Digital Marketing for Hotels in 2026: The Complete Direct Booking Strategy
Hotels, B&Bs, holiday lets, and serviced apartments across the UK are surrendering up to 22% of every booking to OTA commission fees. Our 2026 transformation package gives you everything you need to drive direct bookings, reduce dependency on Booking.com and Airbnb, and build a guest pipeline that fills rooms year-round.
Why most hotels are bleeding commission
You run a brilliant property. But when 70% of your bookings come through OTAs charging 15–22% commission, your profit margins are being eaten alive. The hotels winning in 2026 are the ones that own their guest relationships directly.
OTA Commission Drain
Booking.com takes 15–18% of every reservation. Airbnb takes 3–5% from hosts plus up to 14% from guests. Expedia charges up to 22%. On a £150 per night room, that is £25–£33 per night vanishing in commission. Over a year, a 20-room property can lose £120,000 or more to OTA fees alone. That money should be in your pocket, not theirs.
Invisible Website
When someone searches “boutique hotel in the Cotswolds”, the first page is dominated by OTAs, Google Hotels, and TripAdvisor. Your own website is buried on page three. Without proper SEO, schema markup for hotels, and a fast booking engine, guests cannot find you directly even if they want to book without an intermediary.
Seasonal Revenue Gaps
January to March is dead. Midweek occupancy is 40% below weekends. Without targeted seasonal campaigns, email marketing to past guests, and strategic pricing promotions, you are stuck running at half capacity for months at a time while your fixed costs remain the same.
Reputation Left Unmanaged
One unanswered negative review on TripAdvisor can cost you dozens of bookings. Yet most hotels respond to fewer than half their reviews, let positive feedback go uncollected, and have no system for turning happy guests into online advocates. In 2026, travellers read an average of 12 reviews before booking.
Hospitality has changed. Has your marketing?
The way travellers discover and book accommodation has fundamentally shifted. In 2026, Google's AI Overviews now generate rich responses for queries like “best family hotel in Bath with a pool” — pulling directly from hotel websites that have structured content, FAQ schemas, and strong review profiles. If your property is not optimised for this new reality, the AI will recommend your competitors instead.
Voice search through Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri now accounts for a significant share of hotel discovery. Travellers ask “find me a dog-friendly B&B near York for this weekend” and the AI assistant returns properties with the most complete, structured data profiles. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is not optional for hospitality businesses — it is the difference between being recommended and being ignored.
Meanwhile, Google Hotels is becoming the dominant metasearch platform, giving properties with direct booking capabilities and strong profiles a genuine chance to compete with OTAs. Hotels that connect their booking engine directly to Google, maintain rate parity, and invest in their direct channel are seeing OTA dependency drop by 30–50%. The properties that act now will reclaim their margins for years to come.
AI-Powered Discovery
Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity now answer “best place to stay in Edinburgh” with direct recommendations. Hotels with structured data, comprehensive amenity pages, and verified review profiles get featured. Everyone else gets bypassed entirely in favour of OTA listings.
Google Hotels Is Growing
Google's free booking links now let hotels compete directly alongside Booking.com and Expedia in search results. Properties with a connected booking engine and competitive direct rates are capturing bookings without paying OTA commission. This channel grew 45% in 2025 alone.
The Commission Opportunity
Every direct booking you capture saves 15–22% in OTA commission. Shifting just 20% of your OTA bookings to direct channels on a property doing £500k in annual revenue saves over £20,000 per year. That is pure profit recovered.
The Prism Digital Hospitality Transformation Package
A complete, done-for-you digital marketing system designed specifically for hotels, B&Bs, holiday lets, and serviced apartments. Every element works together to drive direct bookings, reduce OTA dependency, and maximise revenue per available room.
Direct Booking Website
A stunning, conversion-optimised website with integrated booking engine that makes it effortless for guests to reserve directly. We build dedicated pages for every room type, package, and experience you offer — each optimised for search with location-specific content, hotel schema markup, and compelling imagery galleries. Rate parity messaging and “best price guaranteed” badges encourage guests to book direct rather than through OTAs.
Your site includes a real-time availability checker, special offer banners for low-occupancy periods, an area guide positioning your property as the local authority, and integrated review widgets displaying live TripAdvisor and Google scores. Mobile-first design ensures seamless booking on any device. Sub-2-second load times guaranteed.
Hotel SEO & GEO Strategy
We rank your property for high-value search terms like “boutique hotel [your area]”, “B&B near [landmark]”, and “pet-friendly accommodation [region]”. Full Google Business Profile optimisation, citation building across 40+ travel directories (TripAdvisor, Trivago, Hotels.com, VisitEngland), and monthly link-building from tourism-relevant sites.
Our GEO strategy ensures AI engines recommend your property. We structure FAQ content around traveller queries, build topical authority through area guide pages, and maintain the citation profile that ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews use to suggest accommodation. Explore our full Local SEO service.
Google Ads & Meta Campaigns
We launch precision-targeted Google Hotel Ads and Search campaigns for high-intent queries like “hotel with spa [your area]”, “last minute B&B [region]”, and “weekend break [destination]”. Seasonal campaign structures target January wellness breaks, Valentine's packages, summer family stays, and Christmas party season.
Meta retargeting campaigns reach people who visited your website but did not book, serving them dynamic ads with the exact room types they viewed. Full conversion tracking on every booking, weekly bid optimisation, and ROAS reporting. See our Paid Advertising page.
Email & Guest Nurture
Automated pre-arrival sequences that upsell room upgrades, spa treatments, and dining packages. Post-stay emails that request reviews and offer return-visit discounts. Seasonal campaigns to your past guest database fill low-occupancy periods. Birthday and anniversary automations create repeat bookings on autopilot. Visit our CRM automation page for details.
Reputation Management
Automated post-checkout review requests via email and SMS drive a consistent flow of fresh reviews across TripAdvisor, Google, and Booking.com. Multi-platform monitoring alerts you to new reviews in real time. AI-assisted response drafting ensures every review gets a professional reply within 24 hours. Explore our reputation management service.
Social Media & Content
Professional social media management across Instagram and Facebook with seasonal content calendars, property photography showcases, local area highlights, and guest experience stories. Social content drives brand awareness and remarketing audiences, feeding the direct booking funnel. See our social media service page.
What our hospitality clients achieve
These are the outcomes our hotel, B&B, and holiday let clients have seen within the first 90 days of working with Prism Digital.
Based on aggregated client data. Individual results vary. View case studies.
How it works: your 90-day transformation
From the moment you say “go” to a fully-optimised, direct-booking machine in three months. Here is exactly what happens and when. Explore our full delivery process.
Audit & Strategy
We audit your current online presence, analyse your OTA dependency ratio, review your booking engine setup, and map competitor positioning in your area. We assess your TripAdvisor and Google review profiles, evaluate your website speed and conversion rate, and deliver a detailed strategy document covering SEO, direct booking optimisation, seasonal campaign planning, and revenue targets.
Build & Launch
Your new direct booking website goes live with room pages, package pages, an area guide, and an integrated booking engine. Google Hotel Ads and Search campaigns launch targeting high-intent accommodation queries. Email automation sequences are configured for pre-arrival upsells, post-stay review requests, and seasonal offers. Google Business Profile is fully optimised with professional photos and correct categories. Citation building begins across 40+ travel directories.
Optimise & Scale
With booking data flowing in, we refine every channel. Underperforming ad keywords get paused, winning seasonal offers get scaled, and landing pages are A/B tested. We launch targeted Meta retargeting campaigns to website visitors who did not book. Your review automation system starts generating consistent reviews from recent guests. Weekly reporting shows direct vs OTA booking ratios.
Results & Growth Plan
By month three, your direct booking ratio is climbing and OTA commission costs are falling. We review the full picture: cost per booking, direct vs OTA split, revenue per available room, and review scores. We present a clear performance report and lay out the seasonal strategy for the next quarter to maintain momentum through every occupancy cycle.
Frequently asked questions
Everything hotel and accommodation owners ask us before getting started.
How much does digital marketing for hotels cost in 2026?
Our hospitality transformation packages start from around £1,499 per month, which includes your website with booking engine integration, hotel SEO, Google and Meta Ads management, email automation, and reputation management. The exact price depends on property size, number of rooms, and the channels you need. We also offer standalone services. Visit our pricing page for a full breakdown.
How quickly will I see more direct bookings?
Google Hotel Ads and Search campaigns typically start generating direct bookings within the first two weeks. SEO improvements begin compounding within six to eight weeks. Most hotel clients see a meaningful shift in their direct vs OTA booking ratio by the end of month two, with the full transformation delivering clear results by month three.
Can you work with my existing booking engine?
Yes. We integrate with all major booking engines including SiteMinder, Cloudbeds, FreeToBook, Guestline, and Beds24. If you are using a booking engine that supports Google Hotels integration, we will connect it to capture direct bookings through Google search results. If your current system is limiting you, we will recommend a better alternative.
What is GEO and why does it matter for hotels?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation. It is the practice of structuring your website content so that AI engines like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity recommend your property when travellers ask questions like 'best B&B near the Lake District'. In 2026, a growing share of travel research flows through AI. GEO ensures you appear in these recommendations.
Will this conflict with my OTA listings?
No. We do not suggest removing your OTA listings. The strategy is to maintain OTA presence for visibility and discovery whilst building a strong direct channel that captures a greater share of bookings over time. Many guests discover properties on Booking.com but then search for the hotel name directly. A strong website with best-price messaging converts these searchers into direct bookers.
How do you handle seasonal demand fluctuations?
We build seasonal campaign calendars that activate promotions for low-occupancy periods well in advance. January wellness breaks, midweek escape offers, Valentine's packages, Easter family deals, summer staycations, and Christmas party campaigns. Each seasonal push uses a combination of Google Ads, email to your past guest database, and social media content to fill rooms during traditionally quiet periods.
Can you help holiday lets and serviced apartments too?
Absolutely. Holiday lets, serviced apartments, glamping sites, and self-catering cottages all benefit from the same direct booking strategy. We tailor the approach to your property type, whether that means competing with Airbnb for short stays or positioning against hotels for business travellers needing longer-term serviced apartments.
How do you improve our TripAdvisor ranking?
TripAdvisor rankings are driven by review volume, review recency, and review quality. Our automated post-stay review request system dramatically increases the number of reviews you receive. We also train your team on service recovery techniques that turn potential negative reviews into positive ones. Consistent professional responses to all reviews further boost your ranking algorithm score.
Do you lock us into a long-term contract?
No. All our packages are month-to-month. We believe in earning your business through results, not trapping you in a contract. You can cancel with 30 days notice at any time. We find that our hospitality clients rarely cancel because the commission savings alone justify the investment.
What happens if we do not see results in 90 days?
We offer a 90-day results guarantee. If we do not deliver measurable improvement in your direct booking ratio or online visibility within 90 days, we restructure your strategy at no additional cost. We have offered this guarantee since we started and have never had to invoke it for a hospitality client. Read more on our process page.
“We were paying Booking.com over £40,000 a year in commission. Within three months of working with Prism, our direct bookings increased by 35% and we recouped the entire marketing investment from commission savings alone. The seasonal email campaigns have been a game changer for our January and February occupancy.”
Sarah Mitchell
Owner, The Willows Boutique Hotel — Cotswolds
2026 is the year to own your direct bookings
Every booking that comes through an OTA costs you 15–22% in commission. The hotels investing in their direct channel now are building a guest database and reclaiming margins their competitors will never recover. Stop paying for guests you could reach yourself.
No commitment. No hard sell. Just a clear plan for your hospitality business.