Insights Type: Articles

Digital Is Everyone’s Business

Brian Hicks, President and CEO of Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)  

Later this month, at the HSMAI Commercial Strategy Conference, I’ll be sitting down for a fireside chat with industry leaders from the cruise and airport industries. We’ll explore  what hotels can learn from their industries and commercial experiences.  They will share the strategies, lessons, and best practices that have helped them build high-performing, results-driven teams.  

A theme that has emerged in our planning calls is the importance of both specialists and cross-discipline leaders for an optimally functioning commercial organization. 

But even specialists need to know enough about the other commercial disciplines, and how they impact them and are impacted by them. 

And that’s exactly why we just released a refreshed 7th edition of our Hospitality Digital Marketing Essentials: A Field Guide for Navigating Today’s Digital Landscape.  It’s not just a resource for digital marketers. It’s for everyone in commercial strategy who needs to understand how digital tools and trends drive business results. It also serves as the Study Guide for HSMAI’s Certified Hospitality Digital Marketer (CHDM) certification – which launched in 2012 and currently boasts 1,377 CHDMs in 46 countries around the world.  

If you want to lead in today’s commercial space, digital fluency is essential. I invite you to join the conversation with Dimple, Angela, and me at CSC, and take a closer look at how the CHDM can sharpen your competitive edge. 

Ready to level up? Explore the 7th edition of our Hospitality Digital Marketing Essentials: A Field Guide for Navigating Today’s Digital Landscape.  

 

Helping Guests See Themselves and The World a Little Differently

Bree Brostko, Founder, Go West Communications, HSMAI Marketing Advisory Board Member  

Many hospitality professionals are exploring how to meet a growing guest desire for meaning, growth, and connection. In a recent HSMAI Marketing Advisory Board conversation, members shared how properties of all sizes and types are approaching this shift. What once felt unique to ultra-luxury or spa destinations is now becoming a broader guest expectation. Even select service hotels are finding creative ways to deliver value through small-scale activations and community engagement. As one advisory board member wisely put it, “the value isn’t just in offering great stays…it’s in helping guests see themselves and the world a little differently.”  

Local Collaboration and Operational Alignment 

Partnerships with local businesses are playing a key role. One leader described working with nearby restaurants to offer pop-up tastings and exclusive guest discounts. These collaborations don’t just add to the guest experience, they bring the destination to life and help position the hotel as a true part of the local community. “Getting them out of your doors is sort of a win-win,” one AB member noted. 

Of course, creativity alone isn’t enough. Developing transformational experiences calls for intention and alignment. There was a clear consensus that marketing and operations must work together early in the process to build experiences that support a property’s identity and long-term strategy. As one speaker pointed out, “There needs to be sound strategy underpinning development.” 

Marketing the Message and Measuring the Impact 

Marketing also plays a vital role in positioning and promoting these efforts. Some participants discussed integrating local events and hotel activations directly into the booking path. Others found success using pre-stay communications and in-room messaging to highlight experiences. “Pop-ups work well even when guests didn’t book them in advance. Sometimes they see it and start looking for it next time,” one contributor shared. 

Tracking success remains a challenge, especially when outcomes go beyond revenue. Still, participants offered practical tools. One approach included documenting total costs, employee time, and key learnings in a single recap. Capturing both results and insights ensures each experience informs the next. 

Not every activation needs to be a revenue driver, but every initiative should have a clear purpose. Whether the goal is loyalty, differentiation, or brand storytelling, thoughtful, repeatable experiences emerge as a strategic advantage as well as a growing guest expectation. As one advisory member shared, “It seems like it’s becoming something more travelers are looking for.” 

Top 3 Takeaways: 

  • Transformation isn’t limited to luxury—select service and smaller properties can create powerful guest experiences through local partnerships. 
  • Cross-functional alignment between marketing and operations is critical to developing meaningful, brand-aligned initiatives. 
  • Measuring success goes beyond revenue. ROI can include loyalty, differentiation, and long-term brand value. 

Learn More:  

Hospitality’s Competitive Edge: Uniting Sales and Marketing to Win Against Short-Term Rentals

Katie De Crescenzo, Sales Manager, Desert Hospitality Management(DHM), Marriott (SpringHIll Suites by Marriott Tucson at the Bridges), Rising Sales Leaders Council 

Dylan Massari, Regional Digital Manager – West, Atrium Hospitality, HSMAI Rising Marketing Leaders Council 

The hospitality industry has long been defined by consistency, service, and trust. But in recent years, disruptors like Airbnb and Vrbo have rapidly gained market share, appealing to travelers seeking space, flexibility, and local experiences. For hotel sales and marketing professionals, this has forced a fundamental question: How can we compete? 

At two recent Rising Leader Council sessions, we tackled this issue from complementary angles, sales and marketing. In the conversations, we explored how hotels can reclaim market share by uniting sales and marketing strategies to emphasize what hotels do best. 

Why Travelers Choose Short-Term Rentals 

Guests aren’t just looking for a place to sleep, they’re searching for experiences that meet a broad set of needs: space, affordability, personalization, and amenities. Travelers often see Airbnbs as better able to accommodate group travel or pet-friendly stays without the added fees that hotels often impose. Examples include pet fees that rival the nightly rate, while Airbnbs offer inclusive pricing. 

A participant shared an anecdote about planning a bachelorette party. The group found hotel teams uninterested and unhelpful. “They looked at us as an obstacle, not an opportunity.” The host of their eventual Airbnb, however, offered a curated welcome and thoughtful touches. The result? The group booked with the rental. 

Personalization and Data-Driven Storytelling 

The discussion turned to how hotels can retake the narrative through digital marketing. Data analytics, review mining, and AI-powered tools like Google Gemini can help marketers identify what travelers truly value. The key questions, what content do they like? How do they book? What language appeals to them? 

One example illustrated how Gemini scraped hotel reviews to recommend stays based on bar experiences, showcasing how hotels can shine if they are strategic about online presence. The key: generate authentic reviews, tell compelling stories, and optimize for platforms that matter. 

Relationship-Driven Selling 

It was emphasized that sales teams must become consultative problem-solvers, not order takers. Travelers want ease, but they also want to feel seen. Whether it’s a group planning a reunion or a corporate event, hotel sales staff need to frame offerings in terms of solutions, not restrictions. 

One participant noted that service is a hotel’s greatest differentiator: “It’s the people — the bartender, the front desk agent who create the experience.” That personal, human connection can make or break a booking. 

When Sales and Marketing Collaborate 

Participants argued for stronger cross-functional collaboration. Regular, strategic meetings between sales and marketing were recommended to assess pace, adjust messaging, and align tactics to changing demand not just annual planning. 

There was also a call for shared metrics. Someone mentioned: “We don’t have a universal KPI across sales, marketing, and revenue.” That makes it harder to tie top-of-funnel activities to bottom-line results.  

What Can Hoteliers Do?  

To compete with short-term rentals, hotels must: 

  • Audit and adjust fees: Consider competitive pet fee pricing and value-added messaging. 
  • Market experiences, not just rooms: Promote suite layouts, connecting rooms, and amenities in context of group or family stays. 
  • Use AI and review data: Optimize visibility through tools like Gemini and manage online reputation proactively. 
  • Invest in local influencer partnerships: Micro-influencers can boost credibility and reach in specific markets. 
  • Align sales-marketing goals: Set short-term win metrics, timestamp campaigns, and keep reporting transparent.  

Short-term rentals will remain a powerful player in the accommodation ecosystem. But hotels still offer unmatched service, safety, and consistency. The path forward lies not in competing on price or novelty, but in collaboration between sales and marketing teams, between data and intuition, and between guest expectations and operational delivery. 

A Field Guide for Navigating Today’s Digital Landscape

An updated 7th edition of Hospitality Digital Marketing Essentials: A Field Guide for Navigating Today’s Digital Landscape is here to prepare you for hospitality marketing in 2025. This new edition is perfect for practitioners studying for CHDM certification or aiming to enhance digital strategy. Below is an excerpt from the new guide chapter 7: Rich Media. 

Storytelling comes to life with rich media, and the better the story, the stronger the connection is made between hotel and consumer. Travelers rely on rich media to inform themselves, help plan itineraries, and give them the confidence to make their lodging purchases. Today’s rich media options are extensive, addressing the needs of all types of properties and budgets. A typical portfolio of rich media production includes video, 360° virtual tours, interactive floor plans, 3D schematics, digital photo slideshows, and virtual reality.  

AI-driven tools are revolutionizing rich media, offering automated video editing, personalized content recommendations, and interactive experiences that can engage guests more effectively. As you consider your options, you should also consider the growing popularity of short-form video on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels that offer hotels a powerful way to engage potential guests with bite-sized, visually compelling content. The type of media chosen depends on your hotel’s marketing objective and budget. 

Best Practices 

To make the most impact, hotel videos must be thoughtfully crafted and strategically executed. The following best practices will help ensure your video content is authentic, relevant, and engaging—driving both emotional connection and measurable results. 

Make It Authentic 

When everything is available at the click of a mouse, having a clean and comfortable hotel product is not always enough to drive action. Creating authentic videos that capture the human element of your brand allows travel shoppers to connect on a personal level. This connection builds trust and drives action. Do not be afraid to go on camera and welcome your guests in the same way you would welcome them when they arrive at your hotel. 

Make It Relevant 

With customers in control, irrelevant video is at best ignored and at worst will create a negative impression when viewers feel their time is wasted. Video that works shares compelling stories that resonate with the audience. Respect viewers’ time and provide them with actionable content. If you cater to young families on leisure travel, show them how their stay at your hotel will enhance their vacation. If you cater to business travelers, show them how their stay at your hotel will add to the success of their business trip. A good gut check could be: if you were the customer, would you find your video interesting and compelling enough to prompt action? 

Make It Engaging 

Creating authentic videos that capture the human element of your brand allows travel shoppers to connect on a personal level. This connection builds trust and drives action. Leveraging user-generated content (UGC) and collaborating with influencers can amplify your hotel’s story, creating a more authentic and relatable connection with potential guests.  

Make It Short 

Online shoppers have short attention spans. As such, considerable effort and thought must be put into developing the story that you want to tell and how you will do it. Short videos (best practices suggest 15-30 seconds) force you to think creatively and distill your value proposition down to its very essence. Is it engaging from the start? 

Read more best practices and expanded content across all 8 sections of the book to reflect the major shifts in digital marketing since the last edition. 

This 7th Edition is authored by Holly Zoba, CHDM and Dan Wacksman, CHDM, CRME who co-teach HSMAI’s popular Hospitality Digital Marketing Essentials course and who are both past chairs of HSMAI’s Marketing Advisory Board. 

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HSMAI’s Certified Hotel Sales Leader (CHDM) certification is a professional certification created by hoteliers for hoteliers, demonstrates your proficiency, upgrades your skills, and helps you to better understand how digital marketing intersects with your areas of responsibility.  It shows your employer and your professional community that you’re committed to advancing your knowledge, skill set, and expertise.  

Any questions? Contact HSMAI Director of Education & Certification, Kathleen Tindell. 

Breaking Down Silos: CSC’s Opening Panel Sets the Commercial Tone

In its second year, HSMAI Commercial Strategy Conference is continuing to do what it was built for, bringing together hospitality professionals across marketing, sales, distribution, and revenue to create one unified commercial conversation. And to kick things off, we have an all-star panel of commercial leaders on the stage for the session, Breaking Down Silos: Uniting Commercial Strategy for Maximum Profitability.  

Moderating the panel is Kelly McGuire, Ph.D., Principal at McRevenue and 2024 HSMAI Vanguard Award for career achievement in Revenue Optimization. Kelly is known for her writing, data evangelism, and expertise in leveraging automation, analytics, and AI to improve efficiency and effectiveness of commercial organizations. HSMAI staff had an opportunity to talk with McGuire about the session and learn why she is excited about this panel. 

“What makes this panel so interesting is that it was purposefully designed to represent the full commercial picture,” said McGuire. “We have leaders who have roots in revenue, marketing, and sales and they’ve all risen to top commercial roles. It shows that the best leader of commercial is the best leader and that you can come from any commercial discipline.” 

The Panelists: 

  • Kristie Goshow, Chief Commercial Officer, Peregrine Hospitality 
  • Allison Handy, EVP, Commercial, Aimbridge 
  • Ankur Randev, Principal & Chief Commercial Officer, Highgate 

McGuire will be guiding these three engaging commercial leaders through a dynamic conversation and busting some commercial strategy myths along the way. Together, they’ll explore how to apply commercial strategy to today’s hospitality ecosystem and how their diverse backgrounds give them unique perspectives. The session will touch on everything from key skills sets to stakeholder alignment and, of course, the impact of artificial intelligence. 

“This panel is a chance to talk about what’s working, what’s changing, and what commercial leaders need to think about next,” McGuire shared. “We’re going to talk about blind spots, where growth happens, and how today’s rising professionals can shape their own path forward.” 

If you’re looking for insights, inspiration, and a front-row seat to a candid conversation on commercial strategy, this is a session you won’t want to miss.  

Leveraging Generative AI to Minimize Toil and Increase Joy

Michael Goldrich, Founder and Chief Advisor, Vivander Advisors, & HSMAI Foundation Board Member 

The HSMAI Foundation recently published a report, The State of Generative AI in Talent Management for Hotel Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Management, exploring the impact of generative AI on various facets of talent management, particularly focusing on the domains of hotel sales, marketing, and revenue management. This is an excerpt from the report.   

Hotel commercial teams across revenue management, sales, and marketing face daily operational burdens that diminish efficiency, job satisfaction, and retention. Generative AI offers a transformative opportunity to alleviate these repetitive tasks, allowing teams to refocus on strategic and creative endeavors. 

In revenue management, toil often involves manual tasks such as updating rate plans, consolidating data from multiple systems, and generating performance reports. These repetitive activities consume valuable time. Generative AI can eliminate the burden of these time-consuming activities, so teams can focus on more strategic activities such as crafting innovative pricing strategies, identifying hidden market opportunities, and designing guest- centered packages. This shift from operational drudgery to strategic thinking restores excitement to the revenue managers work.  

For sales teams, administrative burdens create another layer of inefficiency. Managers spend excessive time creating proposals, managing contracts, and updating systems with duplicate information. Sales teams are spending valuable time formatting presentations, customizing proposals, and maintaining CRM records, which ultimately reduces the time they spend selling. AI’s ability to automate these administrative tasks, enables sales teams to prioritize relationship-building and client engagement. With instant competitive insights during meetings, sales managers can conduct more impactful conversations, leading to higher conversions and deeper satisfaction in their roles.  

Marketing teams also encounter significant toil in their daily operations with routine tasks like scheduling social media posts, updating website content, and compiling basic performance metrics. With generative AI handling these mundane tasks, marketing professionals are rediscovering their creative spark. This allows them to focus on storytelling, brand development, and campaign innovation. Immediate feedback from AI analytics further enhances job satisfaction by showcasing the tangible impact of their creative efforts.  

The positive impact AI has on these commercial roles can foster genuine joy at work. As the Boston Consulting Group described in their study, this “joy effect” not only improves retention but also builds long-term commitment and innovation within organizations. By reducing toil and enhancing meaningful work, generative AI redefines the employee experience, ensuring teams stay engaged, fulfilled, and dedicated to success. Hotels that effectively address toil through AI and process improvements will experience better retention, enhanced innovation, and stronger business outcomes. The key lies in balancing automation with human input to ensure technology supports, rather than replaces, the strategic thinking that drives success in hospitality.  

Read the full report for even more insights into talent management using AI here: global.hsmai.org/research    

The work of the HSMAI Foundation is made possible with support from our Corporate Talent Partners.     

Negotiation Mastery for Commercial Leaders

Former hostage negotiator Sandy Hein, Negotiation Instructor and Coach, The Black Swan Group, knows a thing or two about high-stakes communication. At HSMAI’s Commercial Strategy Week, she’ll show hospitality leaders how to apply those same skills in negotiations, team collaboration, and commercial strategy. 

HSMAI staff had a chance to sit down with Hein and chat about her upcoming session. Hein will introduce the concept of tactical empathy, a trust-based approach to influence that prioritizes deep listening, psychological awareness, and authentic connection. “This isn’t about manipulation,” she says. “It’s about building rapport and influencing with integrity.” 

Attendees can expect to learn: 

  • Levels of listening and why most people aren’t listening as well as they think 
  • Tools like labels, mirrors, dynamic silence, and summarizing to drive conversations forward 
  • How to practice influence in low-stakes settings to prepare for high-stakes deals 
  • Why putting the other party first leads to better outcomes and stronger collaboration 

Hein brings a unique perspective to Commercial Strategy Week, drawing on her 23 years in law enforcement and her work with The Black Swan Group coaching professionals on multimillion-dollar deals. “We’ve used these skills in life-or-death situations, and they work just as powerfully in business,” she explains. 

Her session resonates with the conference’s broader theme of breaking down silos and elevating commercial strategy across functions. “Whether you’re in marketing, sales, or revenue, you’ll leave with communication tools that improve every conversation and every result.” 

Pro tip: Bring a pen and paper. According to Hein, writing things down helps your brain absorb these new techniques. “This is like learning a foreign language you have to practice it, or you lose it.” 

Want to explore more? Hein recommends Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss, Ego, Authority, Failure by Derek Gaunt, and The Black Swan Group’s free resources—including their weekly negotiation newsletter and Negotiation Mastery YouTube channel.

What is the True Cost of Distribution?

Diego Acosta, Director, Partnerships, Flex Pay, HSMAI Revenue Optimization Advisory Board Member 

Understanding the true cost of a hotel booking isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. Between marketing investments, agency fees, and labor costs, even a “direct” booking isn’t always the most profitable. 

Here are a few key insights from a recent HSMAI Revenue Optimization Advisory Board discussion on distribution, profitability, and smarter benchmarking. 

Tools Matter, But So Does Perspective 

Several hotels and management companies are working to get as close as possible to a reservation-level view of costs. While complete granularity may not be realistic, BI platforms such as Juyo Analytics and Kalibri Labs’ Hummingbird can help stitch together key data sources. One Advisory Board member shared, “you can’t always get it down to the reservation level, but you can get pretty close.” 

But not everyone agreed on the value of that level of specificity, as another member said, “You’re just going to create more problems…you’ll spend weeks trying to figure out that number, to have to figure it out again in a few weeks.” It sounds painful but let’s be honest with ourselves here. For the good of the organization, we can’t give up in pursuing this. To do nothing is to light whatever profit you’ve generated on fire.  

Direct Bookings Aren’t Always Cheaper 

Don’t assume direct bookings are more profitable. Take into account the cost of your total investment in capturing a direct booking:
 

  • Ad campaigns  
  • Agency retainers 
  • Third party widgets 
  • Loyalty expenses 
  • Payroll costs, etc. 

 

These are just some of the immediate things to think about that chip away at direct booking margins. If you’re not capturing the full picture, you may be overestimating your return. One board member that works across branded and independent hotels wanted to make it clear, “just because you’re throwing money at that to drive direct bookings doesn’t always mean you end up keeping as much of that as you think.”  

 

NRevPAR Isn’t the End Game 

Net RevPAR has been a helpful benchmark, but it doesn’t fully capture distribution efficiency. Jens Egemalm at Pandox Hotels tries to capture distribution level costs through a formula he uses widely at his hotels  — RevPAR with markups / Net RevPAR — This helps his hotels to find out true channel yield. Like anything, it takes commitment both from an investment in technology and investment in organizational approach and buy in. These things don’t simply happen overnight.  When it’s all said and done, even this is up for debate. As one Board Member pointed out, “if your property isn’t turning rooms daily (e.g., extended stay), understanding net RevPAR per turn can be a more useful lens.” 

 

Loyalty, Labor, and Long-Term ROI 

As we consider the full picture of distribution costs we arrive at the often overlooked costs of Loyalty programs. With discounted rates, free breakfasts, upgrades and so on, we quickly realize that distribution costs for Loyalty programs frequently go unaccounted for in distribution analysis. And let’s not forget sales payroll costs, especially on the group side. These gaps make accurate benchmarking harder—but also more essential. One Advisory Board member added, “to ignore [loyalty costs] in the conversation…I don’t think we’re getting to the real heart of the matter.”  

 

Keep an Eye on PMAX 

If you’re not already exploring Google’s Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns, now’s the time to get curious. PMAX for travel goals is widely used so take the time to educate yourself. You can reach high intent travelers at many different touchpoints with easy set up and optimization. To a small degree it will level the playing field against OTAs and to a larger degree may give you a head start on your competition next door.  

Bottom Line
Start somewhere. In the complex world of hotel distribution, understanding the true cost of bookings is essential for sustainable success. Track as much as you can and find the right tools to help reduce the friction.  As the industry continues to evolve, hotels that are agile, data-driven, and customer-centric will be best positioned to thrive. We all want to improve our Direct Bookings but aiming for a clearer understanding of your distribution costs is the real win. 

Learn More:  

5 Actions You Can Take to Break Down Silos

Kim Snow, Vice President Commercial Strategy, Aimbridge, HSMAI Sales Advisory Board Member 

Sales. Marketing. Revenue Management. Distribution. When these functions operate in silos, the result isn’t just internal frustration, it’s missed revenue, slower decision-making, and inconsistent guest experiences.  

During a recent HSMAI Sales Advisory Board Meeting, Advisory Board Members shared their on-the-ground strategies for breaking down barriers and building up commercial collaboration. 

Here’s what we heard and what you can put into practice. 

What’s at Risk When Silos Rule 

Misalignment slows everything down.
Think RFPs, pricing, and promotional offers stuck in limbo because departments aren’t in sync. One participant summed it up like this: “Customers are dissatisfied. They have to wait longer, it takes three days to get an answer… it just becomes a big, fat dissatisfier.” 

When decisions require multiple approvals across departments, sales teams can’t move fast enough to close deals. This can result in lost opportunities and poor customer experiences. 

Lack of coordination can lead to promotions that undercut the brand or attract less profitable business. Silos make it harder to target high-value segments with unified messaging and strategy. 

Tactics That Are Working 

1) Combine meetings, not just goals.
Several organizations replaced separate sales, revenue, and ops meetings with a single commercial strategy meeting. This creates shared visibility and alignment and accelerates decisions. 

2) Empower sales with smart tools.
One team rolled out a “group booking tool” that allows sales to generate rates and net profitability in 60 seconds—helping them book quickly when green-lit, and flag exceptions when necessary. 

3) Align incentives across departments.
When everyone is bonused on shared goals like total revenue, guest satisfaction, and profitability and it forces cross-functional thinking. 

“It causes you to pause as a sales leader, because you’re responsible for more than just bookings.” 

4) Cross-train and co-locate teams.
From bringing revenue managers into the sales office to merging media and client service teams, the message is clear: proximity fosters trust. One team even physically moved teams together and started cross-training to increase understanding and responsiveness. 

5) Cut the noise, not the collaboration.
More communication isn’t always better. Over-emailing in the name of transparency can bog teams down. Reset expectations and focus on targeted, meaningful collaboration. 

Breaking down silos doesn’t happen by accident. It takes effort, structure, and a culture of mutual respect. One attendee put it simply: “It’s hard work to be collaborative. It doesn’t come naturally. We have to be committed to it.”