The Role of Marketing in the Hospitality Industry

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Historical Background

3. Influences on Hospitality Marketing

4. Role of Promotions and Advertising

5. Traditional vs. Modern Marketing Approaches

6. Famous Brands and Hotel Chains

7. Festival-Based Marketing Strategies

8. Branding and Customer Identity

9. Digital Trends and Fusion Campaigns

10. Tourism and Destination Marketing

11. Challenges in Hospitality Marketing

12. Role of Media and Social Media

13. Conclusion

14. References

15. Appendices ( Visuals, Campaigns, Ads)

 Introduction
Every guest's visit to the hotel is an integrated experience that combines
virtually everything in one's life. A hotel is not a physical space, rather a
brand that offers rooms and cuisines. It is encased to provide customers
services such as relaxation opportunities and areas which cultivate
people’s relationships. The exact area where the customer is satisfied
with the combination of comfort, joy and peace is what the business
aims to serve. It goes without saying that hotel marketing is essential in
arming history.

Travelers always look for logic in every step they make when visiting a
destination, the other half of the travel world appreciates spontaneity.
The target for hospitality is half seasoned travelers, animators,
expeditors, guides and architects. These are active marketing channels
that should be filed with thorough information that supports the
traveler's guide or the “international hotel marketer“ once they leave for
new diverse worlds. The expectations a hote can have of modern
marketing are enormous.

People are no longer passive guests. They pick hotels based on their self-
image, if they are environmentally responsible, fond of luxury or simply
interested in cultures. Therefore, the “luxurious sustainability” modern
hospitality marketers proudly demonstrate runs parallel to the
expectations a hotels can have. Marketing needs to emotionally engage
people on top of making them hops. In a contemporary context, it has
come to serve as a means to unravel the mind of a traveler taking him
through the very heart of hotels.

This is an examination of mystery, looking at different angles and

distinct a single subject into multifold pieces which is unprepared to
accept this reality gaud,” concludes the modern restrictions of
advertising, and promotions,” so dear to the hote floors.
 Historical Background

The tale of hospitality marketing unfolds with the evolution of travel,

trust, and technology, moving hand in hand with human civilization.

Medieval and Ancient Eras: Trust Through Tradition

The hospitality industry can be traced back to ancient civilizations. It

had an indispensable significance. Strangers could use the goodwill of
travelers to sleep in homes or even communal shelters. While the
modern form of hospitality marketing did not exist, reputation was of
utter most value. In ancient times nefarious traders or pilgrims
guaranteed which villages or inns prospered. For instance along the Silk
Road countless caravanserais (roadside inns) became famous for their
warmheartedness and safe havens. Their reputation was spread orally
over thousands of miles.
By the Middle Ages symbols like hanging wreaths or carved signs
outside inn started to surface in Europe. These became the foremost use
of branding. A golden lion sign can be presumed to promise lavish
meals, while a humble ale stake touted moderate prices.

The Grand Tour and Industrial Revolution: From Elitism to Mass

Appeal

Between the 17th and 19th centuries the Grand Tour rose to prominence.
It encouraged aristocrats to travel for educational purposes. They were
catered to by lavish hotels such as London’s The Savoy (1889) which
were using marketing avenues exclusive to the elite. Personal letters and
exquisite brochures flooded the hands of aristocrats, which highlighted
their sophistication with engravings of 그래
 Influences on Hospitality Marketing

The Impacts of Human Interactions on Hospitality Marketing in an Era Dominated

by Technology

People impact modern hospitality marketing both culturally and technologically,

put ethical forces on marketing as well as emphasize interpersonal connections.

A. Experience is Primary in Today’s Economy

People do not purchase products any longer; rather they acquire memories. In fact,
a McKinsey survey in 2022 discovered that 70% of travelers asserted they prefer
“unique experiences” over opulence. Thus, hotels now sell moments:

-Adventure Packs: A mountain lodge that markets stargazing experience with local
astronomers.
Cultural immersion: A ryokan in Kyoto offering tea serving by a certified tea
master.
Markup wants these experiential memories and tell captivating stories that lead to
curiosity, wonder or nostalgia.

For instance

The Ritz-Carlton’s “Let Us Stay With You” campaign featured short films that
highlighted unique services, such as organizing a surprise beach proposal. The
unspoken message was ‘we host you, no, we know you.’

B. Authenticity and Transparency

Today's travelers do not trust warped perfection. What they desire is organic and
relatable content:

Behind-the-Scenes- Content: Hotels like Ace Hotel post Instagram stories featuring
housekeepers setting up welcome gifts, and chefs visiting local farms.
User-Generated Content: Resorts share pictures of the guests tagged under
#MyHotelStory and invite people to join the conversation, which markets them as
the hotels’ ambassador.

Social Responsibility: Businesses like six-sevens tell people the composite of their
sustainable policies like sustainable building c.

Role of Promotions and Advertising

In hospitality, advertising, and promotion, while the underpinning of the industry,
remain characteristically human.

A. Advertising and its Components: The Essence of Advertisements

Recognizable brand names, brand loyalty, and advertisement reputation works.

Good campaigns tend to put together advertisement stories of potential guests that
they envisage themselves to stay in:

Evocative Stories: Airbnb’s “Belong Anywhere” commercials portray actual hosts

—a grandmother from Lisbon, an artist from Mexico City—highlighting
intercultural relations.

Nostalgia: Disney Hotels exploits nostalgia in their advertisements when parents

look after their children and guide them through the very first Disney visit.

Main Idea:

A slogan should capture guests attention but the misconception is what they will
remember is a structured phrase but what they shall retain is the feeling they get
when they see the advertisement.

B. Personal Touch: Out of “Dear Guest”

Job does not fit a role. A one for all promotion is outdated: Modern promotions
take advantage of segmentation.

Video693 Dynamic Campaigns: The Four Season’s Resort advertises special

promotions like spa discounts to guests who booked wellness retreats before.

Geographic Restrictions: A Swiss ski resort caters flip-flops to tropical users: “The
only prerequisite is you pack your flip-flips.”

Personal Touch:
A hand written postcard sent after a guest have left the branded hotel, plus with one
hotel snap serves them as nostalgic memorabilia rather than mere marketing
mechanics.

C. Social Proof: Promotional Marks on Media Outlets

Brand trust from advertisement is lacking among travelers and what they are
certain about is the words of their peers:

Sponsored Promotions: Boutique hotels target micro influencers (those with

between 5,000 and 50,000 followers), granting them generous sponsored stays in
exchange for promoting boutique hotels.

Traditional vs. Modern Marketing Approaches

Historical Developments of marketing in the Hospitality industry

Historical perspective: From word-of-mouth at inns in ancient times to the heyday
of print and television advertising in the 1950s with the airlines.

From a more traditional form of advertising to internet/online disruption (1990s-

2000s) in marketing by OTAs (online travel agencies) like Expedia.

Traditional Marketing: Benefits and drawbacks

Print media - brochures and magazines (Conde Nast Traveler).

Billboards in busy areas, preferably with tourists (e.g., Times Square, where hotels
must be advertised).

Television commercials (i.e. family-focused advertising, such as a Carnival Cruises

ad).

Case study: The Ritz-Carlton “Gold Standards” campaign in luxury print

magazines as a means to market their timeless elegance.

Pros, trust with older demographics, tactile (glossy brochure) engagement.

Cons, expensive (i.e. $500,000 for a prime-time television advertisement), cannot

be tracked to monitor return on investment.

Current Marketing Practices With Digital Control

SEO/SEM: An example for hotels focused on search terms would be "best

boutique hotels in Paris"

Social Media: Instagram Reels would be great to promote unique aspects of a

hotel, such as the underwater suites at Atlantis Dubai.
Influencers: Influencers from TikHub making trending challenges, for example, at
Hilton, the #HiltonStaycation that could help you win a Hilton stay and often
hundreds of dollars of UGC
Downside: fast content saturation; algorithm decisions required (ie: Instagram
reaching you)

Hybrid Methods: Fully Linking the Gap

To look at Marriott's "Travel Brilliantly" was a hybrid hybrid campaign as it was

utilizing both interactive storytelling and a visual digital format in a series of
commercials and video content

We also see geo-located billboards using mobile usage data (ex. marketing ski
resorts to people using the clothing for winter). This provides a pathway through
traditional forms of marketing.:

Famous Brands and Hotel Chains

Renowned Brands and Hotel Networks: Exemplification Studies

Marriott International: Loyalty’s Deity

Bonvoy Program: 160 million stakeholders generating half of the revenue 2022.

Personalization: Automated email marketing offers (ex. customized promos for

previously redeemed offers).

Hilton: Hospitality of Technology

Digital Key Adoption: 120 plus users forgoing 30% of congestion at the front desk.

Sustainability: “Travel with Purpose” campaign achieved a 61% reduction in

carbon during 2018-2023.

Airbnb: Travel reimagined

Community-Based Marketing: Partnership with locals called “Belong Anywhere”

slogan.

Crisis Adaptation Strategy: “Online Experiences” initiative response in 2020

during lockdown period.

Four Seasons: Luxury and virality

Celebrity collabs: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour post coverage boosted social
engagement by 200%.

Viral Extremes: Instagram reels showcasing outrageous amenities, $1000 gold leaf
desserts.

Big Lesson: Innovation + steadfast loyalty, 70% of Hiltons revenue from loyal
customers.
 Festival-Based Marketing Strategies

Seasonal Campaigns

Christmas: Fairmont Hotels’ “Festive Packages” featuring Santa’s brunches and

tree-lighting ceremonies (saw a 20% YoY booking increase).
Valentine’s Day: Maldives resorts offering private sunset dinners (+35% boom in
romance travel).

Cultural and Local Festivals

Oktoberfest Collaborations: Munich hotels carved out with breweries for exclusive
packages (90% occupancy during the festival).

Diwali in India: Taj Hotels Festival of Lights packages and other traditional
performances (+40% domestic bookings).

Marketing Strategies for Achievement

Limited Time Offers (LTOs): Rio Carnival “Early Bird” discounts (50% sold out in
48 hours).

Social Media Countdowns: Thailand’s Songkran Festival Promos tweeted

countdowns.

Challenges

Overtourism: Barcelona backlash against Sant Jordi Day advertising leads to

limiting visitor number caps.

Cultural Sensitivity: Avoiding appropriation of festival planning dealing (ensuring

local artists gain from the partnerships)

Branding and Customer Identity

Developing a Brand Persona

Luxury versus Budget: St. Regis denotes aspirational elegance whereas Ibis
represents the practical and affordable.
Cultural Resonance: Disney Hotels leveraging the nostalgia and family-centric
stories of Disney’s history.

Creating Emotional Ties Through Personalization

Data-Driven Customization: The tailored gambling offerings at Caesars Palace

stem from CRM data.

Micro-moments: Unsought handwritten welcome notes at Rosewood Hotels

boosting guest satisfaction scores by 25%.

Sustainability as a Branding Core Focus

Accor’s Plan “Planet 21”: attracts eco-conscious millennials by zeroing single-use

plastics, and earning carbon-neutral certifications.

Greenwashing Criticism: Hilton’s 2019 unchecked sustainability speculation

scandal and recovery strategy are other blunders in the space.

Focusing On Target Demographics

Gen Z: Participants on TikTok promoting co-working spaces at Selina Hostels.

Boomers: Viking Cruises featuring advertised safety and comfort on television.

.
 Digital Trends and Fusion Campaigns

The shift of pre-existing as well as new technologies into the hospitality

industry.

Artificial Intelligence (AI):

Chatbots and Virtual Assistants: Hilton partnered with IBM Watson to create
daughter convenience robots called

“Connie.” Now resolves electronic guest queries in half the time.

Resevation robots work 83% more efficiently than humans in Hyatt, even reigning
in peak booking periods after weddings by 2.5%.

Predictive Analytics: The Intercontinental Hotels Groups (IHG) implements

Artificial Intelligence Technologies for demand forecasting and adaptive pricing.
(E.g. captures 10% additional revenue in peak seasons).

Augmented Reality (AR) & Virtual Reality (VR):

VR Tours Of Weddings At Hyatt: Bridal Tours Brings in Additional Bookings Of

15%.

AR Menus: Members of Marquis can from phone to menus to see 3 Dimensional

representations of dishes.

Blockchain and Web3:

NFTs loyalty programs: Sarajeendorsed pogostarets were issued special benefits

with non-fungible tokens gives earned with II Bonvoy.

Smart contact-based payment Systems: Number of intermediatrix reduces with

new entrants like lock trip buy 20 percent.

Combination of digital with physical interaction.

Fyper hetegorzes:

Star Perry and Delta Airlines spend sharing Credit Union. Buy coffee require
redundant interfaces.

AirBNb se aton elete ex l IgiLD squeturac Ye SOP. Operates rifles greeninqrst mid
October to promote offhead exstracy diplomacy.

Phydigital spaces pringedbeithemed:

Chipped drove orders wear eras goggles while…Dualie’s trademark combo meal in
the world.

#WanderlustWithHyatt social media sponsored travel widening drawn consests

delivered claimed 500 thousand digital is younger user generated content to travel
photo competitions.

McDonald's ‘Famous Orders’ themed pop up hotels: The meal package plunge
across resorts hyper drove hilarious marketing blast fads in conjoined starperform.

Tourism and Destination Marketing

Destination Branding

ICONS CAMPAIGNS:

“Incredible India” - The enhancement of the tourism industry bolstered by cultural

heritage tourism reached $240 billion in revenue in the year 2022.

“Visit Dubai” - Dubai has set a goal of entertaining 25 million tourists annually and
with the mega event Expo 2020, this tourism target can be achieved.
Sustainability-Driven Branding:

Eco-tourism initiatives introducing the No Artificial Ingredients slogan from

Costa-Rica resulted in 30 percent growth in green travel bookings.

Collaborative Partnerships

Multi-Sector Cooperation:

Emirates alongside JW Marriott, with their stay and flight packages, improved
hotel occupancy rates in Dubai by 18 percent.

Tourism Australia and Qantas introduced an advertising campaign called “Holiday

Here”, which revived domestic travel after the pandemic.

Local Community Involvement:

The Stopover Buddy project from Reykjavik where locals volunteer as guides to
tourists with layover tours, enhances the city’s appearance as a tourist destination.

Managing and Recovering from a Crisis

Post-Pandemic Strategic Planning:

With Greece’s Rediscover Travel initiative, free COVID insurance for tourists,
increased bookings by 60 percent in 2021.

Thailand’s Phuket Sandbox attracted 400,000 visitors in six months from

quarantine-free stay policies.
Sustainable Tourism Challenges

The Balancing Act:

Bali’s Plastic Pollution campaign where hotels adopted policies to ban single-use
plastics, resulting in increased pollution from overtourism.

Challenges in Hospitality Marketing

Overtourism and Sustainability

Case Study: Local infrastructure protection through visitor cap (Barcelona:

40k/day).

Promoting Off-Season Travel: Iceland winter campaign with 20% discount for
winter.

Reputation Management

Reviews Impact: One negative Tripadvisor review can cost a hotel 30 bookings.
Crisis Response

COVIT 19 Cancellation: Refund policy of 250M dollars restored trust but cut
revenue by 72%.

Technological Adaptation

Purchasing AI tools (Example: 60 percent of U.S. B&Bs lack chatbots).

Small hotels struggle to afford costs vs ROI.

Staff Training: Bridging tech gaps, Hyatt digital upskilling programs of $10M.

Labor Shortages

Branding Consequences: Poor service leading to 1 star reviews.

Automated Solutions: MGM resorts robots for room service so staff can
engage with guests.
Role of Media and Social Media

Social Media as a Brand Amplifier

Platform-Specific Strategies:

Instagram: Luxury reels of helipad dinners at Burj Al Arab have garnered over 2
million views.

TikTok: Trends from #TravelTok are influencing 50% of Gen Z travel decisions.

Influencer Marketing:

Micro-influencers: @TravelWithBella has 500k followers and increased Ayana

Resort Bali bookings by 25%.
Celebrity endorsements: Paris Hilton's promotional residency at Caesars Palace
increased occupancy rates by 40%.

Media in Crisis Communication

Real-time posts: The alerts posted through social media platforms by the Hawaii
Tourism Authority during the wildfires helped reduce some interruptions to travel.

Damage control: The “Re-accommodation” video apology released by United

Airlines post-passenger removal incident.

Metrics and Analytics

KPIs: Focused on tracking engagement rates, for instance, if there is 5% plus

engagement on Instagram it is tagged as a successful campaign.

Sentiment Analysis: Brandwatch helps Marriott track over a hundred thousand

mentions each month.With it, sention analytics give out over five thousand
mentions a day.

The Dark Side of Virality

Backlash Risks: Post data breach of 20 million guest records, cancel-marriott trend
took rise.

Algorithm Dependence: Hotels were forced to switch to Tiktok after Instagram

dropped its reach in 2023.
 Conclusion
The marketing area is the most important in the field of hospitality. It brings
together hotels, restaurants, travel and their appropriate customers. In the past,
advertisements and brochures were sufficient, but today marketing is about
personalization, engaging with consumers online, and narrative crafting.

With the help of AI, social media helps brands connect with travelers in innovative
ways. Despite that, the key tenet stays the same: it has to do with people, in this
case, customers. Promotions and advertisements fail to create enduring bonds.

Brands lacking sustainability practices are bound to lose relevance because this is
no longer optional. Technology improves service, but brands devoid of warmth will
fail.

To succeed in marketing hospitality, there needs to be a balance between genuine

kindness and creativity.
 References

1. Kotler, P., Bowen, J. T., & Makens, J. (2017). Marketing for Hospitality and
Tourism (7th ed.). Pearson.

2. Marriott International. (2023). Annual Report 2022: Building the Future of

Travel.

3. Airbnb. (2020). Annual Report 2019: Belong Anywhere.

4. Statista. (2023). *Global Digital Advertising Spend in Hospitality, 2022-

2025*.

5. STR Global. (2023). Hotel Industry Performance Report: Post-Pandemic

Recovery Trends.

6. Harvard Business Review. (2021). *How Airbnb Pivoted During COVID-19:

A Case Study in Crisis Marketing*.

7. Tripadvisor. (2023). The Impact of Online Reviews on Hotel Bookings.

 8. Costa Rica Tourism Board. (2022). Sustainable Tourism Initiatives Annual
Report.

Appendices

Appendix A: Survey Data

 Guest satisfaction ratings before/after implementing AI concierge services

(2022)
 Comparison of booking rates for traditional vs. digital marketing campaigns

Appendix B: Sample Marketing Campaigns

1. Marriott Bonvoy "Travel Brilliantly" campaign assets

2. Airbnb "Live There" social media content examples
3. Hilton’s Digital Key adoption statistics

Appendix C: Interview Transcripts

 Excerpts from interviews with Hilton and Marriott marketing executives

(2023)
 Customer feedback on personalized stay experiences

Appendix D: Additional Charts

1. Overtourism impact in Barcelona (2015-2023)
2. Growth of metaverse tourism initiatives (2021-2023)