Marketing in Hospitality — The Complete Guide to Strategy, Careers, and Growth
Marketing in hospitality spans hotels, restaurants, bars, travel, leisure, and events. It blends guest experience, brand storytelling, and performance channels to drive bookings, covers, memberships, and loyalty. This guide explains what hospitality marketing involves, key skills, career paths, when to use specialist agencies, and how The Hidden Market connects hospitality brands with high-impact marketing talent.
Founder’s Insight – James Gilford on Marketing in Hospitality
"Hospitality marketing lives at the intersection of service and performance. You’re selling moments — not just rooms or tables — so creative, social proof, and guest experience must line up with measurable outcomes like occupancy, RevPAR, ADR, covers, and repeat visits."
James Gilford – Founder – The Hidden Market
We recruit across independent venues, multi-site groups, luxury hotels, resorts, members’ clubs, and travel brands — placing marketers who can balance brand, content, and revenue management goals.
More info on Marketing Recruitment?
Explore our Marketing Recruitment Guide for roles, trends, and insights across industries.
What Is Marketing in Hospitality?
Hospitality marketing encompasses the strategies that attract and retain guests: brand positioning, local SEO, listings/OTAs, paid media, social & influencer activity, email & loyalty, partnerships, and on-property activation. The aim is to turn awareness into bookings and repeat stays or visits while protecting margin.
Successful teams align with operations and revenue management — ensuring campaigns feed demand calendars, seasonality, events, and upsell opportunities (F&B, spa, experiences).
Experience-Led and Digital-First
Guest research is digital. Search, maps, reviews, social content, and influencers shape consideration. Personalisation, CRM, and first-party data now sit alongside OTAs and metasearch to deliver profitable demand and build direct relationships.
Key Roles in Hospitality Marketing
Roles include Marketing Manager, Digital/Performance Lead, Social & Content Manager, CRM/Email Specialist, Partnerships & PR Manager, and Brand Manager. Larger groups add Cluster/Regional Marketing and Revenue-aligned positions.
How to Build a Career in Hospitality Marketing
This field suits storytellers who love service and data. The best practitioners understand guest journeys, local markets, and the levers that move occupancy and covers.
Skills You Need
Local SEO and listings management, paid media, content & social, influencer relations, CRM & loyalty, analytics, and campaign planning against demand calendars. Strong collaboration with ops/rev-man is essential.
Typical Backgrounds
Many come from hotels, restaurants, destination marketing, travel, or lifestyle brands. Agency performance marketers and content creators also transition successfully into hospitality groups.
Entry Points and Career Growth
Start as Marketing or Social Media Assistant/Executive. Progress to Property Marketing Manager, Cluster/Regional roles, and Head/Director of Marketing across a portfolio or brand group.
Tips for Transitioning Into Hospitality Marketing
Build a portfolio of campaigns tied to outcomes (occupancy, covers, membership sign-ups). Learn the metrics — RevPAR, ADR, GOPPAR — and how marketing influences guest mix and profitability.
The Skills and Tools Every Hospitality Marketer Needs
Turning inspiration into bookings requires creative flair and operational alignment, powered by the right stack and measurement.
Technical Skills
GA4 & tag management, Meta/Google Ads, maps & review management, OTA/Metasearch optimisation, CRM/loyalty automation, and pixel-clean tracking for offer ROI and attribution.
Soft Skills
Guest empathy, copywriting, partnership building, pace under pressure, and stakeholder management with GMs, F&B, events, and revenue teams.
Tools to Master
PMS and booking engines, CRM (HubSpot/Salesforce), email platforms, GA4/Looker Studio, ad platforms, reputation/review tools, and social content suites. Creative workflows via Canva/Adobe speed asset turnarounds.
Working With Hospitality Marketing Agencies
Many venues and groups partner with specialist agencies for brand, content & production, PR/influencer, performance media, and website/booking experience upgrades.
What Hospitality Agencies Do
Brand development, campaign creative, paid media, SEO/local listings, social & influencer programmes, PR, partnerships, and CRO for booking funnels — all aligned to occupancy and covers targets.
When to Use an Agency
Launches, refurb/reopenings, seasonality peaks, new markets, or when internal bandwidth is limited. Agencies add surge capacity and specialist skills.
How to Choose the Right Agency
Look for hospitality case studies, revenue-linked reporting, and fluency with booking engines, OTAs, and reputation platforms. Ensure clarity on CPA, contribution margin, and direct-vs-OTA mix.
Top Hospitality Marketing Agencies in the UK (2025)
Specialists range from performance shops to brand & content studios with deep sector knowledge. See our guide on Top Hospitality Marketing Agencies for a curated list and selection criteria.
Careers and Job Opportunities in Hospitality Marketing
Demand spans boutique independents to international brands, across city, resort, and leisure destinations. Roles align closely with property performance and guest experience.
In-Demand Roles
Property/Cluster Marketing Manager, Digital Performance Lead, Social & Content Manager, CRM/Loyalty Specialist, Partnerships/PR Manager, Head/Director of Marketing.
Salary Overview
Entry roles ~£25k–£32k; managers ~£38k–£60k; senior/Head roles ~£65k–£100k+, varying by property scale and region.
Where to Find Jobs
Opportunities appear on LinkedIn, hospitality job boards, and via specialist recruiters. Explore roles via The Hidden Market’s hospitality marketing jobs board.
Trends and the Future of Hospitality Marketing
Guest expectations keep rising. The leaders combine experience design with precision marketing and owned data.
- First-Party Data & Loyalty: Building direct relationships to reduce OTA dependence.
- Social & Influencer: Authentic creator content drives discovery and consideration.
- Local SEO & Reputation: Maps, reviews, and UGC are decisive ranking and conversion factors.
- Experiential Programming: Events, collabs, and packages to increase dwell, spend, and repeat.
How The Hidden Market Helps Hospitality Brands and Marketers
The Hidden Market connects hotels, restaurants, bars, leisure groups, and travel brands with marketers who deliver bookings, covers, and loyalty. We understand how marketing integrates with revenue and operations to drive sustainable growth.
Whether you’re opening a new venue, repositioning a brand, or scaling a portfolio, we help you hire marketers who move the numbers.
Resources for Hospitality Marketers
Sharpen your craft with these resources:
- Events: industry marketing & hospitality summits, travel & hotel technology shows
- Publications: hospitality, travel, and F&B trade media
- Communities: operator/marketer forums, local tourism boards, creator networks
- Toolkits: local SEO checklists, review response playbooks, booking-funnel CRO guides
Summary
Marketing in hospitality is where guest experience meets performance. Brands that align creative, community, and conversion with operational realities will win attention, loyalty, and profitable demand.
The Hidden Market partners with hospitality organisations and marketers to build teams and careers that elevate experiences and results.