2026 Marketing Tips for Hotels

Key Market Insights & Trends for 2026

Understanding how travellers search, book, and spend in 2026 is essential for building a marketing strategy that drives direct revenue. Recent industry reports point to clear behavioural shifts, from changing booking windows to growing demand for personalised, experience-led stays. Below are the most important data-backed insights to guide your hotel’s 2026 planning.

Occupancy, ADR & RevPAR stabilising 

PwC’s UK Hotels Forecast 2024-2025 projects continued stabilisation into 2026, with the industry moving into a slower but more sustainable growth phase. Their analysis shows:

• Regional UK RevPAR forecast to grow by 1.5%

• London RevPAR forecast to grow by 1.8%

This signals a return to steadier booking patterns, but also increased competition as more hotels push for a share of incremental growth.

Personalised, identity-driven travel

Booking.com’s travel predictions for 2026 highlight a major shift toward guests designing stays that express their identity, values, and lifestyle choices. Key behaviour trends include:

• Travellers seeking highly personalised itineraries

• Growing demand for stays that feel “uniquely theirs”

• Experiences are becoming just as important as room type or rate

This reinforces the need for creative packages, strong storytelling, and content-led marketing.

Digital decision-making accelerates 

Guests now expect instant information, personalised recommendations, and seamless digital journeys, all helpfully provided by AI. Hotel marketing trends for 2025-26 show:

• Strong growth in mobile-first booking behaviour, as well as mobile-pay dominance, and mobile keys for hotel rooms.

• Increasing reliance on AI-based assistants, chatbots, and curated suggestions when planning stays
  
  

Hotels that invest in digital clarity, speed, and communication will win more direct conversions.

Sustainability, wellness & local experiences 

Social Hospitality reports that wellness, sustainability and local experiences are what travellers are looking for in 2025, with predictions for this to carry forward through 2026.

For context, travellers in 2026 are choosing hotels that:

• Demonstrate meaningful sustainability practices

• Offer wellness-driven stays, from spa escapes to digital detoxes

• Connect them with local culture, food, or nature

Opportunities & Challenges for Hotels

The shifts shaping 2026 present both exciting opportunities and important challenges. With guest expectations evolving and digital discovery accelerating, hotels must be more agile, intentional, and value-driven than ever. Below, we’ll break down what the latest trends mean in practice, and where smart marketing can make the biggest impact.

Booking with purpose yet expecting more 

Travellers are no longer choosing hotels based solely on price or location. According to Booking.com’s 2026 forecast linked above, guests are seeking stays that reflect their identity and values. This means hotels need to communicate not just what they offer, but who they are.

Opportunity:
Hotels that clearly articulate their personality, through storytelling, content, and guest experiences, will stand out in a crowded market.

Challenge:
Generic marketing and outdated websites risk making a property invisible to modern travellers who expect authenticity and clarity.

Competition is growing, while growth is stabilising

PwC forecasts modest RevPAR growth into 2026 (1.5% regional UK, 1.8% London), meaning demand is steady but not soaring. Hotels need to be proactive if they want more than their “fair share” of bookings.

Opportunity:
Hotels that invest in targeted marketing, smart revenue strategy, and high-impact digital presence can outperform the market average.

Challenge:
Complacency (doing “what worked last year”) could lead to stagnation as competitors evolve.

Digital convenience is non-negotiable

Guests expect seamless digital journeys, fast mobile experiences, clear room information, and AI-assisted support. Research shows travellers increasingly rely on mobile and chat-based planning tools when deciding where to stay, so optimising for these is the best course of action in 2026.

Opportunity:
Hotels that embrace AI-driven tools, optimised mobile journeys, and intuitive booking engines will convert more direct revenue.

Challenge:
Hotels without modern digital infrastructure risk losing guests to OTAs, competitors, or platforms that deliver answers faster.

Experiences, wellness, and sustainability 

Across multiple reports, guests express a desire for meaningful, wellness-oriented and environmentally conscious travel. Hotels offering these elements gain a powerful point of differentiation.

Opportunity:
Experiential packages, curated local itineraries, plant-forward dining, and sustainability storytelling can set hotels apart.

Challenge:
Hotels ignoring these values risk feeling outdated or out of touch with what modern travellers care about.

Our Tips for Hotels in 2026

With traveller behaviour evolving and digital decision-making shifting rapidly, your hotel needs a marketing strategy that feels modern, relevant, and value-driven. Below are the most important steps your hotel can take to stay ahead in 2026, each backed by the trends highlighted earlier.

Build a flexible, seasonal marketing plan

Europe’s demand pattern remains consistent: summer peaks, shoulder seasons struggle, and short-stay demand is surprisingly steady. 

To make the most of this:

• Create a seasonal content and campaign plan for spring getaways, summer escapes, autumn breaks, and winter wellness

• Push local and short-break campaigns outside peak season: spa escapes, foodie weekends, theatre breaks, walking retreats

• Align key promotions with major holidays and events (Easter, bank holidays, half-terms, Christmas markets, local festivals)

• Use early-booker and late-escape offers to fill gaps in occupancy
  
  

Smart seasonality management gives you a competitive edge, especially with a modest RevPAR growth forecast for 2026.

Prioritise personalisation across every guest touchpoint

2026 travellers expect experiences that feel curated and personal. Hotels should:

• Use first-party data (CRM, email, historical bookings) to segment guests by interest and behaviour

• Create tailored campaigns, e.g., “spa lovers,” “foodies,” “families,” “couples,” “solo explorers.”

• Add personalised upsells: room upgrades, spa slots, late checkouts, and add-on experiences

• Use AI chat tools to answer guest questions and recommend stays in real time
  
  

Elevate experience-led content & storytelling

With identity-driven and experiential travel on the rise, you need more than a good rate: you need a compelling story. After all, content builds desire and desire drives bookings.

Focus on:

• Video content: room walkthroughs, spa tours, staff spotlights, local experiences

• Blogs and guides: “48 hours in…”, “Best local walks/bars/spas,” “What to do this season

• Social storytelling on Instagram and TikTok, behind the scenes, food prep, and guest experiences

• Package pages built around experiences, not discounts
  
  

Strengthen your direct booking strategy

With rising price comparison behaviour, hotels need to make their direct offer unmistakably valuable. The more value you show, the more direct revenue you capture.

Key actions:

• Ensure rate parity across OTAs, or beat them with added value

• Optimise your booking engine: fast, mobile-first, simple, transparent

• Provide exclusive direct perks: breakfast, late checkout, spa credit, parking, and welcome drinks

• Use exit-intent pop-ups to save bookings

• Run direct-only campaigns tied to seasonal demand

Improve digital experience & communication

Modern guests expect seamless, instant, mobile-friendly interaction. (Source: HotelBuddy)

That means:

• A clean, fast, responsive website with clear room information

• Mobile-first booking funnels

• Upgraded digital communications: WhatsApp messaging, automated emails, and pre-arrival recommendations

• AI chatbots to answer common questions immediately

• Clear, high-quality photography and refreshed videos
  
  

Convenience converts, and a poor digital experience is now a booking deal-breaker.

Design Packages for how people want to travel in 2026

Use behavioural trends to create packages that align with guest desires. These packages should be visible, bookable, and story-led, not buried within your site.

• Wellness, spa and reset packages

• Experience bundles: dining, walks, shows, local activities

• Short stay escapes: 1-2 night stay offers outside peak season

• Sustainability/eco-focused stays

• Celebration and milestone packages (birthdays, anniversaries)

Embrace sustainability and talk about it clearly

Guests value meaningful commitments to sustainability, and this is a trend that we predict will keep growing YoY. Today’s travellers want to see what you’re doing, not just what you’re promising. To become a pillar in sustainable stays and target guests who seek stays centred around these kinds of values, consider:

• Eco-friendly operations

• Using local suppliers

• Prioritising plant-forward dining

• Waste reduction initiatives

• Community involvement

Use data to guide pricing & demand strategy

With modest growth forecast, hotels need to work smarter with revenue management.

Key steps:

• Review your historical booking window trends

• Track demand spikes and dips weekly

• Adjust rates dynamically using demand data

• Run A/B tests on offers and rate plans

• Watch for OTA price undercuts or distortions
  
  

The goal: stay competitive without sacrificing profitability.

Make 2026 Your Most Strategic Year Yet

If there’s one thing the data makes clear, it’s this: 2026 won’t reward hotels that simply keep doing what they’ve always done. Traveller expectations are shifting, digital behaviour is evolving, and guests are more discerning, value-driven, and experience-focused than ever before. But that’s exactly where the opportunity lies.

With modest but stable growth forecast for the year ahead, the hotels that stand out will be the ones that think strategically, market creatively, and stay genuinely connected to what guests want. From personalisation and storytelling to digital excellence, sustainability, and experience-led packages, the strategies that matter most in 2026 are the ones that make your hotel feel relevant, modern, and undeniably worth booking. And the best part? None of this requires guesswork. You have clear trends, data-backed insights, and a calendar year full of demand patterns you can tap into with the right campaigns. The groundwork is here; all that’s left is to build on it.

So here’s to 2026: a year of smarter marketing, stronger direct bookings, and standout guest experiences. With the right strategy in place, your hotel won’t just keep up with the industry; it will lead it. Let’s make this your strongest year yet.