Building AI into your 2026 marketing plan

The way that guests are discovering, researching and booking stays is changing – quickly. People are using AI-powered tools to plan holidays, compare options and make decisions long before they land on your website.

Instead of scrolling endlessly through search results, they’re asking specific questions like “Which boutique hotels in the Cotswolds are best for a romantic weekend?” or “Where should I stay near the Lake District with great food?”

For hospitality businesses, this shift matters. AI isn’t just another tech trend; it’s fundamentally changing how guests find you, how they interact with your brand, and what they expect from your marketing.

Traditional search is evolving. Alongside Google results, guests are now using AI tools to ask detailed, conversational questions when planning trips. These tools no longer show a long list of links, but summarise answers and recommend places based on the information found online.

For small hotels, this means your website content needs to clearly explain what you offer, where you are and what makes staying with you special. AI tools rely on clear, descriptive information to share the most relevant recommendations.

Actions:

• Update your website copy to be natural, conversational and helpful, rather than keyword-heavy or salesy.
• Add a detailed “Location & Local Area” page to your website explaining what guests can do nearby, how close you are to key landmarks, and what type of stay you’re ideal for.
• Create an FAQ sections answering common questions, for example “Is this hotel good for couples?”, “Can I walk to the beach?” or “Is parking available?”

Your website is often the main source AI tools use to understand your hospitality business. If information is unclear, outdated or spread across too many pages, you may simply be overlooked.

AI rewards clarity, consistency and usefulness. For hospitality businesses, that means making it incredibly easy to understand what staying with you feels like.

Marketing actions:

• Rewrite room descriptions to focus on the experience, not just features. For example: “A light-filled room overlooking the garden, perfect for a quiet weekend escape.”
• Make sure key information (check-in times, breakfast details, parking, dog policy) is easy to find in one place.
• Regularly review and update your content so it reflects the current guest experience.

Email marketing is already one of the most effective promotional tools for independent hospitality businesses. With the addition of the AI tools, used in the right way, there's potential for a significant uplift in engagement and conversions.

Use AI to segment your audience, suggest content ideas and improve send timing. The key is to use AI as a support, not a replacement, to ensure your never lose the personal touch that guests value.

Actionable actions:

• Use AI tools to help you draft subject lines, then tweak them to match your own brand voice. Our email tool, Email Marketing Brilliance, has an in-built AI-powered subject line generator to help you to write compelling captions that will boost your open rates.
• Segment your email lists using AI (past guests, couples, families, off-season bookers) so that you can tailor you campaigns.
• Try out your tool's optimised send time feature.

We know that keeping up to date with posting on social media can feel overwhelming, especially for small teams.

AI can help you stay on top of the workload, and stay consistent and relevant. Use it to help with idea generation, caption writing and more.

Marketing actions:

• Use AI to brainstorm post ideas around seasons, events or guest questions.
• Repurpose content: for example, one blog post can become multiple social posts - use AI to generate captions from an existing blog post.
• Ask AI for help with creating captions, then tweak where necessary to keep it in line with your brand's tone of voice.

AI tools can help analyse booking patterns, popular dates and guest behaviour, giving you clearer insight into what’s working and what isn’t when it comes to your marketing efforts.

For independent hospitality businesses, this can mean more confident decisions around pricing, offers and marketing focus.

Marketing actions:

• Review which pages on your website are most visited and update them regularly.
• Identify booking patterns and tailor you marketing campaigns accordingly
• Use insights to promote quieter periods or under-booked room types.
• Test small changes (new offers, different messaging) and see what resonates.

Building AI into your 2026 marketing plan isn’t about chasing every new tool. For small hospitality businesses, the biggest opportunity lies in being clear, human and helpful. AI search platforms favour businesses that communicate well, tell their story clearly and genuinely care about the guest experience.

Start small. Update your website copy. Make your emails more relevant. Use AI to support your ideas, not replace them. By doing so, you’ll not only stay visible as search and planning habits evolve, you’ll build deeper connections with the guests most likely to choose you.

And in a crowded hospitality landscape, that connection is still your greatest advantage.