Marketing

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko break down two travel distribution stories that are really about trust.

🏨 Two days ago, Andrew Paul, Managing Director at Americas Great Resorts, highlighted a key issue in luxury hotel marketing. Many luxury hotels focus on converting travelers who already know about their properties, ignoring the "demand origin"—how travelers first consider a property. This oversight results in dependency on third-party intermediaries for bookings and higher reacquisition costs. Effective marketing should start upstream, capturing guest interest before they turn to intermediaries.

📷 Cincinnati-based Hospitality Visual Group (HVG) focuses on visual media for hotels, led by Saahil Patel, offering services for all hotel types and stages, including pre-opening and renovations. HVG uses photography, video, and drone footage. Recent projects include Hemal Patel's four Massachusetts hotels. HVG emphasizes compliance with brand standards and the need for hotels to be prepared before photoshoots. Their work showcases hotel uniqueness and builds a library of visual content to support booking channels.

🏨 Pembroke Inn in downtown Toronto is a 52-room independent boutique hotel positioned between Church-Wellesley Village and Cabbagetown. Co-owner Kevin Sit and his team opted to leave the franchise model, saving approximately $72,000 annually, which is reinvested into the hotel. The transition included adopting Cloudbeds to manage bookings effectively, resolving issues like double bookings. In spring 2026, the hotel faced a regulatory issue with the City of Toronto impacting OTA listings, testing their independent strategy.

💰 On Sept. 10, the "Building Smarter Hotel Demand" workshop will be hosted at the Hyatt Place Washington DC/National Mall from 2 to 6 p.m. by HSMAI DC. Jennifer Hill and Dan Rice will lead the session for hotel professionals, focusing on marketing strategies with a $55 fee for HSMAI members and $75 for nonmembers. Sponsored by Kalibri and Expedia Group, the event includes a networking reception at 5 p.m. HSMAI has over 5,000 members globally.

🏠 Abritel, Expedia's French brand, expands Vrbo Sponsored Listings globally after a successful pilot, allowing vacation rental partners to boost demand and revenue through paid visibility and flexible pricing. Partners can utilize tools for last-minute pricing and promotions like Black Friday. New features include flexible cancellation policies, with full refunds possible up to the day before arrival. Expedia aims to enhance host demand and align with competitors like Airbnb with these innovations.

📈 Hotel Majestic Saigon expanded its reach with D-EDGE Hospitality Solutions, connecting to all major Global Distribution Systems. It accessed over 50,000 Travel Management Companies, enhancing visibility among corporate travel buyers. By implementing dynamic corporate rates and participating in consortia programs, the hotel maintained pricing discipline. Flash campaigns during low seasons transformed low-demand periods into revenue opportunities, creating a balanced commercial strategy with wider market reach and year-round resilience.