The Luxury of Trust
A hotel sales executive examines how AI is reshaping the travel advisor's role, arguing that trust, client knowledge, and accountability remain the irreplaceable differentiators in luxury travel distribution.
Sales & Marketing
Emerging Travel Group Partners with Rippla to Bring Influencer Marketing to Travel Brands
ETG integrates Rippla's network of 10,000+ influencers into its Marketing Hub, offering travel and hospitality brands barter-based collaborations with creators across Europe and the Middle East.
Hotels losing pricing control: You set the rate. Booking.com sets the price.
Through its merchant payment model, Booking.com now sets the guest-facing price below what hotels load, effectively outsourcing pricing control for an estimated one in five independent room nights sold.
By Markus Busch, Editor/Publisher, hospitality.today
Failure of Leadership Made a Hotel Sales Cold Call Exercise in Futility
An industry sales trainer recounts a hotel cold outreach attempt that failed due to poor leadership support, using it to highlight what managers must do to improve sales effectiveness.
By Doug Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Training Network, Kennedy Training Network (KTN)
The Psychology of Scarcity: How Luxury Brands Engineer Desire
An analysis of how luxury brands use scarcity, exclusivity, and psychological triggers like loss aversion to engineer desire, using Hermès, Rolex, and Amex Centurion as case studies.
By Abigail Ward, Digital Communication Consultant, EHL
Conrad Hotels & Resorts Expands its 1/3/5 Program to Help Guests Maximize Their Time and Experience Local Cultures
Conrad Hotels expands its 1/3/5 program globally, offering concierge-curated one-, three-, and five-hour cultural experiences across properties on five continents.
HBX Group and Virtuoso expand global partnership to enhance luxury travel offering
HBX Group expands its 25-year North America relationship with Virtuoso to a global scale, giving 20,000+ luxury travel advisors worldwide access to Bedsonline's full accommodation, mobility, and experiences portfolio.
Cloudbeds and Klook Expand Distribution Opportunities for Hotels Across Asia Pacific
Cloudbeds integrates with Klook to let hotels across Asia Pacific tap into a travel ecosystem spanning experiences, transport, and attractions alongside accommodation bookings.
Six steps between a lead and a group booking
Knowland's six-step guide covers account qualification, competitive analysis, personalized outreach, and tracking to help hotel sales teams convert group leads into bookings without adding headcount.
Emerging Travel Group Launches ETG Marketing Hub Amid Rising Demand from Travel Industry Partners
ETG's new dedicated advertising unit connects hotels, airlines, DMOs and other travel brands with high-intent travelers across RateHawk, ZenHotels and external partner channels in 180 countries.
Why Hotel Digital Merchandising Is Changing What It Means to Sell a Room
Amadeus SVP Javier Campo argues that attribute-based selling can close hotels' ancillary revenue gap versus airlines, but only if PMS, CRS, CRM, and operations are tightly coordinated to fulfill the digital promise.
Florencia Cueto Pedrotti, Director, Global Engagement & Sales Enablement, Shiji
Hotel Distribution Is Not a Zero-Sum Game
Hotrec data shows 56% of European hotel bookings in 2025 are direct, with no single OTA exceeding 20% share, supporting a balanced multi-channel model through 2030.
By Peter Lochbihler, Global Director Public Affairs, Booking.com
IHG Hotels & Resorts named Official Hotel Partner of Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027
IHG becomes Official Hotel Partner of Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia, leveraging its 160M+ member loyalty program and existing rugby relationships to drive accommodation demand and brand awareness.
When the Host Needs Hosting: Amelia Dimoldenberg Takes the Guest Seat with IHG Hotels & Resorts
IHG Hotels & Resorts partners with Chicken Shop Date creator Amelia Dimoldenberg for a global social campaign, featuring a loyalty-exclusive hotel package available at three U.S. properties.
She didn't choose your hotel. She accepted it.
Google's AI Mode compresses the OTA research session that drove the billboard effect, threatening the core mechanism behind direct booking conversion and guest loyalty strategies.
By Markus Busch, Editor/Publisher, hospitality.today
Hotel budgets are changing. Here’s what you can’t ignore
As AI, rising OTA costs, and data quality pressures reshape hotel marketing, hoteliers are urged to build flexible budgets that prioritize direct revenue, clean guest data, and connected digital experiences.
Recast: Building relationships through reservations: Insights from The Broadmoor
The Broadmoor's reservations manager explains how proactive follow-up calls to guests who didn't book generated nearly $1M in direct revenue over three months.
Karen Stephens, Chief Marketing Officer, Revinate, Inc.
What Black Friday 2025 told us about direct demand, and how to prepare for 2026
Analysis of 1,982 hotels shows those running a dedicated Black Friday campaign grew direct revenue 60.5% vs. 4.4% for non-participants, with the gap driven by booking engine conversion, not traffic.
By Paige Lopez, Content marketer, Lighthouse
Google’s Latest Search Changes Could Reshape the Direct Booking Battle
Google's DMA-driven search changes have already cut free direct booking clicks by up to 30% for some European hotels, prompting a broader rethink of channel mix, acquisition costs, and guest data strategy.
By Debbie Miller, Digital Marketing and Communications Professional and member of Cayuga Hospitality Consultants, Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
HOSPA expands events portfolio with acquisition of leading industry conference
HOSPA acquires the 20-year-old National Hotel Marketing Conference from Martin Evans, with the next edition scheduled for 27 May 2027 at Hilton at St George's Park.