How Hotel Brands Are Using First-Party Data to Drive Revenue and Build Stronger Relationships
At a glance
- Sojern partnered with Benchmark Research Partners to survey hotel marketers on first-party data strategies globally.
- Report examines how hotels collect guest data directly via owned channels to improve targeting and personalisation.
- First-party data enables hotels to craft tailored marketing, drive direct bookings, and build guest loyalty.
- Hotels must balance personalisation with privacy compliance, using tools like hashed emails to maintain guest trust.
- Report covers data collection methods, implementation approaches, campaign effectiveness, and marketing partner enrichment strategies.
What the report covers
This survey-based report, produced by Sojern in partnership with Benchmark Research Partners, examines how hotel marketers worldwide are leveraging first-party data to enhance revenue and deepen guest relationships. The report focuses on data collection strategies, implementation methods, privacy compliance, and the role of marketing partners in enriching first-party datasets. It addresses challenges hotel marketers face and demonstrates how direct guest insights improve campaign performance and customer loyalty.
Key findings
First-party data—collected via first-party cookies and hashed emails from consenting guests—includes contact information, booking history, and demographics gathered across owned digital channels such as websites, social media, and apps. The report emphasises that hotels collect this data directly from their own channels rather than relying on third-party sources, enabling greater control and compliance with privacy regulations.
Hotel marketers use first-party data to personalise guest experiences and marketing communications. The report describes how tailored offers before trips and thoughtful follow-ups after stays drive guest satisfaction, loyalty, and incremental revenue. Personalisation based on guest preferences and behaviour is positioned as the key to meeting evolving traveller expectations.
Privacy and compliance are central concerns for hotel marketers implementing first-party data programmes. The report acknowledges regulatory frameworks such as GDPR and CCPA, stressing the importance of consent and data security. It argues that hotels can deliver personalised experiences while maintaining compliance, proving that privacy protection and personalisation are not mutually exclusive.
A first-party data programme combines data collection strategy with governance processes for integrating, using, and deleting data in compliance with privacy regulations. The report indicates that effective programmes require both technical infrastructure and organisational discipline to ensure guest data is managed responsibly throughout its lifecycle.
Why it matters
DMOs & destinations
First-party data strategies enable destinations to understand visitor preferences and behaviour at granular levels, supporting targeted promotions and personalised messaging. Understanding how hotel partners leverage guest data helps DMOs coordinate marketing efforts, measure campaign effectiveness, and build loyalty programmes that keep travellers coming back.
Hotels & hospitality
First-party data programmes directly support revenue growth by enabling personalised booking offers, loyalty initiatives, and guest-centric marketing. Hotels that implement structured data collection and governance can improve direct booking rates, reduce reliance on third-party distribution channels, and strengthen guest relationships throughout the customer lifecycle.
Travel tech & distribution
Martech platforms like Sojern position themselves as enablers of first-party data strategies, offering tools to collect, enrich, and activate guest data while maintaining privacy compliance. Understanding hotel marketers' data priorities and challenges shapes product development and partnership opportunities in the competitive travel marketing technology landscape.
Methodology and limits
This brief is based on the publicly available summary page only. The full report results from a survey conducted by Sojern in partnership with Benchmark Research Partners targeting hotel marketers globally. No sample size, fieldwork period, or statistical methodology is disclosed in the accessible source text. The page describes research scope and key themes but does not present quantitative findings, making this summary reliant on conceptual and strategic descriptions rather than empirical data.
Official source
The report is © Sojern. This brief is an original editorial summary by TourismIntel — it quotes only figures published in the source and never reproduces the document.
Check the official statistics on Pulse
Related reports
A joint study by Mindtrip, Sabre, Sojern and MMGY Travel Intelligence reveals a significant gap between traveller AI adoption and destination marketing organisation readiness.
Sojern's State of Destination Marketing 2025 report surveys nearly 200 global DMOs to assess the sector's investment, technology adoption and performance measurement practices.
Sojern's Co-Op Marketing Guide for Destinations examines how destination marketing organisations can leverage collaborative marketing partnerships to recover from COVID-19 and optimise tourism spending.
Sojern's report examines Connected TV as a transformative channel for travel marketers, positioning it as a bridge between television's emotional engagement and programmatic advertising's precision.