As lockdowns start to lift, hotel bookings are beginning to pick up. Despite ongoing COVID concerns, people are eager to venture out again and this is very good news—as long as travel is managed responsibly, with effective preventative measures in place. With positive signs now visible, lodging operators can look forward to and plan for increasing occupancy rates with more confidence. According to McKinsey's research, the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation by 10 years and today's travel consumers have become more digitally and tech-savvy than ever.

Which begs the question: Where lies the single biggest opportunity in digital marketing for hotels in 2022?

Martin Soler
Martin Soler
Partner at Soler & Associates

Changing travel conditions and new COVID variants that have fewer symptoms but still register on PCR test make travel a bit of a gamble. The biggest issue in the recovery is going to be reassuring travelers that their $7K trip will be fine. Hotel companies, travel companies, airlines (who still use non-refundable rates) are strugling with that. Last minute postive covid tests are a thing, and they ruin a trip - usually after the standard cancellation time has passed. Online travel agents who sell packages – it turns out they werent customer focused but revenue focused – they are strugling with this even more than hotels because they are aggregating rates through third parties and booking through fourth parties if not worse.

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