With so many changes in digital marketing, but the importance of a direct booking strategy - hotels are having to develop a marketing programme that constitutes multiple guest touch points working with an increasing number of third parties.

David Ohanjanian details the changes on Google and the impact this is having on marketing spend and activity with the development of Performance Max and EU regulation updates with the Digital Marketing Act that affects the visibility of hotels while making big brands like Booking.com gatekeepers.

Nick Hurley provides booking trends from Travelzoo as leisure travellers look for the perfect deal and how hotels can leverage more bookings with half board offerings or experience led stays packages which led to one Cornish hotel improving bookings by 516% without compromising revenue. We also discuss the importance of the local market as the willingness to travel reduces to 2 - 3-hour drive in 2024.

Vineeth Purushothaman shares the opportunities for effective distribution and why it’s important to look at cost of acquisition and team alignment.

Key factors of consideration from hoteliers included:

• Changes in digital marketing strategies due to evolving technologies
• The impact of AI on search engines and hotel visibility
• Implications of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) on hotel marketing
• Booking trends among leisure travelers and the shift towards experience-led stays
• Importance of local markets and price sensitivity in consumer decision-making
• Effective distribution strategies for business and leisure bookings
• Defining the cost of acquistion
• The role of guest data in shaping marketing strategies
• Necessity for seamless booking processes and technology integration
• Strategies for incentivizing direct bookings to enhance revenue retention

Thanks to our facilitators; Catt Mcleod (Elegant Hotel Collection), David Ohandjanian (UPhotel Agency), Jon Siberry (Sarova Hotels).

Travel Market Life is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.