobile apps. Simply pair your display with a website URL that prompts your target audience to take advantage of an offer.

7. Respond to reviews

Paying attention to the reviews you get online also plays a big part in your online advertising strategy.

Naturally, you would like all of these reviews to be positive, but realistically that won’t be the case. There will be some negative reviews, as well. But you can turn that into a positive by reaching out and commenting on the reviews, and trying to make things right with any guests who are dissatisfied.

If you have optimised your TripAdvisor profile and respond to all reviews, both good and bad, you are more likely to leave a good impression on the potential guest.

While it may not be possible to please everyone all the time, you can make your hotel look much better online when you’re open and honest, as well as upfront, about any reviews you receive and how you respond to them.

You can also work with customers through hotel email marketing in an effort to address any concerns they may have had that led them to leave a bad review for your property.

8. Promote locally

Part of your hotel marketing strategy should be to reach out to locals. Why? Because making your hotel a local go-to spot can make more people come to your property when they want a close-by place to stay.

That won’t work for every hotel, and it often depends on the location, but for hotels that are located in popular areas there are many different options for getting people in the doors.

Connecting with your local visitor’s centre or similar agency can help get local businesses and event organisers focused on your hotel and what it can offer for conventions, meetings, and more.

Talk to local businesses about their meetings and conventions, create a great spot for weddings or receptions, or have a restaurant attached. There are many ways to bring in locals, as well as visitors from outside the area.

9. Loyalty program

Offer an incentive program can promote guest loyalty. Advertise the program on your website and on social media, and offer perks that are fair and reasonably generous, such as discounts on rooms, free nights, or use of meeting spaces.

If you have a restaurant or bar attached, discounts there can be valuable, as well. Then you can get more people coming through your doors, and also get them coming back.

If you charge fair prices, and you focus on how to advertise your hotel online in a way that customers respond to, you can make your guests loyal.

As long as you reward that loyalty, those customers will not only appreciate what you have to offer but they will tell others about what you can do for them.

Then you’ll have the chance to showcase your hotel and find out what guests really want from their stay with you. That can help you make improvements and changes, which will garner a deeper level of loyalty in the future.

Helpful and creative hotel advertising ideas

Looking for some alternative ideas or need some inspiration on how to execute plans on the above channels. Here are a few tips:

1. Experiential advertising

Why not let guests ‘experience’ your hotel before they even book or arrive. You could do this with virtual reality technology, or even a simple video tour to allow them to imagine themselves staying in your rooms.

2. Go behind the scenes

Instagram stories or TikTok could be particularly useful here. By going behind the scenes and introducing your staff or shedding light on some of the things that make your hotel special, you’ll be able to more easily form a connection with potential guests.

3. Email campaigns

Email remains one of the most powerful forms of advertising, and you can automate a lot of it now to ensure you have an ‘always on’ strategy. Create monthly newsletters for people to subscribe to, regular offers for guests who have stayed before, and promotions to get new leads over the line.

4. Direct mail

It might seem old-fashioned but with everything nowadays online, it can be nice to receive something physical in the mail, especially if it’s a discount to an amazing hotel.

5. Retargeting

Retargeting is a cost-effective tactic because you’re contacting potential customers who are warmed up already. It involves reaching out to potential guests who interacted with your property in some way but did not decide to make a booking at the time. Retargeting ads often remind customers of the room type they were viewing and highlight choice hotel features that may interest them to convince them to commit to a reservation.

6. Video advertising

Video content is highly engaged with, more so than static imagery, so it’s always a good move to showcase your property via video on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. Video can also be used to quickly advertise prices and limited time promotions.

7. User-generated content

Capitalising on user generated content is one of the more organic ways to advertise your property. Since guests will often post videos or photos of their trip to social media, asking them to tag or mention your hotel could get a tonne of free attention from people who didn’t know you existed – without you having to say a word.

Tips for luxury hotel advertising that work

Advertising a luxury property is much the same as advertising any hotel, with some subtle differences.

One thing you know clearly is that your guests enjoy the finer things in life and have a larger budget at their disposal. This allows you to get hyper-focused with your advertising and say what really matters to your audience.

Some keys to advertising a luxury hotel include:

• Emphasising how sophisticated your brand is and how your service goes above and beyond that of other hotels.
• Ensuring your advertising material is creative and original. You are a luxury brand so make your advertising feel ‘different’ to what guests are used to seeing.
• In your messaging, focus on the value you offer rather than the price. Luxury guests will be happy to spend a bit extra if they know they’re going to be rewarded with something truly satisfying or out of the ordinary. Plus, regularly offering discounts runs the risk of devaluing your brand.
• Establish a sense of exclusivity with every ad you run, such as by highlighting particular experiences, amenities, or menu items that only guests at your hotel get to enjoy.
• Set up a loyalty program that feels original and rewards return guests in unique ways.

Hotel video marketing includes videos about the wider hospitality industry, ranging from content about your hotel to exclusive leisure facilities and event promos. Hotel videos allow your audience to see exactly what your hotel has to offer and is a visually engaging and compelling way to promote and market your hotel’s products and services. This can all lead to better engagement on digital and social channels, a more informed audience, and a greater reach into your potential consumer demographic.

Video creation is a little more than just a pretty collage of images with a backing track and it’s not just about trying to sell content to consumers. If you truly want your content to be amplified, you’ll need to do more and use the strengths of storytelling in videos to send a real message. Emotions play a massive part so this is where you should focus your efforts. Try to instil awe in viewers with your videos to reach new guests, drive site traffic, and share your hotel’s story.

Video content offers a clearer idea of what messages and impressions your brand is trying to get across, promotes website visits and attracts bookings. Hospitality videos  can allow you to truly connect to customers, which is a great way to win trust. In some cases, hotels can even improve customer service through their video marketing strategies by answering potential customer questions before they book.

Video marketing for hotels

Video marketing for your hotel can make a large impact. It goes further than just promoting your property with a video and can really help build a brand and boost exposure.

Travellers love to find inspiration through video-based content. Around 65% of people watch videos when planning a trip and choosing a destination, with a further 54% opt for videos when searching for accommodation.

Video marketing should be an integral part of any hotel’s marketing plan and is largely becoming the most important aspect of content marketing. When done well, hotel video marketing can be an effective way of promoting your hotel, building your brand awareness and driving bookings.

In this blog, we’ll discuss just how powerful video marketing can be for hotels, tips and some examples of hotels who are doing it right!

Why do hotels need a video marketing strategy?

For hotel marketers, video marketing should be a priority when creating strategies to attract bookings. A quick look at YouTube and the one billion people watching more than six billion hours of video each month will tell you how popular videos are.

Humans are notoriously emotional animals and the best way to engage them on this level is through video. Consider that people remember 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, but 80% of what they see.

Here’s some top statistics that should build any case for your hotels video marketing:

• 66% watched videos when thinking about taking a trip
• People are 10 times more likely to engage with and share video content
• 20% of users read text while 80% will watch a video with the same content
• At your property, guests are 67% more likely to book when a video tour is available
• 76% of social media users would share a video if it was entertaining
• Online videos will make up more than 82% of all internet traffic by the end of 2022
• 63% of travellers watched videos when looking for ideas for activities at a destination
• 71% of travel searches on YouTube are for destination names

Newer generations have a much shorter attention span, which is why Instagram Reels and TikTok videos have skyrocketed to popularity in recent years. The majority of consumers have stated that they would prefer to digest information about a brand with a video. Within social media marketing, video marketing is one of the most attractive forms of content for travellers, prompting more likes and shares, and has the power to drive more traffic to hotel websites.

Offering higher audience reach and insights, video marketing for hotels is one of the most effective strategies to implement.

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Benefits of video marketing for hotels

Video marketing has a range of purposes. Not only is it useful for providing a quick insight into your accommodation and facilities but it can benefit your hotel in more ways than you realise.

Improve online search visibility

Businesses and hotels that add videos throughout their website and on blog posts are more likely to have increased visibility in search results, leading to more traffic to the site. Including video content in your social media marketing plan can provide further brand recognition and improved SEO (search engine optimisation) positioning in SERPs (search engine results pages).

Reach users further along in the conversion funnel

Consumers rely on video content at all stages of their journey to booking, with 48% of consumers watching videos when thinking about what type of trip they would like to take.

Build trust and brand awareness

Video content formats are a useful way to educate consumers about your product and service, with 94% saying video has helped increase their target audience’s understanding of the company. It also helps build brand awareness with 93% of marketers saying it has helped increase recognition with consumers. It is one of the best ways at raising brand awareness and allows an opportunity to directly engage with potential customers.

Influence group booking decisions

When potential customers or travellers can see what a hotel has to offer, it provides a better chance of persuading them to stay at your hotel.

Increase engagement within emails

A study has found that emails that include the word ‘video’ in the subject are more likely to be opened than emails that do not. Even better, the click-through rate for introductory emails that include a video increases by 96%.

Boost sales, conversions and revenue

Video content allows marketers to get a deeper analysis of reach, click through, number of views and drop off points. This means hotels are constantly able to analyse and adapt their social media strategy to ensure they are seeing growth. For example, scheduling social media video content can be an effective way to increase engagement rates and in turn lead conversions.

Recent studies have found that marketers who take advantage of video content on their site see revenue grow 49% faster. Additionally it has been seen that including a video on a landing page can increase conversions by over 80%.

Hotel video marketing ideas

From immersive virtual tours that transport viewers to your hotel’s premises to behind-the-scenes glimpses of your operations, meeting the team, and exploring the local area, video marketing offers a dynamic way to engage and inspire travellers. Here are a few powerful ideas to inform your efforts:

Virtual tours and 360 virtual reality

A popular and successful video marketing practice for hotels is creating virtual video tours of your property, with bookings 67% more likely to happen if a video tour is available. They allow potential guests to see your hotel in its entirety, without having to leave the comfort of where they are. This is a great way to increase long-term interest in the hotel, as it attracts guests who aren’t local but are keen to find out a bit more about the property.

Virtual tours are also beneficial for promoting event spaces, for example if your property was to hold a wedding, it allows prospects to get better acquainted with the space and your hotel overall, giving them a better idea of what they can expect.

Virtual tours differ depending on the business and property, so choose the best fit for your property and target audience. Think about creating tours for guest rooms, restaurants, amenities provided such as a spa, pool areas or specific recreational activities. Whatever puts your property at a unique advantage to the competition is worth showcasing.

Behind the scenes tours

Behind the scene videos provide a big opportunity to create content around the ins and outs of your hotel and functions. There are so many operations and teams within a hotel, so why not let consumers experience how you manage your property? Show off your restaurant and how the kitchen gets prepared for the dinner rush, or create videos around how your property helps set up and organise a large event. Highlight your employees’ capabilities and you could even include a video that provides an insight to the everyday day life of a specific hotel employee. Position these videos so that users feel they are getting special access viewing.

Meet the team

Similarly to behind the scenes video, meet-the-team content allowing visitors to directly see and get to know employees is a great way to add value. These videos not only are great promotions for your hotel, but are a nice way to highlight the on-hand team, their dedication, achievements and attention to detail.

If they have any tips, tricks or creative ways to handle situations, processes or events, you can also share that with your audience. If your property is an upscale hotel that prides itself on food and beverage services, do a spotlight video on this and share the chef’s or mixologist’s story. 

Creating video content around your team allows guests to ‘meet’ employees and build a connection, and it also boosts your team’s self-esteem so they know they are valued.

Travel and local area video logs

As we now know, the majority of travellers research their next holiday through social media, videos and video search. Being a lead sector within the hospitality industry, hotels should be able to provide additional information about the local area surrounding a hotel.

Include ways they can easily travel around, top food spots and ways to get more involved with the local culture. Demonstrate how your hotel supports your local community, whether that is using regional produce in your restaurants or providing toiletries from small businesses. It’s these little touches that will make your video content unique and interesting.

A video is a great way to highlight your top tips to guests, and how your hotel can cater to any type of holiday and what they could be missing out on by not staying at one of your properties. If you have close relations to local business and partnership tourism services, be sure to promote this connection with a video that provides travel tips and perks guests can get by staying with you.

Testimonials and customer reviews

Another way you can aid your social media marketing efforts is to create video content on customer testimonials. For high-quality video content, you could organise interviews with customers who are willing to participate or clients who have used your hotel for business. 

Alternatively, think about creating an animated view of written reviews from partner review sites or from customer review cards at the property itself. Try to highlight key points that benefit your property within these videos, such as the quality of the staff,the overall ambience of the hotel, and guests’ overall experience.

Including reviews and customer testimonials are a useful way to add human value into social media marketing and helps build trust between your guests and hotel. By choosing testimonials and reviews that represent your target audience, it can further motivate prospective travellers to find out more about your hotel and properties.

To ensure customers are more open to participate with interview testimonials, make sure you’re consistently engaging with them in person, on different social media platforms or by working with review websites. Encourage guests to leave feedback on your website or through other review services after their stay.

User generated content

Hotels can greatly benefit from user generated content – content created by the hotel’s current followers or customers – to help create new content and also reduce the amount of internal resource that goes into the process.

Many happy customers will naturally rave about their experience, however hotels should still encourage guests and followers to create content that can help organically promote the property. You should also be engaging with content that users are creating; like, share and comment on content to make followers feel recognised.

Tips and advice for hotel video marketing

Explore the art of successful hotel video marketing with these practical tips and insights. 

From personalisation and audience targeting to mobile optimisation and emotional storytelling, these strategies will help your hotel create engaging video content that captivates viewers and drives bookings.

1. Personalisation

Be sure to add a more personal touch to your videos as this can be more valuable to your target audience. Don’t be shy to show your casual side and create content that customers can resonate with.

2. Keep it short

The majority of videos are viewed on mobile devices, so ensuring your videos are short and punchy is key. Specifically for informative content, 73% of consumers prefer to watch short videos when learning about products or services and videos of up to 2 minutes long get the most engagement.

This isn’t to say long-form video content won’t perform well either. For example, Marriott’s French Kiss short film enjoyed huge success. It all depends on what messaging you’re trying to get across to audiences.

No matter what, make sure to include an intro in your video content and keep it brief. It is an essential part of the video and should capture the attention of viewers as soon as they press play.

3. Know your audience

Depending on where you’re planning to share your videos can mean different audience targeting. In addition, some types of video content are better suited to specific platforms. Keep videos on social media platforms like Instagram or on your sites product pages short and sweet, but those posted on YouTube or even 

Facebook can be long form content. To have a successful video marketing strategy, you should think carefully about who you’re targeting and where you should be focusing your efforts.

4. Think about the metrics you measure

While views may be the easiest and most obvious way to measure success, this method won’t give you an entirely accurate picture of your results. There are many other useful metrics you can look at to assess how effective your video has been in driving revenue or brand awareness.

These include:

• Impressions
• Clicks
• Sign-ups
• Unique viewers
• Watch time
• View-through rate
• Sales
• Calls

That’s just to name a few. There’s also a range of ways to measure these indicators using Google Analytics, YouTube analytics, Facebook Insights, and Google AdWords.

5. Be realistic about your resources

Neither you nor your potential guests have much time to waste so it might be prudent to use shorter videos predominantly. Six second bumper ads on YouTube can often be more effective than longer form videos. Save your extended content for when you know viewers will be more receptive, such as evening Facebook posts.

6. Make it meaningful

Instead of celebrating your own brand, plan your content to revolve around moments that will be meaningful for guests. 

There are numerous events and milestones throughout the year you can capitalise on to achieve this including Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Halloween.

You want to create interest, anticipation, and excitement in your target audience. You can do this by planting a seed with shorter content and give them more days or weeks later, revealing pieces of the campaign puzzle to keep them engaged.

7. Amplify your content

To attract more people, you should combine short and long content at the same time. You should also vary the platforms you use to host your content, and even use different content on each, depending on who you’re likely to connect with. This will help increase your incremental reach.

Once you have established a story or message in longer videos, make sure you create multiple shorter versions that are distinguishable from each other. You can then use them in a number of circumstances to reinforce what you introduced in the entirety of other videos.

8. Utilise industry influencers

Collaborating with industry influences, travel bloggers or those specific to the food and beverage sector can help promote your hotel and reach a larger audience. 

There is a plethora of influencers who are willing and ready to market your hotel brand and its personality. This does usually come at a price, alternatively hotels can offer an incentive, such as a free stay and full experience at the property for an interview or an in-depth review. The more you build relationships, the more customers will associate these trusted and well known influences with your brand.

9. Include CTAs

Your video content should always include a call to action. It would be a wasted opportunity to not direct viewers onto your site or further down the path into a conversion. Highlight any discounts, promotions or seasonal offers; these may differ between types of video content and should be based on your target audience.

10. Include videos within your email marketing

Email marketing provides a direct line of communication between you and your customers, making it a great opportunity to include video content. Not only do videos make content stand out, but it is better well received with consumers than emails with standard text and photos. If your hotel has experienced any new renovations or updates to services, you can update your guests with this information through a video.

11. Add videos into content and social media campaigns

Videos are the top of the crop when it comes to content marketing and can be used in all areas of your social media marketing. It allows hotels to take content further and connect with audiences where they are the most active. Platforms such as Instagram, Facebook or Twitter are helpful to market your property and services with over 3.5 billion active social media users, of which 64% have stated that viewing a video via social media has pushed them to a purchase.

You can use any video content created on all social media platforms; Facebook, LinkedIn YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, providing ample opportunities for hotels to reach larger audiences globally.

Facebook

The number of videos people post to Facebook went up 75% in the past decade, while recent figures reveal that 100 million hours of video are watched on Facebook every single day. Storytelling also works well on Facebook, so try to take an audience on an engaging journey rather than selling your room.

Instagram

Offering video in a similar format to Vine, Instagram videos can be 15 seconds long and you can also apply one of their many filters. Instagram has also made it easy to create easy time-lapse videos. 

Snapchat

Snapchat stories are easy to digest and can be created instantly, lasting for 24 hours and ensure your brand is top of mind for followers.

The most important thing to remember when creating video content is that people want to be shown creative and emotive ideas. 

12. Optimise videos for search and mobile

Mobiles are often the primary device in consumers’ everyday lives and are the first place you can aim to catch the audience’s attention. Not only is it important for user accessibility but also for online search. Ensure your videos are suitable to view on mobile devices or small screens and use schema markup when implementing videos onto your website so search engines can easily pick up video content to display.

13. Invoke emotion and tell a story

Emotions are an important factor in consumers’ decision making process and so should be equally as important for hotels to consider when creating video content. 

Creating content to connect emotionally with audiences is key to the success of hotel marketing.

To influence emotional connections between viewers and your property, tell a story and make someone feel as if they are there with imagery, sound or effects. Once you have been successful at establishing an emotional association (hopefully positive), potential customers are more inclined to trust a company and therefore are more likely to purchase.

You can also establish emotional connections by ensuring you’re conveying your brand voice and personality through videos. Think about involving employees and let the audience see through the eyes of another human, through interviews or personal stories.

How to start a YouTube channel for hotels

Overwhelmed by the concept of creating a hotel youtube channel for your brand? Simply follow these steps below to get started.

Step 1: Define your goals

Begin your journey into creating a YouTube channel for your hotel by first establishing your objectives. What do you aim to achieve through this channel? Are you looking to showcase the unique features and offerings of your hotel? 

Understanding your specific goals is crucial as it will shape not only the content you create but also the overall strategy you implement.

Step 2: Plan your content

With your goals in mind, it’s time to strategise the type of content you want to produce for your YouTube channel. Consider what resonates most with your target audience and develop a content calendar that outlines the topics, formats, and posting schedule. 

For instance, a video of your chef crafting a delectable dish might captivate food enthusiasts, while showcasing activities in your property’s fitness centre or spa could attract fitness aficionados and relaxation seekers. Beyond your hotel’s premises, explore the local highlights, such as popular pubs, eateries, hiking trails, or nearby attractions. Share personal travel stories, not only from your guests but also from your staff, offering a glimpse into the experiences they cherish. 

Step 3: Set Up Your Channel

Sign in to your YouTube account by clicking on the gear icon located at the top right-hand corner of the YouTube page. This will allow you to create a new business channel specifically for your hotel. Once the channel is established, fill out the profile and “about” sections with compelling content that showcases your hotel’s strengths and values. 

Don’t forget to add those crucial links to your website and social media accounts. Utilise relevant keywords in your channel’s description to enhance its discoverability.

Optimising your YouTube channel further involves designing eye-catching channel art, the cover image that occupies prime real estate on your YouTube page. This is where you should make your brand the focal point, and if you already have a substantial library of videos then you can start to create short channel trailers that offer a compelling introduction to your property. 

• Navigate to the “Channel” tab on the left-hand side of your YouTube dashboard. 
• The “Status & Features” section allows you to check your account’s status and address any issues indicated in red. 
• The “Featured Content” subsection allows you to select the featured video that automatically plays when someone visits your channel’s homepage. This video should be a concise and impactful introduction to your property.

In the “Branding” section under the “Channel” tab, you can choose the branding watermark that will overlay on your videos. This watermark typically features your property’s logo and includes a link back to your website, increasing brand visibility and engagement. It’s also essential to configure the keywords associated with your channel in the “Advanced” settings. 

If you have a Google AdWords account, consider linking it to your YouTube channel for optimisation benefits.

Step 4: Produce engaging videos

The heart of your YouTube channel lies in the videos you create. While video production might seem daunting, it can be surprisingly straightforward. Before diving into video creation, carefully plan the sequence, content, and messaging of each video. Consider crafting a concise script that outlines the key points you want to convey. 

Step 5: Monitor and respond to comments

Building an active and engaged YouTube community is a vital aspect of your channel’s success. After setting up your channel, optimising your page, and creating videos, you’ve taken significant steps, but there’s more to be done. 

Now, it’s time to foster your YouTube community by actively interacting with your audience. Be attentive to their questions, comments, and reviews. Respond promptly and thoughtfully to create a sense of connection and engagement. Over time, these interactions can transform your viewers into loyal followers and advocates of your hotel brand.

Hotel video marketing examples

Here’s a few examples of video marketing done right.

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts: ‘It’s in our nature’ story

This commercial is all about the punchline. Using stunning imagery and increasingly touching music, Shangri-La places the environment as backdrop to deliver a message on kindness and companionship, showing guests no matter where they come from, they will be accepted and safely harboured within the hotel.

Atlantis Dubai Hotel: 360 virtual video tour

Atlantis Dubai hotel provides a captivating complete 360 video tour of their property. It highlights the hotel in all its glory and captivates viewers with an immersive experience, guiding them through the main entrance, to room suites and several amenities areas in the hotel and around the local area. It shows guests what they can expect on their trip and within their accommodation.

Hyatt Regency Hong Kong: Travel tips

This video advert puts the viewer into the destination. Hyatt Regency has created something that feels as though you’re touring the area, with scenes guiding us through the train journey, incredible scenery and cultural attractions. It follows a couple and a family, showing that no matter what type of holiday a consumer may be looking for or who they’re travelling with, they can find it with the hotel.

“If you’re looking for a channel manager, SiteMinder is definitely worth a try. You and your team will catch on quickly because it’s easy to use and intuitive. It’ll save you hours of work and make your life so much easier.”

Kevin Domican,

Front Office and Revenue Manager

Abbey Hotel Roscommon

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Instagram hotel marketing involves leveraging the visually-driven and socially interactive platform of Instagram to showcase a hotel’s features, experiences, and brand story. By posting engaging photos, videos, and stories, hotels can attract and connect with a broad audience, including potential guests, influencers, and travel enthusiasts. 

This marketing strategy not only enhances online visibility but also allows hotels to build a community, engage in direct communication with followers, and drive bookings through visually appealing content and targeted promotions.

Instagram is one of the most effective social media platforms available to hotel owners in today’s social and digitally driven environment, with it boasting more 2 billion users.

Popular among holidaymakers, adventurers and explorers, Instagram is a favoured social platform for all travellers as a source to discover and learn more about a destination. Offering a simple, clear feed, Instagram is completely mobile and can make everything look great, so it’s a platform not to miss for your online hotel marketing.

This blog will provide all the knowledge, tips and advice to implementing Instagram in your social media marketing strategy.

Is Instagram marketing for hotels effective?

Instagram is a very effective tool for social media marketing and makes advertising your hotel as effortless as possible.

Not only is the platform free to join, making it an affordable way to boost social media presence, but is a handy way to reach and grow your audience. 

Thanks to the platform’s engaging and seamless layout, users are able to discover new travel destinations at the swipe of a finger.

With a large portion of users being millennials, the majority of which have Instagram accounts, and new features such as in-app purchasing, Instagram has never been a more powerful marketing tool.

The tool is fast becoming a new way for younger generations to shop, as 72% of users have been influenced to make a purchase after seeing it on the app.

It offers a simple, clean feed, it’s completely mobile, and it makes everything look great. And the good news for hoteliers is that it’s particularly popular with travellers and holidaymakers.

Marriott Hotels’ Instagram account has 287,000 followers while Hilton Hotels & Resorts has 226,000 followers, and IHG’s InterContinental brand has 146,000 followers.

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Instagram is a social media platform that is a main source of travel inspirations for a large number of users. ‘Instagramability’ is now known as one of the top ways audiences plan their next holiday and destination. A large part of the travelling workforce are millennials who also make up a large portion of overall Instagram users. Hotels have a huge marketing opportunity to take advantage of, with around 89% of millennials on Instagram who are becoming more comfortable with making purchases on social media.

Some noteworthy uses of Instagram for hotels include:

Advertising for brands
Recently, advertising for brands on Instagram is becoming more readily available. Many pages already have the action buttons to ‘Call’, ‘Email’ and ‘Get Directions’. Select businesses now can also include ‘Book’, ‘Get Tickets’, ‘Reserve’, or ‘Start Order’ CTA buttons.

As for direct messaging, businesses can now see important new customer messages in their main inbox, instead of in the pending folder. They can also mark messages with a star and filter conversations to make it easier to follow up with enquiries.

A Facebook-style news-feed algorithm
Gone are the days when Instagram was a free-for-all: based purely on chronological order. Instagram itself says you can now ’see the moments you care about first’, through the help of a highly complex algorithm determining which content Instagram believes a user would like to see. This is based on:

1. Likelihood you’ll be interested in the content
2. Your relationship with the person posting
3. Timeliness of the post

If hotels provide the high quality, aspirational content that Instagram users are looking for, the Instagram algorithm could actually be highly advantageous.

Instagram is growing in popularity with older users
Don’t assume that Instagram users are outside your target demographic. Although skewed towards the young, it is growing in popularity among older age groups, with around 65% of Instagram users being baby boomers.

How to market your hotel on Instagram

Instagram is about sharing your individual personality and values. Staying true and genuine to your property is vital for gaining and maintaining followers. If content isn’t relevant, users soon drop off.

1. Use hashtags 

Exploring hashtags is one of the biggest ways for users to find new images to like or pages to follow so a business or individual who is invisible will suffer significantly. 

Think of your Instagram as an extension of your hotel photo gallery, but don’t discount guest input. If you search using a hashtag or your hotel’s name you might find travellers have already posted photos of their time at your hotel. This will make it easier for you to find people to engage with.

2. Take advantage of filters

As a hotel, you’ll want to showcase your main attractions as much as possible and with Instagram you can make them look even more amazing! The range of filters, features and layouts allow you to craft the perfect image.

3. Show highlights

Be sure to portray your hotel highlights in an interesting and entertaining way. This might include your hotel restaurant, views or pool – and if there’s one thing that’s popular on Instagram, it’s beautiful pictures of travel!

4. Engage with user generated content

Make use of user generated content. On Instagram, you can be tagged, mentioned or sent content directly from other people about your product. Guests who take photos at your property often share their experiences, allowing people to view your hotel through the eyes of their peers, which is a wonderful organic channel for traffic. 

Usually, it is the customers themselves that are creating the content, however it can also be potential guests or your target audience overall. Posting such stories, like proposals or anniversaries, will again reinforce a positive perception of your hotel.

These are just some examples of how you can use Instagram to market your hotel. We’ve provided some more advice at the end of the article to properly get your Instagram marketing strategy off to a strong start.

Features on Instagram that hotels can use

Instagram is always looking for ways to update and enhance the platform, with it already offering plenty of useful features for businesses to take advantage of.

Hotels should always explore and test the different features in different and creative ways, to see what works best for the brand and with users.

When you’ve found something that works for your hotel, you can start to strategically implement it into the wider marketing plan. Let’s discuss some of the most popular and beneficial features for hotels.

Instagram stories

Instagram stories is one of the most advantageous features of Instagram, with 500 million users engaging with stories on a daily basis. What’s more, ⅓ of the most viewed Instagram stories are from businesses; good news for hotels!

Hoteliers can use the Stories feature to promote seasonal, timely events, post throwbacks, make announcements, or even provide behind-the-scenes content.

Posting to Stories regularly is a great way to ensure getting seen by online users and getting them to engage with the business. Keep stories light on text and use a mix of photos as well as videos.

Anything posted on stories can also be categorised into highlights that are permanently seen on your business profile, which is a convenient feature that also complements posts.

Some hotels can go the extra mile by promoting cross-platform engagement through link sharing. Through Instagram Stories you’re able to promote new content on your site, share Facebook posts and YouTube videos!

Instagram posts

Instagram posts are a great way to share photos about the property, any events or special occasions you’ve been a part of, and new renovations or features of the hotel that are sure to keep your audience engaged. 

Instagram allows you to connect with your audience while representing the hotel, employees and brand.

It is important to be consistent with posting content on your Instagram feed and use a tone that is on brand. When responding to user comments and reviews, it is best to use a trustworthy tone and remain professional.

Instagram Reels

Reels allow businesses (and people) to create immersive, fun, entertaining and engaging videos. Instagram reels are a personable way to creatively express your brand and its story.

These short video clips are designed to better capture the audience’s attention so they’re more likely to engage with the brand and follow through to see more. Because of how engaging Instagram Reels are, they’re an advantage to any hotel’s social media marketing.

There are plenty of tools that you can edit your videos with to make them more entertaining; add backgrounds, audio, special effects, captions, gifs, stickers and product tags that add a personal touch to videos.

Reels are becoming much more popular with audiences and the algorithm now favours accounts that are more frequent in posting Instagram reels. Many people watch video reels to discover new ideas, collaborate with communities and so much more. Start creating reels for your hotel’s Instagram marketing strategy and you’re more likely to get discovered.

Instagram Explore

Instagram Explore acts as a wider overall newsfeed, differing from your personal newsfeed which shows posts from people you already follow or other accounts that you’ll like. Having your content appear on the Explore page can make a massive difference to your audience reach.

The Explore section uses an algorithm to collate content about the user; what tags, accounts, posts and hashtags they engage with, where they comment, what content is viewed and what is skipped.

The Explore feed will be different for each user as the algorithm shows content that is of interest to the user account. When content gets a lot of engagement, it will most likely get shown to other accounts through the Explore feed. This can also be seen with tags, accounts and hashtags that are used regularly.

There’s no guarantee your content will appear on the Instagram Explore page and there isn’t anything specifically you can implement to ensure this. What you can do to boost your chances of being seen on Instagram’s 

Explore page is to research your hotel’s target audience and see what posts they like and who they follow.

Ensure you’re consistently posting high-quality and engaging personalised content, utilising hashtags and tags in a suitable manner.

Instagram Live

Similar to Facebook, Instagram also offers the feature to live stream. This is a handy feature to update potential guests and users on events, provide virtual tours or live Q&A sessions.

Using Instagram Live provides authenticity to your brand and can help build trust between users and a business. Users respond well to live video streams as they feel it provides a level of creativity in comparison to other forms of content on Instagram.

Hotels can look to incorporate the Instagram Live feature within their marketing efforts through guided tours of amenities or parts of the grounds. 

Another way that is much more personable is by catching up with employees and discussing highlights of the week or what their role is within the hotel.

Hashtags (location based and trending)

Hashtags are a simple yet helpful tool that allows businesses better visibility to further reach a wider audience. Instagram users are able to follow specific hashtags, allowing them to better locate and engage with related content.

Be selective and avoid excessively using hashtags, especially including those that do not provide much value to the hotel’s main goals or align with audience targeting.

Hoteliers can benefit from researching top hashtags in the hospitality industry, travel sector, local area (projects and initiatives) as well as visiting Instagram’s Explore page to help discover popular or trending hashtags.

Instagram ads for hotels

Instagram ad services are another way hotels can further reach their target audience and drive leads, however in some cases, you will need to pay for these services.

Instagram ads for hotels are simple to use; you can easily build ad campaigns in a quick manner and they can be adapted to any hotel’s unique brand marketing and budget.

Hotels can benefit from the following when incorporating Instagram paid ad services in their marketing strategy:

• Easily build profitable campaigns, promote posts by turning them into ads and boost visibility in a few clicks
• Work campaigns around your budget and update it with ease
• Easily identify successful campaigns and remove low-performing ones with real-time access to ad campaign budgets
• Target specific audience groups for different promotions and ad campaigns
• Pinpoint well performing and engaged audiences to make better marketing decisions i.e. focus more efforts into profitable target groups
• Create campaigns and set parameters quickly from pre-existing curated and engaging advertising formats
• Track performance of campaigns to boost them and make the most out of well-performing posts

Benefits of Instagram for hotels

Instagram can be a beneficial tool that can aid hotels’ marketing efforts in multiple ways. These include:

• Building an online audience and increasing hotel profits through increased engagement
• Audience targeting with additional selection of demographic settings
• Building brand awareness in an affordable and effective way
• Helping to legitimise customer recognition of the brand’s services
• Highlighting exclusive property amenities, features and facilities
• Creating personalisation and familiarity of the brand by showcasing hotel teams and employees
• Directly engaging with users and specific target audiences
• Better audience insights; understanding of users personal preferences, reasons for travelling and direct experiences with the hotel
• Running ad campaigns, promotions and advertise events
• Customising ad campaigns, all the way from the duration of the campaign to the budget
• Lead generation at low costs

Steps to building an Instagram marketing strategy for your hotel

Success with Instagram marketing begins with a solid foundation. Below, we’ve outlined the key steps you need to follow to see the best returns from your investment on this platform.

1. Ensure your Instagram account is set up for business

Setting up your hotel’s Instagram account as a business profile unlocks a suite of advantages, including access to deeper data insights and business-specific features. This step is crucial for tailoring your social media strategy to meet your hotel’s unique needs and for gaining valuable understanding of your audience’s behaviours and preferences.

• Create a regular Instagram account: If you haven’t already, download the Instagram app and sign up for an account using your hotel’s email address. Choose a username that closely matches your hotel’s name for easy recognition.
• Switch to a Business Profile: Go to your profile and tap the three lines in the top right corner. Select ‘Settings’, then tap ‘Account’. Scroll down and choose ‘Switch to Professional Account’, followed by ‘Business’.
• Fill out business information: You’ll be prompted to add details about your business. Include your hotel’s contact information like phone number, email, and physical address. This information will be publicly visible on your profile.
• Connect to a Facebook Page: Instagram will ask you to connect to a Facebook business page. It’s recommended to link to your hotel’s Facebook page for cross-platform cohesion. If you don’t have a Facebook page, you can create one directly through this setup process.

2. Determine brand voice

It’s essential to define and maintain a clear brand voice for your hotel on Instagram. Ensure that your profile and feed not only embody your hotel’s brand identity but also resonate with your main buyer personas. This includes creating a recognisable visual identity through a strong logo, a unique brand element (like a signature colour or shape), and striking visuals that showcase your property or services.

3. Create goals and strategy

Focus your content creation around specific business objectives, moving beyond mere hashtags to a growth strategy that targets the right audience. 

A well-defined content strategy aligned with your hotel’s goals is key to making an impact on Instagram.

4. Create an engaging Instagram profile and bio

Your Instagram bio should be thoughtfully written, highlighting interesting details about your hotel. Include a direct link to your website, along with contact details and the location of your property, making it easy for potential guests to find and engage with you.

5. Be a storyteller

Leverage the power of storytelling to align your content with your hotel’s marketing objectives. Encourage your staff to contribute ideas, creating authentic and engaging stories about your hotel that resonate with your audience.

6. Build an Instagram audience and set up a sales funnel

Identify and create buyer personas for the types of audiences you want to target. Utilise these personas to guide your content and sales funnel strategy, categorising followers into overall, engaged, and converting groups, similar to other social media or online travel agency funnels.

7. Plan and schedule content

Develop a content calendar to plan and schedule your posts. This approach ensures a consistent and strategic presence on Instagram, keeping your audience engaged and informed about your hotel’s offerings.

8. Use different types of media

Embrace a variety of content formats, such as carousels, stories, highlights, and guides, to appeal to a broader audience base. This diversity in media types not only enhances engagement but also promotes a sense of inclusivity among your followers.

9. Put thought into creatives

Invest time and creativity in your social media content to mirror the quality of your hotel’s services. This approach ensures consistency in your online presence and reflects the high standard of guest service provided by your hotel.

10. Utilise insights

Utilise Instagram Audience Insights in conjunction with your buyer personas to gain a deeper understanding of your audience. These insights, broken down by age group, gender, location, and other filters, are invaluable for tailoring your content strategy to the preferences of your audience, helping to improve engagement and conversion rates.

Tips for Instagram hotel marketing 

Now you should know all the basics to help you with your Instagram strategy. To get you started on your hotel’s Instagram marketing, we’ve listed some great ideas and tips to help create Instagram-worthy posts that ensure success.

1. Highlight your hotel’s facilities

Instagram allows you to create a lifestyle around your hotel. Make each post complement your overall brand story. Share content that will boost your property’s urban image or confirm your hotel as a peaceful retreat. 

Highlight your facilities, but keep content attractive and entertaining to show the dynamic life at the hotel and capture its atmosphere.

Go one step further and compare your property to other competitors. Make a note of amenities that are different and unique to your property to highlight them on your Instagram account. Services and facilities can include event spaces, food and beverage options, tennis courts, golf courses or spa and fitness centres.

2. Give your staff selfie missions

Go behind the scenes to give followers a glimpse of the hard working staff that help make a guest’s stay as stress-free and fun as possible. Share images of new menu items being prepped in the kitchen, staff interacting with guests, and guests enjoying themselves (ask permission first). Staging selfie spots is quite popular and gives guests an easy option to photograph and share their own images.

3. Go beyond your hotel

Promote your destination by sharing content of your local neighbourhood, culture, scenery and attractions, to give followers a sense of place beyond the hotel. Engage with the posts of other travel operators in the area. When uploading imagery, be sure to use the photo map feature and specify your location so that photos are searchable.

4. Utilise hashtags from all angles

Hashtags will make your content searchable. They’re important on Instagram because you can’t add links to posts (only stories). Instagram users often hashtag brands in the hope of getting a response. Search for people hashtagging your hotel, like and comment to create a conversation. Create hashtags for your hotel and campaigns and include them in posts. Start with three or four per post and ramp up.

5. Consistency is key

Ensure to post frequently on your feed, whether it be posts or reels. This will allow you to stay relevant within the audience’s Instagram feeds. Some brands post at least twice a day to make sure followers stay engaged. This may be hard to keep up, but creating a content calendar and scheduling posts can ease time resources allocated to the platform.

6. Schedule your Instagram posts

The optimal time to post – for businesses at least – is between 10am and 3pm. Wednesday is said to be the best day to overall engagement on the platform. Instagram has a handy insights area for accounts set up for business, which you can use to schedule your posts. It tells you the peak days and hours of posting which users engage with the most. Measuring performance will help your Instagram account to continue to grow.

7. Capture the audience’s attention with captions

Keep users interested by writing compelling captions. Think of ways you can tickle audience interests to keep them engaged with the account and try to show a little personality that’s in line with the brand tone. Hotels can benefit from using posts to direct users further into their profile by using call to action phrases such as ‘link in bio’ or ‘click to learn more’. Avoid doing this with every post where it then comes across as spammy.

8. Reach out and collaborate with influencers

Working with influencers is one of the most impactful ways to market your hotel and ‘influence’ audiences. Influencers are users who have high volumes of Instagram followers and are a great way to generate more engagement on your feed.

It’s important to choose influencers that align with your brand and unique selling points. For example if you’re a smaller boutique hotel, look for an avid traveller who has a sense of luxury and quirkiness to their lifestyle.

A lot of Instagram accounts have a significant number of fake followers, so before collaborating with anyone, it would be best to check their following is authentic and has not been bought.

When making a deal with influencers, it is ideal to agree beforehand what is expected from them and what services you’ll provide for them in exchange to avoid any issues and ensure you establish a strong relationship with them.

9. Engage with users

Engaging with users is one of the most important ways a business can grow their following. This includes answering comments received on the feed, engaging with other people’s content and posts, as well as following accounts. You need to be careful to not overdo it where it starts to appear as spam, and remember that quality of engagement is better than overall quantity.

10. Make the most of user generated content

Whether it’s an event you’ve hosted or guests who have stayed at your property, encourage users to post their own content and tag your hotel. User generated content has a 4.5% higher conversion rate than other content, so it would be a shame to not make the most of it. This type of content also opens up more doors of getting seen as followers of user accounts who have seen their photos may check out your property’s account. If you need to motivate users to post, provide an incentive or host a competition in which they have to share content of the property to win.

Guests are usually more than happy for their content to be shared as it shows that you do care and appreciate them. Before reposting it is important to get permission from the user first and avoid solely relying on user generated content as it could negatively harm you appearing in the Instagram Explore feed.

11. Establish a unique selling point

Accounts that perform well on Instagram usually stick to a theme or topic. When you start to post content that varies in theme and switches between topics, it can lead to a lack of user engagement. You can get as creative as you like with posts, but ensure that in some way they can be linked back to the unique selling point of the hotel.

Other useful tips include:

• Use free or affordable software that can help edit posts and improve the quality of your content.
• Tag your property name and location in posts. Not only will you be seen in location based searches but users are more likely to engage with content that has a tagged location.
• Depending on the size of your hotel, budget and resources available, it may be worth creating a specific social media marketing team with current employees who are enthusiastic and Instagram savvy that can assist with creating a strategy.

Why use Instagram for your hotel’s marketing strategy

Hotels can massively benefit from implementing an Instagram marketing strategy into the wider social media plan. It is an affordable and easy way to increase visibility, direct bookings and overall improve brand authenticity and awareness.

With the large number of users active on Instagram and using social media to get inspiration for their next getaway, it should be an essential part of any hotel’s marketing plan.

Through consistency and adapting to new trends and algorithm updates, an Instagram marketing strategy can help connect with users on a much deeper level and showcase your brand’s uniqueness and brand story which in turn can drive more bookings.

“Since we started using it ourselves, we have experienced increased visibility for our hotel. We are grateful for the decision to switch to SiteMinder, as it has provided us with more valuable time to focus on guest satisfaction.”

Benjamas Kitsaengklai,

Assistant General Manager

Ping Nakara Boutique Hotel and Spa

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Hotel market segmentation is a strategy used to identify key customer segments in a hotel. Hotel market segments rely on guest data and offer a structured view, with an opportunity to slice and look at the data in different ways. When used appropriately, it empowers decision-makers in hotels to target specific market segments with individual strategies, from marketing to pricing.

What is psychographic segmentation in the hotel industry?

Psychographic segmentation in the hotel industry is all about understanding your guests on a deeper level. Instead of just looking at details like age or income, you focus on their lifestyle, values, interests, and personality traits. This helps you tailor your marketing and services to align with what truly matters to them, in addition with their demographic, geographic, behavioural, and technographic traits.

For instance, you might attract eco-conscious travellers by highlighting your sustainable practices, or appeal to luxury seekers by offering exclusive experiences. By tapping into what drives your guests, you can create more personalised experiences, leading to higher satisfaction and stronger loyalty.

Why is market segmentation important for your hotel?

Segmenting the guests that come to stay at your hotel will help both your business and your customers. On the business front, it lets you identify who the most common groups are that are booking with you and outlines which groups you might want to target more thoroughly. It will also inform your marketing strategies, making it easier to acquire those valuable guests that you’re chasing.

Hotels collect a lot of guest information during the booking process and stay. While not all the information is consistent across all channels (for example, direct reservations may carry fields of data OTAs do not provide), making sense of consistent data components is required to successfully understand your own hotel’s market segmentation. It is a crucial step in applying this data for the benefit of the hotel’s business.

For example, when you identify the market segment that offers your hotel the longest stays you can focus on this segment to drive up the average length of stay in your property. This may be a goal if reducing housekeeping costs for turning over rooms is on your agenda.

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Benefits of hotel market segmentation

Segmenting and profiling your hotel guests is a powerful strategy that allows you to understand who your customers truly are and what they need. By breaking down your guest base into distinct groups based on their preferences, behaviours, and demographics, you can create more personalised experiences, optimise your marketing efforts, and ultimately drive better business outcomes. Here’s how leveraging this approach can lead to tangible benefits for your hotel, from enhanced guest satisfaction to improved financial performance.

Here’s a list of the benefits of segmenting and profiling your hotel guests:

• Understanding customer needs means you can implement more attractive packages and up-sell offers
• Understanding customer needs means you can deliver better service
• Delivering better service increases positive reviews and encourages word of mouth marketing
• Knowing your customer enables you make better decisions and adapt quicker when required
• You’ll have more insights into which booking channels to prioritise, improve, or remove
• Forecasting, budgeting, and selling is made much easier
• Hotel performance is boosted with increases in occupancy and revenue expected once you are using strategies based on guest data

An additional step is understanding the market segmentation of your local market: knowing what travellers are already staying in your market sets the tone for establishing fair share and fuels meaningful comparisons as well as realistic outlooks.

For guests, it will mean a more personalised offering and service that responds directly to their preferences before and during their stay. When they feel like they’re being hosted by someone who knows them and will deliver what they need, the motivation to spend is higher. Oh, that’s another benefit to your business.

Hotel market segments examples

There are no rules as to how you choose to segment the market for your hotel in your individual analysis, however there are recurring themes across hotel data providers and revenue tools that are useful to understand.

• STR: The global supplier of weekly benchmarking data to the different market segments in the hotel industry also provides insights divided into three segments. Transient (including most retail, discounted and negotiated rates), group and contracted business are separated by their reporting guidelines.
• Revenue tools: Depending on individual setups, most revenue tools use rate categories from your PMS to group reservations into hotel target market segments including group, retail, discount, negotiated, wholesale and other. They may also group by channel to provide segmentation.

Based on the information you collect you can create personas that represent your current guest segments and even new segments you want to focus on. Give them your own nicknames or use pre-defined groups that match what you’re seeing at your hotel.

Some examples you might commonly see and are featured in our workbook in more detail include:

• Adventurers
• Luxury lovers
• Social influencers/influenced
• Families
• Generation zen
• Socially/Politically conscious
• Wellness travellers
• Digital nomads
• Baby boomers
• Business professionals
• Solo travellers

Even within some of these broad segments there are subsections you can drill down on. For instance, instead of solo travellers – female solo travellers. Getting more specific lets you target even better and deliver even better service.

When in doubt about how a data provider or tool defines a certain market segment, or what data they count in or out, it is best to review their guidelines or ask. This way, you always know how to accurately interpret hotel market segmentation provided to you by outside sources.

Meanwhile, existing reporting structures should not limit you in your own approach to successful hotel customer segmentation. Useful segments for your property may include but are not limited to:

• Length of stay
• Day of week
• Source market (which may be different from a traveller’s nationality)
• Leisure and business travel

Your data likely will lead the way once you identify what information is available for all, or the majority of your guests, and where the biggest differences or commonalities occur. For meaningful internal comparisons, compare results year over year or, for seasonal impacts, your low season with your high season.

How to identify your hotel’s ideal target segments

There’s a number of questions you need to answer in order to build a knowledge base of your hotel customers and start profiling them in a way that will help your marketing and business decisions. Some of these answers will also help you see your own hotel more clearly.

When approaching the question of what the ideal target segment for your hotel is, consider that the answer may differ depending on day of week, the season, and the way in which you want to shape your business going forward. This means you may end up with more than one answer, for example for weekdays vs weekends, or the answer may be in what a healthy mix of segments looks like for your hotel. 

For example, what is it about your hotel that is making guests choose you over your competitors? Answering this question will let you understand what your guests are looking for in a hotel stay and also what your property’s greatest strengths are.

Maybe your hotel is:

• The best value
• Offers superior amenities
• The most conveniently located
• Great for deals and packages
• Suited for families or groups
• Pet friendly
• Unique or quirky

The more guests you can canvas and find out why they chose you the better. Of course this is just one factor you can take into account when segmenting your customers. 

Collecting guest data

Seeking and analysing feedback is extremely important for understanding segments.

• Some data can be gleaned simply from the booking details of your guests – such as their basic information and what extras or upgrades they purchase, and requests they make.
• Some can be gathered from how they behave during their stay – do they order room service? What do they order? Do they use the bar and restaurant? Are they spending more time in the hotel or away from it?
• Other data will need to be asked for – via customer surveys or reviews. Don’t just wait until the guest has checked-out. Check in with them during their stay. According to Airbnb, 70% of guests leave reviews so your questions won’t be wasted.

Factors to consider when targeting valuable hotel market segments

Guest profiling is an important first step in the journey back to a full hotel and a happy bank account. Without knowing the particular demographics that are likely to be travelling to your destination, you can’t develop effective strategies or offers for them. Your ideal guest may now be different to what it was a year ago, especially with international travellers being less abundant.

Consider these factors and more when compiling data for your hotel guest segmentation:

• Who are they? Where are they from?
• Why are they travelling? Business? Leisure? Medical? Bereavement? A mix? Within that you can segment further. Are the leisure customers tourists who will spend more money or travellers exploring on a budget? Are business travellers choosing the hotel themselves or are they delegates who have their arrangements made for them?
• How long do they stay? What activities do they partake in? Do they seem like they could be repeat customers?
• What do they want out of their stay? What don’t they want?
• How do they plan and book their trips and accommodation?
• Bonus facts/characteristics – what’s unique or defining about them?

Once you have enough information you can build your current guest profiles to identify if there is a dominant group or a combination of a few. You can also decide if there are other valuable segments you think you can and want to attract.

After this you can focus on how best to attract your chosen target segments. What will be a magnet for them?

Your most profitable guest

In most industries, businesses focus on selling products at the highest profit margin possible. For your hotel this translates into attracting more stays from your most profitable guests. As you look for indicators of highest profit in your PMS, keep in mind that this is not uniquely identified by highest ADR, but may be highest total spend (for example, including F&B spend). In addition, guests that stay for longer periods of time may require less turnover of the rooms or housekeeping time, reducing your costs and increasing your profit margin. Be clear in how you define your most profitable or most valuable guest for this exercise.

Fair share in your market

While detailed, a hotel’s own data is only part of the picture needed to meaningfully interpret market segmentation. Knowing the make-up of the overall business in your local market or at your competing hotels, perhaps within a specific comp set, puts your own results and vision into perspective. Fair share is a term that is used when a market or comp set receives the same distribution of business as the subject hotel; an example is a market or comp set that receives 60% business travel and 40% leisure travel, with the subject hotel also receiving 60% business and 40% leisure travel. Any difference here would indicate under-performance and opportunity, or over-performance as a stronghold on a specific segment. 

Your objective as a hotel may be to aim for fair share or increased share of a market segment that suits your hotel.

Local market comparison data on inbound travellers can be bought or obtained for free, for example via local tourist boards. You can also interpret this information as existing demand in the market to tap into, rather than creating demand within a segment that is not even searching for your destination.

“We used to have to block a few rooms in the busy season to make sure that there were no double bookings. Thanks to SiteMinder, I can sell every last room without worrying about this because it automatically rejects new bookings once the rooms are sold out.”

Tini Diekmann,

Sales and Revenue Manager

Hotel Oderberger Berlin

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3 tips to attract your hotel’s target segments

Attracting guests within any market segment is an art that can take many forms. Staying authentic to your brand is crucial to not get sidetracked into hunting down what may not be the best fit of guests. The following three tips will help your hotel approach this task with more clarity.

1. Understand your existing customers in the target market segment

Begin by browsing your internal data for the market segment you want to attract more travellers from: what are common features and differences? Does your hotel attract group business well in the wedding segment but not by corporate groups? You may notice these differences in when and how long these groups stay. Then further work is required in following their path of decision-making. Your own staff who regularly speak with guests or internal survey data may become useful sources.

Beyond their decision-making, understand what it is they are seeking out of their stay that differentiates them. If possible, gather similar insights about this market segment about guests in the market that are not staying at your hotel yet. You may notice, for example, that while you attract a fair share of leisure travellers on the weekend, yours are predominantly bachelorette parties compared to a competitor, who receives a lot of family business. All of this information is useful when it comes to successfully targeting this segment in your marketing messages.

2. Know how your offerings are different to your competition

With clarity on what matters to your targeted market segment comes an additional task: understand how your hotel provides against those needs—and how that compares to other hotels in the market. For example, a hotel with the largest rooms in town wants to attract more business travellers but knows they underperform compared to a competitor closer to the business district. They may consider a number of actions, such as adding a free shuttle service to their offer to compete or messaging attributes such as ‘the largest business suites in town’, to differentiate the hotel. Knowing that their target segment books on the GDS or using travel management companies, should also gear their marketing activity in this direction.

3. Referrals

Sometimes it is easiest to ask, and you might just get. This is no different when it comes to hotels: your existing guests in the market segment you wish to grow may know more of their type of people, and so their reviews and referrals matter. Most importantly however, you do have to speak with them, listen to their needs and simply ask questions such as “Help me understand, if you were to refer someone for a stay with us, who would it be?”. There is an additional lesson in their response for you. Always remain mindful and listen between the lines in your approach to any such conversations. 

For example, if ‘only’ executives of a company stay with you and not their wider staff, you might pose the question carefully. The response may just be one they do not wish to give outright, such as them enjoying the relative privacy your hotel may offer during larger conferences. In that case, you have just learned not to target the wider company at lower rates, but to instead aim for other business executives who are looking for a similar level of privacy at similar rates.

Technology to help win bookings and revenue from your hotel’s target market

When it comes to market segmentation for a hotel, there are two vital pieces of technology every hotel needs on their backend: A channel manager and online booking engine. Together these tools will help you attract more of the guests you want, increase revenue and profit, and manage your business easier.

Channel manager

Because a channel manager automates and accelerates so much of your work via a pooled inventory model and PMS integration, you can connect to more and more online travel agents without increasing your workload.

This puts your hotel in front of millions more travellers than you could have reached without these connections. This means you can easily promote your rooms on all the channels your target segments are likely to book on and have a better chance of winning reservations from the travellers you really want staying at your property.

Online booking engine

Your booking engine is the equivalent of a shopping cart for your hotel. Guests can decide what rooms, packages, and deals they want and checkout directly on your website or even your social media pages using a booking engine.

You’ll want to use your booking engine to create attractive offers that are tailored to your chosen guest segments. The best thing is that your bookings will be commission-free!

Hospitality marketing is a practical technique that is focused on bringing guests through the doors of hospitality businesses. This might include hotels, restaurants, pubs, clubs, theme parks, convention centres and more. 

A variety of traditional marketing strategies are used and applied to the specific hospitality business to inspire the public to take a trip, book a stay, have a meal, or experience an adventure.

However, whether it is through branding messages, targeting the appropriate target audience or activities that keep previous guests engaged, the world of marketing for hospitality and tourism has evolved significantly in the digital age.

In this blog we’ll explore marketing for hospitality and tourism in a rapidly changing environment and provide an overview of current trends and strategies for hoteliers.

What is the importance of hospitality marketing? 

Put simply, hospitality marketing is important because the size of the hospitality market is huge. It’s been growing steadily in recent years and is close to being worth a staggering $5000 billion. However the saturation of businesses means it can be difficult to stand out and be noticed. That’s why strong marketing strategies are crucial for ensuring your hotel gets its share of the revenue on offer.

Building your brand and generating reservations presents a unique mission in the world of hospitality where the product is perishable: time cannot be turned back on a table that went empty for an hour or a hotel room that was not occupied for the night.

Working with this distinctive type of supply and varying degrees of demand through seasonality is where marketing comes in.

In order to fill those rooms at the right time and at the right price, it is also necessary to have clear targeting. This begins by knowing both the ideal customer for your hotel and the general audience in your market. By understanding your target audience you lay the foundation for powerful marketing communications; bonus points for differentiating between your existing guests and the ones you want to attract going forward, if there is a difference. 

For example, a hotel getting a lot of business travel but wanting to attract more weekend leisure business may want to dive into where those customers research, on social media. While hotels looking to attract more corporate business, or specific companies, may dive into offering GDS promotions or increasing awareness with corporate travel intermediaries.

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Hospitality marketing ideas to get inspired by in 2025 & beyond 

Hospitality marketing trends and strategies are always changing, with new ideas being introduced that seek to disrupt the norm or penetrate more effectively into target segments.

Here are some of the most common topics that are currently being explored:

• Influencer marketing: This involves individuals with a strong online presence interacting with and promoting your brand. For hotels, this may mean giving them a free night in exchange for a video tour or review of their room and experience. If that results in 10 of their followers booking a stay in the future, the return on investment will be quite healthy.
• Artificial intelligence: It’s being talked about everywhere for reasons both good and bad, but AI certainly has its place in hospitality. It can help speed up admin processes, provide customers with contactless check-ins and room entry, deliver advanced analysis and data, streamline communication and more.
• Advanced personalisation: While not new, personalisation is becoming more and more of a focus. Technology is helping to push the boundaries of what is possible, including the ability to pinpoint individual guest needs in real-time. For example, taking note of a guest’s drink order and sending a communication at the same time the following day to see if they’d like another prepared for them.
• ‘Green’ practices: Sustainability continues to be a high priority for guests and hotels alike. While many properties cover the basics, there’s a move towards further consultation with consumers and additional research to understand what can be done to balance environmental concerns with high-quality experiences.
• Mobile-first strategies: Mobile bookings are becoming more prominent as travellers research and book while on the move or last-minute. Taking a mobile-first approach to marketing and website functionality will hold hotels in good stead.

Now, it’s important to note that marketing trends in hospitality evolve with the guests and their priorities: even social media introverts were posting about their first post-pandemic flights, hotel stays and conferences. It was an opportunity to welcome them back both in person and online. Even single properties like The Guitar Hotel by Hard Rock have returned to running TV ads. 

Here are some more hospitality marketing trends to keep top of mind this year.

• Virtual walkthroughs: It may seem counterintuitive while moving from a world of virtual reality to real-life hospitality again, but virtual walkthroughs and 360 views of rooms are here to stay. Your hotel may already be competing locally with a property and its digital twin. Whether you consider this relevant to your hotel right now or not, it is prudent to at least research your comp set’s imagery.
• Repurposing content: From big brands to small businesses, in the space of social media, it has become acceptable to see content repurposed or simply repeated. Especially if your account’s audience has grown, but also if you are actively pursuing new audiences through high-exposure features such as reels: re-using existing or previously successful content can generate additional exposure with a low level of fresh input beyond editing.
• Video keeps growing: Contrary to common belief, video content does not have to be long or expertly produced to be impactful. Since guests and influencers are already sharing candid content during their stay, it is up to hotels to provide the moments they want to be seen. Video content is not just rising to dominance on social platforms, but has also been shown to result in customers staying 60% longer on websites compared to their counterparts of text and images only. The use of subtitles has become expected and makes videos accessible to anyone in any setting. It has now also been revealed that users spend 88% more time browsing on websites that have videos.

Types of hospitality marketing strategy 

Hotel marketing strategies are as unique as the hotels that use them. Every accommodation provider will have a slightly different way of securing more bookings and earning greater brand recognition, but there are several common strategies – and channels – that are an important place to master for practically every business.

Hospitality social media strategy

When you want to attract a broad audience, focus your strategy on your website, third-party profiles and social media. As future guests discover your hotel through a variety of sources, consistency is key to leveraging clear branding in digital hospitality marketing. 

Engagement on social media can help you learn more about this broad audience. At the same time, keep it simple. Be on the platforms where your customers are.

In preparation for a low season and if you are clear on your target audience, targeted ads may become a part of your toolbox, maximising this broad reach but also increasing your cost of acquisition temporarily.

Hospitality email marketing strategy

When it comes to email and content marketing, there is an opportunity to engage with either potential guests or keeping engaged those who have already stayed.

With content marketing ranging from any blog post, image or video you might share, to re-using that content in newsletters, the goal here is to actively grow and engage this audience. 

One way of growing is by including relevant keywords so your blog posts are found; the next step is including a clear hook to continue the relationship, for example through the use of a sign-up link for your emails at the end of a blog post.

Easily shareable content and catchy headlines also mean your existing audience might distribute those articles for you further, by sharing. Since this group is one you have more knowledge about than the broader public (even if it is just what they searched for), it should be reflected in how you engage them.

If email marketing currently only translates into a newsletter for your hotel, then it may be time to look into post-stay email cadences that include surveys, drive loyalty sign-ups and perhaps an incentive to return.

In a similar way, careful email communication prior to arrival may help your staff sell upgrades at check-in. 

Hospitality email marketing provides an opportunity like no other for targeted messaging when you understand the many reasons you might want to engage a potential, future or previous guest. The key is being clear on your intention.

Hospitality loyalty program marketing strategy

The audience you should know the most about is returning guests. If you already have a loyalty program in place, you might find yourself able to rely upon additional information stored in a PMS or CRM.

But even if you are just starting out on your loyalty journey, creating the perfect loyalty ladder begins simply with clarity on your goals. 

Since you know the most about this audience, use that information to appeal to their unique needs. And in times of need, turn to this group as your most engaged customers.

Perhaps they are the first to hear about upcoming promotions, or they are recognised on-site in a way that makes other guests become loyalty members, too. They need to understand what being loyal to your hotel means to them.

Hospitality marketing essentials hotels need to know 

Hospitality marketing is a unique blend of strategy, creativity, and insight, designed to connect your hotel with your target audiences in meaningful ways. It’s about crafting compelling narratives that resonate with potential guests, highlighting the exceptional experiences awaiting them. 

In an industry where choice abounds, standing out requires a deep understanding of these marketing essentials, ensuring your hotel’s offerings are not just seen, but sought after.

What are the 4 key characteristics of hospitality marketing?

The four key characteristics of hospitality marketing – intangibility, inseparability, perishability, and variability – are crucial concepts that distinguish it from other sectors. These traits challenge marketers to adopt innovative strategies, ensuring their hotel’s services captivate and convince prospective guests of an unparalleled experience.

1. Intangibility

In hospitality marketing, the intangible nature of the services means you’re selling experiences and promises rather than physical products. This requires imaginative storytelling and evocative imagery that allow potential guests to envision themselves enjoying your hotel’s offerings.

As you can imagine, this is particularly challenging for many hotels to convey. However, all this means is that if you can master it for your hotel, you will be outpacing the competition in a significant way.

For your hotel, think of how you want your guests’ memories to be like after they leave. People will remember experiences, certainly, but far more often, they’ll remember how they felt rather than what they did. Here are a few examples of where to get started:

• Offer potential guests a virtual reality tour of your hotel, including rooms, amenities, and unique experiences available. This can make the intangible, tangible, by allowing guests to virtually experience your hotel before they book.
• Leverage guest testimonials and stories to illustrate the experiences your hotel offers. Sharing detailed guest reviews and stories on your website and social media can help potential customers visualise what to expect and build emotional connections.
• Create themed or customisable stay packages that cater to different guest interests, such as wellness retreats, gourmet dining experiences, or cultural tours. Highlighting these unique experiences in your marketing materials can help guests envision the value and distinctiveness of your offering.

2. Inseparability

‘Inseparability’ highlights that services are produced and consumed simultaneously in the hospitality industry. This underscores the importance of ensuring every guest interaction is positive, as these experiences directly influence perceptions and future booking decisions.

This means that not only are the services themselves important, but also the way that they are delivered. You can have, for example, an incredible, out of this world, dining experience – but all it takes is a rude or inattentive waiter to derail that otherwise breathtaking meal.

Here are some ideas on how to master this aspect of hotel marketing:

• Ensure every staff member understands their role in the guest experience and is trained to provide exceptional service. Empowered employees can make real-time decisions to enhance guest satisfaction, directly impacting the inseparability of service delivery and consumption.
• Use guest feedback to make immediate improvements. Encourage and monitor reviews on platforms like TripAdvisor, and respond promptly to guest concerns and compliments, showing that you value their input and are committed to continuous improvement.

• Utilise customer relationship management (CRM) systems to personalise guest experiences. From tailored welcome emails to customised room settings, technology can help ensure that services are delivered in a way that feels personal and inseparable from the guest’s overall experience.

3. Perishability

Perishability in hospitality marketing refers to the fact that unsold rooms or services cannot be stored for future sales – a night gone unsold is revenue lost forever. Effective yield management and dynamic pricing strategies can help hotels maximise occupancy and mitigate revenue loss by adjusting offers in real-time to match demand.

On the other side of the coin is the marketing opportunities because of the limited time nature of accommodation. Promotion during the holiday season, when bookings are high and you know there’s far less need to promote, for example, opens up opportunities to divert resources elsewhere – such as during slower periods. Perishability means that staying static just leaves your marketing to wither on the vine.

Here are a few practical examples of what you can do:

• Utilise revenue management software to adjust room rates in real-time based on demand, competition, and other market factors. This helps maximise occupancy and revenue by selling rooms at the best possible rate before they perish.
• Offer special promotions for last-minute bookings to fill unsold rooms. This could include discounted rates, package deals, or value-added services, such as a free meal or late check-out, to entice spontaneous travellers.
• Develop a loyalty program that rewards repeat guests with exclusive offers or points redeemable for free nights, upgrades, or other services. This not only encourages repeat business but also helps reduce the risk of unsold inventory by fostering a loyal customer base.

4. Variability

Variability, or ‘heterogeneity’, means that the standard and quality of hospitality services can vary greatly from one experience to another. Consistency is key to building trust and loyalty. Hotels must have a suite of tools that enables them to maintain high service standards, ensuring that every guest encounter, from online booking to check-out, is reliably excellent, fostering repeat business and positive reviews.

Under variability, it’s imperative to ensure that you follow through and up on the promises you make before, during and after the guest’s stay, and do so consistently. To borrow an example from another industry, the giants of fast food got where they are today due, in part, to the fact that the experience they provide is consistently enjoyable. You may not aspire to be the “fast food of accommodation”, but smart hoteliers take smart lessons to heart, regardless of source. 

Here are some practical steps you can take:

• Develop and implement SOPs for all aspects of your service, from check-in to housekeeping to dining. Consistent procedures ensure that every guest receives the same high level of service, reducing variability.
• Regularly train your staff to uphold your hotel’s service standards. Role-playing, workshops, and continuous performance evaluations can help maintain consistency in service delivery.
• Implement regular quality control checks across all services. Mystery guest programs, regular audits of guest rooms, and dining experiences can help identify areas for improvement, ensuring that every guest encounter meets your high standards.

What are the 7Ps of hospitality marketing?

Perhaps hospitality marketing is easiest explained by applying a traditional marketing model to hotels. Jerome McCarthy co-created the 4 Ps of the marketing mix and later the 7 Ps, adding an additional three focused on services.

1. Product: The hotel brand, facilities and services as perceived by the customer, including reviews.
2. Price: Rate by day of week, market segment, seasonality, room types and perceived relative to the competition. This includes rate strategy and discounts.
3. Place: Often misinterpreted as the physical location of a hotel, but more adequately described as a place to buy. It is the relative convenience for guests to make a reservation or decide to stay. Today this primarily means availability across booking channels. For example, a hotel with a strong domestic source market may want to explore gaining additional business at higher spend or longer stays through targeted promotions for specific international markets.
4. Promotion: The conscious mix of activities and chosen frequency of marketing communications.
5. People: The embodiment of the brand, evident in recruitment and staff training.
6. Process: The conscious design of hotel processes to support its brand, for example using hotel SOPs.
7. Physical evidence: The space where guests and staff interact and service experience takes place, including hotel room layout.

“Our previous direct booking option was very confusing and not very user-friendly. SiteMinder’s booking engine is a lot better integrated on the website and makes it easy for guests to book. So far, we have increased our direct bookings by 15%”

Mirja Wolf,

Manager

Hotel Kragemann

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Actionable tips to improve your hospitality brand strategy 

A robust brand strategy is essential for standing out in a crowded marketplace. With the rise of home-sharing platforms and ever-evolving guest expectations, hotels must adapt and innovate to remain relevant and appealing. 

The tips below are designed to help you refine your brand strategy, enhancing visibility, guest experience, and ultimately, profitability. From updating visual content to optimising mobile interfaces and ensuring consistency across all platforms, these strategies are geared towards creating a more engaging, seamless, and memorable brand experience for every guest.

1. Update your photos

Brightly lit and well-captured images of your hotel that highlight recent updates are critical to converting bookings. They also set the right expectation with your customers, meaning ‘no surprises’ in reviews.

If you have not recently spent time browsing AirBnB, you may be surprised to find that hosts competing with your hotel have become increasingly professional in showcasing hero images.

So if you have been pushing off an update to your imagery, consider this a reminder. Both photos and videos are repeatedly labelled most critical by guests while planning a trip.

2. Optimise your mobile booking page

Whichever channel you are seeing most reservations originate from, did you know that most likely another channel was used and abandoned in the process?

94% of leisure travellers switch devices during the booking process and 88% will switch to another device if the app or website is not serving them; each time running the risk of losing the guest to a competitor.

Amazon has famously made it possible to buy with just one click and when it comes to ease of converting a reservation, it is worth paying attention to details. Google provides additional insights on effective travel landing pages.

3. Consistency creates credibility

The digital footprint of your hotel across 3rd party booking engines, search results, and your own website is expected to be consistent.

While over 50% of people switch channels to compare prices, what they notice along the way are any potential inconsistent or old images showing up, which blur the perception of the product they are just building in their mind.

Keeping descriptions, rates and pictures the same across booking channels, sounds simple but requires active and regular reviews of what your customer sees.

A strong collaboration between sales, revenue management and marketing teams ideally results in aligned messaging and consistent distribution. In order to drive these collaborations, unite sales, revenue management and marketing teams around the latest insights regularly.

The information within hotel commerce platforms, where you can review channel manager and GDS setups alongside past performance and outlook, is an excellent starting point.

4. Set up themed rooms

The very nature of home sharing means guests are staying in unique properties such as vacation homes and each will appeal to its own niche market.

An experience is something modern guests crave more than anything and home sharing is perfectly aligned with this notion.

The rooms sold on Airbnb have been created for this very purpose; to engage a human desire for comfort, style, and stimulation – regardless of whether that’s for a business trip or a family vacation.

To mirror this hotels need to focus on a core, unique, offering for travellers. You can’t win over every market but you should think about what your hotel has that other properties don’t, then build and expand your messaging around that. For example, maybe it’s your stunning architecture, one-of-a-kind views, themed hotel rooms, or vintage bar.

5. Deliver quality service

Complaints around hotels often centre on the rigidness of the stay, fine print, and false advertising.

Consistently delivering on service quality and guarantees will go a long way to keeping travellers on your side. If your brand is synonymous with being the cleanest, most comfortable place to stay, travellers will depend on this expectation to be fulfilled.

There are still a lot of guests who enjoy the simple pleasures of a clean, comfortable hotel with friendly and helpful staff to attend to every need. 

Furthermore, things like strong water pressure and quality wifi are essentials guests require, but aren’t always given at home-sharing properties. At the very least if your hotel can deliver on this time after time and play to its strengths, you should have no problems securing bookings.

6. Promote local services

One major benefit a guest receives when purchasing a stay in a short or long-term rental is immersion in their destination’s locale. From the second they ‘check-in’ they’re among the local community and their host will be best placed to offer great advice on local experiences and attractions.

Here are a few reasons why creating a connection to the local area is a good idea:

• Guests look to their hosts to be their guide so use content on your website to recommend local hotspots such as amusement parks
• Farm-to-table is a strong food and beverage trend and particularly accessible in home-sharing accommodations. Your hotel can also create localised menus and incorporate local seasonal produce into their menus.
• Implementing local design into your hotel will create a more harmonious experience for guests and also strengthen your storytelling to win over guests.
• Become your own hotspot by allowing local neighbours into your hotel. Think about inviting local chefs to give cooking classes or artists to show their work.
• Grounding your hotel in the local area and making sure you promote this on your website will assure guests they’ll be receiving the authentic, unique experience they were looking for.

With your marketing strategy established, using the right technology can go a long way to making sure it’s a long-term success…

Hotel content marketing is the creation and distribution of valuable assets, such as videos, blog posts, and emails, as marketing tools to attract and retain customers.

The Content Marketing Institute (CMI), based in the US, defined content marketing as “…a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

Content also drives traffic to your website and social media channels. What content marketing for hotels isn’t, is excessive promotional messaging. Content marketing may seem like a buzzword, but in fact it should be a crucial part of every hotel’s marketing strategy.

Nowadays, the majority of your guests are researching and booking their travel online. To catch their eye and keep up with the competition, you need to deliver top quality content consistently.

This blog will tell you everything you need to know about mastering content marketing at your hotel.

What does content marketing mean for hotels?

For hotels and other accommodation providers, content marketing is all about showcasing your property’s unique story and brand to the types of travellers you’re trying to win over.

Ultimately your content should influence travellers to book a stay, become a loyal customer and even champion your hotel to friends, family, and peers.

The key is to first provide useful content that informs and entertains. Secondly, it’s important to deliver it consistently to establish credibility and foster engagement.

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Why does hotel content marketing matter?

Your hotel is not just a place to stay – it’s an institution and a brand. 
Travellers will often look to your hotel to provide them with useful information and advice, as well as seeking you out regarding policies at your property and in the local area.

It’s your responsibility to be a great host at all times if you want to ensure your guest experience is satisfactory. Content can help you achieve this.

How to create a hotel content marketing strategy

Before you begin creating any content, you first need to look at your overall marketing strategy and confirm a few important things:

• Who is your target audience?
• What are travellers to your area interested in?
• What makes your brand unique?

With this information in mind, you’ll be able to create tailored, useful, and original content for your potential guests and existing customers.

So what kind of content can you apply this to?

Hotel content marketing examples

Content marketing for your hotel offers a huge number of options in terms of the specifics of the content you produce. Your audience(s) will all have different things that appeal to them—and the types of content they’re actively looking for will change over the course of their buying journey—so it’s best to understand the full spread laid out in front of you before diving into one particularly intriguing aspect. The great thing about content is that it can be used in so many different ways to engage your potential guests. 
Some common ways hoteliers can use content include:

Blogs

A blog is by far one of the best and easiest ways to start your hotel content marketing journey. Simply create a new page on your website for your blog and start writing!

Your blog gives you a lot of freedom and opportunity to cover a number of topics that will be of interest to travellers and guests including local area guides, listicles of best things to do, see, or eat, write-ups of local events or attractions, how to’s, guest blogs from professional travel writers, and more.

It’s a good idea to kick off your blog with topics that you have performed keyword research for, so you can get the ball rolling on search engine optimisation and maximise your website traffic.

Emails

Emails are still one the most useful and cost effective ways to engage prospects and customers. Email is also a great way to drive direct bookings and earn extra revenue.

Emails are an extremely versatile content tool. You can use emails to send out deals and offers, acquire new customers, retain existing loyal customers, blogs, promotions, updates on policies, traveller tips, announcements and competitions, giveaways, and more.

Make sure you’re building a strong email database by collecting guest details wherever possible.

Newsletters

Newsletters are a type of email you can send to people who have specifically subscribed to it, and it’s usually sent out on a consistent and regular basis. For example, you might send one newsletter on the last Friday of every month.

Newsletters give people a reason to keep opening your communications and coming back to your content, increasing the chances of you winning a booking. Newsletters are a great way to promote the goings on at your hotel and make travellers aware of any exciting activities and offers coming up.

Videos

As you’ve probably heard many times before, people always remember more of what they see and hear than what they read, so videos are a great travel content marketing tool if you want to maximise engagement.

You don’t have to have a big budget for producing video content either. Such is the power of social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, audiences are very attuned to consuming content filmed on smartphones. If you do have the budget to go bigger, YouTube is still king.

Think about filming behind the scenes footage of staff and guests, showcase your amenities, highlight key attractions in your local area, create virtual tours, or even film mini-docos about the history and culture of your hotel or destination.

Magazines

Magazines might not come to mind immediately but when you think about how popular travel magazines are, it makes sense to explore the option of creating one for your own brand.

You could potentially release your magazine quarterly and include things like recipes of what you serve in your hotel’s kitchen, travel guides on your destination and local area, interviews with interesting guests or local celebrities, articles on the latest travel industry trends.

Having your own magazine will ultimately build the integrity of your brand, increase the trust people have in you, and boost conversions.

Social media posts

The popularity of social media continues to explode and it won’t go away. Even as some platforms fade, others take their place. Social media marketing allows you to connect with audiences in a variety of creative ways, making it one of the best places to boost both engagement and win new business.

Use Facebook and Instagram in particular to post all your important updates and content as well fun material such as memes, breathtaking images, competitions, and polls.

You also take advantage of user generated content by asking guests to tag you in their posts or to ‘check-in’ to your hotel on social media.

An aggregated sample of travel brands showed that 91% of user-generated content was of images, and 7% was video. The most prominent channel for this type of content is Instagram. The real interest lies in what type of images people are sharing.

On average, the data showed 39% were of landscape scenery, 35% contained people, more than 9% showed wildlife, and 4% featured food. While this may seem typical, it gives a good indication of what you should be doing to increase engagement.

Constantly posting photos of your rooms or physical property won’t inspire people. Beautiful landscapes and guests having a great time is more likely to do the trick.

Infographics

Infographics are liked and shared up to three times more than other visual content. They’re a great way of compressing a lot of information into a digestible chunk and making content more engaging. Businesses who use infographics report a 12% higher profit margin than those which don’t.

You might create infographics around how to plan and what to pack for an upcoming trip, interesting stats and figures, must-knows about the local area, rundowns of your hotel rooms and amenities, and more.

Infographics are easy to digest, making them a valuable resource for travellers who don’t have a lot of time on their hands to consume content.

Podcasts

Podcasts are becoming a go-to content resource for time-constrained audiences. Since you only have to listen, people can consume podcasts while working, commuting, exercising, or doing chores. This versatility makes them extremely popular and a great opportunity for your brand to make itself heard.

Hotels are a great focal point for podcasts too. You could tell a number of fascinating travel stories generated by guests, your staff, other hoteliers, and you could also partner with other podcasts or storytellers to create content each month.

Press releases

If your hotel is a large brand or a group, press releases are almost essential sometimes and are a great way to amplify your brand.

If you have a compelling announcement, put out a press release and allow travel and hotel publications to pick it up and run with it. This will get your message across to a larger audience and you might even attract new guests who weren’t aware of your hotel before.

Things you could speak about include major renovations, rebranding, new features or amenities, exciting partnerships and initiatives, new management, or awards that have been won.

Quotes

Large images of quotes are very popular on Facebook and Instagram to promote a short but powerful message. They’re simple and eye-catching, making them extremely shareable pieces of content.

Guides

Local guides can be a phenomenal content marketing tool that leverages the best parts of your local area, highlights your expertise, and captures interest at every stage of the customer journey.

If your hotel is in a popular tourist area (such as Palm Springs, California), it would make sense for you to post a guide on different restaurants to try in Palm Springs. Users like to look at a website as a repository of all of the unanswered questions potential customers may have. Answer those questions accurately and often and you’ll start to see new customers coming in your door.

‘Guides’ can also be how-to tutorials, in the vein of “how to pack your bag for LOCATION”, which can be an effective way to boost your search engine optimisation as well as funnel guests towards booking with you.

Customer Stories 

Social proof is everything in digital marketing, and customer stories and testimonials are an incredibly powerful way to show off why guests should book with your hotel. After all, many people are savvy to marketing techniques, but it’s hard to argue when an actual verified guest can describe just how awesome their experience was with you and your team.

8 hotel content marketing ideas to convert more guests  

Creating content is one thing but you also need to make every effort to ensure your content is reaching a large audience and is resonating with that audience.

Here are some of the best tips to keep in mind when implementing your strategy:

1. Tell your story

Every business has a story. To bring that story to the front and differentiate yourself from the competition, you need to identify your hotel’s unique selling points (USPs) and talk about it in a way that creates an emotional connection with your guests. 

Through the use of visual storytelling with professional images, video tours, and real guest feedback and testimonials – you can more powerfully and immediately convey your message to web visitors. For greater effectiveness, be sure to focus your content around your specific objectives such as building more online exposure or driving more direct bookings. 

2. Go for quality content

Hire professional writers to work closely with your marketing team to create high-quality, SEO-optimised content for your hotel’s website and blog that is targeted to your specific audience and age group: millennials, generation cohort, gen y, gen x, business guests, or families. 

Give readers what they want by providing useful “insider information”, with a focus on local and trending topics, while simultaneously meeting your specific objectives. 

3. Take advantage of user generated content

User generated content is low effort and low cost content that can really spotlight your brand. Always make guests aware of how they can tag you in their social media posts, so every time they post a holiday snap, their followers know exactly where to go if they want the same great experience.

4. Push content across all platforms

For even greater impact, content from your hotel website should be pushed across all of your social media platforms, as well as your offline mediums including print advertising, hotel guides, and directories. On your social media channels, share your hotel’s promotions and information on “micro-local” events, and encourage users to promote and share your hotel’s content with their friends and followers.

Depending on where your traffic is coming from, localisation requirements for your website need to be taken into account, for example, by offering booking options in multiple languages and currencies. By offering the best possible experience to guests on your website and social media channels, you can differentiate your offerings from your OTAs and other channel partners, helping to drive more direct bookings.

5. Work with influencers

Giving up a free night to win potentially hundreds more in the future is well worth it, and this is what can happen if you are successful in getting an influencer to visit your hotel. Offer them a free stay with all services provided and simply ask them to promote your brand to their large and loyal following. You can even give them a promo code to further incentivise their audience to make a booking.

6. Partner with organisations or tourism boards

Working with travel organisations or tourism boards gives your hotel a lot of bang for your buck since anything you produce with them will likely be marketed via their budget and resources, allowing you to reap the rewards.

Take SiteMinder customer VOMO for example, which featured as part of Fiji’s tourism campaign and included celebrity Rebel Wilson.

7. Always be helpful, authentic, and unique

Audiences can see right through disingenuous content so everything you publish needs to serve your target market first and foremost, while also helping your brand to stand out from the competition.

8. Stay consistent

To keep prospects and customers engaged and informed, you need a regular schedule of content that they can rely upon.

It’s a fine balance. If you don’t post content often enough people will lose interest, but if you post too often people will become overwhelmed and desensitised, and start skipping over your content. This is also why your content needs to be of consistently high quality.

How to use content marketing for hotels to increase bookings

One major goal for your hotel is always going to be centred on winning reservations and generating revenue. To make sure your content is working towards these outcomes, focus on:

1. Optimising SEO

It’s important to target high volume keywords to boost your rankings in Google’s algorithm. However, you also need to remember some of what your guests are searching for will be long-tail keywords with lower volume. You still need to create content around these because travellers will find it useful. It’s also vital to have a way to measure the success of SEO tactics, such as using Google Analytics.

2. Optimising CTAs

When you’re bringing in a lot of traffic via your content you want to give yourself every chance to convert the audience into a booking. Make sure you have clear calls-to-action such as your ‘Book Now’ button on every page on your website.

3. Combining content with an offer

Whenever there’s a chance to tie in any of your hotel’s amenities, services, or activities into your content – do so but make sure it’s natural and relevant for the reader.

4. Exciting your target audience

Today, 84% of people want brands to entertain them, solve their problems, and give them experiences. Interactive content is also proven to increase conversions so think about giving prospective guests something fun to consume, such as a quiz, which also allows you to capture their details.

5. Encouraging reviews 

Reviews are almost always something travellers look at before booking a stay at your hotel, so you need to work hard at both satisfying your guests and convincing them to leave a review on your social media or on pages like TripAdvisor.

6. Providing a good mobile experience

With so many travellers now booking online and via their smartphones, you need to make sure your website is mobile friendly, meaning it’s quick to load, easy to read, and simple to navigate.

With 40% of users abandoning websites that take more than three seconds to load, guests don’t have patience for slow or clunky mobile experiences. 

To increase your level of mobile conversions, use responsive design for your hotel’s website (Google’s recommendation), and ensure that your booking engines are fully functional across all mobile devices.

7. Optimising OTA profiles

Your OTA profile is a major touchpoint for travellers, even if they end up booking directly. You should treat the content on your OTA profile with as much care as the content on your own website to ensure visitors stay interested in your hotel.

8. Leverage on customer data

In some ways, customer data is the untapped economic potential of the 21st century. It tells you who your customer is, why they are your customer, what they are looking for, and how you can stay connected with them in the future. Hotels that harness customer data to drive more-personal guest experiences are likely to have the most loyal customers and will see the new revenue streams.

The best method to achieve this is to build out a data management plan, which includes where and how customer data can be captured and utilised to drive more business results. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but getting started collecting, managing, and using data is a great journey for any business in the 21st century.

9. Focus on the customer journey

Consider gearing your website’s content towards the different stages a traveller experiences throughout the booking process, for instance: inspiration, research and planning, booking, pre and post stay. To encourage guest loyalty, always create personalised, compelling, and timely content with a focus on locally curated topics. Promote your special offers, seasonal promotions, and leading events on your website, social media channels, and email and appeal to potential guests via the use of incentives and personalised offers.

With so many digital channels in use today, hotels must step up and meet the demand for personalised and appealing content that competes with OTAs and meta-search engines. By creating valuable, useful, and interactive content for your potential guests, you can go a long way in creating brand awareness, trust, and a more positive evaluation of your property.

“Since we started using it ourselves, we have experienced increased visibility for our hotel. We are grateful for the decision to switch to SiteMinder, as it has provided us with more valuable time to focus on guest satisfaction.”

Benjamas Kitsaengklai,

Assistant General Manager

Ping Nakara Boutique Hotel and Spa

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Hotel and hospitality social media marketing is the act of social media management for hotels in an effort to build your online brand and reputation, and ultimately drive more bookings and revenue. Reaching this goal requires the creation and implementation of a hotel/resort social media marketing strategy.

Social media has become a universe of its own – a place where people go to speak their minds, connect with friends and family, stay informed, be entertained, find inspiration, and even make purchases.

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are intricately intertwined into society, especially western society, to the point where social media is having a huge impact on culture, activism, and even government regimes.

That’s how big and vocal the audience is! For businesses such as hotels it represents an amazing opportunity to reach potential guests and grow as a brand.

This blog will guide you through how to use social media to your hotel’s advantage.

Why social media is important to hotels

Social media is important to hotels because travel is an aspirational activity.

People love to post about their travel adventures on socials, and people love to find inspiration for their next trip on socials. This is particularly the case for the younger crowd: 40% of Gen Z prefer to conduct research on non-Google platforms, and 90% say their purchase decisions are influenced by social media.

For this reason social media for hotels usually has a particular focus on visual platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, which allow a hotel to lure in customers by showcasing their guest experience.

The first thing hotels need to know about social media is that a large proportion of users are active regularly. Instagram has more than 1 billion monthly active users, while Facebook has nearly 3 billion! If Twitter is your thing, it clocks in at 340 million active users.

This means on a daily basis, there will be a huge potential audience on social media for your hotel business to reach, influence, and acquire as guests.

Influence is a key word here because when people are in travel mode, many of them use social media to inform their choices on where to go, where to stay, and what to purchase.

A survey by Expedia found that 30% of Americans are influenced or inspired by social media when booking a trip.

When it comes to the trip itself, 97% of millennials say they will share posts of their vacation on social media. These posts go on to impact the decisions other millennials make about their own upcoming travel plans, with 2 in 5 admitting travel images on social media influence their choices.

So it makes a lot of sense for your hotel to have a strong presence on the platforms your potential guests are spending a lot of time during their planning and decision making stages of travel.

If you don’t think so – know that almost 50% of hoteliers are already ranking social media as a top two sales and marketing priority.

Even if your hotel isn’t spending money on ads or promotions, you can still build a large following for your business page and engage strongly with the travel community. With direct online bookings growing annually, it’s never too late to get started!

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How does social media marketing impact hotels?

Social media marketing in hotels can drive significant business. The first and most obvious benefit is that it helps to grow your online presence dramatically, placing your hotel in front of potentially millions of people, who may not have otherwise known about you, on the back of a single post. It can then turn a percentage of that audience into prospects and hopefully guests, driving them to your website to book.

Hotel social media monitoring and strategic social media content for hotels helps you build up a captive audience of engaged followers. Those who stay with you may even post about their experience on their own socials, further extending your reach and boosting your bookings.

What does social media usage look like today?

One fact that should be immediately pointed out is that 98% of internet users are already active on social media. This means there’s basically no new audience to expand to and the current opportunities are what you have to work with so optimisation is key.

Some other key statistics include:

• Users spend 2 hours and 15 minutes per day on social media or one third of their online time
• 70% of social media use is on mobile apps, 22% on desktop, and 8% on mobile web
• 40% of people get their news from social media
• Social selling is a priority for only 8% of salespeople, and yet nearly 60% of people follow brands on social media
• Among 18 to 34-year-olds, between 43 and 48% follow brands on social media because they’re interested in buying products
• People use social media for five core reasons: staying in touch with friends/family, tracking news/current events, to kill time, for entertainment, and for social networking

How does this affect hotel social media marketers?

Although 77% of marketers use at least one social media platform for marketing purposes, less than half (48%) say that they see return on investment from this strategy. There are a few reasons for this:

• Facebook has introduced algorithm changes to display fewer business posts and give priority to content from friends and family.
• Some 60% of Gen-Z (the next cohort after millennials) are concerned about their privacy online
• Twitter deletes millions of suspicious accounts almost every day
• Instagram moved away from chronological algorithm, effectively “crippling” small businesses
• 74% of millennials and Gen Z said they’re annoyed by brand targeting in their social media feeds, and 56% have cut back or stopped using social media entirely due to this
• Because it’s getting harder for marketers to drive results from social media, competition is fierce and brands are fighting hard to make their voice heard, but it could have the opposite effect on target markets.

So it’s clear that a good content strategy must now consist of more than sharing a blog and making sure people see your brand. Given it’s now tougher to get people’s attention, you have to do it in a meaningful way.

How to create a social media strategy for hotels

Where to start exactly, though? Developing a strategy for social media takes time, research and planning, and a degree of trial and error. There is no cookie-cutter strategy that will work for every hotel, since every hotel is different. Location, size, services, target market, price and more will all play a role in how you portray and advertise your hotel on social media platforms.

Likewise, every social media platform is different too – in terms of their algorithms, the way travellers use them, what users expect from the content, and the features available to businesses.

As with all marketing activities you undertake at your hotel, your first steps need to be distilled into a few key points:

1. What’s your brand identity and personality?

This should be consistent. While different channels will cater to different tones it needs to be subtle. Don’t be quirky on social media only to be stiff and formal in your emails.

2. Who do you want to target?

Your hotel’s ideal audience naturally, but you can get more specific and try to target people at different points in their path to purchase or even try to capture the attention of new, more valuable audiences.

3. What’s your objective?

Are you simply looking to create awareness of your brand and build an audience, or are you actively using social media to acquire bookings?

4. How will you track results?

It’s important to keep a close eye on the impact everything you do on social media has on your business. This way, you can make adjustments and improve your strategy.

5. What’s your budget?

Will you be achieving your objectives organically or do you have a budget to commit to social media ads?

If you’re clear on all this you can then decide which platforms you want to be active on, if you have the time and resources to dedicate to them, and what kind of content you’ll produce and share.

One of the best things to keep in mind is that your social media account is a chance to impress guests before they even stay at your hotel, so make sure your content is positive and shows the best your destination, property, and staff have to offer.

Social media marketing tips for luxury and boutique hotels

The handy thing about marketing on social media is that it’s made easy for you to reach your target market, such as luxury travellers.

You can target users with your posts based on a number of factors including age, income range, interests, geographic location, demographic, social circles, and more. This allows you to get very detailed with how you tailor your content – creating social media campaigns specifically to couples looking for luxury properties, for example. Knowing your audience is especially important when it comes to luxury travellers, as they can be hard and expensive to win over.

Make sure seasonality plays a role in your strategy too. Luxury travel is very popular in the spring and summer times, thanks to a greater variety of leisure activities available in warm, clear weather. Your social marketing needs to revolve around the types of activities and services your guests are interested in. These high seasons are the perfect time to promote your property as the place to be too, while your hotel is full and guests are having a great time. Like-minded travellers may see this and be inspired to book early for the next year.

Another priority is to be consistent. Once audiences become a fan or follower of your brand, they like to see regular content and consistent messaging, rather than sporadic posts and promotions. It’s important your luxury guests feel like they are part of a club or community that always gets the best, so you need to keep them engaged and excited about your business. It helps to plan a schedule in advance so you’re never caught short.

Here are some more tips to make sure your luxury property succeeds on social media:

• Work hard to achieve five-star reviews – this is crucial for attracting new customers and maintaining long term success.
• Establish relationships and always deliver service with a personal touch – showcase this on social media to build FOMO (fear of missing out).
• Let your heart shine through – the level of care shown at your luxury property needs to be genuine, not only towards your guests but also your staff. This will create a positive atmosphere and also generate online momentum for your brand.
• Present your uniqueness at every opportunity – luxury properties are usually one of a kind so highlight this whenever you can
• Capitalise on user-generated content – your guests will want to share their amazing experiences and you can join in on this by encouraging them to use particular hashtags, location tags, and engaging with any discussions directed your way.

Best social media marketing platforms

It’s not unreasonable to think a new social media platform pops up every day. The options individuals and businesses have at their disposal are becoming overwhelming in fact – and it would be hard to engage and participate effectively on all major platforms at once.

Even if you could, it wouldn’t be worth it since many platforms aren’t necessarily optimal for travel brands. That’s not to say you can’t succeed on any platform with the right strategy but you certainly need to pick your platforms wisely.

Some you might know include:

• TikTok
• YouTube
• Pinterest
• Reddit
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• WhatsApp
• WeChat
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Snapchat

All of these platforms have big audiences but some of them are very niche. For example WeChat is exclusive to China, while LinkedIn is mostly popular with working professionals so this is something you’ll want to consider when developing your strategy.

Is your content suitable? Will your target audience engage with you?

If you’re just getting started it’s a safe bet to stick to proven models. That means you’ll likely want to focus the bulk of your attention on Facebook and Instagram, with YouTube also playing a role given how popular video content has become.

Hotel social media marketing on Facebook

Facebook is still the big dog when it comes to social media and can almost be a second website and search engine all in one for your hotel. Your potential reach on Facebook is massive. This only grows when you start using paid advertising to target audiences specifically. On the back of the traffic you can drive, you can also take direct bookings on Facebook via an online booking engine and your ‘Shop on Website’ button.

It’s not only a powerful tool for you to reach out to travellers but it’s still a place where family and friends come together to share stories and content from their trips, influencing others in the process.

It’s important that you build a strong profile on Facebook that all your other online profiles feed into and all your content gets shared to, especially if you have a blog or a wonderful gallery of images on hand. You need to give audiences access to as much information as possible in one location.

We won’t go into too much detail, since we have a whole blog dedicated to Facebook marketing for you to check out here, but rest assured it’s very likely potential guests will be spending time on Facebook.

Hotel social media marketing on Instagram

When it comes to sharing travel-related images and videos there’s no more popular platform than Instagram. Travellers love to curate perfectly framed photos, write amazing captions, and use fun hashtags – allowing other travellers to get inspired in turn. It makes complete sense for you to join this community, share your own dazzling property and destination content, and connect with potential guests.

The proof is in the pudding, with a survey showing Instagram is the go-to social network for 48% of people who want to choose destinations to visit, and 35% use it to get inspired and learn about new places.

Instagram also now has features that allow businesses to include “Book” and “Reserve” buttons on their profile and you can create your profile in much the same way as you do on Facebook.

Here are some tips for marketing your hotel on Instagram:

• Always use hashtags – These posts see 12.6% more engagement than those without a hashtag
• Set location tags – Again, including a location can boost your engagement by up to 79%
• Create or use spaces in your hotel for selfies or photo opportunities – you want your guests to share as much as possible
• Encourage the use of your own branded hashtags by guests – this will help you when it comes to working with influencers and also to track how many people are talking about your hotel or sharing your content
• Put a focus on quality and knowing your audience – Instagram’s algorithm shows content to people based on how interested it thinks they will find it
• Have variety – Highlight your hotel’s best features, get staff to take selfies behind the scenes, and use your destination to advantage in your content
• Reshare – User generated content is free publicity for your business so make sure you acknowledge and reshare anything your guests put out

Remember, Instagram is a classic case of being active where your likely customers are active.

Hotel social media marketing on YouTube

YouTube is embedded into the fabric of how people consume video content and entertainment, to the point where it is probably more influential than television advertising. It has the potential to put your brand in front of a large volume of potential guests, and we already know that video is more engaging than still images.

In fact, video is set to account for 82% of all consumer Internet traffic worldwide by this year (2021). Plus, video is a great way to bring your destination and your hotel to life, engaging the imagination of travellers and inspiring them to take a trip.

Here are some tips on the types of video content you might produce:

• Virtual tours of your property
• Virtual tours of your destination
• Behind the scenes footage with staff
• Guest testimonials
• Montages of any events or celebrations that take place
• Tips and hacks for travellers
• Emotional or aspirational features
• Highlights of promotions or upgrade opportunities

Hotel social media marketing on Snapchat

Since content is deleted instantly, with nothing incriminating left behind, Snapchat appeals to a younger generation who value the higher degree of privacy the app offers over other platforms.

Like many other social media channels, it’s one that shouldn’t be ignored by hotels. Snapchat receives more than four billion content views per day – a figure that is (staggeringly) the same as Facebook.

Just like individual users, brands can create profiles on Snapchat, then send out marketing messages to users they’ve added as friends.

In addition to single images or video ‘snaps’, Snapchat now offers a feature called Stories, which are strings of photos or videos compiled into a montage lasting 24 hours. Brands have been marketing via Stories since 2013, with everything from movie trailers to fast-disappearing promotional vouchers.

Our Stories are brand-sponsored and can contain branded messages, which is exciting news for hoteliers with great travel content to share.

Snapchat marketing tips to reach millennial hotel guests

Young Snapchatters are massively engaged, and hotel marketers need to promote their activity where millennial guests are paying attention and interacting. And the hotel industry has some interesting examples of how Snapchat is making its way into a property’s marketing strategy. Let’s look at how to capture these hotel guests with our top tips:

1. Create a sense of urgency with competitions

Giveaways and competitions are a great tool for social media engagement – and Snapchat is perfect for creating a sense of ‘must enter that competition now’ urgency. Ask your followers to submit their name and email, invite their friends to follow your brand, and answer a question. You’ll be able to respond to each entry building great one-on-one marketing. Use a hashtag so you can follow engagement. When you’re ready to announce a winner, create a story congratulating them.

2. Go behind the scenes and take a tour of your hotel

Your hotel and its facilities are aspirational. Guests love to daydream about their next holiday and so videos and stories recorded via the Snapchat are perfect for hotels. Explore your hotel and engage with your staff to make prospective guests feel welcome.

3. Launch your hotel’s story…and add to it

One thing to remember when you publish your hotel’s story is that you can create the beginning, middle, and end in a staggered way. So you can start with some hotel snaps in the morning, add a few more around lunchtime, and then finish with some final shots in the evening. It lasts up to 24 hours so adding it to is a more manageable approach.

Make sure you check your settings and allow your followers to see the stories. Don’t forget to allow people to send snaps back to you – you’ll also find this in your app’s settings.

4. Collaborate with influencers

Rather than pushing out ads on Snapchat, canny travel operators are partnering with influencers to co-create content. As one of the best hotel social media accounts, Marriott has boosted its ad campaign Travel Brilliantly, with Stories on Snapchat: turning content from TV shows into animated GIFs in an effort to get the operator’s 18 brands at the forefront of young travellers’ minds.

In conjunction, Marriott chose four influencers for a three-month campaign headquartered on Snapchat. The influencers gave users a list of cities from which to choose while working with Marriott to pick cities when popular ones emerged.

5. Design your own brand filter

Brands can also take advantage of Snapchat’s filter offering: sponsored frames which can be superimposed over photos and videos taken via the app. One of the best hotel social media campaigns came from Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ W Hotels who was the first travel brand to make use of this feature.

Overnight guests and visitors can use the filters, designed to evoke jealousy and FOMO (fear of missing out for those struggling to keep up!) with tongue-in-cheek captions like ‘You Wish You Were Here’ and ‘Current Situation’. Each filter also includes W Hotels’ logo, vital for ensuring the brand is recognised during these fun photo uploads.

6. Cross-promote your Snapchat handle

It’s actually very difficult for users to find brands to follow on Snapchat, and many users don’t know it’s possible to do so. Therefore, it’s imperative that you cross-promote your Snapchat username, also known as a handle, in other media to build up an audience.

Ultimately, whether or not your hotel should be using Snapchat depends on your target market.

If your hotel has an eye on the next generation of travellers you should certainly be strategising your presence there.

What social media platforms are hotels using?

SiteMinder recently published its Global Hotel Business Index. The report took an in-depth look at the key drivers of success for hoteliers across the world.

As part of the questionnaire, hoteliers were also asked which social media channels proved the most successful for their marketing activities. Here are the results…

Hoteliers were asked to choose ‘very successful’, ‘somewhat successful’, ‘not successful’, or ‘I don’t use this channel’ for all the major social media platforms. The most interesting findings included:

Very successful

• Facebook – 30.62%
• Google+ – 15.11%
• Instagram – 11.53%
• Youtube – 4.17%
• Twitter – 3.58%
• LinkedIn – 2.78%
• Pinterest – 1.39%
• Snapchat – 0.80%

I don’t use this channel

• Snapchat – 84.69%
• Pinterest – 81.31%
• YouTube – 67.99%
• LinkedIn – 65.41%
• Twitter – 59.84%
• Instagram – 45.92%
• Google+ – 34.19%
• Facebook – 9.54%

During the survey, hoteliers were also given the chance to provide direct quotes about their position on social media marketing.

Here’s a selection of the key comments:

“I believe this is a specialist’s area and we lack the in-depth knowledge and know how to effectively manage this process in today’s fast developing technology space.”

“While social media helps our profile, it’s difficult to measure its impact in terms of actual bookings.”

“We mainly use Facebook, but our usage is limited since our target market is not the younger generations.”

There were a few surprises from the results. It was unexpected to see Google+ outperform Instagram, given the image sharing platform’s apparent compatibility with hotel and travel marketing. Instagram can be a very powerful platform to build brand awareness, create stories and evoke emotional desires. For hotels in popular tourist destinations and exotic locations, it should prove useful for engaging with travellers.

For many hoteliers, social media is not seen as a primary driver of bookings and revenue, and is consequently not utilised as strongly as it could be. YouTube, or video content marketing in general, is something hotels should try to get creative with and use to make powerful statements to prospective guests. In the travel industry, nothing speaks louder than stunning imagery that potential guests can share with their friends.

“Since we started using it ourselves, we have experienced increased visibility for our hotel. We are grateful for the decision to switch to SiteMinder, as it has provided us with more valuable time to focus on guest satisfaction.”

Benjamas Kitsaengklai,

Assistant General Manager

Ping Nakara Boutique Hotel and Spa

Read more

Top hotel social media marketing tips for your business

It certainly helps to get creative with the content you create and variety is the spice of life. You want guests to engage with what you post, otherwise your time and effort are wasted.

Sometimes a stunning image is enough, but at other times you need to think outside the box to encourage interaction and sharing on social media.

Here are some creative ideas to get you started:

1. Engagement is vital

You have to spend more time giving people meaningful and interesting content than actively selling to them. In addition, 39% of inbound research respondents wanted to communicate with firms via social media so you have to respect this and ensure you participate in conversations on social media. You must be present to provide advice, relevant information, and answers to traveller’s questions.

2. Relevance is a must

People are short on time, so if they come across your brand sharing what they deem useless, or annoying content they’ll quickly find a competitor who is worth their attention. Don’t get caught up in the wave of memes and comedic videos to try to impress your followers. For a hotel brand, customer service is always the priority, especially when trying to grow.

There’s no harm in having fun, but this should also be planned properly to ensure people will engage.

3. Consider influencer marketing

A major trend at the moment is to adopt influencer marketing. Consumers are 88% more likely to trust a peer review than a company product review or advertisement. With the shift in the way Facebook displays content, influencer marketing could take centre stage.

4. Be active everywhere

Forums, online communities, and start-up social platforms could start to have a greater impact, so consider establishing yourself early and be available at all times to the audience you want to target and your customer base.

5. Offer up local info

Give something (free local knowledge) to get something (a booking). Write blogs to share that focus on recommendations for travellers on where to eat, what to see, what they’ll need to pack, or what events they should know about.

6. Explain why you’re a destination

Share interesting or little known pieces of trivia or history about your destination or hotel. Perhaps there’s a really old tree nearby. Perhaps someone famous once used your toilet. Odd titbits can really bring in the crowds.

7. Put reviews up in lights

Some hotel social media ideas don’t require much work at all! Feature funny, quirky, or outstanding reviews, or survey guests about their favourite parts of the trip or their stay at your property and use these on social media (with permission). .

8. Use contests to boost hotel social media

Run competitions like hotel giveaways and discounts to build excitement about your property. Get people to like, comment and share a post to enter. Promote your contest over a number of weeks to maximise reach and engagement.

9. Gain access to influencer audiences

Collaborate with influencers or bloggers to increase your reach and gain the trust of more travellers. Choose your collaborators carefully – check that the demographics of their audience is similar to your target audience, and check that they have a relatively engaged following.

10. Strategically drive engagement

Sometimes the simplest hotel social media post ideas are the best. Create discussion by asking followers questions and encouraging them to offer their opinions and comments. Your questions can be as fun or formal as you see fit.

11. Team up with complementary brands

Collaborate with other local businesses in your area to enrich your content, boost visibility, and create enticing offers on social media. Think of businesses who offer complementary services to your hotel, such as local tour agencies, restaurants and car hire.

12. Become a news breaker

Work to become the go-to source of local tourism news and information – if there’s anything new happening in your town make sure your followers and guests know about it and see how useful you are.

Hotel digital marketing is the practice of using the internet to promote your hotel to potential guests. A holistic digital marketing plan for hotels will include efforts that touch paid advertising, search engine optimisation (SEO), social media, email campaigns and more.

If you are tasked with marketing a hotel, you know that digital marketing is top of your list. You also know that there are just so many things – and questions – that go into comprehensive and effective hotel digital marketing strategies.

Here, we want to help you turbocharge your hotel’s growth further by demystifying digital marketing strategies for your hotel business. We’ll walk through the most popular and effective tactics and provide the examples, information and inspiration you need to take the next steps.

Hotel digital marketing strategy

Today’s hotel industry is often described as dynamic and competitive. From the rise of Airbnb-style operators to a global pandemic which has cost the global tourism industry an estimated $935 billion, the challenges of the last decade have shifted marketing efforts firmly into the spotlight.

More than ever, effective marketing strategies are critical for the success of hotel businesses, whether you are launching a hotel, looking to increase bookings or want to bolster your brand. In this respect digital is the name of the game, boasting affordability and potential for massive reach.

Nearly 60% of the world’s population, that’s 4.66 billion people, are now active internet users. Social media reach continues to explode, with nearly 4 billion people now active users compared to just over 2 billion in 2015.

The options and potential are endless, and with the right strategy and technology – and a little imagination – hotels can harness the power of digital to create marketing magic.

Dreaming of Paris? Step inside the Hotel de Paris via a virtual tour. Planning a trip with kids? The Life is Suite blog from Kimpton Hotels might come in handy.

How to create a digital marketing plan for your hotel

The first step in creating a digital marketing strategy is to think about your target audience. Who are you marketing to? You need to go deep, in an attempt to understand and define that target audience.

A useful way for hotels to do this is by creating guest personas that represent the people they want to see at their check-in desk. Who is your ideal hotel guest? Create a detailed and rounded picture of these people by doing some research around these questions:

• How old are they? Where do they live?
• Who do they live with? Who will they travel with?
• What type of job do they do and how much do they earn?
• What other brands do they love?
• What are their hobbies and interests?
• What do they read?
• What social issues do they care about most?
• Where do they shop for food and clothes?
• What are their life goals? What is their big motivator?
• What is their favourite destination?
• How tech savvy are they?
• Which social networks do they prefer?
• How do they communicate at work, with family and with friends?

Next, you’ll need to define your ultimate digital marketing goals. These will be informed by broader business goals and strategy. For example, a business goal may be to boost revenue by 20% in the coming year and strengthen your brand in the millennial market.

Your digital marketing goals can then be shaped around that goal. Doubling your Instagram followers to reach more millennials and generating a 50% increase in traffic to your website may be goals that align with these broader business goals.

Once you have clearly articulated goals and understand who you’re marketing to, it’s time to get into the nuts and bolts of your digital marketing strategy. You’ll need to develop a plan that covers the digital marketing tools that will best help you achieve your goals and how you’ll leverage them to achieve your goals.

The most popular and effective tools include:

• Content marketing
• Social media
• Influencer marketing
• Email marketing
• Online reviews
• SEO, local SEO and Google Hotel Ads

If some of these terms are new to you, or if you haven’t developed a hotel online marketing strategy before, don’t fret – each of these tools and channels is covered in detail below.

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Hotel digital marketing tactics

From blog posts to podcasts, online magazines, apps, e-books, short form video and virtual reality, the hotel and travel industry has led the way with content that inspires and provides value. Great content can help build your audience, nurture existing customer relationships, boost brand loyalty and increase bookings.

Content digital marketing can capture people at various parts of the customer journey and high quality content is a key part of other forms of hotel internet marketing, including SEO and social media marketing.

There are two steps for effective marketing. First you need to create the type of content that your target audience is eager to consume. Content that pulls people in.

Take the aspirational and inspirational travel articles in the Four Seasons Magazine, for example. Headings such as “5 exclusive experiences across Europe”, “Stay another day in Paris” and “Luxury of the workcation” are sure to tempt high-end travellers to click through for some inspiration.

For those already in the planning stages of a holiday, content gold can be found in packing lists and itinerary ideas. Visiting Perthshire in Scotland and wanting to stretch your legs? This Hiking Guide created by Gleneagles has you covered with five top walks along with tips on packing and some Scottish words you might need to know along the way.

Other great examples of hotel digital marketing tactics through content include the Intercontinental’s podcast which highlights culture in an interesting way and the informative sustainability video content which reinforces the values of the Areias de Seixo hotel in Portugal.

The second step in effective content digital marketing is forgetting the hard sell. Instead, the message of the content and any call to action is found “between the lines” or as a casual “by the way”. For example, a handy link at the end of an article about a certain destination to the brand’s hotel in that area – something subtle and useful that doesn’t detract in any way from the value of the content.

How to find the best social media platform for your hotel online marketing goals

Which is the best social media platform for your hotel? Where will you find the biggest success in the shortest time frame?

It’d be nice to have a definitive answer, but unfortunately, there’s no magic bullet here. There is, however, an easy three-step process for working out the best answers to these questions.

1. Get familiar with the platforms

Before you can make a decision, you need to have a basic understanding of the most popular platforms out there:

• Facebook: Still the most popular platform with 2.79 billion monthly active users, Facebook allows you to share information, communicate with guests and create events.
• Instagram: A popular visual platform, perfectly suited to showing off dreamy destinations and plush lobbies – and encouraging guests and influencers to do the same.
• X (formerly called Twitter): Tweet out short and snappy (280 character limit applies) updates, communications and conversations.
• Youtube: Allows hotels and guests to create video content that informs and inspires.
• Pinterest: Another visual platform to build a picture of your brand
• TikTok: A video-sharing app with 689 million active monthly users, more than half of its audience under the age of 34 years
• Whatsapp: With 2 billion users, this slick messaging platform can take guest communication to new heights.

Social media is constantly changing and evolving, so keep an eye on this one.

2. Consider your audience

Again, it all comes back to understanding the people you’re trying to reach: your ideal guests. By understanding who they are, what platforms they use the most (and why) and what type of content they like, you’ll be in a position to investigate the platforms on offer more closely and make an informed decision about where to focus your digital marketing efforts and possible budget.

3. Think about goals and practicalities

The next step is to really think about your overarching goals and how each social media platform can help you step towards achieving those goals.

There are also practicalities to consider:

• How much time and money will you need to invest in a platform to use it effectively?
• Do you have staff that already know and use any of the platforms?
• How often will you need to post on each platform?
• What integration and management tools are available?

These factors should help you decide where to focus your energy. And, remember, it’s probably better to do one or two platforms well than spread yourself thin over all of the platforms.

How to boost online visibility with hotel digital marketing campaigns

When it comes to promoting your hotel on your chosen platforms, think of the three Cs: consistency, creativity and competition.

You do need to be consistent, posting regularly, with a clear message that is consistent with your brand personality.

You do need to be a little creative, too. There is so much going on, whatever platform you choose, that you need to find a creative way to rise above the noise.

However, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time. Take a look at your competition to get ideas that inspire your own social media content and campaigns. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Make sure your Facebook page’s cover image and about description are punchy and on brand like this one from SIXTY Hotels
• Share photos and praise from your guests on Instagram via Instagram and Facebook Stories
• Create a Facebook Group filled with “behind the scenes” insight and information about upcoming promotions
• Tweet out testimonials
• Create a hashtag to re-share on-brand user-generated content, such as this cute Tweet that uses #FairmontMoments
• Live stream events, sunrises and quick tours
• Run an Instagram hashtag competition to generate user content and increase followers
• Create a Facebook event page to promote special occasions and events
• Share useful content on Facebook from local restaurants, tourism operators and attractions
• Partner with travel-focused influencers on TikTok to reach a younger audience.

When creating and implementing a social media plan, you’ll also need to consider other essentials: how often to post, when to post, how to monitor and respond to users who are talking about your brand, how to optimise your profiles, and how to lead users to booking options.

Another question to consider in creating a plan is whether influencer marketing could be a useful shortcut in achieving your goals. This type of digital marketing relies on endorsements, mentions and recommendations from individuals who have built up trust with their dedicated social followers.

You’ll first need to find influencers who are a perfect partnership in terms of your brand and the message you want to get out there. Have they worked with similar hotels before? Do their values and aesthetics align with yours? 

Is their audience made up of the type of people you’re trying to reach? You can then approach the influencer by contacting them directly via the social media platform. If they are a well-established influencer they may have specific contact details for someone who manages this type of partnership for them in their profile.

Influencers as part of hotel internet marketing

Digital marketing in the hotel industry is also known as online visibility marketing, as it’s all about getting in front of more (and more relevant) eyeballs. Boasting large, captive audiences who trust them implicitly, a carefully chosen social media influencer will grant you instant visibility amongst a very relevant group.

Why hotels should partner with influencers

Influencers can prove a key driver in digital marketing for hotels. A hotel stay tends to be an aspirational purchase; an opportunity for a person to treat themselves to a well-earned break, a bit of luxury or a unique experience.

Social media influencers are very effective at painting a hotel as a must-see or must-stay destination, and convincing their followers to go there. Whether you show off your property, your destination or your guest experience, a hotel is a business that almost seems built for social media, which makes an influencer’s job easier and positive outcomes more likely.

How to integrate influencers to digital marketing strategy

How do you integrate social media influencers into your hotel internet marketing strategy? The basic steps are as follows:

• Understand your goals: Work out exactly what you hope to get out of your influencer engagement, and develop KPIs that define the success of your effort, whether they relate to impressions, engagements or bookings.
• Do your research: Begin your search for influencers. Consider the three Rs:
  • Relevance: Influencers with followers who align with your target audience.
  • Resonance: Influencers who have high levels of engagement with their followers.
  • Reach: Influencers with a decent follower count (though aim for quality over quantity – influencers with thousands of followers will often deliver greater ROI than those with millions).
• Develop a shortlist and get in touch: Create a list of potential influencers, then send personalised messages to those who tick all the boxes to see if they’re interested in working with you.
• Craft a contract and start collaborating: Lock in your favoured influencer and outline clear terms for the engagement. Collaborate with the influencer to create the sort of content you’re looking for.

How to get started with hotel digital marketing emails

Although it may not be as bright, shiny and interesting as the latest social media platform, email packs a serious marketing punch. Statistics indicate it generates $38 for every $1 spent. That’s a whopping ROI.

What makes hotel email marketing so important? Most people these days are comfortable with email, and it allows you to communicate directly with guests in a convenient, timely and affordable way. Email marketing technology also allows you to easily personalise and target your messaging and then measure the success of your marketing efforts.

Statistics and surveys also paint a positive picture of email marketing. More than half of a sample population said marketing emails influence their purchase decision while more than half of marketers say it is the biggest source of ROI and they’re seeing engagement increase. Meanwhile, 80% of business professionals believe email marketing increases customer retention.

As you can see, it’s definitely an area that deserves your attention. To get the most from email marketing, you’ll need to cover these three key areas:

1. Building your email list

Inviting guests to join your email list during the booking process is one of the easiest ways to build your email audience. You can also add a signup form to your website, offering some type of incentive to join the list. 

Perhaps an early check-in, downloadable city guide or chance to win a hotel voucher might help your list grow more quickly.

Segmenting your lists as you add new subscribers will also be helpful when you arrive at the next step – sending emails that have maximum impact. 

The segments might be location-specific or include only previous guests, for example. So you can talk more directly to that particular segment of your list via email.

2. Crafting and sending emails for maximum impact

You want to send emails that get opened, read and actioned. Again, your understanding of your audience will help you make decisions about how to craft and send emails. Why might your audience want to hear from you? 

When do they want to hear from you?

Consider setting up personalised and automated emails that guide your guests through the pre-arrival, arrival, pre-departure and post-departure phases of their journey. Or target previous guests with seasonal offers and exclusive discounts.

When crafting your email, don’t forget to pay attention to the subject line (which will have a big impact on whether your email gets opened) and the call to action (to make it easier for your audience to make bookings and increase conversions).

3. Tracking your campaigns

Email marketing platforms make it easy to monitor list growth, open rates, click rates, deliverability, unsubscribe rates and inactive subscribers. Use these metrics to work out what’s working and what isn’t – so you can continuously tweak and improve your email marketing campaigns.

Using online reviews to improve your hotel’s digital marketing

The age-old power of word of mouth is amplified in the digital space, especially when it comes to planning a trip and booking somewhere to stay. More than 8 out of 10 people say they always or frequently read a review before booking a place to stay and more than half say they would never book a hotel with no reviews.

There’s no shortage of places travellers can go to leave a review, with popular options including:

• Tripadvisor
• Google reviews
• Booking.com
• Expedia
• Hotels.com
• Trivago
• Facebook

In simple terms, there are three things you should be aiming for around online reviews:

1. Increasing positive reviews

Good reviews mean more bookings and increased profits. Nearly 8 out of 10 travellers say that, all other things being equal, they are more likely to book a hotel with a higher review rating and a higher rating has been shown to boost occupancy and revenue per available room.

Encourage great reviews by providing a service that guests want to rave about. Ask departing guests to fill in a feedback form – and then ask those that leave glowing reviews to leave one online, directing them to the platforms where you need more positive reviews most.

2. Limiting negative reviews

No one wants to stay in a dirty hotel room, and it’s no surprise that 90% of travellers will avoid booking hotels if they see the word “dirty” in online reviews.

Running a hotel business is challenging and there will always be complaints and dissatisfaction. By communicating well, though, you can resolve many complaints before they turn into a full-blown vent published on an online review site.

3. Always monitoring and responding to reviews

Whether it’s a good or bad review, responding to online reviews presents an enormous opportunity. It’s a chance to display your commitment to great customer service and reinforce your brand values.

Responding to negative feedback in the right way can help win back the particular customer who left the review and also turn things around for other potential guests who are reading the review. And, of course, responding to a positive review can add some extra shine to your reputation.

Read more about how to manage online reviews here.

Hotel digital marketing and online search

As the market-leading search engine, Google processes more than 3.5 billion searches each day. And recent reports suggest searches for hotels and resorts are bouncing back well after the pandemic, with the highest search levels in a decade.

To encourage more and better quality traffic to your hotel’s website from Google and other search engines, you need to focus on search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO includes things such as keyword research, creating great content, getting links from other sites and making sure your website is fast and responsive to all types of devices.

It’s a huge area, but the good news is that if you are doing all of the above in terms of creating great content, encouraging great reviews and communicating with social media and email, then you are already well on your way to optimising your site for search engines. And the best thing about SEO is it’s the digital marketing tactic that just keeps giving. Once you invest in SEO, the traffic that flows in organically costs nothing.

An area of SEO that is particularly important for hotels, is local SEO . When it comes to certain searches over the internet, search engines understand that the person searching wants a local result – even if they don’t include the words “near me”. So they serve up the most local results, often with a local map showing where the top results are located. Clearly, a high position in local results is SEO gold for hotels.

How important are Google hotel ads in hotel digital marketing?

While it’s a worthwhile investment, SEO can be a longer burn to get results. But there is a way to jump the queue. Google Hotel Ads, previously called Google Hotel Finder, allows you to set up a feed with up-to-date information on availability, room types and pricing so you can reach people who are actively searching for hotels like yours. You can target guests in certain locations or focus on properties with lower occupancy rates to get the best results.

Using a Google Hotel Ads strategy that delivered more traffic to emerging markets, AccorHotels lifted year-over-year bookings by 65% and grew revenue by 84%.

As you can see, digital marketing strategy for hotel businesses is a large and sometimes complex area. However, it’s also an area of enormous potential. We hope that after reading this you have the motivation and confidence to explore the best ways to promote your hotel in the digital space – and create a digital marketing plan that helps realise the potential and opportunity that’s there waiting.

Importance of local SEO in hotel digital marketing

It’s difficult to understate the importance of local SEO for hotels. Nearly all searches relating to your hotel will have local intent – i.e. include your location within the search query. By investing in local SEO, you can ensure you come up as a result whenever a potential guest types something like “hotel [YOUR LOCATION]” into Google.

Facebook hotel ads are a type of targeted advertising designed specifically for the hotel industry. These ads leverage Facebook’s powerful targeting capabilities to reach potential guests based on various criteria such as location, interests, travel behaviour, and demographics

You probably have an idea of the impact Facebook or social media in general can have on basically every facet of society, including the success of hotels.

Relying on OTAs (online travel agencies like Booking.com) alone to reach and acquire guests is not enough, nor is it always the most profitable.

The influence of social media simply shows no signs of slowing down and, even as new platforms like TikTok emerge, Facebook is still one of the most popular and powerful networks in the world – don’t worry, we’ve found some stats to prove it.

In this blog, we’ll give you a complete (but hopefully simple) overview of why Facebook marketing can be so important for your hotel, how to get started, and a bunch of tips and tricks to do it effectively.

Why you need Facebook ads for your hotel

Not being present or active with your hotel business on Facebook would be a huge misstep, especially given how likely it is that your competitors are using it to grow their brand and capture bookings.

But instead of just telling you that you need it to achieve better business results, let’s show you with 12 compelling statistics we found thanks to Facebook itself, HootSuite, Sprout Social, and Stackla:

1. Facebook has over 3 billion monthly users this year – an increase of 12% since the past 3 years
2. More than 55% of Facebook’s audience is under 35 years of age – a savvy, energetic demographic who are keen to travel. This also signifies older generations are avid users of Facebook – highlighting the platform’s broad appeal.
3. 76% of leisure travellers use the Facebook family of apps (including Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.) for travel related activities
4. 38% use Facebook messenger to chat about trips to friends
5. 74% are influenced by friends and family when deciding on travel plans
6. 73% of US-based Facebook users login daily, while 93% login weekly
7. Two-thirds of Facebook users visit a local business page weekly
8. An average user clicks 12 Facebook ads each month
9. 80% of Facebook accounts are exclusively mobile users
10. The average ad price for Facebook decreased 9% at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic
11.  86% of people said they’ve become interested in a specific travel destination after seeing user-generated content
12. 52% of consumers say they’ve made plans to visit a destination based on media their family or friends have shared

Not only can statistics like this display how vital it is to engage travellers on Facebook, but they can also start to guide your plans too.

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Setting up your hotel for Facebook marketing

Marketing on Facebook can be a lot easier than you think! There’s a lot you can do for free, quickly and easily, to influence your audience.

Before your hotel gets started with Facebook marketing

First things first though, if you’re a new business owner or haven’t tried it before you need to set up your hotel Facebook page. To do this you need a personal page first.

Once you have your profile active, you can create a new page for your hotel and get started on your business profile; choosing a category, entering property information and photos, before sending out invites to begin building your audience.

The information you include on your hotel’s Facebook page should be much the same as your Google Business Profile.

During your hotel’s Facebook marketing setup…

Ensure that you include:

• All current contact details
• Your property’s location details
• Professional or high-quality images
• Language that is accessible and aligned with your brand
• Links to your other online platforms such as Instagram or TripAdvisor
• Accurate and consistent information that matches your profile in other places on the internet

Now your hotel is ready for Facebook marketing

Free marketing is the best marketing so you’ll want to build your number of followers as quickly as possible so you can start promoting your offers. Plus, once your page reaches 2000+ likes you’ll have an option to create custom page tabs so you can further customise your content.

Growing your hotel’s Facebook marketing reach

A marketing strategy, no matter the platform, is only as effective as your marketing reach. You can’t engage with people you can’t connect with, and Facebook is all about building connections – between people and between people and the brands they love, your hotel included.

Facebook has been around for a decent chunk of time now, and so there are a number of proven methods to grow your hotel’s Facebook marketing reach – some of which you don’t need to spend a single cent to effectively use. 

Getting more likes and building your audience

To grow your hotel’s Facebook page organically – that is, without spending on ads – there’s a lot you can do to get some quick wins.

Start off by:

• Inviting your own contacts and friends to like your page
• Asking people you know to share and recommend your page or posts
• Add links to your Facebook page on your website, emails, Google Business Profile, and other social media sites such as Instagram or Twitter.
• Encourage guests or visitors to your hotel to join your page by putting displays on tables, your front desk, or on welcome packs in your rooms

Creating content and community engagement

After the initial influx of followers you’ll have to work a little harder to grow – but you can still do it for free by posting quality content regularly and actively engaging with other pages and businesses.

For content, follow the 80/20 rule: 80% of posts should be about the local area and only 20% of posts should be about the hotel itself. Use insights to find out what your audience likes and when the best time to post is. We know from recent Sprout Social data, the highest engagement days on Facebook are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Posting three to 10 times each week can be used as a general guideline.

Additionally, if another local business or organisation mentions your hotel in a post on their Facebook page and tags your page, thank them, like the comment, and join in with the conversation.

Facebook is a community so a sharing mentality here will serve you and your hotel well. Following and engaging with local businesses can benefit you in the long run.

How do I market my hotel on Facebook? Here’s everything you can do

Limiting your ad spending is always preferable so it’s important you explore all the free avenues on Facebook to build brand awareness and get more travellers visiting your website and booking your hotel.

It goes without saying you’ll want to place a high focus on the content you create, including:

1. Feed posts

Regular posts that will keep your audience updated and engaged with what’s happening at your property or with your brand.

2. Stories

Short clips or images that might show your audience behind the scenes of your operation, showcase your best elements, or show-off great guest experiences. This is a great way to generate excitement or FOMO (fear of missing out).

3. Pictures

Show don’t tell. Sometimes if you can simply display a stunning image of your hotel or the local area, it can inspire people to visit more than any words ever could. And don’t forget to tag your location!

4. Promos

This is where your copywriting skills and marketing nous comes into play. Offer your followers exclusive and exciting promos that entice impulsive bookings.

5. Events

Hosting events, even virtual ones, helps bring people together and may even introduce new people to your brand. Partner with other businesses to create events that will have travellers and locals excited.

6. Competitions

Competitions are a great way to get people to share your content and bring new followers to your page, while drumming up revenue in the process. For example, ‘Like and share for a chance at 10% off your next stay in our couples suite’

7. Reviews

Reviews are always crucial, on any platform that allows feedback. Make sure you’re always responding to reviews and resolving any issues, to get your review score as high as possible. At the end of the day, this signifies to travellers the type of experience they should expect.

8. Tagging, commenting, sharing

Being active on the platform will help you build followers over time. Tagging people or other businesses, sharing posts you think your audience will like, commenting on posts you support, and using targeted hashtags are all ways to draw attention to your hotel on Facebook.

9. Messenger communications

Around 1 billion people use Facebook messenger and it’s a great way to enrich your customer service and advertise your hotel’s services. Simply make sure your username is set, and then you can manage all messages from the admin panel of the page.

10. Check-ins

To increase valuable word-of-mouth advertising, encourage your guests to use check-ins or location tags on any videos or photos they post to their own social media.

Always remember that enticing customers with exclusivity can boost your volume of followers and engagement on Facebook, by treating your page more like a ‘club’. Offer promotions and deals that are only available to those that have liked your page.

Facebook ads for hotels

Using Facebook ads and paid marketing strategies is where you can really take your business to the next level and boost your reservations significantly. Facebook has a tonne of tools you can use to reach both large and specific audiences.

Before you get started with ads and setting campaigns live you should set out a list of goals and aspirations. You want to spend your money wisely and convert travellers as cheaply as possible.

Some quick tips from Are Morch include:

• Being specific about what you want your ads to achieve such as building awareness and followers, getting more website traffic, or driving bookings
• Establishing how you will track progress and results
• Set realistic and attainable goals for your budget
• Keep your campaigns relevant to your brand and chosen audience
• Stick to reasonable deadlines for what you want to achieve

Perhaps the biggest factor is to identify and understand the audience you want to reach. This way you can target the people who are most likely to convert. Afterall, if your hotel caters predominantly to leisure travellers and families, there won’t be any point in your ad reaching business travellers. Facebook Ads manager can help you do this when you begin setting up your ads.

How to save time and stay organised

Being a hotel owner is busy work and you won’t necessarily have that much time to spend on social media all day. That’s why you need to plan accordingly and schedule content ahead of time.

Take some time initially to create a calendar of what you’re going to post and do each week on Facebook. This might include pinpointing when key events and holidays are taking place so you can have content and offers ready to go. Once you have a calendar mapped out, you can write your content in advance so there’s no need to worry throughout the year about having nothing to post.

Use your smartphone where possible too. You can operate Facebook easily from your phone and also take great pictures. So if you see something amazing you need to share, use your phone to quickly post a story or image on the run.

Creating your Facebook pixel

Getting a Facebook pixel is important for you to track key ‘events’ on your website, including visits, direct bookings, and other relevant actions. Your hotel can also use Facebook pixels to deliver unique experience offer ads to the most relevant customers.

What is it, you ask? The pixel is a small piece of code installed on your website that allows you to connect activity on Facebook to user behavior on your website.

It will help you optimise your ads in a few ways:

• Allow you to target and re-target people who have visited or taken specific actions on your website
• Lower your costs by informing automatic bidding to ensure you always reach the right audience
• Helps you measure performance
• Informs your ability to build effective ‘lookalike’ audiences

With the insights your pixel helps provide you can better optimise the ads you are using to increase the amount of conversions for your chosen events, such as someone making a booking at your hotel.

Two types of events you might set up are:

• Standard events – These are predefined actions such as filling out a form, contacting your hotel, viewing a specific web page, or making a purchase.
• Custom events – Anything else you want to set up and add to your pixel code, such as for specific promotions, newsletter sign-ups, or particular packages.

Hotel Facebook ads examples

Effective Facebook ads for hotels should be visually engaging, highlight unique selling points, and include a clear call to action. 

Here’s an example of what the format might look like:

And here are some examples to inspire your next campaign:

Example 1

“Escape to paradise! 🌴 Enjoy 20% off your stay at our beachfront resort when you book by the end of the month. Click now to reserve your spot in the sun!”

Visual: A stunning image of the hotel’s beachfront with a family enjoying the waves.

Call to action: “Book Now”

Example 2

“Experience luxury in the Heart of the City! 🌆 Our newly renovated suites offer the perfect blend of comfort and style. Book your stay today and receive complimentary breakfast for two!”

Visual: A sleek, modern suite with city views.

Call to action: “Book Your Stay”

Example 3

“Planning a wedding? 💍 Say ‘I do’ at our picturesque venue with customisable packages to make your day unforgettable. Schedule a tour and start planning your dream wedding today!”

Visual: A beautifully decorated wedding setup in the hotel garden.

Call to action: “Schedule a Tour”

Example 4

Family fun awaits! 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Enjoy a special family package at our child-friendly hotel, including tickets to the local amusement park. Book now for an unforgettable family adventure!”

Visual: A family enjoying the hotel’s pool and amenities.

Call to action: “Learn More”

Using the best Facebook Ads for your hotel

The wealth of options and tools on Facebook Ads offers a great opportunity for your business to achieve fantastic results but it can also be confusing if you’re not clear on your plans.

To get you started, here are some examples of some ads you might want to use.

Trip Consideration
Trip Consideration is a feature that can be used to prioritise the delivery of your content to people who plan to travel. These audiences may have a general intent to travel, but have no specific destination in mind yet. These ads use a static creative that you select, rather than drawing from a catalogue.

In this context it’s important that you:

• Correctly define your hotel’s audience
• Use the right content for that audience
• Target ‘lookalike’ audiences – those who have a similar profile to your existing audience
• Use retargeting tools
• Target ‘warm leads’ with your top quality content

Facebook Travel Ads
These ads allow advertisers to engage with users lower in the sales funnel who have already visited your website but are yet to convert. Travellers are tracked through their browser so they can be shown an offer for your brand when they’re browsing different sites. This kind of retargeting can often prove quite useful in securing bookings from travellers who are still undecided.

Remember that there is some setup involved with Facebook Travel Ads. This feature was  created specifically for hotel advertisers that allows you to reach people with travel intent – even if they’re yet to visit your website or app. You’ll need a Facebook pixel implemented on your website, and use events to report which properties from your catalogue are being searched, viewed, and purchased.

Facebook claims targeted ads on their site are 89% effective, compared to a 38% effectiveness for the average online ad, so segmenting your audience by categories such as location, demographics, interests, behaviours, and more will be hugely beneficial.

“With SiteMinder’s platform, we can reach more points of sale and boost our presence in key markets. We are more efficient and we can now reach more locations while taking the same steps.”

Javier Aranda,

E-commerce Senior Manager

Palladium Hotel Group

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Best practice Facebook ads for hotels 

Just like the organic content you post and share, your ads need to be engaging if you want people to click on them or take actions.

The way you present your ads, the audience you target, the medium you use, and a number of other factors will play a major role in how successful your ad investments are.

Here’s a whole list of Facebook ads for hotels best practices to keep in mind when creating your hotel’s ads:

• Use videos more than images if possible – a recent Facebook Ads Experiment by Biteable found that video ads generate 25% more views, 480% more clicks, and 270% more leads than photo ads.
• Match strategies and tools to traveller goals – For example for a traveller in the planning stage you’d use Trip Consideration to encourage conversions on your website, and you might employ a carousel of images.
• Re-target – Showing ads to people who are already familiar with you is a good way to give them an extra nudge and hopefully convert them the second time around.
• Testing – Compare various versions of your ads to see what performs best, such as testing different headlines, text, and images.
• Try contrasting targeting tactics – On one hand, you might go super narrow and target micro-audiences by locality or displayed behaviour, while on the other you might go broad and target a larger audience based on engagement with previous ads
• Go mobile – Our earlier stats note that the majority of people use Facebook exclusively on mobile so make sure your ads are optimised for a mobile-first approach
• Be timely – Catching people at the exact moment they’re in the right frame of mind can be vital. Trip Consideration is great for this too.
• Create or use dedicated landing pages – Don’t muddy the waters by creating a great ad that simply sends people to your homepage

How to increase reservations via hotel ads on Facebook?

Directly connect your booking engine to your Facebook page to drive bookings from your followers.

Just navigate to your Facebook page, create a ‘Shop on Website’ button by selecting ‘Add a Button’ below the cover photo and then choosing ‘Shop on Website’. Finally, paste your booking engine URL so guests are directed right where they need to be to make a booking.

Hotel reviews are feedback left by guests after their stay. They share their experiences, good and bad, to help others make informed decisions. You can find these reviews on the hotel’s website, booking sites like Booking.com and Expedia, and review platforms like TripAdvisor.

Online hotel reviews are changing everything. With more than two out of three global travellers now using travel review websites before making a booking, and 93% of those saying online reviews influence their booking decisions – it’s clear hotel operators must become adept in the art of handling online guest reviews in order to stay competitive in today’s transparent business landscape.

As more and more guests turn to one another for advice on where to stay in cities around the world, the effectiveness of traditional hotel advertising is declining – while the impact of online hotel reviews is on the rise.

Failure to monitor, manage and respond to reviews will skew your hotel management strategy to issues that are unimportant to customers, as well as provide unhappy customers with ammunition for negative feedback on travel and social media sites.

This blog will give you an in-depth guide to managing online reviews at your hotel.

Why are hotel reviews important?

Hotel reviews are more than just feedback – they can significantly influence your hotel’s success. Positive reviews can enhance your reputation and allow you to increase your rates, boosting your overall revenue performance. And it’s not just lip service! In fact, a one-point increase in your review score on a five-point scale can enable you to raise your room rates by 11% without affecting occupancy or market share.

To underline the importance of reviews to your hotel, here are some of the most moving statistics:

• 81% of travellers frequently or always read reviews before booking a hotel. 52% would never book a hotel that had zero reviews.
• 96% consider reviews important in the research phase. 79% will read between six and 12 reviews before making a purchase decision.
• 88% of travellers filter out hotels with an average star rating below three. 32% eliminated those with a rating below four.
• When deciding between two similar properties, 79% of consumers are more likely to reserve a room at the hotel with a higher rating.
• Customers will value guest ratings over a hotel’s brand 72% of the time. Guests will pay 24% more for a hotel with a 3.9 rating over one that’s rated 2.4 and even up to 35% more for a hotel with a 4.4 rating over one with a 3.9 rating.
• Four out of five believe a hotel that responds to reviews cares more about its customers.
• 85% agree that a thoughtful response to a review will improve their impression of the hotel.

Managing and improving your hotel’s online reviews is a more straightforward and simple task than you might think. Even though it may be time consuming, it will be worth it for the long term success of your business.

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Hotel review management

Dealing with online reviews can be frustrating, even for veteran hoteliers. Hotels often have limited ways to respond to reviews and can be targeted by fake or anonymous feedback. Plus, responding negatively to a bad review can sometimes make things worse, scaring off potential guests who don’t want a confrontational experience.

However, overcoming the hurdles of hotel review management and earning that word of mouth pays dividends. Findings showed that in Europe, if the percentage of excellent reviews grows by 10%, a hotel’s search ranking on TripAdvisor improves 11.3%. A 10% increase in the hotel’s average review score will also push a search ranking up by 6.1%.

Meanwhile, if the average review score of a hotel on TripAdvisor is improved by 10%, the expected number of bookings on TripAdvisor increases by 9% in Europe, and more significantly so in Asia-Pacific, by an impressive 15%.

But TripAdvisor is just one potential avenue for hotel reviews. How do you manage all those customer experiences across multiple platforms?

Managing hotel reviews on Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor allows guests to leave reviews about their stays, providing valuable insights for future guests and feedback for hotels. Here’s how it works:

• Guest reviews: Guests can post reviews anytime after their stay, sharing their experiences and rating various aspects of your hotel, such as cleanliness, service, and amenities.
• Review transparency: Reviews are visible to everyone, helping future guests make informed decisions based on past guest experiences.
• Hotel responses: Hotels can respond to reviews, addressing both positive and negative feedback to show their commitment to guest satisfaction.

Positive reviews here can significantly boost your search rankings and enhance credibility, as many travellers rely on TripAdvisor for trusted recommendations.

However, TripAdvisor has its drawbacks compared to other systems like Airbnb. The platform is prone to fake or malicious reviews, which can unfairly damage your hotel’s reputation.

Here’s a few tips to tackle those challenges:

• At checkout, kindly ask happy guests to share their experiences online.
• When you receive positive reviews, show your appreciation by thanking the guests.
• Regularly check TripAdvisor for new reviews so you can respond quickly.
• Don’t forget to share your best reviews on social media

Read our full guide to TripAdvisor reviews to perfect your strategy.

Managing hotel reviews on Airbnb

Airbnb has a different take on reviews, allowing both guests and hosts to review each other. This mutual system helps keep things fair and reduces the chances of fake or unfair reviews. Here’s how it works:

• Mutual reviews: Both guests and hosts write their reviews within a two-week window, and they’re published simultaneously. This transparency helps future guests make better decisions.
• Improved process: Before 2014, reviews were posted immediately, leading to ‘revenge reviews’. The updated system has made reviews more trustworthy.
• Extra measures: Airbnb uses several strategies to keep things fair:
• Verified identification: Hosts can require guests to have verified ID badges before booking.
• Guest profiles: Detailed profiles with pictures help hosts decide if a guest is suitable.
• Social connections: Users can link their profiles to social media, allowing hosts to see mutual friends and other reviews.

While Airbnb’s system is effective, it’s not flawless. Ridiculous reviews, like those blaming bad weather, can still slip through. Also, removing anonymity can mean that negative feedback follows someone for a long time. Airbnb users can connect to Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn. Hosts can tap into this information to see other reviews that have been posted, see mutual friends, and get a sense of the person who is coming to stay at their property.

Airbnb also has other measures in place to encourage fairness, including:

• Verified identification
• Hosts can require guests to hold verified ID badges before they accept a booking.
• Guest profiles
• Completed guest profiles, including pictures, enable hosts to investigate the suitability of guests.
• Social connection.

How to respond to hotel reviews

There are really only two types of guests who leave reviews; those eager to praise your property and those aiming to criticise it. Understanding how to respond to reviews from both groups is crucial for maintaining your hotel’s reputation.

Both groups require a similar approach. They all need to be responded to as quickly as possible in a calm, friendly, and thoughtful manner. There’s nothing you can do to change their experience, but you can let them know their voice has been heard, acknowledged, and had some effect on the way you run your business in the future.

Technically, there is a third group and these are the travellers who don’t leave a comment at all. It’s these guests that present a big opportunity for your hotel. If you can encourage this large contingent to post reviews you have a chance to not only increase your rating, but also your reach across many online platforms.

The more positive reviews there are of your property the better – and incentivising guests who might just be too lazy to post is the perfect way to acquire the reviews you need.

Once you have reviews to be proud of, you need to distribute them to as many channels as possible, including social media. The best thing about reviews is that they don’t cost you anything. Maintaining a constant presence online and highlighting your reviews will help you stay competitive at all times.

How to handle your guest reviews

Here’s a rundown of nine tips to handle your guest reviews.

• Having a plan in place to deal with online reviews should be part of an overall strategy for measuring your customer satisfaction and engagement.

• Be proactive and catch guest complaints before they go public. For instance, having a feedback system in place will give you access to real-time feedback, allowing you to respond to issues as they arise.

• Use social listening tools or a hotel reputation management system with real-time alerts to get on top of what guests are saying about you across review sites, blogs and social media.

• When responding to a complaint, be sure to acknowledge the poor experience, emphasise the changes you intend to make, and follow up with the customer as needed.

• Respond to issues as quickly as possible; the longer they go unaddressed, the longer they will fester and potentially get out of hand.

• Act on your promises to customers and move conversations offline when necessary to provide a higher level of personalised service.

• Limit the amount of different staff replying to reviews.

• Share customer feedback throughout your business. Your staff are your frontline brand ambassadors – but only if they understand the challenges and are incentivised to create the best customer experience possible.
• Don’t get defensive.

Use negative feedback to your advantage

The most feared of all feedback online is a negative review. The good news is bad reviews do not have to spell disaster. To the contrary, less-than-glowing comments about your hotel represent a great opportunity to respond to customers and show off your commitment to a high-level of quality service. In fact, savvy operators welcome the opportunity to respond to customers’ complaints (as well as praises) because it gives them a chance to shine.

How to respond to negative hotel reviews

Understanding how to respond to feedback is not just a competitive advantage, but potentially a means of ensuring your hotel stays in business.

You can easily turn complaints around and win hotel guests back – and these basic reputation management responses are your first line of defence.

Where a rational negative comment is posted, hotels do have options on how to respond.

Acknowledge and action

For a genuine, reasoned negative comment on customer experience, it is best for hotels to respond in a timely manner (within 72 hours of posting), acknowledging the issue and describing how it will be addressed. Ideally, a follow up post will occur after actioning the issue, and showing how the experience will not be repeated.

This is by far the best possible response to negative feedback, because online audiences are far more willing to value action and positive changes in behaviour, than think poorly of the initial negative experience.

Apologise and compensate

For a negative comment which illustrates an experience that was difficult or impossible to avoid, an appropriate response is to apologise for the poor experience and to privately offer either monetary compensation, or discounts on future bookings.

While this is unlikely to totally satisfy the customer with the stated poor experience, it will indicate to other customers, the prioritisation of customer experiences at the hotel. It’s important to take compensation offline where possible to avoid inviting those who like to complain for free stuff.

Apologise and thank

For negative comments that focus on pedantic details, the most appropriate response is an apology for the experience and an acknowledgement that this feedback will help shape your hotel’s future guest experience strategy.

This is far more useful than a response which states that the comment will be passed to a customer service team, because the customer already believes that service is the problem at the property.

As for the initial risk of negative reviews getting posted, if you are a hotelier that pays attention to guests and provides good service, you should get overwhelmingly positive feedback. Sporadic negative reviews will not hurt your reputation directly and, when followed regularly by new positive reviews, will disappear quite quickly into the background.

How to respond to negative hotel reviews examples

Acknowledge and action

“Dear [Guest’s Name], thank you for your feedback. We’re truly sorry for the inconvenience you experienced. We have addressed the issue with our housekeeping team to ensure it doesn’t happen again. We appreciate your understanding and hope to welcome you back soon for a better experience.”

Apologise and compensate

“Dear [Guest’s Name], we’re very sorry to hear about your experience. Please accept our sincere apologies. We would like to offer you a discount on your next stay with us. Kindly contact us directly so we can arrange this for you. We hope to have the chance to make it up to you.”

Apologise and thank

“Dear [Guest’s Name], thank you for your feedback. We apologise for the aspects of your stay that did not meet your expectations. Your comments are valuable to us and will help improve our services. We hope to provide you with a much better experience in the future.”

How to respond to positive hotel reviews

The relationship between hotels and guests has dramatically changed over the last few years and this is challenging for the hotels. On the one hand you have OTAs who have taken over the guest ownership. On the other hand, guests today have different expectations. In order to meet those new expectations, hotels have to know their guests better, so they can focus on delivering more personalised experiences.

By exceeding guest expectations and by working to build relationships with guests, even small independent hotels can encourage repeat bookers to book directly with them instead of with an OTA. In order to compete with the OTAs and other hotels, hotels realise they need to start collecting more guest data and use that data in better ways to improve service and build relationships with guests to ensure they return to the hotel.

Whether they’ve had a good experience or a bad one, increasingly-connected consumers are turning to social media and travel review sites to share their opinions to millions of other travellers around the globe. Indeed, the number of customer reviews on the popular TripAdvisor site has surged past the 150 million mark. It’s so important to gain and manage guest feedback.

How to thank hotel guests for their positive feedback

While most organisations are thrilled with the prospect of positive reviews, an abundance of rave reviews can be just as suspicious to audiences as a series of negative reviews.

Therefore, positive reviews also need a response.

• Be Humble
  Where a positive review is excessive and perhaps gushing, it is wise for firms to thank the guest for their enthusiasm, but to also acknowledge areas where you are attempting to improve. This reinforces commitment to customer service.
• Be Delighted
  Where positive feedback is sincere and reasoned, the best response for hotels is to express delight and appreciation for the feedback and the desire to serve again in the future. This is the easiest response to deliver, but is often the least fulfilled.
• Be Appreciative
  Where feedback is predominantly neutral, but some aspects are highlighted as being of particular value, it is advisable for hotel managers to express thanks for the feedback and to request further advice on how the organisation could improve in specific areas.

Again, try to take this conversation offline with an email or personal phone call. This enables more considered feedback to follow the initial post.

How to respond to positive hotel reviews examples

Be humble

“Dear [Guest’s Name], thank you so much for your enthusiastic review! We’re thrilled to hear you enjoyed your stay with us. We’re continually working on enhancing our services, and your feedback is incredibly valuable to us. We look forward to welcoming you back soon.”

Be delighted

“Dear [Guest’s Name], we’re delighted to hear that you had such a wonderful stay with us! Your kind words mean a lot to our team. We can’t wait to welcome you back for another fantastic experience.”

Be appreciative

“Dear [Guest’s Name], thank you for your review. We’re glad to hear that you enjoyed [specific aspect]. Your feedback is invaluable, and we’d love to hear more about how we can make your next stay even better. Please feel free to reach out to us directly.”

How to prevent negative reviews

Beware the dreaded negative hotel guest review. At your hotel, you’re probably aware that the drama in that statement is not overstated. The sobering reality of managing online reviews and hotel guest feedback is that people who have a bad experience are much more likely to leave a review than those who enjoyed a positive experience.

In fact, it’s said that for every bad hotel guest review you could lose potential bookings.

That’s why it’s vital to understand how a negative review might occur and how to make sure your hotel avoids it at all costs.

Why will a hotel guest leave a negative review?

There are some obvious reasons for guests to give you bad feedback. The good news is that you should be able to solve all of these issues if you take the appropriate action when it comes to reputation management. Here are the main factors contributing to unhappy guests:

Rude or unhelpful staff

Naturally if the hospitality of your hospitality business isn’t up to scratch, it won’t bode well for your reputation online. If guests are greeted by unenthusiastic staff who show no interest in their needs or are hard to find or contact, it will sour their whole experience no matter how amazing your hotel is.

General cleanliness and condition of rooms

It may go without saying but it has happened plenty of times before. If guests enter their room to find it hasn’t been cleaned and last night’s sheets are still on the bed, it might be enough for them to turn and run immediately. It’ll certainly be enough motivation for them to warn their peers about staying at your hotel on travel review sites.

• Unrealistic expectations

Liken this to a balloon being burst. When guests arrive at their destination, excitement is at fever pitch. They can’t wait to see everything they were promised on your website or advertised as ‘highly recommended’ via your online profile. If you’ve promised more than you can deliver in reality, guests will be especially disappointed. Even if nothing is ‘wrong’ with your hotel, nothing is right because you’re giving guests an experience a level below what they believed they purchased.

• A lack of understanding or empathy

Often it’s not what the guest has complained about that’s the issue, it’s the way the problem is resolved by your staff in charge of customer service. Guests will be far more peeved about you being delayed in fixing their broken doorknob than the fact it was broken in the first place. Whatever the ailment, guests want to be heard and taken seriously. If you don’t care about their gripes, they’ll go online to review platforms where they’re sure to find someone who does.

• A play for compensation or reward

Some guests may play a sneaky game of blackmail. Put simply, they expect that if they complain about something they’ll be given compensation or apology gifts. It’s an unhealthy habit some travellers form and it can be very frustrating for hotels – so teach staff how to manage this effectively when explaining your hotel review management system and processes.

How to avoid the bad reviews aimed at your hotel

Most guests will be reasonable and if you make a concerted effort to make things right, bad feedback can be turned into a positive review. Take note of these tips:

1. Don’t shirk on guest experience

Think about when people visit their friends houses for dinners and parties. They get treated according to all their personal preferences and nothing is too much to ask, while the venue had been meticulously prepared to please and entertain.

If you treat every guest like a friend, taking pains to make their stay convenient and personalised in your great location, you should have no problems.

As a minimum, ensure staff are warm, friendly, and available and keep rooms and amenities in impeccable condition.

2. Listen, understand, and connect

As much as you might feel like shrugging off an annoying guests request, it’s important to treat every enquiry with respect. Make sure you’re on the same page as your guest and build a rapport with them. Make it obvious you care about making them happy.

Your verbal language, tone, and body language are all vital here. If a guest brings an issue to your attention it’s important to be act grateful they’ve made you aware and accept any negative feedback as constructive criticism. Then, when you go about resolving the issue, check in with the guest to be sure your solution is to their satisfaction.

3. Be proactive

Instead of waiting until check-out or beyond to ask guests if their stay is up to standard, strike up conversations daily about what they’re enjoying and what could be improved upon. Not only will this give you valuable insight for future guests, but it will show your current customers that you’re working hard to give them the best experience possible.

4. Read and respond to all reviews – both positive or negative

If, heaven forbid, a bad review does crop up on your TripAdvisor page, take a breath before replying. It’s never easy to accept negative feedback and you may be tempted to defend yourself in a reactive manner, but generally it’s better to look at why the comment was made and how you can act on it for the better.

Politely thank every guest for their review and respond specifically to what they have to say. If you’re heartfelt in your response and apologise to the guest, along with whatever recompense you feel is necessary, most guests will give you another chance and be convinced to change their review.

One of the most overarching reasons for bad reviews is frustration. If you can alleviate the potential for this at your hotel, guests will be much happier and your reviews will be largely positive.

How do I get positive hotel reviews?

Getting positive hotel reviews starts (and ends) with delivering exceptional guest experiences.

• Ensure a seamless and personalised experience from booking to check-out.
• Greet guests warmly upon arrival, provide efficient check-in, and ensure their rooms are spotless and comfortable.
• Be attentive to their needs and address any issues promptly.
• Encourage staff to engage with guests and offer local recommendations.
• After their stay, send a follow-up email thanking them and inviting them to share their experience on review platforms like TripAdvisor.

Including direct links to review pages and offering incentives like discounts on future stays can also encourage positive feedback.

Consistently high-quality service and genuine appreciation for your guests will naturally lead to more positive reviews.

Hotel feedback form

Hotel guests read around 6-12 reviews prior to making a booking online, so it can really benefit your hotel’s online reputation (and by proxy, your visibility on review sites) to prioritise driving a greater volume of online reviews.

The best way to do that is to just ask. We’ve seen some hotels verbally encourage guests to write a review at check-out.

You can offer guests a feedback form to fill out, either at checkout or by placing it in every room for each new guest (or both). Once you have these responses you can collate the data and separate what’s useful for your hotel. Take note of what you need to improve on and what you can action.

If you get stellar comments, you could ask guests if it’s okay to publish the feedback on platforms such as your social media.

There’s also a way to do this digitally. There are survey and email systems that can ask guests for feedback shortly after checkout. Some systems then allow for automatic publication for TripAdvisor.

“Our previous direct booking option was very confusing and not very user-friendly. SiteMinder’s booking engine is a lot better integrated on the website and makes it easy for guests to book. So far, we have increased our direct bookings by 15%”

Mirja Wolf,

Manager

Hotel Kragemann

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Hotel online review management tips

The relationship between hotels and guests has dramatically changed in recent years, making online reputation more crucial than ever. With most travellers conducting their research and booking online, having a positive web presence is essential for capturing the reservations needed for a successful business. Managing a reputation on websites like TripAdvisor is viewed as the most effective way of generating bookings by over half (54%) of independent hoteliers in the US. For hotels across the US and Europe, online reviews are nearly twice as important as search engine optimisation in influencing booking decisions. This underscores the competitive advantage of effective online reputation management.

Despite its importance, some independent hoteliers still consider online reputation management an indulgence, partly due to confusion about handling feedback online.

TripAdvisor’s Popularity Index is becoming a critical metric for measuring hotel reputation. Beyond this quantitative measure, hotels should also analyse qualitative data to identify trends in guest feedback. For example, if guests consistently complain about the speed of check-in or the quality of the beds, hotels should take steps to address these issues.

Building a successful business and achieving a higher popularity ranking requires paying attention to customers’ needs. Encourage guests to write reviews and learn from their feedback. Each guest should receive an upgrade email before check-in. Additionally, hotels should send upsell emails to promote amenities, request survey responses, and conduct post-stay OTA win-back campaigns and loyalty campaigns. Personalising these emails and segmenting guest databases ensure that all communications are relevant to the audience. Collecting guest data is crucial for this personalised approach. When customers feel they’re receiving great value, they’re more likely to share their positive experiences online.

However, perks and rewards should complement excellent customer service, not replace it. High guest satisfaction throughout their stay is essential; otherwise, a rewards program may feel like a bribe and won’t be enough to garner positive reviews or encourage return stays.

To ensure your hotel stays on the right side of best practice, follow these nine recommendations:

1. Transparency: Be clear about where reviews come from and how they are checked before publishing.
2. Honesty: Publish all reviews, including negative ones, provided they are genuine and lawful.
3. Clarity: Explain to guests the circumstances in which reviews might not be published or might be edited (e.g., if they include swearing, abusive language, or defamatory remarks).
4. Timeliness: Ensure there is no unreasonable delay before reviews are published, so guests get the current picture.
5. Disclosure: Disclose commercial relationships with businesses that appear on your site and explain how this may affect review ratings.
6. Detection: Have procedures to detect and remove fake reviews, and act promptly on reports of suspected fake reviews.
7. Integrity: Don’t offer inducements—money or gifts—to customers to write positive reviews about your hotel.
8. Authenticity: Don’t pretend to be a guest and write reviews about your hotel or other hotels, nor pay others to do so.
9. Transparency in Endorsements: If someone who publishes content accepts payment to endorse something, ensure the content is clearly identifiable as paid-for, such as labelling posts or videos as “advertisement feature” or “advertisement promotion.”

By adhering to these best practices, your hotel can maintain a trustworthy and positive online presence, encouraging guests to share their genuine experiences and enhancing the hotel’s reputation. This strategy helps independent hotels leverage their flexibility to create exceptional guest experiences, leading to better online reviews and a stronger competitive position in the market.

Pay-per-click advertising, commonly referred to as PPC, is an effective way to generate more bookings on your website. This hotel advertising strategy needs to be well considered and effectively implemented in order to increase your site visitors and conversion rates.

A hotel PPC (pay-per-click) campaign, or hotel search engine marketing campaign is an advertising campaign in which a hotel targets a keyword to promote their website to a specific set of online searchers.

The number of clicks the link receives dictates the amount that is paid for the campaign, making it a cost-effective way to drive traffic to your hotel website. However, it’s important that your hotel PPC does more than simply generate a tonne of clicks. It needs to attract motivated travellers who are interested and highly likely to book a room at your hotel.

Here’s everything you need to know about PPC for hotels.

What is Google pay per click? 

Pay per click (PPC) is a form of online advertising in which you only pay when someone clicks your ad. It is the system used across Google Ads, from the text ads that appear on the results page to the image ads that appear across the internet via the Google display ads network. A bidding system determines which ads and advertisers are featured.

A key part of your broader hotel search engine marketing (SEM) efforts, hotel pay per click marketing allows you to instantly secure a spot at the top of the Google results – something that can take months or longer with an organic SEO strategy (which forms another key part of SEM).

Go big on Google Ads with help from SiteMinder

Learn more about your business and guests with SiteMinder Insights, and use this knowledge to develop PPC ads that earn more clicks and drive more business.

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How should you choose a hotel PPC keyword?

The heart of any hotel PPC marketing campaign is the keyword. It’s important you perform adequate research about the target audience and their online search habits before selecting a keyword for the next hotel PPC campaign.

Keywords need to be relevant to your brand, but also specific enough to reach the target audience that is most likely to book with you.

For example, you would want to include popular versions of your keyword search phrase as well as long-form versions identifying specific locations and other important details.

Using Google adwords for hotels

Once you’ve completed your keyword research, you’ll need to set up your hotel PPC marketing campaign. Google has worked hard to make AdWords (now simply called Google Ads) accessible to the average user, although partnering with a digital marketing agency can help to maximise the return on your advertising investment.

In terms of hotel campaigns, Google Ads requires every user to create an account. Once you’re logged in, campaign creation and hotel PPC management is simple to learn – yet tricky to master – through the Google Ads dashboard.

A PPC campaign is an effective way to get more of your guests to book direct.

Why should you choose PPC for hotels?

Hotel PPC is an easy and cost-effective way to increase your site traffic and conversions. While your SEO strategy will help improve your rankings on the search result page, your hotel PPC campaign will improve your visibility and boost traffic among your most motivated market segments. Learn more about market segmentation from Nutshell.

It is an advertising technique that can be easily customised to meet the needs of your brand, and it can be employed across all of your website landing pages, social media profiles and email marketing campaigns.

It is also not uncommon for OTAs to bid on hotel brands in their own PPC campaigns. A quick glance at your auction insights brand campaign in Google Adwords will tell you whether OTAs are bidding on your hotel brand and how their ads are performing against yours. To counter the sales lost to OTAs bidding on your brand it is important for you to be bidding on your own brand too. You can also bid on your hotel brand and the name of the OTA to try and recapture some of the lost traffic.

Why use Google ads for hotel campaigns?

Why use Google AdWords for hotels? Put simply, Google is the gatekeeper of the internet. It boasts a search engine market share of over 90%, so nine out of every ten potential guests will use Google when they search for accommodation.

It is critical that your property comes up as a result when they type ‘hotel [your location]’, and as it guarantees you a spot at the top of the page, Google Ads is one of the most effective ways to do so.

How can you improve your hotel pay per click marketing?

If you have created a hotel PPC campaign that is driving traffic but not converting visitors into customers, then it’s time to look at ways you can adjust this campaign. Here are five effective strategies to increase your conversions:

1. Exclusive deals: Offer a discount or promotional code via Google Ads. Not only will this encourage conversions, if you put a time limit on the offer, it can also encourage a potential guest to book quickly.
2. Mobile-friendly: Every PPC campaign should be mobile-friendly, as an ever-increasing number of potential guests are now looking for and booking hotels from their smartphones and tablets.
3. Remarketing campaigns: A remarketing campaign sees targeted ads being shown to people who have previously visited your site. Remarketing campaigns keep your hotel top of mind, and can build familiarity and trust with your brand, which can lead to bookings.
4. Monitor competitors: Analyse how your direct competitors using Google Ads. Consider how you can replicate what they’re doing well and capitalise on what they’re doing not so well.
5. Seasonal trends: Craft your ads around seasonal trends. Tell guests why they should choose your hotel and area at certain times of year. Be willing to increase your advertising budget a little during peak season to secure more valuable bookings.

What should you do with your hotel PPC results?

At the end of each PPC campaign, it’s important that you track your metrics and analyse the data that is generated from the campaign. Today’s hotel PPC campaigns are more refined than ever before, offering insight into the demographics of each site visitor that arrived at your hotel website.

You can learn about which types of visitors booked immediately, who abandoned the page entirely, and who spent the most amount of time browsing. This will help you redefine the purpose of your future campaigns.

Of course, it gets a lot more complicated than that but by being engaging, consistent, authentic, and exciting, a hotel brand can create a positive and lasting reputation.

In this article we’ll cover everything you need to know about building a successful hotel brand, including key examples.

What is hotel branding?

Hotel branding is how you create an instant affinity and sense of familiarity from travellers when they hear your hotel’s name.

Successful hotel brand building will result in guests being able to easily recall your image and logo, and also get an immediate idea of what a stay experience is like at your hotel.

Their need to research will be reduced by your existing legacy; your brand reputation tells them everything they need to know. For example, will your hotel be known for being a place to seek comfort and solitude, or a thriving and vibrant social hub?

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Tips for branding your hotel

Whether you’re starting from scratch or undergoing a re-brand, there’s a number of factors and influences you need to consider before you begin constructing a brand for your hotel:

• Your location
• Your local culture
• Your local environment
• Your local competitors
• Your preferred target segment
• Travellers behaviours and motivations in your market

On top of this, you also need to factor in how you plan to offer value and originality to consumers, so you stand out amongst the crowd. Once you have all this information scoped out, you can get into the exciting stuff of building your brand.

Crucial elements for establishing brand identity

There are a number of building blocks that contribute to a successful and long-lasting brand, but what do you need in place before you introduce yourself to the world? Here’s a list of essential items to cover:

• A name and a logo

Over time your brand name will become synonymous with an experience. Guests will see or hear your name and feel an emotion or picture a scene. Your logo is the visual representation of your name – the backbone that solidifies your brand in the consciousness of customers.

Your name and logo need to be as memorable and original as possible while aligning seamlessly with your brand values. Considering responsive logos can also help ensure that your visual identity remains impactful across various digital platforms and devices.

Note: Keep SEO in mind when choosing a name. If you choose a name that is too common or is competing with other strong and already established brands, it will be very difficult to rank highly on search engines.

• A core philosophy

What does your hotel stand for? What does it believe in? Whatever morals and values you assign to your brand at the beginning will impact every aspect of your brand strategy. For example, does your brand believe strongly in sustainability? If so, you would need to reflect this in your design, logo, and guest experience.

• A strong visual identity

Tied closely with your name and logo is the design of your hotel website, the content you post on social media, in your emails, and more. The look and feel of your brand needs to match your core philosophy. Using the example above, sustainability might dictate warm and earthy colours or soft greens, rather than bright reds or yellows.

Outside of colours, you need to think about what typography you use, and what images you display to market your hotel. Everything needs to be in sync.

• Storytelling

It’s important that guests are able to understand who you are and why you do what you do. What mission drives your business?

If you have decided your hotel exists to provide luxury travellers with a guilt-free, eco-friendly stay then you need to create a narrative that discusses why your brand feels strongly about it, how the experience is achieved, and the difference it makes to both your guests and the world at large. The more aspirational you can make your story, the more inclined guests will be to join you on your journey.

Key tip: Ensure your tone of voice makes sense alongside your statements. E.g a brand revolving around fun and novelty shouldn’t use language that is too formal.

• Define your offerings

Your offerings are perhaps the most impactful part of your brand when it comes to how guests feel and react to it. This means creating rooms, amenities, menus, and staff interactions that trace back to your original brand proposition. Your offerings and service are how to prove to guests that your brand delivers on its promises.

It should also go further than this, to include your hotel’s relationship with the local community.

Importance of brand development and how to get it right

Developing a strong brand will ultimately ensure the long term success of your business, and make it easier over time to grow your profit.

By developing your brand you’ll be able to:

• Set expectations around value and pricing
• Promise and deliver a consistent guest experience
• Create awareness of your business
• Build trust within the industry
• Strengthen staff motivation
• Establish a loyal customer base

This last point is particularly important. Your brand development will depend on the relationship between you and your guests.

It’s one thing to come up with a catchphrase or an ‘about us’ tagline – but it means nothing if you don’t follow through. The experiences your guests have, and the reviews they write will shape the way your hotel’s brand develops and how travellers identify with it.

This is why it’s so important to:

• Provide a guest experience that matches what you promise
• Stay consistent with the quality of service offered
• Work overtime to source and action feedback
• Constantly manage reviews and guest communication
• Reward customers for their loyalty

It takes a long time to establish a positive brand reputation but a bad reputation can sometimes be created by just one bad piece of feedback. That’s why fostering guest loyalty is essential. You need your guests to be your brand ambassadors. For this to happen you need to make them feel like they are part of an exclusive club that gets treated like family.

Hotel branding strategies and ideas

The end goal of establishing and developing your brand is that your hotel(s) will receive more recognition, with more general awareness from customers about what your brand means.

This should lower your cost of acquisition over time and enable you to steadily increase revenue and profits.

Here are 9 key tips to help you earn that recognition.

1. Develop a marketing strategy
This includes deciding on how you will design your website, what third-party channels you will sell through, what types of emails you will send, which other businesses you will partner with, how you will influence your reputation, how you will establish loyalty, and more.

2. Be strategic with marketing dollars
Make sure you have analysed your target market in detail. This will allow you to spend money where it will have the most impact. Eliminating marketing waste and investing in channels with higher conversion rates can help you capture more revenue, leading to increased profits and higher performance scores that you can use to your brand’s advantage.

3. Keep an eye on the competition
Hotel branding is especially important in areas of high competition. Many hoteliers find themselves in price wars with the comp set, consistently working to undercut one another for a competitive edge. If your property is located in an area saturated with comparable hotels offering similar services, hotel branding provides an opportunity to set your hotel apart from the competition.

4. Be different
With guest expectations growing, as well as tech innovation and disruption, there’s no room to be static. You have to constantly find ways to reinvent your offerings, so guests have a reason to choose you. This might mean rotating your packages more frequently, taking personalisation to the next level, or adopting the latest technology to match what guests are using in their everyday lives.

5. Stay true to your history
Whatever you set out to do with your brand must be your mission everyday. No brand can please everyone, so you need to set your sights on delivering the best possible experience to your core market. Chopping and changing ideas will lead to inconsistency in service, and your reviews will suffer as a result.

6. Empower your staff and establish connections with your audience
A strong brand always has proud staff that are invested in the mission and the story. To boost the personalisation that guests experience, give your staff the freedom to share the hotel’s story, problem-solve, and take initiative to satisfy guests at all times.

7. Prioritise a mobile-friendly booking experience
With new data continuing to show the growing popularity of mobile-booking, it’s a must for your brand experience to be the same on mobile as it is on desktop or any other device. The second a web page fails to load or a booking experience becomes clunky, the brand image you have established starts to waver.

8. Optimise your OTA listings
For brand consistency, your OTA listing needs to be treated with the same care as your own website, given how many travellers are likely to book with you on channels like Booking.com or Expedia. Ensure your content and your gallery are held to the same high standards, and that all key information is included.

9. Make social media your right hand man
Social media can be where your brand explodes into life. If you post something that goes viral for all the right reasons, gives followers a chance to engage, or creates a sense of community, your audience will do the rest of the work for you. It’s important to give social media its own strategy and ask yourself how you will share your brand story in a way that gets people talking.

The best hotel branding examples

If you want to aim high, some inspiration can be taken by looking at some of the best brands in the world to see how they make their brand special. Here are three quick examples:

1. Six Senses

Every year, Travel + Leisure magazine surveys over 300,000 respondents to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe. The publication boasts a monthly circulation of over 950,000 readers and has been considered the leading travel authority since first hitting the news stands in 1937. In the ‘World’s Best Brands’ survey, readers rate hotel brands on their locations, rooms and facilities, food, service, and overall value.

In 2017, Six Senses hotels, resorts, and spas came out on top, followed by the Oetker Collection and Auberge Resorts.

Six Senses was founded in 1995 and has built a reputation of creating a sense of sustainability and wellness. All of these things are top-of-mind for modern travellers and when guests stay at a Six Senses property they can engage in:

• Wellness screenings
• Sleep and nutrition optimisation
• Connection with local surroundings
• Energy efficiency
• Sustainable waste management
• Charity initiatives

This is in addition to a luxurious five-star experience in beautiful locations such as the Maldives, Fiji, and the Seychelles.

2. Marriott

Marriott has dedicated itself to creating a varied abundance of content since 2014. So far, Marriott’s content studio has produced:

• An online travel magazine called ‘Marriott Traveler’
• TV shows
• Virtual reality experiences
• Short films
• Shareable social media content
• Real-time, customer-centric marketing opportunities

The proof is in the pudding too; in the first 90 days Marriott’s online magazine drove more than 7,000 bookings.

Marriott also has a strong tradition of always putting its customers first. J. Willard Marriott’s original goal for his business was “good food and good service at a fair price.” And it’s safe to say the brand has always stuck to this guiding principle.

3. MGM

MGM Grand in Las Vegas brings Sin City to life on its social media pages. Whether the hotel is posting a video of a lively pool party, or photographs of an event, followers are always aware of what is going on there.

This provokes interest and anticipation from guests who are beginning to research their next trip to the city, and it provides useful information for those who are currently staying at the hotel.

The key is to encourage satisfied guests to amplify your hotel’s brand as far as possible. Guests who take photos at your property often share their experiences, allowing people to view your hotel through the eyes of their peers, which is a wonderful organic channel for traffic. Posting and promoting stories like proposals or anniversaries will reinforce a positive perception of your hotel.

“With SiteMinder’s platform, we can reach more points of sale and boost our presence in key markets. We are more efficient and we can now reach more locations while taking the same steps.”

Javier Aranda,

E-commerce Senior Manager

Palladium Hotel Group

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Key guidelines for hotel brand building: Takeaways

• Aim to instil an instant affinity and familiarity from travellers when they hear your hotel’s name
• Define what your mission and philosophies are, and build your brand on this foundation
• Create a strong narrative for your hotel with cross-functional storytelling
• Remember that your guests are your ambassadors and loyalty is a key to brand success
• Ensure every element of your hotel service, communication, and content is consistent with your overall brand experience
• Create a marketing strategy to grow your brand recognition and awareness
• Use social media as a vessel to make your brand exciting and shareable
• Look at what your competitors and industry leaders are doing to know how you can stand out

Hotel website design is the practice of optimising the look, feel, and functionality of your website by using technology, images, and content.

The goal of designing your hotel website is to make it aesthetically pleasing for visitors, responsive to all devices, and revenue driving for your business. 

Your hotel website design needs to impress travellers at the first interaction, keep them interested, and convince them to make a booking.

Why is it so important to implement the best hotel website design?

Using the best hotel website design practices is crucially important if your hotel wants to consistently win bookings from your direct channel.

It’s common knowledge by now that travellers don’t hold much trust for a business without a website, and most hotels know that moving their business online is a key to continued success.

However, it’s less clear how to get the website experience exactly right and just how important it is that your hotel website is designed with quality – an investment that pays long term dividends via increased bookings and an enhanced brand reputation.

Brendan Veary of Pebble Design spoke to SiteMinder about why it should be such a high priority.

“Without a doubt, the most powerful marketing tool any business can leverage today is their website. It’s easy to keep content fresh and the insights one can glean from user behaviour are absolute gold.”

“The first piece of advice we encourage is to dial the complexity down and deliver a clean, simple, message that speaks volumes of their USP (unique selling point). Their style, their story, is what guests connect with at a deeper level,” Brendan explained.

When you know what really works, it stands to reason you also know what really doesn’t. For Brendan, it’s almost painful when he sees hotel websites not living up to their potential due to poor design or strategy.

“Not being original and using generic designs to cut costs creates a bit of a mess. Trying to create an effective website becomes like squishing round tomatoes into square holes.”

He also stated a lot of hotels miss opportunities the second visitors land on their site.

“You need to give online bookers what they want and need in the first 2-3 screens to emotionally engage. People need just the right amount of information to make that booking, not too little and definitely not too much.”

Without using best-in-class website design or a leading website builder, it can be very easy to unintentionally drive guests away. With abandoned bookings being so prevalent in the industry, it’s important to limit this as much as possible.

A better hotel website = more revenue

Use SiteMinder's hotel website builder to create an instant and effective website that delivers direct bookings and revenue for your business.

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Hotel web design examples to inspire you

It’s one thing to know and understand what makes an effective website, but it also helps to see it and explore it for yourself. Here are five examples of hotels using SiteMinder’s optimised website builder. The key components are a design that is focused on converting visitors to paying guests and ensuring all SEO and functionality bases are covered.

The Bal’e Villas

Travellers landing on the homepage of The Bal’e Villas are immediately given all the vital features they need. The stunning feature image is inviting, while the simple layout makes it easy for visitors to find the information they need or make a booking instantly if they want to.

All this information is given without needing to scroll down the page or search around the site. This is a great example of how to impress guests and also convert them quickly.

Petit Mirador

The hallmark of the Petit Mirador page is the scrolling slideshow banner that is prominently displayed at the top of the page. This is the first thing to catch the eye of the site visitor, and features numerous stunning images of the property and its surrounds.

Using photographs that feature unique views as well as some of the amenities, the visitor gets an immediate sense of what their own experience at this hotel might be like. The bonus is that potential guests need only scroll once to see a list of available room types.

Hoh Valley Cabins

Hoh Valley Cabins knows that its visitors are looking for the most crucial information as soon as they land on the page.

In just a single view website visitors can learn about the property, see what rooms are on offer, make a booking, and choose to visit other parts of the site. this makes for a very simple experience for potential guests who are researching and weighing up their options.

This simple design is incredibly effective at driving direct bookings.

The Rees Hotel

The Rees Hotel is making great use of its menu and navigation options, using SiteMinder’s website builder. 

While it has a large range of information and detail for visitors to explore, everything is accessible from the main navigation, while still ensuring guests can book anytime they want with the ‘Book Now’ button. The ‘MORE’ dropdown is a particularly useful and simple way of letting guests know there are extra resources to explore without hiding anything too deep in the website.

Erakor Island Resort & Spa

Erakor Island Resort & Spa is doing a great job of displaying one its strengths – hosting weddings and ceremonies. With a simple, yet stunning, gallery along with sub-categories, guests can easily get a taste of what a celebration of love looks like at the property.

You’ll notice again, that the ‘Book Now’ button is always visible, allowing guests to convert to a booking at anytime. In addition, the property is using a chatbot to help visitors with any questions. This will again aid in increasing direct bookings, since researchers won’t be frustrated by a lack of information.

Luxury or resort hotel website design

Your specific property type can also have a bearing on what your website design looks like. 

Luxury guests obviously have a higher budget but also a higher set of expectations. They want to know that they’re getting value for money. It’s important that the content on your website conveys the luxury that you can offer, and promises them that their money won’t be wasted. 

The same can apply to resort guests. Resort guests want a relaxed, fully serviced stay. Your website needs to engage the imagination of potential guests, so they can picture themselves being pampered by the pool or in the massage parlour. 

However it’s important to strike a balance, since they’ll also want to know the same details that all travellers do when making a booking decision.

What do the best hotel website designs have in common?

Thankfully, there is a blueprint you can follow at your hotel to ensure your website design is producing results for you. Here are ten of the most impactful aspects of web design you should pay attention to. 

1. Website accessibility

Thinking about website accessibility for travellers with disabilities can make a big difference to your bookings and bottom line. Around 15% of Americans and 20% of Australians have some form of disability, equating to almost 50 million people in the case of the US.

Many accessibility limitations include web accessibility, where travellers with disabilities cannot complete their research and booking online due to missing, incomplete, or incompatible information.

Common disabilities include:

• Conditions associated with learning difficulties
• Blindness or vision impairment such as colour-blindness
• Motor control disorders
• Dyslexia or related conditions

The best websites achieve accessibility equally through user experience (UX), design, front end web development and content.

There are four main requirements a website should meet to be considered accessible. A website must be:

Perceivable

This means information and the user interface must be presented to users in ways they can perceive. Put simply, nothing should be hidden from a user with a disability. They should have access to and be able to understand everything on a page.

Operable

Similarly users must be able to operate the interface, with no parts excluded for disabled users.

Understandable

Users must be able to understand the information as well as the operation of the user interface. The content or operation of the site cannot be beyond their interpretation.

Robust

This means the content can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. As technologies and user agents evolve, the content should remain accessible.

How do you make your hotel website more accessible?

There are many factors that need to be addressed when optimising your website for accessibility. Here are the main features you should be aware of.

Headings

Headings need to follow the correct structure and be well organised into main headers, subheaders etc. Headings should not be chosen simply for their visual appeal and should also use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to separate presentation from structure. This allows screen readers to accurately present the information on screen.

Images and alt-text

Alt-text needs to be provided for all images on all pages. This is especially important for features like infographics. Without this text screen readers won’t be able to adequately convey the required message to the user.

Links

Simply providing a link and saying ‘click here’ isn’t good enough. More information needs to be provided to assistive technology. For example, instead of stating ‘click here to learn more about our company’ with ‘click here’ linked, use ‘To learn more about our company, read about us’ with ‘about us’ linked.

Forms

Every bracket in a form should have a clear descriptive label. Instead of ‘name’, stipulate if you need full name, or separate sections for first and last name. If certain fields are mandatory, they should be labelled as such and have alerts attached so a screen reader can alert the user that not everything has been completed.

Colour

Almost 10% of the US population is affected by red-green colour deficiency, so using these colours heavily to distinguish between parts of a page or form will create difficulty.

Navigation

People with mobility disabilities may not be able to use a mouse or trackpad so your site must be functional via the keyboard alone, using tab or arrow keys. With this in mind, the tab and visual order of a page should match to make sure navigation is logical.

An easy step for your hotel is to create your website using a website builder with accessible themes already in place, taking all the work out of your hands. 

2. Responsive design

Responsive design is a simple concept and it’s one that you should be enthusiastically embracing. A responsive website design allows a website to be easily viewed on any device a guest is using, including desktop, mobile, and tablet. It will automatically adapt to the screen size and style of the site user, making it easier for an individual to navigate.

It ensures the experience is smooth and that elements of the page can be seen and used properly. If a user is required to zoom in to click a link on your mobile website, then it hasn’t been designed in a responsive way. Putting your users’ needs first, just as you do the moment they arrive at your hotel, is crucial for the best web experience.

This is perhaps the most critical component of any hotel website design, because mobile bookings are rising steadily year after year. Hotels need to have a mobile-friendly design that allows a site user to book directly from their preferred device, or the brand will lose many valuable bookings.

Google also wants to reward website owners with higher search rankings if they’ve implemented a flexible design that cleverly responds to each device accordingly.

But how do you design websites that react in this way without knowing the technical stuff? 

Using a website builder, such as SiteMinder, can help fill the gap in the required design and coding skills. All of the available themes are fully-responsive, which means your hotel can be found and explored on mobile, the fastest-growing consumer research channel.

A mobile responsive website that delivers an awesome small-screen experience can secure those last-minute bookings from guests on-the-go.

3. High-resolution images

The best hotel websites not only have vibrant, detailed images of the hotel property and the amenities available there, but these websites also include action-packed images of guests enjoying themselves during their stay.

Images of people utilising the hotel facilities provides site visitors with proof of the guest experience, and can be highly effective when it comes to capturing direct bookings.

But all this means nothing if the images you use throughout your hotel website aren’t of the highest resolution and quality of composition you can manage, without excessively slowing your load time. Here are some tips:

Capture a pleasing vista

Think about showing bedrooms with window views, a pleasant view, and natural light. This will help create an instant reaction between the guest and your hotel. Positive feelings can be evoked by capturing something interesting outside of the hotel like a beach, city, or landmark.

Display unique and attractive features

If your hotel has any unique features, put them front and centre in your photography to delight the eyes of online shoppers.

Don’t meddle with perspective, balance, and distortion

It’s important that your images look authentic. Photos that look skewed or altered can arouse suspicion in your guests because they create unrealistic representations of your property.

Use images that are clean and crisp

Neatness and precision, along with light and space are the most likely aspects to create a pleasant reaction from a web browser. Avoid messiness and clutter, clashing colours, odd angles, or missing features such as bathroom or wardrobe.

Keep your target market in mind

If you are a hotel that generally attracts young millennials and solo travellers then make sure these demographics are represented in your imagery, so they can visualise themselves at your property.

4. Live rates and availability

Your prospective guests visit your website for nothing other than to gain information. Information about your rooms, rates, facilities and amenities, room availability, contact details, your location and proximity to attractions, and things to do, to name just a few must be displayed for them.

A good hotel website design will be able to work with the hotel’s property management system, allowing the website to display live rates and availability.

Any prospective guest who is exploring a hotel website will want to know if there is availability during their travel dates and what it would cost for them to stay there. If they can’t get this information from the website, the site user will simply abandon the page in search of a more intuitive hotel brand.

Without integration it can add up to a lot of wasted time performing the same updates multiple times. Consider how often room types, descriptions, pricing, availability, and special offers need changing. If you need to make updates through an external website provider, the delay is even worse. 

This is why it’s best to have your own website builder that’s also specifically designed to work with your property management system or a booking engine like SiteMinder. It’s a much easier way to manage rates and reservations since you won’t have to do any manual processing between different systems, eliminating accidental errors.

5. ‘Book now’ button

For anyone looking to book with your hotel, especially impulse shoppers, it’s critical they have easy access to your online booking engine through your website. This should be presented in the form of a ‘book now’ button.

A booking button is a small component of a hotel website, but it’s one of the most critical elements. This button should be prominently displayed on every landing page, as it is the best way to encourage a site visitor to finalise their booking immediately.

It’s a simple but strong call-to-action that allows visitors to act quickly once they have made a decision, helping to improve your website conversion rate. The button will immediately navigate the potential guest through to your hotel booking engine where they can easily complete their reservation within a few clicks.

6. SEO optimisation

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the Holy Grail of great website design. You might have a beautiful online presence, but how do people find you? 

Of course we’d all love internet users to wake up in the morning and come directly to your website, bypassing search engines.

But there are more than 3.5 billion Google searches every day so attracting guests through search engines should be a key part of your online marketing strategy.

There are hundreds of thousands of hotels in the world with websites that are severely impacting those hotels’ ability to attract and convert guests online.

These websites are not responsive on mobile, they are image-poor, they lack functionality, the content is dated because it is too hard and time-consuming to keep it up-to-date, and they are lacking the structural components used by search engines to find them. In short, they are essentially invisible on search engines like Google.

Examples of structural components that enable a website to perform better include the website’s ability to: 

• Be responsive and viewed on mobile devices
• Set metadata and sitemap elements within the website page structures
• Name website pages
• Integrate with search engines for rapid site indexing
• Create fast web page response times 

The remaining cornerstones of a good SEO strategy are related to the content you put on your site, how relevant it is, and how often it is refreshed. There are also other factors such as which other sites are linked to your site. 

It’s another aspect of web design that can require technical knowledge, as SEO is very specialised. However with SiteMinder’s website builder, it’s built-in and ready to go for you. You don’t need to worry about the confusing parts, you just have to worry about your content and your brand marketing.

7. Functionality

Once your website is looking pretty and has great features you need to think about how it works.

Both booking functionality and the general functionality of your website are vital for conversions – as is personalisation.

Booking functionality needs to offer more than just the basics of choosing and confirming a reservation. You also need to offer guests a level of customisation via your booking engine, such as allowing them to purchase extras, choose add-ons, and have the chance to upgrade. Not only is this a positive experience for the guest but you will earn more revenue too. The whole process should take around three steps to reduce abandonment.

Load times and the navigational aspects of your website are also crucial for keeping your potential guests from clicking off your site in frustration.

Conversion rates are already pretty low at around 2.5% so you want to minimise the amount of people bouncing off your site due to a bad experience. Poor load time also affects your SEO rankings. 

To improve load time and increase site speed, consider the following tips:

• Consider moving to Virtual Server Hosting (VPS) or dedicated sharing.
• Limit HTTPS requests but cutting down on icon boxes, pop-ups, or commenting systems
• Compress and optimise your high res images before uploading them to your site
• Enable caching to reduce server requests
• Reduce white space and redundant content, and limit colour codes
• Don’t go overboard with plug-ins and widgets

Even speeding up your website load time by one second can make a huge difference to your audience retention and conversions. Guests should also be able to find what they’re looking for within a couple of clicks – they shouldn’t have to be five pages deep into your website to find answers.

Adding personalisation functions to your website will take the user experience to another level, once again increasing your conversion rates. 

Some ways you can add personalisation to your website include:

• Create personalised messages and offers for visitors coming from Facebook or Instagram
• Track and reward repeat website visitors
• Tailor website content to subscriber profiles
• Promote specific deals for specific times or types of stay

You can also personalise and make things easier for guests by auto-filling forms if you have their information already, suggest relevant next articles or pages, and using a friendly chatbot to help users with queries and navigation.

8. Discoverability

Okay so your website is beautiful and it runs smoothly for users. Now you need people to find it.

SEO is a key element of your website as it ensures travellers can find you organically from Google or other search engines.

Your SEO relies on a number of factors, some of which may not come to mind straight away but are highly valued by Google:

• HTTPS security to assure the protection of guest data
• Unique pages, titles, and descriptions
• Simple, descriptive, and succinct URLs
• Full sitemap for correct indexing
• Optimised images that load quickly
• Fresh, regularly updated, content
• Relevant links and accurate information
• Content that meets the needs of the user

Google’s algorithm is constantly updating, becoming smarter at identifying the most useful content and websites for what people are querying. With this in mind it’s important to make your website as unique, relevant, and accurate as possible.

Business profiles are another great way to get people to your website and strengthen your SEO. Make sure you have:

• Google My Business profile
• Listings on Google Hotel Ads (even a free listing)
• Facebook and Instagram business profiles

Discoverability is not just about SEO however. You need to make sure your OTA profiles are similarly optimised to maximise traffic on these booking channels, which can then lead to an increase in website traffic since many travellers will navigate from OTAs to your own site. Treat your OTA profile like a fully-fledged business profile, almost like an extension of your website, and work with account managers to get extra tips.

You can also build email databases and send out regular communications to keep visitors coming back and seeing what’s new on your website.

9. Responsiveness

You never know when and where someone will be researching travel and discovering your website. Ensuring your website is positive on all devices will mean you don’t miss out on the vast number of visitors booking on mobile devices.

Consider that 70% of smartphone owners use their device to research travel, and 90% switch between different devices during their research and booking phases of travel planning.

Having a mobile-optimised website means eliminating:

• Small, hard-to-read text that forces users to zoom in and out
• Large images that load slowly
• Small links that are difficult to click
• Lack of ability to quickly connect to your property directly
• Pages that don’t fit the screen and cause people to scroll unnecessarily

Google also now uses the mobile page versions of a domain for indexing and caching in search results, and subsequently, for ranking.

10. Booking integration

Once your website has impressed guests, informed them, and convinced them to book, the booking process itself needs to be fast and simple. Travellers will want to be able to choose their room, add-ons, and pay within a few simple clicks and get their booking confirmation as quickly as possible.

Integrating an online booking engine with your hotel website is the best and easiest way to do this. Your ‘Book Now’ call-to-action can go straight to your booking engine where guests can complete their booking, and you have the opportunity to upsell with extras, packages or upgrades. It’s here where you have the chance to maximise your revenue.

Your booking engine will also send out automated and personalised email communications so guests are kept in the loop about their reservation. On top of this, your booking engine can be used to capture reservations from travellers clicking through from your Facebook page, and also enables plug-ins for live rate shopping, so guests always know they’re getting the best price by booking directly.

“Thanks to the website builder, we were able to create an attractive online presence without much effort. This helped increase direct bookings, which now make up about 30% of our bookings.”

Constanze Gehmacher,

Co-owner

The Little Guesthouse in Salzburg

Read more

5 hotel website design tips to increase conversion

Even if you’ve got everything right, guests might not always be satisfied or ready to book. To further streamline your booking experience and keep guests engaged, here are a few things you can do:

1. Minimise booking forms

We’ve all been there: you begin the process of booking something online, but are then faced with an endless form that feels like it’s asking you to recite your life story.

The more questions you ask of a potential guest, the more opportunity you give them to leave the booking part-way through. For this reason you should only aim to initially capture the details that are absolutely essential to lock in the booking.

Given the value of customer information in converting leads into customers, and customers into loyal return guests, you should still aim to capture as much information as possible. It’s just better to do it when the guest arrives at your hotel for their stay, as this removes the opportunity for them to abandon the booking.

2. Encourage email subscriptions

Those website pop-ups that ask you whether you would like to join a company’s mailing list work surprisingly well – these ‘lead magnets’ more than double the amount of website traffic that converts.

Ask your hotel website visitors to join your mailing list. If you would rather keep your site pop-up free, consider creating an eye-catching banner for each page, or dedicating a section of your homepage to attracting more subscribers.

Once you’ve got their email, you can craft tempting, compelling communications designed to turn them from a prospect into guest.

3. Add a calendar to your website

Most travellers will choose a destination then choose a hotel, rather than travelling somewhere purely to stay at a particular property. This means that putting your local region up in lights can help to convince potential guests that this is where they should travel (and that they should stay with you).

One effective strategy is to highlight any enticing events in the local area via a calendar on your website. You can also add any events that your property might have coming up, which can increase the likelihood of a guest choosing your hotel.

4. Link to your social media profiles

Overflowing with content – beautiful rooms and grounds, local attractions, happy guests – social media presents an incredible opportunity for hotel businesses. And by ensuring links to your profiles are featured in a prominent place on your site, you can drive more followers, more engagement and ultimately more conversions.

Building a social media audience helps to keep your hotel top of mind for potential guests. They may not book straight away, but they might in a few weeks, months or even years, particularly if you have a social media competition or promotion running.

It’s important to have a presence on the right platforms. Create profiles on those that your target audience uses: TikTok and Instagram for young people, Facebook for older people, and LinkedIn for business travellers.

5. Integrate analytics tools

Google Analytics is an incredibly useful tool, as it reveals which web pages are performing and which ones you need to optimise.

Regularly review and action the data-driven insights offered up by Google Analytics in order to ensure optimal website performance. 

In the era of hotel commerce it’s vital that your website and booking engine integrate seamlessly so the booking experience remains smooth for your guests. It’s also a good idea to manage your booking engine reservations via a channel manager so you don’t have to manually add data to your PMS or double check inventory all the time.

How to use hotel website design templates

Hotel website design providers like SiteMinder offer a predefined template from which you can choose themes that suit your property. Each theme has a multitude of page types you can select to fit your hotel.

And for those special pages that you feel do need to be created from scratch, you are able to create your own custom pages easily and quickly with full editing tools that make creating pages and temporary promotions a breeze.

Templates are designed to be easy to use. So you only need to upload content to the pages that you choose to have activated, or to the custom pages that you can simply create.

In addition to the ability to switch seamlessly between page layouts, colour schemes and fonts, you can upload your own images, content, logo, and integrated widgets (such as TripAdvisor awards). This can all be managed through a user-friendly admin interface, so you can make updates quickly and easily.

Everything you need to do should be available from your dashboard. Ensure you add the following to your website:

• Property information and contact details
• Room types
• Amenities
• Social media links
• Your booking engine and booking button
• Photos and/or videos
• Any custom pages or content such as packages, tours, attractions etc

If you’re looking to see how a template works or want to test one out, you can take a free trial of SiteMinder’s website builder or watch a demo to learn more.

Sample content for a hotel website

Taking a look at sample content from another hotel website can also be a great way to get inspiration for your own.

If we delve deeper into one of the examples we shared earlier, we can see some ways that content is used to boost a hotel website.

Erakor Island Resort & Spa has used custom pages to create content for the specific services its brand can offer. This includes a page for weddings and wedding packages.

The page contains images, a video, plenty of descriptive content, as well as pricing and inclusions which you can see in the image. It’s a simple format but gives guests all the information they need to make a purchase decision by also offering them some engaging imagery and videos to get their imagination and anticipation building.

Erakor is also utilising a hotel app for customers to chat and ask questions. This will help them stay on the site and be more likely to make a booking.

Erakor has also created a custom FAQ page.

This is not only super handy for guests to find all the information they need about the property and the destination, but it’s also helpful for search engine optimisation.

In addition you’ll find pages for special deals, general packages, and plenty of information about the resort. Erakor is a great example of a hotel using templates and website content to its potential.

What is the top hotel website design company?

As well as being the industry’s leading hotel commerce platform,  #1 channel manager, and #1 booking engine, SiteMinder is also a top three hotel website builder as ranked by the HotelTechAwards.

SiteMinder’s website builder is a feature designed specifically for hotel operators and hotel managers. It is an intuitive, user-friendly program that allows hotel operators of any skill level to create a beautiful, cohesive website in a matter of minutes.

Using SiteMinder, hotel operators can customise their website with their own photographs, logos and landing pages. In addition, SiteMinder’s website design allows a hotel to instantly integrate its web operations with other technology solutions.

For example, SiteMinder’s website builder works seamlessly with the other key tools such an online booking engine and  channel manager. Ultimately, a hotel website builder is the simplest, most affordable way to create a well-designed hotel website. 

If you’re a small accommodation provider, then consider trying Little Hotelier’s website builder which is especially built for small hotel managers, owners, and operators of boutique hotels, bed and breakfasts, etc.

Hotel brands that utilise SiteMinder for their web design often notice quick, powerful results. There’s almost always a direct correlation between their new website design and increased search engine results page rankings, higher conversion rates and more direct bookings.

“It’s been less than a year since we launched our brand website with SiteMinder and, overall, there’s been a 15% increase in website traffic, with 77% comprised of new visitors. This has led to a 20% increase in revenue from direct bookings,” said Rays Taganas of Golden Phoenix Hotel.

Hotel website design cost

SiteMinder’s website builder can be tried for free for 14 days. During the free period you’ll get to experience all the features of the platform and see the benefits it offers your property.

You don’t need a credit card to sign-up and there are no lock-in contracts so you can cancel anytime you want. Once you move to a paid subscription, pricing will vary depending on the size of your property so you are paying for what suits you best. 

On top of the website builder you’ll also get a channel manager, PMS integration, booking engine, 24/7 support, performance and competitor insights, rate parity, and plug-in apps.

A hotel booking website is a type of website with an integrated reservation system. This means that travellers can book directly through the hotel’s website and their reservation automatically gets added to the property management system (PMS) or any connected front desk software.

Whether you’re operating as an independent hotel in a quiet country town or managing a chain of hotels in some of the most visited destinations around the globe, you should have a hotel booking website so that you can capture the attention of your target market and drive more bookings.

This blog will give you a complete guide on how to implement an effective booking website for your hotel or accommodation business.

The importance of starting a hotel booking website

By directly interacting with your hotel booking website, travellers can bypass the need for making reservations via online travel agents (OTAs) and other third parties.

Not only does it simplify the booking process, but it also increases your direct reservations which ultimately leads to higher revenue.

Moreover, a hotel room booking website facilitates a seamless experience for both guests and hotel staff. By minimising administrative burden on people, hotel booking websites also contribute to improved productivity and customer satisfaction.

Undoubtedly, your hotel booking website is an integral part of your hotel management strategy, and you need to consider each component carefully as you create it.

Your own hotel website with an integrated reservation calendar and payment system.

Use our stunning website builder to increase direct bookings and boost hotel revenue.

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Elements of a hotel room booking website

When building a hotel website, there are several factors that you need to consider:

• Target market
• Hotel branding
• Reservation form
• Search engine optimisation strategy
• Mobile capabilities
• Website speed

1. Target market

Every feature on your website needs to appeal to the needs and wants of your target market. If you are a hotel that focuses on luxury travellers, you need to leverage beautiful imagery of your incredible amenities and use content that is likely to appeal to that audience. If you attract millennial travellers, then your photos need to feature young, active adults thoroughly enjoying your property.

2. Hotel branding

You want visitors to your site to remember your hotel brand and for that reason you need to display your brand consistently throughout your entire website. An attractive logo and colour scheme will help you establish an identity and will allow you to develop a personal relationship with your target audience.

3. Reservation form

Guests need to have a simple booking experience on your website. That is why you need to invest in a hotel booking engine that is not only simple to use but also increases conversions. It is also important to integrate a large “book now” call-to-action that captures the user’s attention.

4. Search engine optimisation strategy

There is no point investing in a new website if this website can’t be found on Google. Ensuring that the content on your site is optimised to rank for relevant keywords is an important factor in driving traffic. Read our free guide on SEO for your hotel.

5. Mobile capabilities

You need a responsive website design, and your hotel website builder needs to help you accomplish that. A responsive hotel website design allows your users to easily navigate your site whether they are on a desktop or mobile device.

Your hotel booking engine must also accept mobile bookings, as an increasing number of travellers are booking on mobile devices. This not only improves the user experience, but helps your search engine optimisation efforts.

6. Website speed

Our site needs to load quickly and completely in a matter of seconds, or you risk losing your potential guests to the competition. Your hotel website design should accommodate a fast site speed.

If you’re a small accommodation provider, then consider trying Little Hotelier’s website builder. It’s especially built for small hotel managers, owners, and operators of boutique hotels, bed and breakfasts, etc.

How to build a hotel booking website

Designing and building a new website can be a daunting task for hoteliers. It’s important that you take a step back and assess your needs, budget and design capabilities before you begin.

Hotel operators have two main options when it comes to creating their website; investing in a simple, website builder solution or hiring a web designer to create a custom design from scratch.

The latter can provide hoteliers with a beautiful, customised design and it can also be somewhat of a challenge for operators who are not familiar with website design.

Hiring a contractor to create a website from scratch will take a lot of time, and ultimately cost more money than utilising a website builder. In addition, it can be difficult to update and edit the website in the future, as all changes will have to go through the appointed contractor.

Another option is to invest in a hotel website builder that will allow you to create a customised website specific to your brand. This solution can be cost-efficient as you are not charged fees every time you need to update a small feature of your site.

When selecting this option it is important to select a website builder that was created specifically for hotels, as it will offer the features that you both want and need to drive direct bookings.

Hotel booking website software

SiteMinder’s website builder provides hotel operators a simple and efficient option for building a mobile-friendly hotel website. It is an intuitive, intelligent website builder designed specifically for the accommodation industry. 

It is a cost-effective tool that allows hotel operators to create a personalised, functional website designed to drive direct bookings in a matter of moments.

Some of the benefits include:

• The ability to instantly and easily update your hotel website. You can build your unique website in a matter of moments, and you also will have no problem maintaining your website whenever you need to tweak it.
• The ability to create a responsive website design. Build an attractive website that looks great on any device, and also helps drive mobile bookings.
• The ability to design a website that attracts the most motivated travellers and ultimately increases your conversion rates. Capture the attention of the most powerful guest market segments, and create a website that remains visible to your target audience. Through our visually-appealing design and user-friendly features, you can increase your conversions and boost your direct bookings.
• The ability to incorporate valuable visual elements that promote your property. It’s never been easier to add high-resolution photographs and engaging videos to your hotel’s website. We understand the critical role that multimedia elements play in hotel website design, and allow you to easily add these features to your hotel website.

Costs of making an online hotel booking website

The cost of your hotel website will vary based on the system that you use to build it and the work that is required to maintain it in the future.

The cost of a hotel website can be quite high if you opt to hire a contractor and build it from scratch, and it will continue to cost more in the months and years to come as you work to maintain it.

The most cost-effective option is to invest in a hotel website design tool, such as SiteMinder’s website builder. This affordable tool allows you to quickly build a website and integrate it with your hotel booking engine. You will be able to update and maintain your website yourself, which keeps your costs low.

In addition, your website will drive traffic, increase conversions and generate bookings from your target guest segments, as well as new market segments you may not have discovered otherwise.

The start-up costs are low, and the investment returns that you will enjoy along the way are high, making this the best option when building a hotel website.

“We’re getting more bookings since using SiteMinder. As an added bonus, more than half of those are coming in via our own website. The setup was super easy. Our team quickly learned to navigate the new system and today, we’re operating seamlessly.”

Jan Wichmann,

Owner and Property Manager

Hotel Graf Bentinck

Read more

Tips for maintaining your hotel booking website

Once you know how to create a hotel website, you also will need to learn how to maintain it. These tips will help you keep your site fresh and useful to the travellers who will be searching for a great place to stay in your destination:

1. Frequently add new, relevant website content

Content that is valuable and useful is necessary to attract your target market segment and also maintain your ranking on the search engine results page. Your content needs to be accurate and relevant, but it also needs to be recent.

Consider adding a blog to your website where you can post information about upcoming events, new specials and features about your property. A blog is an easy way to keep your content up to date and remain visible to the people who are searching for information about your destination.

2. Update photos, videos and slideshows regularly

You never want your website to seem tired or stale, which is why it is necessary to always add new visual elements to your website.

You might consider updating your photographs to reflect the current season, or changing them to feature people that represent a new target market segment you are trying to attract.

Weekly video updates about your property will keep interested travellers returning to your page, and will also keep them engaged with your brand. The visual elements of your website are incredibly important, so it’s necessary to keep them fresh and interesting.

3. Always display your live rates and availability

Most travellers are looking at your website to find out if you have rooms available during their stay and if those rooms fall within their price points.

Create a website that integrates with your hotel booking engine so that your live rates and availability are prominently displayed on your website. This is the best way to capture the attention of your audience and to encourage them to book directly on your website.

When you design a mobile-friendly hotel website that integrates perfectly with your hotel booking engine, you will realise that it’s easy to drive direct bookings to your property.

An increase in direct bookings will help you generate more revenue per room, and ultimately allow you to grow your property to its full potential. To find out more about how you can increase direct hotel website bookings, begin your free trial today.