Hotels are shifting marketing spends to where travellers scroll, search and book

New Delhi, Travellers today are discovering hotels very differently from how they did just a few years ago. 

What was once driven by glossy brochures, travel magazine features, and outdoor advertising has steadily shifted to search engines, social media feeds, creator-led storytelling, and online reviews.

For hospitality brands, this shift has prompted a major rethink of marketing investments. Instead of relying mainly on traditional brand-building channels, hotels are now balancing storytelling with measurable digital performance. 

A larger share of budgets is going into performance marketing, influencer collaborations and content-led campaigns that help drive both discovery and bookings.

Industry leaders say traditional media still has a place in building credibility and brand visibility. But the centre of gravity in hospitality marketing has clearly moved toward digital ecosystems where travellers research, compare and book their stays.

From curated influencer stays and targeted digital advertising to user-generated content and social storytelling, hotels are exploring new ways to connect with travellers across the digital journey.

Hospitality marketing goes digital-first

Across the hospitality sector, marketing budgets have gradually shifted toward digital-first strategies as travellers rely more on online platforms to research destinations and book hotels. For many hotel groups, digital channels now account for the largest share of marketing investments.

Sarovar Hotels is one such example. A significant portion of the company’s marketing spend now goes toward digital platforms, including performance marketing, social media and online travel platforms.

Nitika Khanna

“Over the last few years, Sarovar’s marketing mix has steadily shifted toward digital-first channels. Close to 65–70% of our marketing investments are digital, spanning performance marketing, social media, online travel platforms, and content-led campaigns,” said Nitika Khanna, Director Marketing and Communications at Sarovar Hotels.

Within that allocation, performance marketing accounts for roughly 30–35%, while influencer collaborations and social storytelling contribute about 10–15%. Traditional media still plays a role in brand credibility and visibility, especially during new hotel launches.

Similar changes are visible across the industry as traveller behaviour becomes more digital and experience-driven.

Moize Rocque

“In recent times, our marketing mix has evolved significantly as traveller behaviour has become increasingly digital and experience-driven,” said Moize Rocque, Director of Sales and Marketing at JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar.

“While traditional media continues to play a role in reinforcing brand presence, a larger share of our investment today is directed toward digital ecosystems, spanning performance marketing, social media storytelling, and content-led platforms.”

For emerging hospitality groups as well, digital performance marketing is becoming central to both brand building and revenue generation.

Amit Kumar Singh

“Over the past 2–3 years, our marketing mix has shifted decisively toward digital-first and performance-led strategies,” said Amit Kumar Singh, Founder and Managing Director of OPO Hotels and Resorts.

“Guest discovery and booking behaviour today is heavily influenced by online research, reviews, and social media, which has naturally reshaped our allocation priorities.”

“As a group, we allocate approximately 1–3% of overall turnover toward marketing, depending on the lifecycle stage of the property. Within that allocation, our current mix is approximately 50–60% digital and performance marketing, 15–20% social media and content marketing, 10–15% influencer collaborations, and 10–15% traditional and trade media.”

The shift toward digital engagement is visible across the broader hospitality ecosystem as well.

“Hospitality marketing has undergone a major transition towards digital-first engagement over the last 2 to 3 years, with an increase in the discovery of hotels through social media, user reviews, and online content,” said Mehardeep Singh, General Manager, Corporate Affairs at Rubystone Hospitality. “Currently, the average budget allocation for digital channels has increased to 65–70%.”

Balancing in-house expertise with agency support

As hospitality marketing becomes more digital and performance-driven, hotel brands are also changing how campaigns are executed. Many companies now use hybrid structures that combine internal strategy teams with external agencies. 

At Sarovar Hotels, core brand strategy and campaign direction are largely handled internally while specialised execution is supported by external partners.

“Core brand direction, campaign strategy, and content alignment are typically managed internally to ensure consistency across the portfolio. External agencies support functions such as creative campaign development, digital media buying, influencer identification, and performance optimisation,” Khanna said.

Creator collaborations in particular are often facilitated through agencies that help identify influencers aligned with specific destinations or audience segments. Some hotel groups prefer to keep marketing operations largely in-house to maintain tighter control.

“At OPO Hotels & Resorts, we primarily operate with an in-house marketing and revenue team,” Singh said.

“Our in-house structure allows us to maintain tighter control over brand messaging, quicker decision-making, and stronger alignment between marketing campaigns and revenue goals.”

External partners are typically brought in for specialised requirements. “For highly specialised requirements such as large-scale video production or PR amplification, we may collaborate with external specialists on a project basis, but the strategic direction remains in-house,” he added.

Rubystone Hospitality follows a similar hybrid approach. “Oftentimes, the out-of-house agencies will fill creative strategies, launch campaigns, and perform influencer collaborations, while we handle brand development, messaging regarding the guest experience, and PR strategy in-house to ensure consistency,” Mehardeep Singh said.

Influencer marketing becomes a core storytelling tool

One of the most visible changes in hospitality marketing has been the growing role of influencer-led storytelling. Hotels are increasingly working with travel creators and lifestyle influencers to showcase experiences such as luxury stays, dining, wellness and destination exploration.

“Influencer collaborations today are a key pillar of our brand storytelling strategy,” Rocque said. “Rather than focusing solely on visibility, we curate partnerships that authentically showcase the hotel’s experiences from culinary and wellness to luxury stays and social occasions. These collaborations may range from experiential stays and curated visits to more structured partnerships with creators whose audience aligns with our brand ethos.”

For many hospitality brands, these collaborations also help highlight the destination itself.

“Influencer collaborations have become an important content discovery and storytelling channel for Sarovar, particularly for leisure, cultural, and destination-led travel,” Khanna said.

Hospitality experiences naturally lend themselves to visual storytelling formats. “Hospitality is a visual and emotional product, and influencer-led content helps translate experiences into aspirational narratives,” Singh said.

“Our approach is structured. For emerging destinations or new openings, we leverage curated barter collaborations with strong content creators. For targeted campaigns or high-impact visibility, we engage in paid partnerships with measurable deliverables.”

Mehardeep Singh

Rubystone Hospitality also works with both barter and paid partnerships. “To do this, we use both barter-type stays, where the influencer receives a hotel room to create original content from multiple angles, in addition to creating paid partnerships within larger promotional campaigns,” Mehardeep Singh said.

Moving beyond visibility to measurable impact

Influencer marketing was once largely measured through reach and impressions. Hospitality brands today are placing greater focus on measurable performance indicators. “Influencer partnerships today are less about transactional visibility and more about long-term storytelling,” Rocque said.

“These collaborations are largely viewed as brand-building investments that strengthen awareness and affinity, though they are also supported by clear performance metrics such as engagement quality, reach within relevant audiences, and ultimately, conversion through owned channels.”

Hotels are also monitoring downstream signals such as website traffic and booking enquiries. “Success is measured through a mix of reach, engagement, content quality, destination visibility, and downstream indicators such as website traffic and booking enquiries,” Khanna said.

OPO Hotels has also started integrating more structured performance indicators into campaigns. “Key KPIs include engagement rate and reach quality, website traffic uplift, direct booking, inquiries during the campaign period, follower growth, content reuse value, and sentiment analysis and brand perception,” Singh said.

Seasonality and user-generated content shape campaigns

Despite the rise of digital strategies, hospitality marketing continues to be shaped by travel seasons and booking cycles. “Seasonality plays a significant role in how we plan our campaigns and partnerships,” Rocque said.

“Whether it is festive celebrations, destination wedding season, or peak leisure travel periods, our brand initiatives are designed to align with moments when travellers are actively seeking curated experiences.”

Hotels often align campaigns with summer holidays, festive periods, wedding seasons and year-end celebrations. “We align campaigns around summer leisure travel, festive and holiday periods, destination wedding season, year-end and New Year travel, and pilgrimage peaks where relevant to the property,” Singh said.

Alongside influencer collaborations, user-generated content has become an important part of hospitality marketing. “Authentic storytelling has become one of the most powerful extensions of our brand narrative. We actively encourage guests to share their experiences organically and work with UGC creators to amplify content across our social platforms,” Rocque said.

For many travellers, real guest content carries stronger credibility than traditional brand messaging. “User-generated content plays a key role in hotel marketing by showcasing authentic guest experiences. Travellers often trust real reviews, photos, and videos more than traditional advertising,” Mehardeep Singh of Rubystone Hospitality added.