Marketing for Hotels & Tourism
Increase direct bookings and reduce your dependence on the OTAs with hospitality marketing that sells the experience.
Common challenges we solve
The eight things we hear most often from hotels and tourism businesses before they work with us.
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Competing with Booking.com and Expedia for visibility
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Low direct booking rates eating into margins
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Telling your story against generic OTA listings
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Seasonal swings in demand
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Managing reviews across several platforms
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Standing out in a crowded destination
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Turning lookers into bookers
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Building loyalty for repeat visits
They cannot compete with OTA budgets.
Most agencies try to outspend the OTAs on generic search terms, which cannot be done. Hotel marketing that works focuses on the reasons to book direct, on telling the story of the experience, and on capturing the demand the OTAs cannot serve. It is about being different, not louder.
How we help hotels and tourism businesses
Six things we build, in the order they usually pay back.
- 01
Direct booking funnels
Real reasons to book direct, with benefits guests can see.
- 02
Experience storytelling
Content that shows what makes your property different.
- 03
Destination SEO
Rank for destination searches and capture trip planners early.
- 04
Review strategy
Generate and manage reviews across the platforms that matter.
- 05
Seasonal campaigns
Targeted campaigns for peak, shoulder and off-season periods.
- 06
Visual content
Photography and video that sell the stay.
The typical traveller's journey
Six steps between a daydream and a review. Our work sits at every one of them.
Trip inspiration
A traveller starts dreaming about a destination.
Research
They search destinations, activities and accommodation.
Accommodation search
They compare hotels on the OTAs and on brand sites.
Decision factors
They weigh price, reviews, photos and amenities.
Booking
They book through an OTA or direct.
Stay and review
They stay, and hopefully leave a review.
Still reading? Let's just talk.
Skip the scrolling. Book a free 15-minute call and find out whether we are the right fit. No pitch, no pressure.
No sales calls. A real conversation about your goals.
A boutique hotel, before and after
Before
22% of bookings direct, 78% through OTAs.
After
51% of bookings direct, 49% through OTAs.
- 01
Created a direct booking benefits programme guests could see
- 02
Redesigned the website around the story of the stay
- 03
Implemented a destination content strategy for search
- 04
Set up automated post-stay review requests
- 05
Launched retargeting for abandoned bookings
Industry statistics
How travellers choose where to stay today.
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80%
visit the hotel's own website before booking
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52%
would book direct for better perks
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94%
read reviews before booking
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65%
of hotel revenue can go to OTAs without a direct strategy
Services for hotels and tourism
Marketing services built for your industry, each one a page of its own.
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Hotel SEO
Destination and amenity-focused optimisation.
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Hotel website design
Experience-driven, booking-focused websites.
Direct booking strategy
OTA independence and margin improvement.
Review management
Multi-platform review generation and response.
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Visual content
Photography, video and virtual tours.
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Seasonal marketing
Campaigns for the swings in demand.
Frequently asked questions
How can hotels increase direct bookings?
Give guests a reason to book with you rather than through an OTA, and make it easy. Direct-only benefits such as a better rate, a free upgrade or flexible cancellation, a booking engine that works on a phone, and a website that tells your story better than a listing can.
How important are reviews for hotels?
Almost every traveller reads them before booking, on several platforms. A hotel with recent, well-answered reviews wins the comparison against a similar hotel with none. Asking after each stay and replying to every review is the most cost-effective marketing most hotels are not doing.
Should hotels compete with OTAs on SEO?
Not on generic terms, where their budgets win. Hotels win on destination content, experiences and their own brand: what to do nearby, who the property is for, what makes it different. That captures travellers earlier, before they are on a portal comparing prices.
How can boutique hotels compete with chains?
By being what a chain cannot be: specific. Your story, your location, your people and your guests' experiences are the product. Marketing that shows them in photography, video and content gives travellers a reason to choose you, and to book direct.
Let's talk about your hotel's marketing
Book a free strategy call to talk through where your next enquiries will come from.
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Actionable audit
SEO, paid media and funnel analysis
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Custom growth plan
A strategy built for your targets
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Transparent pricing
Our fee vs. your projected ROI