How to Use Destination Marketing To Sell Hotel Rooms

Travelers often choose their destination before selecting a hotel. This means that your hotel’s success heavily relies on promoting the location rather than just the hotel itself. By leveraging destination marketing, you can highlight your location and attract more guests. Discover how destination marketing can assist you in booking more hotel accommodations.

What is Destination Marketing?

Destination marketing aims to promote a specific location. It aims to attract tourists. The goal is to promote the destination more than the hotel. Even though tourism boards usually handle destination marketing, hotels can use it to their advantage. By doing so, they can become more attractive and boost bookings.

How to Implement Destination Marketing

Develop a Marketing Plan

Every hotel should have a well-defined marketing plan. This plan should cover website content, social media, and email marketing strategies. Integrating destination marketing into these channels can significantly boost your visibility and appeal.

Create Compelling Content

Don’t only focus on your hotel’s features. Highlight local spots and unique experiences. Use clear, vivid descriptions and engaging stories. Add high-quality images. Make sure the content matches what your audience likes. Share insider tips and personal stories to keep readers interested and coming back for more.

Craft a “Hero” Piece of Content

Create a detailed blog post about your destination. You can share this content on social media and through email newsletters. Optimize it with relevant keywords so it ranks well for local attractions and activities. A good blog helps travelers find your hotel. It shows up when they search for nearby activities.

Optimize Your Social Media Strategy

When using social media, balance hotel-related content with destination-focused posts. Share captivating images and videos of local attractions, events, and scenic views. Create engaging captions with local tips and recommendations. This method engages your audience effectively. It maintains their interest in both the destination and your hotel. 

Collaborate to Increase Your Reach

Partner with Local Tourism Boards

Local tourism boards are important for destination marketing. They have newsletters and social media channels where you can share your content. Connect with them to explore collaboration, like guest blog posts or joint campaigns. Use tourism hashtags and join their campaigns to boost your visibility.

Collaborate with Local Businesses

Form partnerships with local attractions, restaurants, and tour operators. Avoid collaborating with other hotels to prevent conflicts of interest. Cross-promote with businesses that improve the visitor experience. Share their content on your social media and blog. Ask them to promote your business too. This mutual promotion helps both businesses attract more guests and reach new audiences.

Engage Micro-Influencers

Micro-influencers have micro but more engaged followings. Find those who match your target audience. Work with them to reach more people. They can create and share content about their experiences, offering authentic exposure to your hotel and destination. Ensure you have a clear agreement on what you expect from the collaboration, especially if you plan to use their content in paid marketing efforts.

Utilize Guest-Generated Content

Encourage guests to share their experiences using a unique hotel hashtag. This user-generated content provides fresh and authentic images for your marketing efforts. Share this content on your social media and website. Offer giveaways or special deals to encourage guest participation.

Reach Out to Travel Media

Travel magazines and news sites can provide valuable exposure. Contact travel editors to offer a complimentary stay in exchange for coverage. Backlinks from authoritative travel media sites improve your SEO and drive traffic to your website. Participate in familiarization programs organized by local tourism offices to increase your chances of media coverage.

Leverage Destination Marketing Platforms

Consider collaborating with destination marketing platforms like Weekend Escapes. These platforms feature content about local attractions and include mentions of hotels. Partnering with such platforms can drive interest and generate warm leads for your hotel.

Converting Destination Marketing into Bookings

Build Your Brand and Sell the Experience

Modern travelers want more than just a place to stay; they seek an experience. Destination marketing to build a compelling brand that emphasizes the local experience. Highlight the unique aspects of the destination and how your hotel complements this experience.

Engage with Potential Guests

Travelers often need to see a brand several times before booking. Make your content interesting and diverse on blogs, social media, and emails. Update it regularly to keep your hotel in their thoughts.

Implement Retargeting Strategies

Use cookies to show ads to website visitors on social media and Google. Add pop-up boxes to collect email subscriptions. Retargeting keeps your hotel visible and encourages bookings.

Develop a Marketing Funnel

A marketing funnel guides potential guests from initial interest to booking. Start with engaging destination content, introduce your hotel, and make a compelling offer. Each step in the funnel should guide potential guests toward booking. A well-made funnel boosts the chance of turning interest into reservations.

Conclusion

Destination marketing promotes the location first and your hotel second. Create interesting content, form key partnerships, and use smart marketing to attract more visitors. Build a strong brand that shows off the local experience. Use destination marketing to make your hotel stand out.