20 Country Marketing Strategies to Attract More Tourists in 2026
One of the most important tasks of a tourist board organization or DMO is to research and analyze the main objectives of your country's marketing plan to drive tourist traffic to your target region. There are several ways you can promote your country. This article gives insights into the best country marketing strategies that help attract more visitors in 2026. Table of Contents: What Is Country Marketing? Why Is Country Marketing Important? Who Is Responsible
Balancing System and Manual Forecasts for Ideal Hotel Budgeting
Question for Our Revenue Management Expert Panel: What is the “ideal” budget process for hotels? Is it relying entirely on tech-based forecasting, or also maintaining manual forecasts to ensure accuracy? (Question proposed by Mariska van Heemskerk) Our Revenue Management Expert Panel Niko Krauseneck - Founder, RevenueRebel Massimiliano Terzulli - Revenue Management Consultant, Franco Grasso Revenue Team Chaya Kowal - Director of Revenue Management, Potato Head Family Dermot Herlihy
How Can Independent Hotels Boost Direct Bookings Against OTAs?
Question for Our Hotel Marketing Expert Panel Independent hotels face strong competition for direct bookings in an OTA-dominated market. What strategies can they use to convert guests through their own channel? (Question proposed by Max Starkov) Our Marketing Expert Panel Max Starkov - Adjunct Professor Hospitality Technology, New York University Moriya Rockman - Chief of Marketing, Smiling House Luxury Global Tamie Matthews - Revenue, Sales & Marketing
Best Luxury Travel Bags for Men
Alright, look - travel squeezes your life into strange little pockets. One minute you're gliding out of a car at Terminal 4 feeling like you've finally gotten ahead of your life, and the next minute you're sweating through a last-minute gate change and pretending your bag isn't low-key sabotaging you. A bag sets the tone. A good one calms you down, keeps your gear where it belongs, and gives you that "okay, I'm not falling
How Smart Access Technology is Transforming Guest Experience
In the hospitality industry, the first impression often begins long before a guest steps into their room. The way guests access a property and its amenities often shapes their first impression of the overall experience. For years, the magnetic stripe key card was the standard, a significant step up from metal keys. Today, however, guest expectations have evolved, and technology has advanced far beyond that simple swipe. Smart facility access is no longer a futuristic concept but a vital tool for enhancing the guest experience, streamlining operations, and gathering valuable data. Beyond the Key Card The traditional key card, while
Hotel Activities: Essential Guide to Engaging Guest Experiences
Hotel activities are the various things guests can do for enjoyment during their stay. Examples can range from spa treatments and live entertainment, to city tours and outdoor adventure activities. The hotel activities on offer can make a huge difference to the guest experience, helping to create memorable moments. Designing your hotel to offer interesting or unique activities can help separate your hotel from rivals. In this article, you will discover some of the most
What Does ChatGPT’s Booking Shift Mean for Hotels
AI search is quickly changing how travelers discover, compare, and choose hotels. As ChatGPT moves away from completing transactions inside the platform, hotels have a stronger opportunity to turn AI-driven discovery into direct website traffic. This shift makes Generative Engine Optimization more important than ever. Hotel websites need clear answers, structured content, schema markup, and trusted authority signals to appear in AI-generated recommendations. In this article, you’ll learn how hotels can adapt their content strategy
Why Hotels Are Choosing Independence Over Brand Affiliation
For decades, hotel brands represented stability, scale, and security. Affiliation offered global distribution, loyalty programs, technology systems, and operational guidance that independent owners struggled to replicate. But the hospitality landscape has changed. Access to demand, modern technology, and digital marketing tools is no longer exclusive to brand ecosystems. At the
AI and Revenue Management: 3 Avoidable Mistakes for Hotels
Lightning‑fast data analysis, conversational deep dives into performance trends, and drastically reduced reporting workloads. AI promises hospitality leaders unprecedented speed and efficiency. It’s no wonder the industry is buzzing with excitement. Yet in today’s AI gold‑rush environment—full of hype, noise, and fear‑of‑missing‑out messaging—the risk of missteps has never been higher.
From Fragmented PMS to Forecast Confidence: A Case Study
Managing revenue across multiple properties is complex. When different PMS systems, inconsistent data, and slow reporting are added to the mix, clarity disappears quickly. Revenue teams spend more time reconciling numbers than shaping strategy, and forecast confidence begins to erode. In multi-PMS environments, trust in data becomes the real bottleneck.