In a world where travellers plan their stays with a swipe and a search, visibility is everything. Simply offering a beautiful hotel and great service isn’t enough. Today’s guests are digitally savvy, discerning, and spoilt for choice. To truly stand out, hotel brands need to build visibility in the right places, at the right time, and that’s where Digital PR comes in.
Whether you’re an independent boutique stay or a national group, leveraging digital PR effectively can elevate your brand presence, drive search visibility, and earn valuable media coverage that influences customer decision-making long before check-in.
What is Digital PR?
At its core, Digital PR is about building awareness and visibility online through high-quality, relevant content and strategic media outreach. It’s not just about sending out press releases, it’s about understanding your audience, what they’re reading, scrolling through and searching. It’s about telling compelling stories that generate brand loyalty, mentions and earn backlinks from trusted high-value publications, and boost organic search performance.
Unlike traditional PR, digital PR focuses heavily on SEO impact, helping your hotel rise up the search rankings while also shaping how your brand is perceived across online channels.
Why hotel brands need Digital PR
The hospitality industry is one of the most competitive verticals in the digital space. Search terms like “best hotels in London” or “romantic getaways UK” are fiercely contested. With aggregator platforms dominating the top spots in Google, it’s more important than ever for hotel brands to earn their own space and not just rely on third-party booking sites.
Here’s why Digital PR is essential for hotels:
- Increased search visibility: Quality backlinks from trusted media and travel outlets boost your domain authority, making it easier for your website to rank for key travel and location-based search terms.
- Stronger brand trust: Being featured in reputable publications like The Telegraph, Conde Nast Traveller, or Time Out lends credibility and builds consumer confidence.
- Direct bookings growth: By improving your brand presence and SEO, Digital PR helps drive direct traffic, reducing reliance on OTA commission-heavy bookings.
- Resilience during off-seasons: Digital PR campaigns can target specific events, trends, or seasonal offerings to keep your brand front of mind year-round.
Standing out in a competitive market
In a crowded industry, differentiation is key. Whether you are looking to raise awareness of a new property or shout about new facilities or simply sell out rooms there are a few key things you need to think about. First and foremost, hotel brands need to understand and communicate what really makes you different in an engineering way – this is to not only get the attention of consumers but journalists themselves. Here are a few ways hotel brands can stand out through Digital PR:
- Own your niche: Are you an eco-conscious hideaway? A tech-forward city hotel? A heritage retreat? Identify and amplify what makes you different.
- Data-led campaigns: Use proprietary booking data or trends to create stories journalists love, like “Top UK Staycation Spots for Remote Workers” or “Rising Demand for Pet-Friendly Hotels in 2025.”
- Tap into cultural moments: Align your brand with events or seasonal moments. Think: Valentine’s Day getaways, Wimbledon week stays, or film-location-inspired tours.
- Leverage influencers strategically: A well-placed stay with the right influencer can spark a PR ripple effect, but ensure alignment with your target audience and values.
- Create evergreen assets: Interactive guides, hotel neighbourhood maps, or “best of” content not only attract links but serve as useful tools for guests and journalists alike.
Expert advice for hotel brands starting with Digital PR
If you’re just getting started, or want to improve what you’re doing, we’ve collated some of our expert advice that will help you get ahead of your competitors. We work with hospitality brands with properties across the globe and here’s our top tips:
- Be newsworthy, not salesy: Journalists aren’t here to promote your latest room rate. Focus on stories, not ads.
- Align PR with SEO goals: Target link acquisition to specific service pages or location-led content to support your organic growth.
- Invest in visuals: High-res images, videos, and branded assets make it easier for publishers to cover your hotel.
- Track and measure: Use tools to monitor links, brand mentions, and SEO impact. Every campaign should have clear KPIs.
At Found, we specialise in helping hotel and travel brands build real visibility and measurable digital success. Our in-house platform, Everysearch, gives brands a clearer view of their entire search landscape, across organic, paid, and competitive insights, so you can see exactly where you’re winning and where you need to grow.
Let’s make your hotel the one everyone’s talking about, for all the right reasons.
