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I learned early in my career that I needed to be in industries I am personally passionate about and focused on innovative products. I began in outdoor clothing at Patagonia, then moved into online travel in 2000. In 2003, I launched the hotel service at Orbitz. Today, at Sojern, I leverage the best technology in the industry to help hotel and destination marketers spark traveler interest, capture direct bookings, and create amazing guest experiences. We help them activate their first-party data to cultivate relationships, and our Machine Learning and GenAI-enabled platform empower them to deliver personalized campaigns at scale.
Overcoming Challenges in Travel Marketing
One of the biggest challenges for travel brands—such as hotels and destinations—is driving cost-effective demand in a digitalfirst world. Given that a hotel room or ticket for yesterday can’t be sold today, the need for demand is constant. Hotels also face high fixed costs, inflation outpacing growth, more than three-quarters of hotels being short-staffed, and customer expectations at an alltime high. Our data shows that one negative review can cost a hotel $1,000-5,000 in lost revenue!
To maximize booking opportunities, hotels often partner with companies like Sojern to cost-effectively drive direct bookings across channels. We utilize our Sojern Traveler Ecosystem™, an AI-driven database that collects, aggregates, and analyzes billions of traveler intent signals. By coupling our real-time traveler search and booking data with our customers’ first-party data, we help them get in front of travelers faster and capture bookings. Our Guest Experience Solutions also help hotels create personalized GenAIpowered experiences once guests arrive on-site.
Additionally, we assist hotels in collaborating with destination marketers to effectively and cost-efficiently reach potential travelers. Through co-op marketing programs, we help Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) and hotels increase awareness and drive demand to destinations.
Key Leadership Philosophies for Success
My leadership philosophies align with Sojern’s values, which define who we are as a company and as people:
•Win as a team: Our industry is diverse, and we need input and insights from every team member.
•Embrace inclusion: Creating a safe and welcoming space for our team enables us to create that same feeling for travelers everywhere.
•Deliver wow: My job is to do things bigger and better for our customers, and I want my teams to feel empowered to do the same.
•Being genuine is imperative to building strong, loyal relationships with teammates and clients.
•Center around the customer: Customers are the reason we are here, so prioritizing them every day is our job.
While technology allows us to do amazing things, we must focus on the traveler’s problem rather than become infatuated with the latest solutions
Revolutionizing Travel Marketing with Next-Gen Tech
Emerging technology is important because it will likely be integrated into the travel space. Recently, the travel industry has evolved to more effectively target and retarget potential customers without relying on third-party cookies. We now use multiple targetable identifiers—such as hashed emails and IP addresses— collected with consent. These identifiers, paired with first-party cookie IDs, allow our customers to recognize and differentiate individual users online while maintaining privacy.
Curation uses multiple targetable identifiers to target potential travelers without third-party cookies. We combine datasets and apply AI to analyze vast amounts of data to build target audiences based on behaviors, such as travelers seeking luxury accommodations. This enables us to create highly targeted, relevant programmatic ads with higher response rates.
Other tools, like GenAI, are enabling one-to-one marketing at scale. In travel, one-to-one marketing allows staff to interact with specific guests, creating a personalized and powerful connection. At Sojern, we’ve developed our Guest Experience solutions with GenAI to enable this personalized marketing at scale. From GenAI-powered mobile email and text messaging to managing real-time guest feedback and reviews, our solutions help hotels decrease front desk requests and increase guest satisfaction.
Balancing GenAI, Privacy, and Personalized Travel
Integrating GenAI and human engagement will be a fundamental shift in travel marketing. If travel brands rely solely on tools like GenAI, they risk losing personal connections and missing opportunities to differentiate themselves from the competition. The future of the travel industry will require a careful balance between technological convenience and personalization.
Our guest experience solutions are designed to use GenAI to simplify the process for guests while preserving the personal touch that only a concierge or front desk agent can provide. Beyond GenAI, the industry must also consider the demise of third-party cookies. While Google has yet to deprecate third-party cookies, privacy-first IDs will drive the future. That’s why we are committed to developing new solutions that use consent-based data to target potential travelers in a meaningful and privacy-respecting manner
Lastly, we are seeing a huge emphasis on personalized experiences. Travelers now want exceptional, tailored experiences, and our holiday data shows they are willing to pay a premium. We help brands target potential travelers with relevant, personalized messaging, understand their preferences, and exceed expectations once they arrive on the property.
Leading the Charge: Tips for Emerging Innovators in Travel Marketing
We’ve witnessed significant technological advancement, and while technology allows us to do amazing things, we must focus on the traveler’s problem rather than become infatuated with the latest solutions. As Marc Randolf, co-founder of Netflix, once told me, “Fall in love with your customer’s problem, not your solution.” Specifically with GenAI, this means finding the right balance between human connection and machine efficiency. The challenge is: How do we genuinely connect, inform, and inspire travelers in the way they want, in a way they trust, and, ultimately, in a way that scales?
