Last week, after a busy weekend, I questioned why I chose to send newsletters out on Monday, or at all. But consistency pays off, and Iʻm thankful for the people Iʻve met and connected with through this newsletter. Which brings me to two new “virtual coffee chats” (Iʻm not sure what else to call them) I was lucky enough to have last week, with fellow hotel marketers you might want to get to know, too:

Molls Folsom. Fellow hotel task force marketer, we bonded over what to call ourselves (task force? interim hotel marketing? fractional?), and all the fun projects we both have coming up. Molls works on hotel projects from the mid-west to Hawaii. She is also perfecting the art of affiliate-led influencer conversions, allowing hotels to track the true ROI on influencer collaborations.

Nahal Aghajani. Director of Marketing at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, Nahal, and I re-caught up after meeting at the Hilton a few years ago. Nahal is well-versed in ultra-luxury hotel marketing and, specifically, the expanding luxury resort scene in Los Angeles.

Thanks for reading.

⚡️ The State Of SEO 2026: How To Survive // Search Engine Journal

The Search Engine Journal report (from SEJ’s 5th annual “State of SEO 2026”) reveals that original content creation remains the top-performing SEO activity (around 66%) even as AI-assisted workflows, E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), and hybrid content strategies are increasingly necessary.

⚡️ What We Learned at Virtuoso Travel Week 2025 // Virtuoso

Virtuoso Travel Week 2025 highlighted the continued strength of luxury leisure travel, with personalization, sustainability, and wellness remaining top drivers. Advisors emphasized the rising influence of younger affluent travelers (Millennials and Gen Z) who are shaping expectations around flexibility, authenticity, and digital-first engagement. Partnerships and storytelling were recurring themes, with brands urged to differentiate through values-driven narratives and curated experiences rather than broad offers.

Trending news, marketing news, and reports:

▶️ 'The PR Net 100' 2025 Winners // PR Net

▶️ Fitness Studios rolling out “No Filming Policies.” // Instagram

Membership-type clubs already have these policies in place, but TikTok debates are now creating the need for Filming Policies as influencers post videos with non-willing participants in the background, causing privacy and revenue concerns for the businesses that don’t take a stance either way. Will hotels have to take a similar stance down the road?

▶️ 2025 fall travel trends: Gen Z travel on the rise this shoulder season // Airbnb

▶️ 2025 Travel Affiliate Intelligence Report // Rakuten

▶️ Don’t Reward Bad-Faith ADA Lawsuits // Hawaii Hotel Hui

🌎 Manager, Membership & Engagement, Women Leading Travel | Remote | Women Leading Travel, a Skift Company

🌎 Product Development Manager | Remote | Classic Vacations

🌎 Senior Manager, Platform Activation | Remote | Hilton

🌎 Brand Strategy Lead | Remote | Airbnb

Tracking the agencies shaping the hospitality industry’s biggest moments while building an ever-growing resource list for hotel marketers. Did your agency land a new client, or are you working with a new hospitality-focused agency at your hotel that you want to highlight? Reply directly to this newsletter.

✅ Carma Connected is named PR Agency of Record for the newly rebranded Sunseeker Resort Florida Gulf Coast, Curio Collection by Hilton, recently purchased by Blackstone Real Estate and now managed by Pyramid Global Hospitality

✅ RedPoint named PR Agency of Record for The Lodge at Schroon Lake

✅ The Los Cabos Tourism Board Launches “Where the Land Ends, Your Story Begins” Tourism Campaign

✅ Trip Whisperer Agency is retained to work on the launch of hospitality marketer Veridian, a spin-off from digital agency Acronym. (via O’Dwyers)

✅ Velvet Badger Launches Social Campaign for Newly Branded Minor Hotels.

✅ Quinn PR partners with North & Warren, a digital marketing and media firm, and Interluxe Group, an experiential agency, to offer luxury marketing services.

Keep an eye out for recaps from Skift Forum, Digital Marketing Summit, and more conferences that are happening this week. Until then, here is a recap from the Marketing Brew Summit that occurred last week in New York.

2026 Conference Calendar

As budgets begin to be fine-tuned, identify which conferences you may want to attend in 2026. A select round-up of the conferences that may be beneficial to you:

A weekly round-up of fresh inspiration and a closer look at experiential design, sensory branding, and the quiet details that define unforgettable spaces.

wellness // The Rise of Longevity Hotels
A new hospitality category is emerging where science, wellness, and luxury converge to extend lifespan and improve quality of life. With 59 Longevity Hotels tracked worldwide, many clustered in the Alps, these retreats go beyond relaxation to deliver measurable outcomes like better sleep, improved biomarkers, and healthier routines. For hoteliers, the model promises longer stays, higher spend, and strong loyalty, while destinations that act early could become the next global hubs of health-driven travel.

storytelling // The St. Regis Kanai Resort
In its first-ever dedicated film, Marriott Bonvoy spotlights The St. Regis Kanai Resort, weaving celestial inspiration, mangrove landscapes, and striking architecture into a narrative of timeless refinement. The production positions Kanai as more than a destination, blending the intention and inspiration into a story as part of the brand’s greater focus on a storytelling-first mindset.

LinkedIn Posts That Caught My Attention Span My Eye This Week

✪ Find Your Most Popular LinkedIn Posts. If you’re new to posting on LinkedIn but want to re-activate your strategy in Q4, this post outlines a way to view your top performing posts and either re-post them (or an itiration of them), or identify the themes that get the most engagement. // Mary Pendleton

✪ Hotel Brands of the World, an infographic from 10 Minute Hotels. // 10 Minute Hotels and Website

Based on a communication method by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, the 5.15 is a weekly format designed to synthesize key insights in 15 minutes or less and be read in five. This newsletter applies the same principle to hotel marketing: concise, actionable trends and opportunities curated for industry professionals.

I’m Rachel Watroba, founder of ADCOTO Hospitality Marketing and publisher of The Hotel Marketing 5.15. After more than 20 years in hospitality marketing with brands such as Waldorf Astoria, Caesars Entertainment, Fairmont, and MGM Resorts, I now work remotely as an interim marketing director for luxury hotels and resorts worldwide. My focus is on helping properties navigate openings, renovations, transitions, and leadership gaps, while keeping marketing aligned with commercial strategy.