As a hotelier, you might ask yourself: How do I actually know whether my marketing is successful? The answer lies in the right metrics, the so-called Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Don't worry, this is not complicated science. In this article, we show you the five most important KPIs in hotel marketing and how you can keep an eye on them easily, without expensive software.
What is a KPI?
A KPI is simply a measurable value that shows you how well you are doing at reaching a particular goal. In hotel marketing, KPIs help you understand which of your measures are working and where you still have room for improvement. This way, you no longer make decisions based on gut feeling, but on solid data.
1. Website visitors and conversion rate
What is it? These two KPIs show you how many people visit your hotel website and how many of them carry out a desired action, for example making a booking. The conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who become bookers.
Why is this important? A high number of visitors is good, but if nobody books, it doesn't help. A good conversion rate is essential for more direct bookings.
How do I measure this without expensive tools? With Google Analytics 4, you can see for free how many visitors you have and where they come from. Set up a so-called "conversion goal" for your booking confirmation page. This way, you can see at a glance how many visitors successfully completed the booking process.
2. Share of direct bookings
What is it? This KPI shows the ratio of bookings that come directly through your own website compared to bookings via Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) such as Booking.com or Expedia.
Why is this important? Every direct booking saves you the high commission you would otherwise have to pay OTAs. A high share of direct bookings therefore means more profit for you.
How do I measure this? Simply compare the number of bookings from your booking system (channel manager or PMS) from your website with those from the OTAs. A simple tally or a basic Excel spreadsheet is enough for this.
3. Cost per acquisition (CPA)
What is it? The CPA tells you how much you spend on average to win a new guest. This includes, for example, the costs for Google Ads or social media advertising.
Why is this important? If you know what a new guest costs you, you can use your marketing budget much more efficiently and identify unprofitable advertising channels.
How do I measure this? Divide your total marketing costs for a specific period (e.g. one month) by the number of new customers acquired in that period. A simple spreadsheet is enough for this too.
4. Return on ad spend (ROAS)
What is it? ROAS is one of the most important metrics in online marketing. It shows you how much revenue you generate for every franc you invest in advertising.
Why is this important? A high ROAS means your advertising campaigns are profitable. If the ROAS is too low, you should optimise your campaigns or allocate your budget differently.
How do I measure this? Divide the revenue generated by advertising by the advertising costs. You can often see revenue per campaign directly in the advertising platforms such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads, provided you have set up conversion tracking correctly.
5. Online reviews and guest satisfaction
What is it? This KPI is qualitative in nature, but enormously important. It covers the average star rating and the content of reviews on platforms such as Google, TripAdvisor or the OTAs.
Why is this important? Positive reviews are today one of the strongest drivers of booking decisions. They are free marketing and build trust.
How do I measure this? Read your reviews regularly. Many platforms offer a dashboard where you can see the development of your average rating. Pay attention to recurring feedback — these are your biggest opportunities for improvement.
Conclusion
You don't need to be a data analyst to steer your hotel marketing successfully. With these five simple KPIs and free tools such as Google Analytics, you always have the most important success factors in view. This allows you to optimise your marketing activities in a targeted way, generate more direct bookings and ultimately increase your revenue. And if you would like support from experts who understand the hospitality industry, we at Tourismusconsult are happy to be there for you.
Current sources & further links (2026)
PhocusWire (2026) /Hospitality.today (2026) on new AI-supported ways to reduce OTA dependency.
More related articles:
- Likes lie: Why hotels need to rethink their social media KPIs (in-depth special topic on social KPIs)
- The winners in hotel marketing build systems, not individual measures (systems thinking including measurement)
- Conversion rate optimisation for hotel websites (central KPI booking rate)
