Hotel Marketing in the AI Era: SEO, Websites and Direct Bookings

Hotel marketing in 2026 starts online, and many hotels lose guests before they ever reach the lobby. Eduard Ruppel, founder of Leppur Marketing and a hotel operator for over 20 years with brands like Aman, The Peninsula and Radisson, joins Daniel Laurean on Hospitality Marketing Lab, the hospitality podcast by Resaco, to talk about why great hotels look so bad online and what to fix first. We start with the foundation. Your hotel website is a digital lobby, OTA dependency leaves a hotel exposed when the rules change, and direct bookings need an agency that understands how a GM and a director of sales and marketing think. Eduard explains why so many hotel booking journeys are full of friction, what to look for in a booking engine, and why you should track every step of the booking journey in GA4. Then hotel SEO and AI search. Eduard shares a room page test: about 1,800 words and 69 FAQs, indexed within 48 hours and recommended by ChatGPT within 48 hours. We cover the basics many hotels miss (the location in the H1, being the local guide for your area, speed and mobile), why generative engine optimization without proper SEO is overrated, and why Eduard sees more hotel traffic from YouTube than from ChatGPT. We also get into standing out: the remove-the-logo test, why boutique hotels can test faster than the chains, a pre-arrival podcast idea, Google Business Profile posts that reach thousands of people for free, and why leaving a guest's review unanswered is a hospitality failure. We finish with what a GM should ask an SEO agency before signing, honest SEO timelines, and why every fact about your hotel needs to match everywhere online. If you're a hotel GM, owner or marketing manager working on hotel marketing and direct bookings, this episode is a practical checklist for your website, your Google Business Profile and AI search. Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:59 Meet Eduard Ruppel 1:32 Great hotels, weak online presence 2:38 Your website is your digital lobby 3:30 Why hotels start at step three: OTA dependency 4:48 Why hotels need hospitality-specialist agencies 5:46 Beautiful websites with no SEO 6:48 Why the hotel booking journey is so painful 8:06 Choosing a booking engine for a boutique hotel 10:13 Tracking the booking journey in GA4 12:04 How guests choose a boutique hotel today 13:01 Designing your website for humans and AI 13:43 150 words for a two-floor junior suite? 14:02 The room page ChatGPT recommended in 48 hours 15:25 SEO vs GEO: where hotel traffic comes from 16:50 Put your location in the H1 17:58 Be the local guide for your area 18:36 Speed, technical SEO and mobile 19:50 Why every hotel looks the same online 20:23 The remove-the-logo test 21:13 Boutique hotels can test, chains can't 22:37 The pre-arrival podcast idea 23:43 YouTube vs ChatGPT for hotel traffic 24:50 Convincing an owner to take the risk 26:11 Google Business Profile posts: free views 27:14 Not replying to reviews: shame on you 29:24 Ask housekeeping and the front office 32:08 What to ask an SEO agency before signing 33:27 Honest timelines: SEO KPIs at month three 36:02 Rapid fire 37:40 Reddit, consistency and what AI says about you 38:46 Where to find Eduard Ruppel Eduard Ruppel LinkedIn:   / eduardruppel   Leppur Marketing: https://leppurmarketing.net/ Hospitality Marketing Lab is a podcast by Resaco about hotel marketing that fills rooms: hotel video, photography, branding and direct bookings. Want a second opinion on your hotel's marketing? Book a free audit: https://resaco.co/contact/ #HotelMarketing #HotelSEO #HospitalityMarketing 🎙️ HOSPITALITY MARKETING LAB 3 minute check https://resaco.co/direct-booking-asse... Resaco https://resaco.co Instagram   / resaco_hq     / resacoagency