Letter from the Editor – May 2024

How do we identify marketing that is notably “innovative?” And can we determine if a particularly creative and nuanced ad, for example, or messaging or brand voice, is not just “innovative,” but also effective? Does marketing in hospitality or travel and tourism come through on the other end as “innovative” or simply, effective”? And then there’s the breadth of hospitality and the marketing of it. Whether we are promoting, advertising, pay-per-clicking or publicizing a hotel, destination, restaurant, or human-involved travel experience, are we doing so “innovatively” and “effectively?”
I am pleased to present Part II of the Marketing Innovation edition of our Boston Hospitality Review. Conducting these interviews over the last few months, with some of my favorite marketers in hospitality, has been inspiring and provocative. The chance to hear real-world examples from some of the best in the business keeps us fresh and relevant. Whether we are marketing a hotel, restaurant, chef, destination, attraction or other tourism or hospitality businesses and service, we are motivated to use the newest tools to achieve our goals efficiently while retaining the essential principles of the trade.
I have curated these interviews so we have the opportunity to hear varying perspectives and approaches; so that we can learn from the successes and challenges, and so that we can share these stories with our BU Hospitality students and marketers and inspire them to lead the future of hospitality marketing.
Leora Lanz
Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs; Faculty Chair of the Graduate Program; Associate Professor of the Practice, Boston University School of Hospitality Administration