Career guide
Hospitality Marketing Jobs: Hotels, Restaurants and Travel
Hospitality marketing jobs fill rooms, tables, seats and trips for hotels, resorts, restaurants, travel companies, cruise lines, venues and tourism boards. The main roles are hotel or property marketing, restaurant and brand marketing, loyalty and CRM, social and content, digital and distribution marketing, and destination marketing.
Key takeaways
- Hospitality marketing jobs sit at hotels and resorts, restaurant groups, travel and booking companies, cruise lines, venues and attractions, and tourism boards.
- The most common hospitality marketing roles are property or hotel marketing manager, restaurant marketing manager, loyalty and CRM marketing, social media and content, digital and distribution marketing, and destination marketing.
- Hospitality marketing runs on seasons, occupancy and reviews, so hospitality marketers plan around busy and quiet periods and pay close attention to what guests say online.
- Since May 12, 2025, the FTC's fees rule requires hotels and other short-term lodging to show the total price, including mandatory fees, when they advertise a price.
- Working in a hotel, restaurant or travel business before moving into marketing is a common and respected route into hospitality marketing.
What is hospitality marketing?
Hospitality marketing is the work of getting people to book a stay, a table, a trip or a ticket, and then making them want to come back. It covers hotels and resorts, restaurants and bars, travel and booking companies, cruise lines, venues and attractions, and the tourism boards that market whole destinations.
What makes it special is that the product is an experience. You can’t ship a weekend at a hotel or a dinner out, so hospitality marketing sells a feeling and a promise, and the guest’s own photos and reviews either back that promise up or don’t. If you enjoy both storytelling and data (occupancy, covers, bookings), it’s a field where you get to use both every week.
Who hires for hospitality marketing jobs?
Hospitality marketing jobs sit at a range of employers, from a single boutique hotel to global brands and city tourism offices.
| Employer type | What marketing does there | Typical roles |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel brands and management companies | Brand campaigns, loyalty programs, support for individual properties | Brand marketing, loyalty and CRM, digital |
| Individual hotels and resorts | Fill rooms and sell weddings, spa, dining and events | Property marketing manager, social, sales and marketing coordinator |
| Restaurant groups and chains | Drive visits, orders and loyalty; launch menus and locations | Restaurant marketing manager, local store marketing, social |
| Travel and booking companies | Grow bookings and users across many properties | Performance marketing, CRM, product marketing |
| Cruise lines and tour operators | Sell trips months ahead, support travel advisors | Campaign marketing, trade marketing, CRM |
| Venues, attractions and theme parks | Sell tickets, passes and memberships | Ticketing marketing, events, social |
| Tourism boards and convention bureaus | Market a destination to travelers, planners and media | Destination marketing, PR, content |
For a look at how a travel brand markets itself, see our Airbnb marketing teardown. Our Starbucks teardown is a useful look at food and beverage marketing at scale.
What are the main hospitality marketing jobs?
The main hospitality marketing jobs are property marketing, restaurant marketing, loyalty and CRM, social and content, digital and distribution, and destination marketing. The table shows what each does and the usual way in.
| Job | What you do | Where it sits | Entry route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel or property marketing manager | Promotions, packages, website, social, email and local partnerships for one property or a cluster | Hotels, resorts | Front desk, sales coordinator, marketing coordinator |
| Restaurant marketing manager | Menu launches, local marketing, delivery platforms, social, openings | Restaurant groups, chains | Restaurant management, social media coordinator |
| Loyalty and CRM marketing manager | Run the loyalty program, member emails and offers that bring guests back | Hotel brands, chains, travel companies | CRM manager, email marketing |
| Social media and content | Photos, short-form video, creator partnerships, guest stories | All of the above | Social media jobs, content creation |
| Digital and distribution marketing | Paid search, metasearch, booking sites, the direct booking website | Hotels, travel companies | Digital marketing specialist, PPC |
| Events and group marketing | Sell weddings, meetings and group stays; promote events | Hotels, venues | Event coordinator, field and event marketing |
| Destination marketing | Market a city or region to travelers, meeting planners and media | Tourism boards | PR, content, communications |
| Influencer and creator marketing | Host creators, manage partnerships, measure results | Hotels, travel brands | Influencer marketing |
At a single hotel, the marketing person often works hand in hand with sales and revenue management, and sometimes covers all three.
What’s different about marketing in hospitality?
Hospitality marketing is different mainly because demand changes by season, day of week and local events, and because guests judge you publicly. Here’s how that shows up in the job.
- You plan around occupancy and covers. Marketing pushes hardest on the quiet nights, slow months and shoulder seasons, and works with revenue management on rates and packages.
- Reviews are marketing. Guests read reviews before they book, and responding to them well is part of the job at many properties.
- Direct bookings matter. Hotels pay commissions on bookings through third-party sites, so many marketing plans aim to grow bookings on the hotel’s own website and app.
- Prices must show mandatory fees. The FTC’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, in effect since May 12, 2025, requires short-term lodging (and live-event tickets) to show the total price, including mandatory fees, when a price is advertised. See the FTC’s fees rule FAQ. Hotel marketers work with revenue and legal teams on how rates appear in ads and emails.
- Visuals carry the message. Photography, video and creator content do most of the selling. Knowing how to brief a shoot is a real skill.
- Brand standards meet local flavor. At a branded hotel or chain, you follow brand guidelines and still make the property or location feel local.
- Weekends and holidays are busy. Events, openings and peak periods can mean irregular hours, especially at property level.
How do you get a hospitality marketing job?
You get a hospitality marketing job by showing you understand guests and can fill rooms or tables. Many people already have more relevant experience than they realize.
- Use your front-line experience. Front desk, server, host, event staff or guest services work teaches you the guest. Put what you learned on your resume in marketing terms: repeat guests, upsells, reviews, events.
- Make content. A food or travel account, short videos of a local spot or a small newsletter shows you can make people want to go somewhere.
- Help a local business. Offer to run social or email for a restaurant, inn or venue for a few months, with a goal set at the start. Our marketing portfolio guide shows how to write it up.
- Learn the numbers. Occupancy, average daily rate, revenue per available room, covers and repeat visits come up in interviews. Know what each means.
- Learn a CRM or email tool. Loyalty and email roles are common and pay attention to tool experience.
- Tailor every application. A resort’s property role and a restaurant chain’s brand role want different proof. Our marketing resume guide shows how to lead with results.
What should you research before a hospitality marketing interview?
Research the guest experience from the outside, because hospitality interviewers want to see you already think like a guest and a marketer.
- Book the journey (without paying). Search for the property or restaurant, compare prices on booking sites and the direct website, and see how easy it is to book.
- Reviews. Read recent reviews on the main review and booking sites. Note what guests love and what they complain about.
- Social channels and tagged posts. How the brand shows itself and how guests show it.
- Loyalty program. What members get and how it’s promoted.
- Seasonality and local events. When it’s busy and quiet, and what’s happening nearby.
- Competitors. Two or three nearby hotels or restaurants and how they position themselves.
Our guide to researching a company before an interview covers the general method. Bring one idea for a quiet period, like a package, a local partnership or a loyalty offer, and pitch it the way you’d describe it to a guest: warmly, in your own words. Hospitality teams hire for personality as much as skill.
How much do hospitality marketing jobs pay?
Hospitality marketing pay follows the job and the size of the company, and BLS has no separate figure for hospitality marketing. Use the nearest occupation: our marketing manager salary page for manager roles, marketing specialist salary for coordinator and specialist roles, and event planner salary for events roles.
Tailor your resume to the hospitality role
Hospitality postings ask for proof you can bring guests in and bring them back: bookings, covers, repeat visits, review scores, event sales. Lead with the result that matches the posting. Recon reads the posting and your resume and suggests rewrites using only what’s already true on your resume.
FAQ
Do you need a hospitality degree for hospitality marketing?
No. A hospitality degree helps with internships and contacts, but hotels, restaurant groups and travel companies hire marketers with marketing, business and communications backgrounds, and people who worked their way up from front-line roles.
What does a hotel marketing manager do?
A hotel marketing manager plans promotions and packages, runs the hotel’s website, social and email, works with sales on groups and events, and coordinates with revenue management on rates. At branded hotels, they also follow brand standards and campaigns.
Is hospitality marketing a good career?
It can be, especially if you enjoy experiences, visuals and seeing results quickly in bookings and visits. Hours can be irregular at property level, and demand moves with travel and the economy, so skills that carry over (CRM, digital, content) help.
What entry-level hospitality marketing jobs are there?
Marketing coordinator at a hotel or restaurant group, sales and marketing assistant, social media coordinator, events coordinator and tourism board internships. Our list of entry-level marketing jobs explains each kind of entry role.
Can you move from hospitality marketing to other industries?
Yes. Loyalty and CRM, social and content, events and digital marketing all carry over to retail, consumer brands and entertainment. Translate your results into acquisition, retention and revenue.
What’s the difference between hotel sales and hotel marketing?
Hotel sales sells rooms, meeting space and events directly to groups, companies and planners, and is measured on booked revenue. Hotel marketing builds demand from individual travelers through the website, email, social, paid media, partnerships and the brand’s loyalty program. At smaller properties one director of sales and marketing often does both.
Are there remote hospitality marketing jobs?
Some, mostly at hotel brand headquarters, management companies, travel tech firms and agencies, in digital, email, CRM, revenue-adjacent and content roles. Property-level marketing jobs usually expect you on site, because the work involves the hotel’s events, photography and local partnerships.