Marketing Real Talk: a new series for more insight into hotel marketing

Today’s hotel marketing is data-driven, powered by technology, and seemingly more measurable than ever before. But that’s exactly where the problem begins: what looks like full transparency at first glance often turns out to be little more than a dazzling numbers game.

In our new series Marketing Real Talk, we debunk common myths, expose widespread mistakes in reporting practices, and focus on what truly matters: measurable business impact for hotels - not just numbers on a page.

Because one thing is certain: many hotels are already investing in advertising, software tools, and agencies - and still find themselves wondering whether the effort is truly paying off. The reasons for this are deep-rooted and systemic.

What is going wrong in Hotel Marketing - and why Reporting is a Reflection of it

The hotel industry is under pressure: rising ad costs, shorter booking windows, decreasing guest loyalty, and growing dependence on OTAs. Despite complex reports, the connection between marketing efforts and actual bookings is often missing. Common reporting issues include:

• Revenue estimates or projections instead of real booking data from the hotel’s PMS-system
• Duplicate results, where one booking appears as multiple conversions
• ROI and ROAS calculations based on unclear cost and revenue inputs
• Shallow click and visibility metrics with little economic relevance for the hotel industry

The result? Decisions based on gut feeling rather than control. Confidence in marketing should not come from flashy charts — but from the link between guest data, occupancy, and actual revenue.

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"Many reports answer questions that were never asked a and leave the important ones unanswered. That's where real talk begins." </div>
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Joachim Leiter, Executive & Head of Marketing and Sales
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Why Hoteliers Must Start Asking the Right Questions

“Marketing works” - that's what every report promises. But who determines what counts as success? Platforms such as Google and Meta like to attribute successes, i.e. “conversions” achieved, to themselves. And many agencies follow blindly. Without their own rating systems, without neutral control as to whether the figures in the reports match reality or whether Google and Facebook may each claim the same booking as a success. The result: black box reporting that distorts results and budgets and leads hotels into costly illusions.

But it doesn’t have to be that way: all it takes is the right questions, meaningful KPIs, and reporting that not only collects data but evaluates it in terms of business impact. That’s exactly where our new series comes in.

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What To Expect in the Upcoming Editions

In the next “Marketing Real Talk” articles, we will take a closer look at the following key topics:

• #1: Why ROI and ROAS are only as good as their basis
• #2: Seven questions to unmask superficial reporting
• #3: The big attribution trap - how a single booking suddenly turns into three
  
  

And this is just the beginning. For over 20 years, we’ve been working at the intersection of hotel marketing and technology - with one goal in mind: to bring clarity to complexity and empower hoteliers to make informed decisions. Time and again, we witness how creatively data is manipulated when real figures are missing or systems are poorly integrated.

Some reports may seem solid at first glance. But ask the right questions, and the gaps become obvious.

That’s the mission of Marketing Real Talk: to provide direction, foster clarity, and redefine what modern hotel marketing should truly deliver. With a deep understanding of hospitality’s challenges and a commitment to quality that goes far beyond short-term campaign metrics.

Not as a theoretical ideal - but based on what works in real life, for those who want to do more than do marketing: they want to understand it.