Many hoteliers share this uneasy feeling. There’s often a gap between reported figures and economic reality. The property was well booked - but how many of those guests actually came via the promoted campaigns? And how exactly was that revenue calculated?

With an agency that delivers more than clicks, flaunts ROAS and ROI numbers, you think you're on solid ground. Finally, numbers that sound economically meaningful. You believe your marketing reporting has reached a new level: a bright spot in the jungle of marketing!

The Pitfall in Hotel Marketing

But here's the trap in hotel marketing: ROAS and ROI may look professional, but they are only as reliable as the assumptions underlying them. Dig a bit deeper, and it becomes evident: many of these reports are merely attractively polished estimates. Apparently transparent metrics can mislead when they’re based on imprecise assumptions.

Generic averages, unverified revenue allocations, or missing real PMS data often result in economic success that looks impressive - yet is not based on facts. The result: a report that suggests more than it proves and becomes a “black box” rather than a trustworthy decision-making tool.

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Time for clarity: In this article, you will learn what is really behind ROAS and ROI, how the values are calculated correctly - and how you can tell whether your reporting is economically reliable or only convincing on paper.

What “Return on Ad Spend” Actually Measures - and What Doesn't

Your ROAS might sound spectacular: 1,000% Return on Ad Spend! But beneath the shine, it often lacks substance. ROAS simply compares the advertising budget to the revenue attributed to a single campaign - frequently relying on simplified assumptions.

The key figure therefore appears impressive at first, but the significance is limited only to individual (paid) advertising campaigns and not the entire hotel marketing.

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 <img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/673f1b4d7fc04861927e7983/6793e75bb4e588f56db3f9a5_info_icon.svg" loading="lazy" alt="Info Icon" class="infobox_1_icon">
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 ROAS = revenue from advertising/advertising budget. <br /><br />ROAS stands for return on ad spend. It compares the advertising budget used with the turnover that is attributed to an advertising campaign.
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 <a href="https://www.additive.eu/en/glossary/roas-hotel-marketing" class="btn_txt_link w-inline-block">
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For example:

• Revenue: €10,000
• Advertising Budget: €1,000
• ROAS = 10,000 ÷ 1,000 = 1,000%
  
  

While this appears excellent, it ignores further costs such as agency fees. More critically, when the assigned revenue isn’t backed by real PMS booking data but instead by modeled estimates, the ROAS quickly becomes a pseudo-metric.

In reality, this happens more often than expected, as not all agencies have real-time interfaces to common hotel PMS systems to import real sales figures. All important details on the subject of “revenue calculation” are discussed below.

In short: A high ROAS does not automatically mean economic success - especially not when the revenue has only been modelled rather than measured.

Why True “Return on Investment” Means More Than a Buzzword

The ROI considers all marketing costs and compares them to actual revenue - optimally sourced from the PMS. This transparency provides real clarity on how economically effective a campaign truly was.

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 <div class="u-text-style-small u-weight-bold u-color-gold-100">What is “ROI”?</div>
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 <p class="u-text-style-main u-weight-bold u-mb-4">
 ROI = Sales through Advertising/ Total Advertising Costs <br /> <br /> The return on investment (ROI) is a key figure in marketing that measures the financial success of an investment.
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 <a href="https://www.additive.eu/en/glossary/roi-hotel-marketing" class="btn_txt_link w-inline-block">
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This includes advertising budget, agency fees, software licenses for the marketing services provided and much more.

Consider this example:

• Revenue: €10,000
• Advertising Budget: €1,000
• Agency Fees: €400
• Total Costs = €1,400
• ROI = 10,000 ÷ 1,400 ≈ 714%
  
  

This 714% ROI is very good - but clearly lower than the shining, yet superficial, 1,000% ROAS.

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src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/673f1b4d7fc04861927e7983/689cbcc0c5f76fe46f73fbee_800x800px%20-%20Nora%20Ausserhofer%2C%20ADDITIVE.webp" loading="lazy" alt=""
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"ROAS and ROI are not opposing metrics - both are justified in marketing, but they shed light on different levels: ROAS measures the return of individual paid advertising campaigns in terms of the advertising budget used, while the ROI represents the profitability of the entire marketing effort. Only those who understand this difference can make well-founded comparisons and make the right decisions." </div>
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- Nora Ausserhofer, Team Lead Customer Success Management
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At first glance, ROI seems to be the “safer” metric when it comes to assessing marketing success. But be careful here too: The significance of the key figure stands or falls not only with the calculated costs, but above all with the calculation of revenue. And here too, many agencies are getting creative: with estimated booking values, generic assumptions or without clear, comprehensible Attribution models - i.e. the attribution of certain successes to specific marketing measures. So even the ROI can mislead.

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 <img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/673f1b4d7fc04861927e7983/6793e75bb4e588f56db3f9a5_info_icon.svg" loading="lazy" alt="Info Icon" class="infobox_1_icon">
 <div class="u-text-style-small u-weight-bold u-color-gold-100">What is attribution?</div>
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 <p class="u-text-style-main u-weight-bold u-mb-4">
 Attribution models are used in online marketing to assign conversions or sales achieved to specific touchpoints within the individual advertising channels of an online campaign. Marketing attribution involves finding out which touchpoints influence a user in which order in such a way that a conversion occurs.
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 <a href="https://www.additive.eu/en/glossary/attribution-models" class="btn_txt_link w-inline-block">
 <div class="btn_txt_link-txt u-text-style-small u-weight-bold">Open Glossary</div>
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The Danger of Flawed Revenue Calculations: If the Basis is incorrect, every Key Figure is Worthless

Whether ROI or ROAS - both indicators are based on one key value: Revenue. But this is exactly where many reports do not calculate properly. Because instead of accessing real bookings and PMS data, many marketing providers resort to the following detours:

• Extrapolations from leads or inquiries (e.g. every 10th request results in a booking with an average turnover of €900)
  
• Flat rates per conversion (e.g. €0.50 per click on an offer)
  
• Flat rates per booking (e.g. average booking value regardless season or target group)
  
• Standardised assumptions based on previous periods or industry averages
  
• Overly simplistic attribution that assigns revenue to a single campaign even when multiple touchpoints are involved
  
• Lack of segmentation (e.g. mixing of new and returning guests)
  
• Poor tracking data without PMS or CRM integration
  
  

Overall, these igures might look professional at first glance.

Particularly tricky: These “optimized” figures appear to generate high profitability - but in reality, the entire ROI or ROAS is based on an uncertain foundation. And that leads to incorrect budget and strategy decisions, that are aligned more with illusion than reality.

In short:

Without real sales data from the hotel PMS system, both ROAS and ROI remain pure theory.

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<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"Transparency in figures is not a detail, but a basic requirement for economic decisions. An ROI without real booking data is not a management tool - but a guessing game."</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main">- Armin Gögele, Head of Customer Success Management</div></div></div>

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How ADDITIVE Delivers 100% Measurability and Transparency

1. ADDITIVE+ MARKETING INSIGHTS: The technological Benchmark in Measurable Hotel Marketing

While a clean and realistic ROI calculation in hotel marketing is still a challenge for many agencies today, ADDITIVE has been using the most advanced tracking technology and seamless interfaces with leading hotel PMS systems for years to enable precise calculation. This pioneering technology was developed by an expert team at ADDITIVE and its use has been tested and perfected over several years.

ADDITIVE consistently implements what many systems only promise: proprietary software that links campaign data with real bookings - directly from the hotel PMS, segmented by guest type (new vs. returning vs. regular guests), length of stay, origin and booking value. This translates every marketing contact into its actual economic contribution and not merely clicks.

For hoteliers, this means no more isolated figures, no more assumptions - but a clear basis for making decisions on budgets, strategies and measures.

ADDITIVE+ MARKETING INSIGHTS was not just a milestone - it was a game changer in data-based hotel marketing. No other system in the holiday hotel industry has implemented the combination of marketing measures and real added value so precisely and comprehensibly. The development was groundbreaking, and is now the benchmark in hotel marketing, which numerous agencies and systems are trying to orient themselves to.

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2. The A+ ROI of ADDITIVE: Transparency and long-term vision instead of rigid theory

However, the requirements of modern hotel marketing do not end with the calculation of a realistic ROI in marketing, but should also take into account the future potential of the marketing investment in order to make long-term decisions.

The reason: not every conversion results in a booking in the same month. It often takes several contact points before a guest makes a reservation - especially in the high-end holiday and luxury hotel segment.

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ADDITIVE therefore also includes this idea in the calculation and shows two central values separately from each other in reporting:

• Reservation Revenue actually achieved:
  Real reservations and revenue made during the period under review are imported directly from the hotel-PMS system, clearly assigned to a campaign: forgery-proof and traceable at any time.
  
  
• Calculated added value:
  What economic value do ongoing measures also generate in the long term?
  The added value takes into account future booking potential and thus the long-term contribution of leads, inquiries or newsletter subscribers to a future booking along the entire guest journey.
  

The calculation logic for value creation is openly visible - not a black box, but maximum transparency. In turn, our unique ADDITIVE+ MARKETING INSIGHTS tracking software is a prerequisite for this precision.

The combination of groundbreaking software development and around 20 years of hotel marketing expertise creates a real basis for decisions for hotels: for budget management, campaign evaluation and strategic orientation - with an ROI that deserves its name.

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Conclusion: Profitability is not reflected in a Percentage, but in Revenue

Hoteliers need reporting that shows real profitability - with full costs, real sales and a clear connection to PMS. Only those who can clearly differentiate between ROAS and ROI can make well-founded decisions.

It is not only the key figure itself that is important - but how it was calculated. Anyone who does not know or question the logic behind this risks false conclusions and inefficient budgets.

• Which conversions count? Only real bookings are valid, no extrapolated assumptions
  
• Where does the sales data come from? Without PMS integration, projections are barely reliable.
  
• How exactly are sales and bookings allocated to the individual measures and platforms? The attribution model used determines the validity of each success indicator.
  
• Are all fixed and variable costs taken into account? Only a complete cost model delivers realistic results.
  
  

Transparency and understanding are therefore the basis for every successful collaboration in hotel marketing. Only those who know what marketing actually brings can invest safely.

This is exactly where ADDITIVE comes in: holistic, ROI tracking with separate reporting of real turnover and long-term added value for hotels. So that your investments not only look good - they also have a real economic impact.

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