2026 Hotel Holiday Marketing Strategy: Black Friday and Beyond

Black Friday may be the headline, but for hotels, holiday marketing starts much earlier.

The traditional Black Friday sale has evolved into a much longer booking period. In recent years, Expedia’s holiday promotion has started well before Thanksgiving and extended through Travel Tuesday, with flash deals and limited time offers appearing throughout the promotional window. Other OTAs, including Booking.com, have also leaned into member pricing, extended booking windows and limited time offers to keep travelers engaged throughout the season.

For hotels, that means waiting until Thanksgiving to launch your holiday campaign is too late. Your 2026 hotel holiday marketing strategy should already be taking shape well before then. By Thanksgiving, your offer should be finalized, your creative should be ready, and your audience strategy should already be in place.

So, before you start building your Black Friday email, there is a more important question to answer: What should your holiday offer actually be?

Hotel Holiday Marketing Offers: Discount or Value-Add?

A percentage discount is simple and easy for travelers to understand, and hospitality research has found that percentage-off promotions can create stronger booking intentions than some value-added alternatives. But that doesn't mean the biggest discount is always the best strategy.

Consider the difference between:

• 20% off your stay

• $100 dining credit

• Stay 3 nights, pay for 2

• Complimentary breakfast

Each creates a different perception of value. A resort with strong dining or spa revenue may be able to create a compelling package without reducing the room rate as deeply. A city hotel competing primarily on price may find that a straightforward discount is more effective.

The right question isn't which offer is best? It's which offer makes the most sense for your guests, your property and your goals?

That is where segmentation can make a difference. Your most engaged past guests may respond to a different incentive than a first-time subscriber. A family traveler may place more value on breakfast or a stay-based offer, while another audience may be more motivated by a straightforward room discount.

Rather than putting one offer in front of everyone, consider where different audiences see value and build your holiday strategy accordingly.

Add Booking Flexibility to Your Hotel Holiday Marketing Strategy

Price isn't the only factor travelers are evaluating. Flexibility can also play a role in whether someone is ready to commit to a booking.

Recent Agoda data found that free cancellation and pay-at-hotel options have moved into the top 10 most-used search filters in its markets, reflecting continued interest in flexible booking options.

That creates another opportunity to think strategically about your holiday offer. Instead of automatically pairing your best rate with a nonrefundable policy, consider whether different rate and cancellation combinations could appeal to different travelers:

Lower rate + locked-in booking

or

Slightly higher rate + flexible cancellation

There isn't one answer that works for every property. Your demand patterns, booking window and historical cancellation behavior can help determine where flexibility makes sense and where protecting the rate is more valuable.

Start Your Hotel Black Friday Marketing Before the Sale

Another common mistake is waiting until the promotion launches to start talking about it.

A well-timed teaser can build anticipation, create a reason to engage with your brand and give travelers an opportunity to opt in before the offer is available. This is especially effective when your holiday campaign includes an early-access component.

Think beyond email and consider how your channels can work together:

• Something special is coming.

• Be the first to know.

• Join our list for early access.

Instead of marketing the sale only to the guests already in your database, use your website, social channels and other touchpoints to encourage new subscribers to sign up for early access. When the promotion launches, you've expanded the audience you can reach directly.

2026 Hotel Holiday Marketing Strategy Timeline

At HMA, we look at holiday marketing as a process, not a single send date. Starting early gives your team time to make decisions based on data rather than rushing to keep up with the market.

August: Look at the data.

Review last year's holiday performance. Which offers drove bookings? Which audiences responded? Which dates still need demand? Where did you discount unnecessarily?

September: Build the strategy.

Determine your offer, audience segments, booking window, cancellation terms and goals. Are you focused on occupancy, revenue, direct bookings, ancillary spend or growing your database?

October: Build anticipation.

Develop creative, landing pages and email campaigns. Begin teasing the promotion and collecting early-access signups.

Early November: Test everything.

Your creative, links, booking engine, promotional codes, audience segments and tracking should be ready before the OTA promotions begin.

Late November–Early December: Be ready to compete.

Think beyond Black Friday. Depending on your strategy, your campaign may include early access, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Travel Tuesday and follow-up messaging.

Don't Just Compete on Price

The holiday season will bring plenty of aggressive OTA discounts. Hotels don't necessarily need to beat them dollar for dollar. They need to give travelers a compelling reason to book directly.

That reason might be a discount, flexibility, dining credit, experience or a stay-based incentive. It might also be a more personalized offer delivered to a guest who is already familiar with your property.

The key is understanding what your guests value and when they're most likely to act.

At HMA, we use historical campaign performance, guest behavior and audience segmentation to help properties make those decisions before the holiday rush begins. We look at more than what to send. We look at who should receive it, what will motivate them to book and how the campaign can support the property's broader revenue goals.

The goal isn't to send more holiday emails. It's to make each one work harder.

When the OTAs turn up the volume in November, the hotels with a strategy already in place are in the best position to compete.

FAQ

When should hotels start planning Black Friday marketing?

Hotels should begin reviewing data and discussing holiday strategy in August, with the offer, audience strategy and promotional structure largely established by September. Creative development and early-access campaigns can begin in October.

Should hotels offer discounts for Black Friday?

A percentage discount can work well, but it is not the only option. Hotels can also test dining credits, complimentary breakfast, stay-based offers and other value-added incentives based on guest preferences and revenue goals.

How can hotels compete with OTA Black Friday deals?

Hotels can compete by using their first-party guest data to create targeted direct-booking offers. Segmentation, flexibility, early access, value-added incentives and relevant messaging can give previous guests and subscribers reasons to book directly.

Should every guest receive the same holiday offer?

Not necessarily. Past guests, highly engaged subscribers, families, first-time subscribers and other audiences may respond differently to discounts and value-added offers. Hotel CRM segmentation can help determine which promotion is most relevant for each audience.

What should hotels test before launching a holiday campaign?

Hotels should test email creative, links, promotional codes, landing pages, booking-engine functionality, audience segments, suppression logic and campaign tracking before the main promotional window begins.