Who this is for: hotel owners, general managers, and sales, revenue and marketing leads at independent hotels, hotel groups, resorts and motels who want a clear marketing plan without writing a long document. Fill it in with the people who know your guests best: front desk, sales, revenue and whoever looks after your website and social media.

A marketing plan does not need to be long. It needs to be clear: where your hotel is today, which guests you want to reach, what you want to achieve and how you will get there. This template walks you through it in nine short sections. Keep it where everyone can see it, and come back to it every month to check your progress.

What's Included in This Template

• Nine short sections, from your hotel at a glance to tracking and review
• A 12-month marketing calendar with dates, offers, channels and budget
• Goals and measures with a target, a date and one owner for each goal
• Guest profiles for your 3 most important types of guest
• Header fields for hotel name, prepared by, plan period and date

Before You Start: Who Should Help and What to Have Ready

A few minutes of preparation makes the plan faster to fill in and easier to trust.

1. Your Hotel at a Glance

Start with the basics, so everyone who reads this plan describes your hotel in the same way.

Quick tip: Say it like a guest would. Write your promise in plain words a guest might use. If it sounds like an advert, make it simpler.

2. Where You Are Today

Use last year's numbers. They show what is working, and where you are losing bookings or money.

Last year at a glance

Where your bookings come from

Quick tip: Your numbers are already there. Your property management system and booking reports hold most of these numbers. Pull them once, then update them every quarter.

3. Your Market and Competitors

List the hotels guests compare you with, then be honest about your strengths and weak spots.

The hotels guests compare you with

Your strengths and weak spots (also called a SWOT)

4. Your Guests

Pick your 3 most important types of guest, for example couples on a weekend break, business travelers, families or wedding guests.

Quick tip: Ask your guests. The quickest way to know your guests is to ask them. Add one short question to your check-out chat or your thank-you email, and write it in the plan.

5. Goals and Measures

Set 3 to 5 goals. Each one needs a number, a date and one person who owns it.

Quick tip: Fewer goals, done well. Three goals you work on every month beat ten that nobody remembers. Put them where the whole team can see them. Also write your one big focus for the year at the top of this section.

6. Your Budget

Decide how much you can spend each month and keep it up all year. Hold a little back to test new ideas.

7. Channels and Actions

For each channel, write what you will do, how often and who will do it. Leave a row empty if it does not fit your hotel.

Quick tip: One offer, everywhere. Use the same offer, photo and words on your website, emails and social posts. Guests trust what they see more than once.

8. Your 12-Month Marketing Calendar

Write in the dates that matter, the offer you will run, where you will promote it and what it will cost.

Quick tip: Give quiet months the most attention. Busy weeks usually fill themselves. Start promoting offers for your quiet months 6 to 8 weeks before their dates.

9. Track and Review

Fill in where you are today and your goal, then check in every quarter, keep what works and change what does not.

Quick tip: Make the check-in a habit. Book a short marketing check-in for the first week of every month, and keep it even when the hotel is busy.

How Do You Fill In a Hotel Marketing Plan?

Work through the nine sections in order, then review the plan every month.

• Pull last year's booking reports, review scores and a list of local events before you start.
• Fill in sections 1 to 4 together with front desk, sales and revenue, so everyone describes your hotel and guests the same way.
• Set 3 to 5 goals in section 5, each with a number, a date and one owner.
• Split your budget by channel, then write what you will do in each channel and who owns it.
• Fill in the 12-month calendar, starting offers for quiet months 6 to 8 weeks before their dates.
• Book a short check-in for the first week of every month and review the numbers in section 9 every quarter.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Setting ten goals instead of three, so nobody remembers them or knows who owns them.
• Writing goals without a number, a date and an owner, which makes progress impossible to check.
• Skipping last year's numbers, so the plan is built on guesses instead of what is working.
• Putting every channel in the plan, instead of leaving out the ones that do not fit your hotel.
• Promoting quiet months too late, when offers need 6 to 8 weeks to reach guests.
• Filling in the plan once and never reviewing it, so it sits in a folder all year.

How roommaster Helps You Run Your Marketing Plan

A good plan still needs the numbers to track it, and those numbers usually sit in several different tools. That makes the monthly check-in slow, and results are harder to see.

roommaster is the all-in-one hotel PMS, built by hoteliers for hoteliers. Your front desk, reservations, payments and guest messages run on one platform, and every marketing tool plugs straight into it, with no extra logins. The Booking Engine takes commission-free bookings on your own website, the Hotel Website Builder gives you a fast, mobile-friendly site with live prices, and Hotel Metasearch shows your direct price on Google and travel search. The Channel Manager keeps prices and free rooms in sync on every booking site, AI Guest Management sends the right message to each guest at the right time, and Revenue Management follows demand and local events.

The outcome is a plan that is easier to run and results that are easier to see.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What should a hotel marketing plan include?

A clear hotel marketing plan covers where your hotel is today, your market and competitors, your most important guests, goals with numbers and owners, a budget, the channels you will use, a 12-month calendar, and a way to track results.

2. How do you create a hotel marketing plan?

Start with last year's booking reports and review scores, describe your hotel and guests, set 3 to 5 goals, split your budget by channel, then map offers and dates across 12 months. Review it in the first week of every month.

3. How long should a hotel marketing plan be?

As long as it needs to be to stay clear. This template uses nine short sections, so a team can fill it in together and keep it where everyone can see it.

4. How often should you review a hotel marketing plan?

Hold a short check-in every month and a fuller review every quarter. The track and review section has columns for each quarter so you can keep what works and change what does not.

5. Who should help build the hotel marketing plan?

The people who know your guests best: front desk, sales, revenue and whoever looks after your website and social media. One named person should own the plan.