How to Run a Seasonal Promotion for Your Hotel Using Email Marketing

A well-timed seasonal email campaign to 1,000 past guests can fill a slow weekend in under 48 hours. No OTA commission. No ad spend. No algorithm. Just a direct message to the people who already know and like your property. DoHospitality’s service handles every seasonal campaign from strategy to send.

Here’s exactly how to build and run one.

Why Seasonal Email Campaigns Outperform OTA Promotions

When a hotel wants to drive demand during a slow period, the typical default is to drop rates on Booking.com or run an OTA-sponsored promotion. This approach has two problems.

First, it costs commission. A rate discount on Booking.com is doubly expensive, you’ve reduced your rate AND you’re paying 20% commission on the discounted amount.

Second, it trains guests to expect discounts. A past guest who received a 15% OTA discount before their last stay will look for that discount before their next one.

An email campaign to past guests does neither. The offer is direct, exclusive to your list, and creates an incentive for direct booking rather than OTA dependency. The cost is $0–$50 in email platform fees. The commission on bookings it generates is $0. Pairing seasonal email campaigns with amplifies reach across both owned channels simultaneously.

Choosing the Right Seasonal Hook

Every effective seasonal hotel email campaign starts with a reason. Not “we have availability”, that’s a statement of desperation, not a value proposition. A compelling seasonal hook is a reason why right now is a good time to come.

Hooks that perform well for hotels:

• Local events: “Nashville’s music festival season is three weeks away, we’re 10 minutes from the main stage. Rooms are going fast.”
• Seasonal experience: “Our rooftop terrace reopens for the season on April 15th. Sunset cocktails at $X/night, book while we have availability.”
• Low-crowd positioning: “February in [city] is our favorite month. The tourists are gone, the restaurants have open tables, and rates haven’t moved. Come see why locals love it.”
• New feature or improvement: “We just completed a renovation of our four suites. If you haven’t seen the new look, we’d love to have you back.”
• Holiday or special occasion: “Mother’s Day weekend packages, breakfast included, early check-in priority for direct bookers.”

The hook should feel like a tip from someone who knows the destination, not a sales pitch from someone trying to fill rooms. That distinction is what makes your email list more valuable than any OTA platform.

The Three-Email Seasonal Campaign Structure

A single email works. A three-email sequence works significantly better. Here’s how to structure it:

Email 1: The Announcement (3–4 Weeks Before)

Subject line options:

• “[City] in [Month]: our take on the best month to visit”
• “Spring in [property name] starts [date]”
• “Early access for past guests: [offer]”

Content:

• The seasonal hook (2–3 sentences on why this time of year is special)
• The specific offer (what’s included, what’s available)
• Your available dates
• A clear booking CTA: “Reserve directly at [link] by [date] to take advantage of this offer”
• One image: your property in the relevant season

Length: Under 300 words. One image. One CTA.

Email 2: The Reminder (1–2 Weeks Before)

Subject: “A few rooms still available, [city] in [month]”

Content:

• Brief reminder of the offer
• Urgency note: “We have [X] rooms available at this rate”
• Same booking link
• One new element: a guest quote or photo from a previous stay in this season

Length: Under 200 words.

Email 3: The Last Chance (3–5 Days Before Offer Ends)

Subject: “Last call: [offer] ends [date]”

Content:

• Two sentences on the offer
• Specific remaining availability if you know it
• Final booking link
• No new information, just urgency and clarity

Length: Under 100 words.

The three-email structure typically generates 60–70% of bookings from the first email, 20–25% from the second, and 10–15% from the third. All three together outperform a single send by 35–50%.

DoHospitality manages email marketing for hotels, including seasonal campaign setup and sending. See our service — starting at $497/month.

What to Offer Without Discounting Your Room Rate

Rate parity clauses complicate discounting, but added value doesn’t require discounting at all. Here’s what works:

Complimentary breakfast for two: Retail cost to you: $20–$35. Perceived value to the guest: $50–$80. Strong offer that doesn’t affect your published rate.

Early check-in (12pm instead of 3pm): Cost to you: $0 (when you have availability). Perceived value: high. Especially effective for guests arriving on morning flights.

Late checkout (1pm instead of 11am): Same logic. Costs you very little when the room isn’t booked that afternoon. High perceived value.

Welcome amenity: A bottle of wine, local chocolates, a cheese plate. Cost: $15–$30. Works especially well for anniversary, birthday, and romantic getaway promotions.

Flexible cancellation: Offer free cancellation up to 48 hours before check-in for direct bookings, while OTA bookings carry the standard 7-day cancellation policy. This is a genuine value offer that doesn’t cost you anything unless the guest cancels.

Room category upgrade: Offer guaranteed or priority upgrade to the next room category. Cost: $0 when availability exists. Works extremely well for shoulder-season campaigns.

Any of these makes a seasonal campaign compelling without discounting your rate.

The Ski Season Campaign That Filled a Slow Month

Andrea manages a 20-room mountain property in Colorado. January was historically her slowest month, post-holiday, pre-spring, with occupancy averaging 38%.

In December 2024, she ran a three-email sequence to her list of 640 past guests:

Email 1 (December 12): “Why January is actually the best skiing month, and why we’re biased.” She wrote about lower lift line wait times, recent snowfall, and the quieter mountain town atmosphere. Offer: book January and receive complimentary ski storage and a welcome bottle of local beer.

Email 2 (December 21): “Reminder: 12 rooms still available for January.” Included a guest photo from a previous January stay with their permission.

Email 3 (January 3): “Last chance: January ski package ends Friday.” 68 words. One link.

Results: 22 direct bookings from the campaign. At an average booking value of $480, that’s $10,560 in direct revenue. Zero commission. $47 in Mailchimp send costs.

Her January occupancy that year: 61%. Her previous January: 38%.

Timing Your Seasonal Campaigns

Here’s a calendar framework for independent hotels running four seasonal campaigns per year:

| Campaign | Send Dates | Target Dates | | Spring | February 20, March 5, March 15 | Late March–May | | Summer | May 1, May 15, May 25 | Memorial Day–Labor Day peak | | Fall | August 25, September 8, September 20 | October–November | | Holiday/Winter | November 1, November 15, December 1 | December–January |

Additional opportunistic sends:

• Local events (festivals, conferences, sporting events), send 4–5 weeks before the event
• New amenities or renovations, send immediately after completion
• Flash sales for urgent vacancy, send 5–7 days before empty dates

Technical Setup for Your First Campaign

Platform: Mailchimp is the standard choice. Free up to 1,000 contacts.

Setup checklist:

1. Create your audience list (import past guest emails)
2. Build a branded email template (your logo, property colors, one clean layout)
3. Write your three emails in advance
4. Schedule Email 1 three to four weeks before your promotion dates
5. Schedule Email 2 and Email 3 at the timing above
6. Set up a UTM tracking link in your booking URL so you can measure campaign bookings

Tracking your results: After each campaign, note:

• Open rate (target: 25–35% for a warm past-guest list)
• Click rate (target: 5–10%)
• Bookings confirmed (track manually or via UTM if your booking system allows)
• Revenue generated
• Cost: email platform fee only

This data improves every subsequent campaign. Most hotels see their seasonal campaign performance improve 30–50% after the first three runs because they’ve learned what subject lines, offers, and timing work for their specific audience.

What to Do With Guests Who Don’t Book

Not every past guest will book from every campaign. That’s fine. They’ve still seen your property name, thought about returning, and formed a positive association, all of which makes them more likely to book directly on their next trip.

The long-term value of a well-managed email list isn’t measured campaign-by-campaign. It’s the cumulative effect of staying top-of-mind with people who already like your property, so that when they’re ready to travel, they think of you first, and book direct.

That’s the fundamental value proposition of email marketing for hotels. Four campaigns per year, consistently executed, is the infrastructure that makes direct booking your default rather than the OTA’s.

A seasonal email campaign to 1,000 past guests costs less than $100 to send. The bookings it generates are 100% commission-free.

DoHospitality’s service handles full seasonal campaign management — strategy, copywriting, sending, and reporting. — no discovery calls, no hidden fees, starting at $497/month.