Marketing

📰 Asia, Middle East, and Europe are seeing a rise in regional OTAs like Traveloka, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, and HRS. These platforms target specific markets, increasing visibility and conversion rates. STAAH connects to over 2,000 OTAs, enabling seamless management of global and regional channels. Real-time updates, dynamic pricing, and integration with PMS make it efficient for hotels to manage multiple platforms, ensuring significant reach and relevance without additional workload.

🏨 Nido Living partners with eviivo to expand into short-stay hospitality across its Iberian portfolio, focusing on Madrid's Nido Príncipe Pío and Valencia's Nido Malvarrosa. Since late 2024, over 18,000 guests have stayed, with Nido Príncipe Pío setting a record of 782 room nights in one day. Nido Malvarrosa exceeded 2,000 room nights in its first two weeks and achieved over 80% occupancy by May 2025, surpassing the regional average of 55%. 🏨

✉️ Hotels should prioritize quality over quantity in email marketing. Poor email list hygiene reduces deliverability and engagement, impacting revenue. Engaged subscribers, those interacting within the last 6 months, are crucial. A 4,400% ROI is possible but not with inactive lists. Unsubscribe rates over 1% and spam rates above 0.2% need investigation. Personalization, purposeful design, and monitoring tools like Google Postmaster enhance performance. Saying farewell to unengaged contacts aids growth and revenue.

🗺 Thomas Cook resumes Tokyo holidays after nearly a year. Bookings are open until July 2026 via eSky Group. 25 hotels are bookable now, with more to follow. Departures from Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Newcastle. Prices start at £866 per person for seven nights from Gatwick on December 1 and rise to £1,960 per person for a five-star stay from Heathrow on December 3.

📅 In 2025, hotels face the challenge of balancing exposure and profitability across booking channels. OTAs like Booking.com provide global reach but charge 10-25% commissions. Direct bookings yield higher margins but need robust marketing. A strategic channel mix—combining OTAs, direct bookings, and niche platforms—boosts visibility and profits. Sustainability platforms like EcoBnb attract eco-conscious travelers. Rate parity ensures consistent pricing, while incentives like free parking enhance value. Google Travel and AI are shaping the future of bookings.

💻 Emerging Travel Group (ETG), parent of RateHawk, ZenHotels, and Roundtrip, partners with InnGenius PMS. The integration with InnGenius PMS Channel Manager enhances connectivity for accommodations in Turkey, the U.S., Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia. ETG gains access to InnGenius’ markets, expanding options for property owners to manage inventory and reduce overbookings. Simone Large emphasizes ETG’s goal to grow in high-demand regions by collaborating with more accommodation providers through this enhanced global distribution network.

📊 Hoteliers face rising OTA fees and fragmented guest data. A Customer Data Platform (CDP) unifies data from various systems, creating accurate guest profiles to boost direct bookings and enhance loyalty. According to Twilio Segment’s 2023 report, 60% of consumers are more likely to return after a personalized experience. CDPs offer dynamic segmentation, automate personalized messaging, track campaign ROI, and ensure privacy compliance, transforming data into actionable insights for sustainable business growth.

🏨 Lulu Boutique Hotel in Żebbuġ, Malta, with its seven unique suites, tackled rising OTA management costs by partnering with STAAH. For two years, they have maintained consistent pricing and received outstanding support without extra charges. STAAH’s tools enhance their online presence, offering group booking management, rate comparison, and app accessibility, providing tech advantages akin to larger hotels. The collaboration ensures smoother operations and continued growth without hidden fees.

📰 Danica Smith interviews Hector Hughes, co-founder of Unplugged, about achieving 100% direct bookings and nearly full occupancy year-round without OTAs. Unplugged's success comes from organic growth and strategic marketing using social media. By building a movement, not just a brand, Unplugged has transformed its business model. Hospitality leaders can learn from their approach to boost direct demand and authenticity.

📷 Google now indexes public Instagram content, allowing hotel posts like Reels and captions to appear in search results. This enables exposure to non-followers and supports direct bookings without ads. Hotels should optimize captions with SEO keywords, treat bios as landing pages, and use alt text for images. Creating evergreen content enhances searchability. To capitalize on traffic, ensure DMs are managed and links are provided. This integration marks a trend of converging search and social platforms.