#347: How Sofitel is Using Competitive Intelligence, Location Data, and AI to Improve Hotel Marketing | with Evan Saunders

In this special Destination AI episode of The Modern Hotelier, David Millili sits down with Evan Saunders of Azira to explore how location intelligence, behavioral data, and AI are transforming hotel marketing and travel demand generation. Evan explains how hotels can use competitive intelligence and audience segmentation to identify high-intent travelers beyond their existing customer base, understand competitor audiences, and turn those insights into targeted marketing campaigns that drive incremental revenue. He also discusses the growing shift away from traditional OTA-dependent marketing, the changing ways travelers discover properties, and how AI helps hospitality brands analyze large volumes of data and reach the right audiences more effectively. The conversation also explores the Sofitel New York campaign, measuring marketing performance beyond clicks and direct bookings, and the importance of using attribution and transaction data to understand the true impact of advertising. In this episode, you'll learn about: How location intelligence helps hotels identify high-intent travelers Using competitive insights to attract guests from competing properties How AI improves audience segmentation and hotel marketing Why traveler loyalty is becoming increasingly fragmented The future of AI-driven marketing in hospitality Watch the FULL EPISODE on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VCqkbZ8H49c   Links: Evan Saunders on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evansaunders/?isSelfProfile=false Azira: https://www.azira.com/ For full show notes head to: https://themodernhotelier.com/episode/347 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-.. Join the conversation on today's episode on The Modern Hotelier LinkedIn page Connect with Steve and David: Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8E... David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mil.