Somewhere along I-94, just less than two hours northwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul, amid Minnesota’s rolling farmlands, spread across twenty-six acres of land adjacent to Lake Sagatagan, sits St. John’s Abbey.
The hotel industry is navigating through a storm of uncertainty. Travel demand, both domestic and international, is showing worrying signs of decline due to economic uncertainties, shifting tariffs, and operational disruptions from aging airport infrastructure. The knock-on effects are clear—government and mid-sized businesses are cutting back on meetings, consumers are delaying vacations, and international visitation is expected to drop significantly this summer.
Why are we always trying to oppose one against the other in terms of online search? Organic search and paid search should be seen as a single, unified digital marketing strategy. They complement and amplify each other. Why? they have a shared goal: visibility, traffic, credibility and conversion amplified by AI personalisation, the data analysis synergy: it allows to focus only on the 'converting' terms and inform the SEO content actions.
The answer is rather straightforward: if somebody is bidding on your brand terms (OTAs and affiliates, for example), you are leaving clicks and bookings on the table if you do not: that additional spot in the SERP affects your conversion rates significantly.
Who searches your hotel by its official name? These are your past guests, people referred by friends and family, people influenced by word-of-mouth, people who have read positive reviews on social media or PR about the property.
Leadership isn’t something you find in a textbook—it’s forged through shared experiences, honest conversations, and the quiet understanding that we are all in this together. At Newport Hospitality Group, we believe deeply in this truth. And nowhere was that more evident than at our recent Leadership Retreat in Wintergreen, Virginia.
Why industry leaders are moving from the traditional marketing playbook in the new community era.
Remington Hospitality, a visionary leader in hotel management, recently honored its leadership teams, general managers, and directors of sales at the annual Thrive Leadership Conference, held March 11-14 at the Houston Marriott Sugar Land. This highly anticipated event brings together top talent to celebrate team achievements, reflecting Remington Hospitality’s steadfast commitment to fostering an environment where passionate professionals thrive.
ATLANTA – Kimpton, part of IHG Hotels & Resorts' Luxury & Lifestyle portfolio, announces a new partnership with Tiny Zaps, an emerging and innovative tattoo studio specializing in tiny tattoos, to bring the rising trend of “tattourism” – celebrating and commemorating travel with meaningful tattoos – directly to guests at select Kimpton hotels.
HSMAI Washington DC Chapter today invited Washington metropolitan area hospitality professionals to register for its next program, Beyond Boundaries: Collaborative Marketing Strategies, to be held April 23 at MGM National Harbor in Maryland.
With less than a month to go, AAHOA, the world’s largest hotel owners association, is set for AAHOACON25, the must-attend event for the hospitality industry, which will be held April 15-17, 2025, in New Orleans.
After 36 years of hosting one of the hospitality industry’s most respected gatherings, the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference (“HUNTER”) announced plans to move to a new venue following a successful 17-year partnership with the esteemed Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Starting in 2026, the annual event will be held at the Signia by Hilton Atlanta, marking the conference’s continued growth and its commitment to providing attendees with an exceptional experience.
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world's largest hotel franchisors, is introducing new, value-engineered prototypes for Comfort and Country Inn & Suites by Radisson that will provide more revenue driving spaces for owners within the same footprint and achieve a 10 to 15 percent reduction in construction costs. In addition, the brand identities for both Comfort and Country Inn & Suites have been sharpened to create even more distinction within the marketplace for travelers, fortifying Choice Hotels' industry-leading upper midscale brands. Throughout the year, Choice Hotels plans on testing and rolling out a series of new and evolved brand hallmarks, including an updated breakfast offering, furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) packages and more as the franchisor continues to invest in its brands, driving growth and long-term brand success.
The 2025 Penn State Hotel & Restaurant Society (PSHRS) Industry Awards and Reception will be held on Tuesday, April 8, at the Nittany Lion Inn.
AAHOA (Asian American Hotel Owners Association), the world’s largest hotel owners association, proudly announces that Hilton will serve as an AAHOA Brand Partner, exhibitor, and Grand Sponsor of the Welcome Party at the 2025 AAHOA Convention & Trade Show (AAHOACON25), set to take place April 15–17, in New Orleans.
HomeToGo, the marketplace with the world’s largest selection of vacation rentals, revealed the most in-demand yet value-packed St. Patrick’s Day destinations across the U.S., using exclusive search and price data. For travelers who want to experience superb celebrations without packing their passport, HomeToGo has identified the pot of gold for festive trips, featuring 15 U.S. locations ranked by affordability and popularity.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced plans for Hyatt Select, a new upper-midscale transient brand designed to meet the needs of modern travelers while delivering an efficient, cost-effective model for owners. The Hyatt Select brand will strengthen Hyatt’s upper-midscale presence complementing Hyatt Studios, Hyatt’s extended-stay brand in the category, which marked the opening of its first property, Hyatt Studios Mobile / Tillmans Corner, on Feb. 18.
The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) celebrated the best in travel marketing at the Adrian Awards Celebration on Tuesday, February 18, at the New York Marriott Marquis, with more than 500 industry and agency executives in attendance. This year, the 68th annual competition theme, “Wish You Were Here,” celebrates the moments and contributions that comprised the most innovative and successful travel marketing, public relations, advertising, and integrated campaigns.
Traditional SEO is not dead, but traditional search is! Consumers simply do not search as they did 10 or 15 years ago. Social search is now a big component of the customer journey: from TikTok to YouTube to Instagram, the platforms are diverse and usage greatly vary depending on age and traveler habits.
In spite of all the buzz around genAI, the AI Search market share today is estimated around 6% of the total search market, and estimated to go up to 14% by 2028 (Search Engine Land). Google's own Gemini AI has already been made available to Google's 84 billion monthly users - compare this to ChatGPT's 121 million users!
I don't believe that SEO is dead. I am of the view that the role of SEO is going to develop in alignment with the evolution of search. After all, it doesn't resemble the way it began with the incumbent approach. The challenge remains how to be found.
Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) is proud to announce the members of its 2025 Americas Board of Directors and Executive Committee. HSMAI America’s leaders represent a cross section of the industry’s most respected hotel and hospitality brands, academics, and suppliers. The board is composed of senior travel and hospitality executives from a representative selection of HSMAI members, led by chair, Andrew Rubinacci, CHSP, Chief Advisory Officer, FLYR, who is in his second year of a two-year term.
Booking.com, the global leader in connecting travelers with the widest choice of incredible places to stay, is launching a new ad campaign to show how it helps travelers get it ridiculously right every time. A continuation of the successful Booking.yeah campaign that celebrates YEAHs experienced throughout the travel journey, the new creative will debut live during the fourth quarter of the Big Game on February 9, bringing to life Booking.com’s ability to cater to every traveler’s unique needs and personalities and “find exactly what they’re booking for.”
We can hope regulators will someday "reimagine" policies to enable innovation, but let's face it: this is entirely beyond the industry's control. Expecting governments to grasp the complexities of hotel tech is like waiting for a no-show guest to miraculously fill your occupancy gap.
Technical fragmentation has long been a challenge in all aspects of hospitality. Some of this is a reality. Some of it is by choice and driven from vendor marketing propoganda about 'Best of Breed'. The reality is that to overcome this general challenge in industry, consolidation and unification is required.
Website analytics in isolation from the rest of the hotel tech stack has lost its importance. Combined with the property's CRM, RMS, a personalization engine and the rest of the tech stack, it is priceless and impacts many revenue-generation functions: Revenue Management: The website browsing behavior, booking engine denials, time spent on web pages of various packages, offers and hotel amenities are important data signals for the RMS and property pricing strategies.