PR Moves Hospitality Can’t Ignore In 2026

2026 New Year goals! PR today isn’t just about how a brand looks in the public eye—it’s a core driver of business growth, from foot traffic and reservations to brand loyalty and long-term revenue.

With years of experience in hospitality PR, here are three New Year wishes (and moves) we hope the industry embraces—through a PR lens.

Listening Is the Real Power Move

You can have the best campaign ideas—but do they land outside your four walls? Do guests see them the way you do?

That’s why social listening is essential. In hospitality PR, the strongest storytelling is insight-led: built from what people actually want, feel, and say. Start where the truth lives—comments, reviews, and threads—because that’s where you’ll find unfiltered feedback and the messaging that genuinely resonates.

Don’t Chase News—Create It

May your next campaigns be so compelling that journalists come to you, not the other way around.

With fresh angles, new data, unexpected insights, and innovative storytelling, PR creates the kind of positive noise that turns into lasting buzz. The goal is simple: offer something consistently newsworthy. Because your story should be bigger than a sales push—and we know it is.

Let AI Strategically Be “On Your Team”

AI is here to stay, but the real question is how consciously PR teams decide to work with it. The Generative Pulse Report (Muck Rack, 2025) shows that earned media accounts for 82% of what large language models are reading. 

A Huge Proportion, Isn’t It? That’s why the stronger and more consistent your media presence, the more visible—and credible—your brand becomes. Not just to audiences, but increasingly across AI-driven discovery.

Stronger Year Ahead

As we step into the year ahead, smarter listening, braver storytelling, and strategic use of AI will define the PR strategies that drive real impact. Ready to put these moves into action?