Before Increasing Your Hotel’s Ad Budget: Five Numbers to Review

Before increasing a hotel campaign’s budget, review what happens after the click. The essential measures are qualified enquiries, cost per qualified enquiry, attributed bookings, cost per booking and attributed booking revenue. Together, they connect media spending to the outcomes the hotel is trying to achieve.

Clicks remain useful for understanding traffic and engagement. They cannot, on their own, tell you whether the enquiries were suitable, how many reservations were confirmed or what revenue those reservations represent.

1. Qualified enquiries

Start by agreeing what makes an enquiry useful for your hotel. A practical definition might include a genuine accommodation request, relevant travel dates, enough guest information to assess the stay and a way to respond.

Apply the definition consistently. Separate spam, duplicate messages, supplier requests and existing-booking questions from new booking enquiries. A campaign generating many messages is not necessarily generating the same number of potential stays.

Record the campaign source where you can establish it, and ask reservations to update the enquiry’s outcome. Avoid guessing that every new message came from the current advertisement.

2. Cost per qualified enquiry

Calculate this by dividing campaign ad spend by the number of qualified enquiries attributed to that campaign.

Cost per qualified enquiry = ad spend ÷ qualified enquiries

For an illustrative campaign spending EGP 10,000 and generating 50 qualified enquiries, the cost is EGP 200 per qualified enquiry. These are hypothetical figures, not Otel Spider client results or industry targets.

Read the number alongside enquiry quality. A lower acquisition cost is not automatically an improvement if fewer enquiries are suitable or staff cannot reach the people who submitted them.

3. Confirmed bookings attributed to the campaign

Follow the enquiry through to a confirmed reservation. Include direct online bookings in the campaign review where tracking supports that connection, while keeping them distinct from enquiry submissions.

Use booking references to reconcile records and remove duplicates. One guest may interact with several channels before booking, so adding platform-reported conversions together can overstate the total.

Agree an attribution method and window, and allow time for people to book after their first interaction. Record cancellations separately so the team can see both initial confirmations and the remaining bookings.

4. Cost per booking

Divide the campaign’s ad spend by confirmed bookings attributed to it.

Cost per booking = ad spend ÷ attributed bookings

If the illustrative EGP 10,000 campaign produces 10 bookings, the media cost per booking is EGP 1,000. This measure includes ad spend only; creative production, agency fees and other marketing costs need separate treatment when assessing the full acquisition cost.

Compare booking cost with the value and contribution of the stays acquired. A single-night reservation and a longer stay may justify different acquisition costs. There is no universal cost-per-booking target that fits every hotel and period.

5. Booking revenue and return on ad spend

Add the booking revenue attributed to the campaign, using a clearly defined revenue basis. Then divide that amount by ad spend to calculate revenue-based return on ad spend, or ROAS.

ROAS = attributed booking revenue ÷ ad spend

In the same hypothetical example, EGP 60,000 in booking revenue divided by EGP 10,000 in ad spend equals 6× ROAS.

ROAS is not profit. It does not deduct the cost of delivering the stay or all marketing costs, and it does not prove that every attributed booking was caused by the advertisement. Update the report for cancellations and refunds, and distinguish booked revenue from revenue for completed stays.

Put the five numbers into one review

Use the same campaign scope, currency and reporting logic across the calculations. Document the attribution window and whether revenue includes taxes. Check that the conversion actions being counted represent the intended outcomes; an enquiry submission should not be treated as a completed booking.

The next decision may be to increase spending, improve the offer, fix tracking or strengthen follow-up. Make that decision from the complete picture rather than a single encouraging metric.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good hotel campaign ROAS?

The appropriate target depends on margins, booking value, marketing costs and the campaign’s objective. Establish a property-specific target rather than applying the example above as a benchmark.

When should a hotel review campaign results?

Check delivery and tracking during the campaign, then assess booking outcomes after allowing for the normal enquiry-to-booking delay. Reconcile cancellations as the stays approach or are completed.

Discuss your campaign performance!

Before increasing your hotel’s ad budget, follow the click to qualified enquiries, confirmed bookings, and attributed revenue.