A traveller today might first discover a property on social media, head to Google to research its location and rooms, then compare prices and reviews on an OTA before finally hitting the book button. Or they might ask AI to do it all.
The fast-evolving booking journey is compelling hoteliers to rethink the digital marketing playbook. At the Singapore Hotel Association’s Hospitality Exchange 2026 conference, experts from Google, Xiaohongshu (RedNote) and Trip.com shared insights on “Driving Hospitality Marketing in a Digital Age”, and what it takes to be discovered, trusted and ultimately booked.
Creating content that inspires and connects
For Mi Yang, head of life services at Xiaohongshu’s commercialisation department, the journey often begins with inspiration. “It comes down to content that can create a spark and inspire people to make decisions,” he said.
RedNote, which began as a platform for Chinese consumers to share shopping and travel tips, has evolved into a space where interest-led communities seek ideas, recommendations and experiences.
Mi cautioned hotels against treating RedNote simply as an advertising or sales channel for discounts and promotions. Instead, they should allow creators and user-generated content to showcase what makes a property worth choosing, building trust and loyalty over the long run.
“Good content prevails,” he said. “Look for good content ideas not just from your own team, but also from users, KOLs and other hotels.”
On Google, meanwhile, content is the critical byway connecting the right property to the right traveller, through AI-powered engines that now drive highly specific searches.
Lionel Yeo, head of APAC travel vertical search at Google, cited a personal example from when he was planning a babymoon to Lisbon, a city known for its hilly terrain.
“In the past, a Google search might have just thrown up a bunch of hotels. Today, it will suggest hotels located on a flat surface that would be easier for my pregnant wife to access.”
What makes good content in the AI era?
Specificity in content is precisely what makes a hotel discoverable to the right audience in a crowded online space.
Yeo advised: “Create content that only you can write, with a distinctive point of view. Anyone can write a generic piece on ‘Things to do in Singapore’. But an insider’s perspective on ‘How to make the most of a Sentosa trip: from a GM who’s worked for 15 years on the island’ – that is the kind of story that an AI search prioritises and ranks.”
Create content that only you can write, with a distinctive point of view.– Lionel Yeo, head of APAC travel vertical search, Google
Beyond social media, he urged hotels to pay attention to their wider digital footprint, including reviews and forums on Reddit, TripAdvisor, RedNote and Trip.com, as well as ensuring their websites have comprehensive FAQ sections.
“While not all of it may be read by travellers, AI will read that and pick up the relevant information in seconds to serve it to the right traveller at the right time,” he said.
From RevPAR to “SpendPAR”
AI can also help hotels analyse data and identify trends in evolving preferences to maximise guest spend on-property. Hotels need to move beyond merely selling rooms and think more holistically about the experiences guests are actually seeking.
Mi noted: “Services should be designed around customers’ needs. On RedNote, we noticed more people looking for sport-cations, such as where they can find a weekend sport-cation in a hotel with a tennis court and coach. Then, they’ll drill down to a specific city.
“Here, we can see the specific buying points of a customer’s needs. We are looking for trends that can be converted into actual business at specific hotels and locations. With such data and insights, hotels can create products that attract customers, then have the connection with Trip.com to do the conversion.”
We are looking for trends that can be converted into actual business at specific hotels and locations.– Mi Yang, head of life services, Xiaohongshu
Know your market
Ru Yi, assistant vice president of international markets (APAC) at Trip.com Group, agreed: “When you know and understand your source markets well, you can design the right packages for them.”
To optimise revenue, hotels need to examine the behaviour and booking patterns of their top markets rather than blindly pushing room inventory.
“Take the Russian market, for example. Russian travellers tend to prefer longer stays and are willing to spend. They want to enjoy spa treatments and F&B in the hotel, but their credit cards don’t work outside Russia,” she said.
“Thus, they prefer buying all their products before they travel, so they don’t have to carry so much cash around. Knowing this, we’ve been working with our hotel partners to offer value-adds such as spa and dining credits with their room stays, which can be purchased beforehand.”
Driving delight: the best marketing
At the end of the day, the best marketing boils down to “driving delight”, as Yeo puts it. A genuinely delightful experience compels guests to share it – through word of mouth, social-media content or booking reviews – all of which contribute to a hotel’s online visibility and reputation.
He pointed to what Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky calls the “11-star experience”: five-star service is the baseline; seven stars go deeper into personalised touches; and 11 stars deliver an extraordinary experience that wildly exceeds guests’ expectations and drives positive advocacy.
Such moments eventually become the stories guests share, and can therefore be among the most powerful forms of marketing a hotel can generate.
Hotels can also use AI to identify the moments and patterns around experiences that guests value most, then replicate them.
“You can find them in your reviews and customer-service call transcripts – these are a huge source of data and intelligence that you can mine with the power of AI,” Yeo said.