Turn Down: 15 December 2025

Keeping up with hotel marketing can be hard. The sector is quickly evolving, but that doesn’t mean you need to be left behind. If you’re looking to boost bookings in 2026 and drive revenue, you’re in luck. Our content marketing and market research team have pulled together the top insights to help you keep on top of the latest trends and buyer behaviour.

This week we’re looking at the diversification of generations consuming influencer content, the growth of solo travel (and how to reach this audience), and beverage trends for 2026 you should keep in mind.

Marketing

• A new survey of US teens says 64% use chatbots, with 3 in 10 doing so daily. TikTok and Instagram remain the most popular social platforms for the age range, with WhatsApp usage growing and Facebook and X use declining. 
• Analysis of Black Friday organic search traffic has revealed that only 11-21% of 4,000 top Black Friday searches result in clicks. 80% of the highest ranking URLs contain ‘black-friday’ or ‘blackfriday’. In the UK, the top 5 domains account for about 25% of all clicks in the keyword set. 
• Venngage and Pretty Little Marketer have shared their Design & Marketing Trends 2026: The Shifts that Will Shape What’s Coming Next Report. It covers the need for clarity on visual-first platforms like Instagram, how you can adopt AI and ensure brand consistency, the need to keep creativity human, and how overdone LinkedIn ‘thought leadership’ is overrated.
• The proportion of 55-64 year olds watching influencer videos has grown in both the US and UK over the last 5 years, with it rising 8% in the UK over this time span to 38%. This has grown as streaming services are picking up on the power of influencers and airing reality shows and docuseries starring them.

Hospitality

• The UK’s leading pub company, Greene King, launched its new app in September and has since seen 1 million customers sign up! The app aims to improve customer experience and increase brand loyalty with personalised offers, discounts, and rewards, as well as providing a centralised place to make bookings and orders. 
• Leon has entered administration and started closing sites around the UK, while TGI Friday’s future is unsure as its holding company files a notice to appoint administration. 
• Recent research suggests 2026 may be a tight year for the travel industry, with Q1 2026 occupancy pacing behind last year. U.S. short-term rental demand is predicted to drop to 5.5% by 2026 (with demand in 2021 at 15.8%).
• Expedia continues to back experiences as it acquires Tiqets (the Amsterdam-based tours and activities platform). This is part of their aim to create a comprehensive global travel solution for their B2B sector, as they announce a 26% rise in B2B bookings. 
• Phocuswright’s Travel Forward: Data, Insights & Trends for 2026 report has been released, noting that total gross bookings in 2025 are expected to reach $1.67 trillion, with travel and tourism generating over $11.7 trillion towards global GDP. Millennials seem to be driving the shift towards AI, with 58% of US travellers using AI in late 2025, and 39% using it for research and planning. 

• The beverage trends leading 2026 report from The National Restaurant Association’s 2026 research suggests health drinks such as kombucha and CBD drinks remain are the forefront alongside no and low alcohol beverages due in part to their popularity with millennial and Gen Z consumers. As well as this, consumers are focused on sustainability and local sourcing of drinks and ingredients. 
• According to the 2026 TravelBoom Leisure Travel Study, solo travel is on the rise, with 59% of travellers having taken a solo trip in the past five years (with Millennials accounting for over half of these). To accommodate solo travelling, make sure to personalise your stays, create solo-centric packages, promote safety in your messaging, and target content marketing towards them. 
• A new proposal from the US would have travellers from countries including the UK provide a five-year social media history as a condition of entry in a move to tighten US borders. These socials have to be public for screening purposes. 
• New research into leisure travel has highlighted the reason many people travel, with 72% saying they have travelled or would travel for a concert or music festival and 55% claiming they would consider a wellness retreat. 54.6% of travellers want to include workouts during travel.

That’s the latest news for hospitality and hotel marketers this week. If you’d like to know more about our approach to hospitality marketing and how we can set you up for success in the new year, don’t wait until 2026. Get in touch with Punch today.