Congratulations to all of the hotels and destinations that were awarded in the 2026 Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards! Luxury pop-ups and activations are everywhere for summer, hushpitality is this week’s trending phrase (as a reminder, last week was airport divorce), and The World Cup comes to an end after this week.
Thanks for reading.
Quick ask: will you forward this to one person in your network who might be looking for a new job, looking to break into hospitality marketing, or likes to scan the latest updates each week? That is how most readers find us.
Until next week,
Rachel
Marketing Briefs
Did You Know?
Trending news, marketing news, and reports:
Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards // Travel + Leisure
6 emerging hotel tech solutions that impacted hospitality in H1 2026 // Hotel Dive
Hotel Booking Trends Mid-Year Report // SiteMinder
Why search ROAS depends on paid social more than you think // Search Engine Land
We Are Living in a ‘ChatGPT Flyer Pandemic’ // 404 Media
Expanding AI transparency in ads // Google
Meta adds new metrics to track business chatbot performance // Social Media Today
What HSMAI 2026 Kept Saying (Whether It Meant To or Not) // Cogwheel Marketing
Keep Your Eye Out For:
A growing concern as people find themselves being posted online from Meta glasses recordings.
Meta’s glasses will turn off the camera if you tamper with the privacy light // The Verge
Airlines continue to test revenue optimization with unbundling tactics:
Delta introduces basic fares for premium seats // Travel Weekly
Hospitality AI Initiatives:
Help Build the Hospitality Industry's AI Use Case Knowledge Base // HNR Hotel News
Exponential Growth Ahead: AI in Hospitality and Tourism Market to Reach $75.66 Billion by 2030 // Yahoo Finance
Programming & Activations
What resorts are launching now, from brand collaborations to activations and revenue-generating experiences:
How relaxing are Japan’s electric baths? The answer might shock you. // MONOCLE
10 Hotels Helping Us Learn New Skills, From Jewelry-Making to Falconry // Conde Nast Traveler
Luxury Hotel Collaborations are Dominating This Summer // Haute Living
Monte-Carlo SBM unveils giant origami installations, summer pop-ups and World Cup viewing across the Resort // Monaco Life
Inside Long Lane: The UK’s first sober members’ club and hotel // Rume
Upcoming Events
Holidays, events, and conferences to keep on your radar:
Conferences & Travel
Hotel Data Conference | Aug 5 - 7 | Nashville, TN
IMM LUX | Sept 9 - 10, 2026 | Las Vegas, NV
Digital Travel Summit | Sept 28 - 29 | Orlando, FL
ILTM Cannes | Nov 30 - Dec 3 | Cannes, France
Awards Voting
Travel Weekly MAGELLAN Awards - Honoring Creativity & Innovation in the Travel Industry // Entry deadline July 17, 2026
HSMAI Adrian Awards | Calls for entries start July
Holidays
Labor Day (US/Canada) // September 7
Industry Updates
Agency News
News from the agencies that hotel marketers trust and work with. If you have new client wins as an agency with a hospitality-focused client and want to share them here, email me at [email protected].
CIIC PR named agency of record for The Resorts Companies (via O’Dwyer’s PR)
P-22 Agency named PR agency of record for El Encanto in Santa Barbara, CA
Lou Hammond Group n
amed agency of record for Visit St. Petersburg Clearwater and VIVA Cruises (via O’Dwyer’s PR)
Job Postings & Career News
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What is the 5.15
Leading luxury hotel marketing across resorts and task force marketing roles over the past 15+ years led me to launch The Hotel Marketing 5.15 in 2025 to help keep clients up to date on hospitality marketing news and activations. I am always available for coffee chats, networking, and to discuss project-based assignments.
Based on a communication method developed 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 minutes. This newsletter applies the same principle to hotel marketing: concise, actionable trends and opportunities curated for industry professionals.
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