Marketing

🏨 Hotels can use YouTube’s Video View Campaigns, launched globally September 28, 2023, to potentially gain 40% more views at 30% lower costs through Google AI targeting. Performance Max reportedly boosts conversions by over 20%. Its search themes feature, introduced October 26, 2023, supports up to 25 themes per asset group across Search, YouTube and Maps. Privacy Sandbox and first-party data support privacy-focused guest engagement.

🏨 Hotels planning 2022 budgets should allocate 3%–7% of estimated revenue to marketing and digital activities, including staff and contractors, advises Influence Society’s Camille Broussin. Advertising should typically represent 2%–3% of each product’s direct sales. Align spending with strategic goals, refresh content, account for seasonality and review budgets monthly. Website redesigns and loyalty programs can be amortized over at least two years. Avoid allocating 100% of investment to bottom-of-funnel activities, which risks exhausting prospects.

📊 Google Analytics 4 (GA4) replaces Universal Analytics (UA), which stops collecting data from July 2023. GA4 uses event-based tracking to understand user journeys across websites and apps, while reducing reliance on cookies to support privacy regulations. Businesses should install GA4 alongside UA, configure events and custom reports, familiarize themselves with the redesigned platform, and reconnect external tools. Existing UA data remains accessible after collection stops, according to the article.

📈 Martin Soler highlights a crisis in hotel marketing attribution influenced by AI, zero-click searches, and eroded third-party cookie tracking, obstructing tracking from discovery to booking. Wayne West III reports optimism at the 2026 Lodging Conference but notes shifting development preferences and AI distribution concerns. Duetto implements a 930-property RMS rollout with B&B Hotels, marking major revenue management expansion. Revinate introduces a comprehensive data platform for 1.25 billion guest profiles, while property developments span locations like Saudi Arabia and Silicon Valley.

📊 In a rapidly changing marketing landscape, hotel booking attribution is becoming challenging. Zero-click searches and AI responses are complicating how bookings are tracked. As traditional methods fade, hotels struggle to trace the booking journey. Despite this, demand remains. The focus shifts towards skills like pattern recognition and intuition, rather than pure data reliance. The future of marketing may rely less on sophisticated dashboards and more on decision-making skills. Soler & Associates highlights this shift in hospitality marketing.

📅 Accor, a global hospitality leader, offers over 5,600 hotels and resorts across 110+ countries. The new "Stay for more" campaign, spearheaded by Chief Loyalty & E-Commerce Officer Mehdi Hemici, emphasizes meaningful travel experiences. Accor, founded in 1967 and headquartered in France, is listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange and OTC Market. The group promotes responsible hospitality and diversity. ALL Accor, its loyalty program, enhances member experiences beyond stays. Accor's purpose: connecting cultures with care.

🏡 Airbnb, founded in 2007, connects 5.5 million hosts in 220+ countries, allowing unique stays and local experiences. Hosts can earn up to $25,000/month and benefit from AirCover insurance. Airbnb charges guests a 14.1%-16.5% service fee; hosts pay ~3%. Competitors include Vrbo with 2 million listings, Booking.com in 227 countries, and TripAdvisor with 7.3 million listings. Airbnb’s 2026 updates added Airbnb Experiences, AI features, and boutique hotels, enhancing guest services and options.

📖 Oct 14, 2026 – Booking a luxury hotel through a Virtuoso advisor offers breakfast, room upgrades, and late check-out, valued over $550, compared to Booking.com’s 10% Genius discount. For a €200/night room over three nights, a Genius guest pays €540, with the hotel losing €141 due to a 15% commission. Studies show 59% prefer upgrades, and 85% are likelier to book direct with perks. European laws permit undercutting Booking.com rates on hotel websites.

🎼 Visit Oslo, in 2024, reintroduces Halfdan, the character from the 2024 anti-tourism campaign, in a Christmas musical titled *It’s Totally Even a City*. Now in 2026, Halfdan, portrayed by Bendik Aunan, laments Oslo’s winter quirks, while a choir and children’s troupe add musical charm. The original film garnered 15 million views swiftly, topping 2024's creative campaign list. Visit Oslo’s strategy, crafted by NewsLab and director August Jorfald, aims to make winter appealing.