Cendyn just dropped a new round of data that confirms what a lot of hoteliers have been feeling for months: digital marketing is getting more expensive, more regulated and—thanks to shrinking access to user data—more unpredictable. hotel digital marketing 2025

According to the 2025 Hotel Digital Marketing Performance Index, cost per acquisition (CPA) jumped 38% year-over-year, marking the sharpest rise the company has tracked in recent years. For an industry that already operates on tight margins, that number hurts.

But the real story isn’t just that CPA is up. It’s why it’s up—and what it means for hotels navigating a privacy-first world.

A clickless world takes shape

Cendyn points to one major driver: the regulatory squeeze. Privacy laws are no longer a slow-rolling trend; they’re a full-force tidal wave. The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is reshaping the data landscape, forcing every advertiser—from boutique hotels to global chains—to rethink how they track, personalise and optimise.

One of the most significant changes is Google’s shift to Consent Mode V2, a direct response to the DMA. Hotels can still run Google Ads and use Analytics, but the tracking experience looks very different depending on whether a user consents.

And when travellers say no?
Those visits, conversions and actions often disappear from view, cutting off the behavioural signals that Google’s automated bidding uses to make decisions.

The result is exactly what marketers feared:
– less accurate optimisation
– distorted ROAS
– higher acquisition costs
– more volatility in campaign performance

Cendyn’s own aggregated data shows conversion rates slipping across most major channels. That doesn’t mean consumers aren’t converting; it means hotels can’t see them converting. And without visibility, every marketing decision becomes a little shakier.

Compliance challenges hit U.S. hotels too

The U.S. market isn’t getting a free pass either. Several states are cracking down on “junk fees,” and hotels are directly in the crosshairs.

California’s Senate Bill 644 and Assembly Bill 537 now require hotels to display fully transparent pricing—taxes, resort fees, mandatory extras, everything. And if hotels don’t comply? The penalties aren’t just legal; they’re commercial.

Cendyn’s report highlights that properties with unclear fee structures are losing ground on metasearch, one of the most rate-sensitive channels in hospitality. Listings look artificially expensive, click-through rates drop, and ROI takes a hit.

CTR in the U.S. fell from 3.18% to 2.88%, and while that decline may seem small, in a channel as competitive as metasearch, it’s the difference between being booked and being ignored.

What Cendyn says hotels should do next

Christina Leme, Senior Director Global Media at Cendyn, didn’t mince words: hotels that fail to adapt risk disappearing from the places travelers search.

Her advice lands on five core priorities:

• Strengthen price parity monitoring
• Fix consent management to recover lost tracking
• Disclose every tax and fee accurately
• Invest aggressively in first-party data
• Improve technical accuracy across marketing channels

This isn’t about chasing compliance for compliance’s sake. It’s about future-proofing digital performance in an environment where visibility is no longer guaranteed.

Why this matters beyond Cendyn’s ecosystem

While the report focuses on Cendyn customers, the implications stretch far beyond. Similar hospitality-tech giants—like Amadeus, Sojern and Sabre—have all reported increases in campaign volatility tied to privacy restrictions, signal loss and rising media costs.

Sojern’s 2024 Q4 Travel Marketing Report noted a “material decline” in observable conversions after Meta and Google tightened their EU data frameworks. Sabre’s hospitality division signaled rising acquisition costs and slower optimisation cycles due to reduced audience segmentation capabilities.

Across the industry, the direction is clear:
Privacy laws are tightening. Cookies are fading. Platforms are reducing user-level targeting.
And the cost of doing digital marketing the old way is only going up.

Reliable market monitors like Skift, Phocuswright, and McKinsey have been signalling this shift for years. Cendyn’s latest data confirms that the window for hotels to adapt is rapidly closing.

Conclusion: The hotels that win next are the ones that rethink digital from the ground up

What’s happening now isn’t just a bump in CPA—it’s a structural reset. The entire digital ecosystem is moving toward privacy-first, consent-driven and AI-assisted optimization, and hotels can’t afford to stand still.

Compared with competitors like Sojern or Amadeus, Cendyn is positioning itself as one of the loudest voices warning hoteliers that performance won’t magically bounce back. Instead, the winners will be the brands that embrace first-party data, fix their pricing accuracy, and design marketing strategies that don’t crumble when cookie signals disappear.

Hotels that adapt early will pay less for acquisition, maintain visibility, and keep booking volumes steady. Those who wait will spend more—and get less.

This shift isn’t temporary. It’s the new normal.