Good day fellow hoteliers and welcome to episode 271 of The Hotel Marketing Podcast by TravelBoom. I’m your host Pete DiMaio, and I’m Mackenzie Livernois, and we’re the boomsquad.
Today we’re going to lend a hand to all those struggling boutique hotel owners who are trying so hard to market their properties in a competitive and ever-changing market.
Know what else is cool? This is the 1st episode of our new format where we’ll be live streaming to both YouTube and LinkedIn!
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@travelboommarketing
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travelboommarketing
Newsaroos:
Marriott Launches First Autograph Collection Safari Camp in Serengeti:
https://moderncampground.com/africa/marriott-to-launch-first-autograph-collection-safari-camp-in-serengeti-by-late-2025/
TravelBoom Insights:
- RV parks and campgrounds have seen consistent growth of 4.3% per year over the past year, with a market size of 10.7 billion.
- In the past three years that number has accelerated to 9.3%
- Luxury/Amenity Rich Parks: fastest growing segment
- Glamping/Hybrid camping models are sought after
TravelBoom’s Room for Improvement: Fixing Hotel Failures
https://www.reddit.com/r/hotels/comments/1jtlf3e/booked_an_adults_only_hotel_only_to_be_defrauded/
The Main Topic: 3 Biggest Challenges For Boutique Hotels & How to Solve Them
1. Limited Resources (Time, Budget, Staff)
The Challenge: Boutique hotel operators often wear multiple hats—marketing, operations, guest services. With lean teams and tight budgets, strategic marketing gets deprioritized, leading to missed opportunities in CRO, email automation, or metasearch management.
Why It Hurts:
- With fewer marketing touchpoints, boutique hotels struggle to attract and convert direct bookings.
- Time constraints = reactive, not proactive marketing = reliance on OTAs.
How to Solve It:
- Outsource Wisely: Partner with agencies like TravelBoom that act as an extension of your team, providing agile, data-fueled campaign execution.
- Prioritize High-ROI Tactics: Focus on email automation, review management, and CRO—these drive direct bookings with minimal overhead.
- Leverage Smart Automation: Implement a CRM that integrates with your PMS to trigger upsells, abandoned cart nudges, and personalized offers.
2. Occupancy Fluctuations
The Challenge: Boutique hotels often see wide swings in occupancy due to seasonality, economic shifts, or event reliance. Many average just 62% occupancy annually—well below the 80% target needed for optimal profitability.
Why It Hurts:
- Unpredictable revenue makes budgeting, staffing, and reinvestment difficult.
- Low occupancy periods deepen OTA reliance and reduce RevPAR and ProPAR.
How to Solve It:
- Create Off-Season Demand: Develop niche packages—wellness retreats, culinary experiences, and other unique events—to entice off-peak travelers.
- Use Behavioral Retargeting: Re-engage site visitors with personalized offers that fill gaps in your booking calendar.
- Tap Remote Workers & Locals: Offer mid-week specials, extended stay rates, or “work-from-hotel” packages to stabilize demand.
3. A Crowded, Competitive Marketing Landscape
The Challenge: Travelers have hundreds of options at their fingertips. Competing against branded chains and OTA-saturated listings makes it hard for boutiques to stand out—especially online.
Why It Hurts:
- Without differentiation, boutique hotels lose out on price-driven searches.
- The noise can drown out your brand’s personality and unique experience.
How to Solve It:
- Focus on Storytelling: Use influencer partnerships and UGC to tell authentic stories. Remember: 28% of bookings are influenced by creators.
- Hyper-Local Content: Promote your connection to the destination—highlight local artisans, events, food culture. 46% of travelers seek local experiences.
- Optimize Your Digital Funnel: From SEO to metasearch, ensure your brand voice carries through.
60 Seconds to Success:
Audit your website, online listings, and printed materials to confirm accuracy. The Reddit story we covered today is a perfect example where a guest checked into a 21+ property expecting a weekend away from the kids, only to be greeted by kids doing cannonballs. Not only are you misleading your guests, you’re also opening yourself up to a huge PR nightmare if a guest feels particularly slighted.
So what do you do, or the person who knows your property the best?
- Make sure you have your policies and amenity set handy
- Reivew your site
- Review TripAdivisor, the OTAs, Yelp, Google, Bing, and other listings
- Review your printed materials
- Review your marketing guides for your social team, front desk, and anyone who speaks to a guest.
Ensure the experience you’re describing in your market channels reflects what a guest will enjoy. Not only is it a best practice, but it also makes you a better innkeeper.
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to @_travelboom or info@travelboommarketing.com.