Marketing

📈 Sep 16, 2026 — Expedia, led by CEO Ariane Gorin, highlights Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) as its fastest-growing channel at the Goldman Sachs conference on Sep 9. Ten months since prioritization, AEO remains small with no published metrics. Two-thirds of bookings are direct, leaving AI's potential in the remaining third. Expedia invested $2.12 billion in Q2 marketing, focusing on AI-powered integration with Claude and ChatGPT. Organic search traffic stabilizes, as SEO softens slightly.

📈 Hotel metasearch engines like Google Hotels, Tripadvisor, Trivago, and KAYAK compare room rates from OTAs and hotel websites. These engines use feeds to show live rates, and costs vary by auction-based models like cost per click (CPC) or commission. Google retired commission bidding in 2025. Metasearch can be cheaper than OTAs, which charge 15-30% commission. Success depends on rate competitiveness, parity, mobile optimization, and conversion efficiency. Quality feeds and listings are essential.

🏨 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.

🏨 Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko explore trust issues in travel, highlighting AI-generated TikTok videos inaccurately promoting a Sedona luxury resort with fake amenities and creators. Additionally, they discuss Dennis Schaal’s report indicating Booking might surpass Expedia in B2B room nights, a revelation that could alter the competitive landscape of OTAs.

📷 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.