UK | The inaugural Hospitality Social Media Summit (HoSS), held on the 3rd to 4th of September, drew more than 200 senior social, marketing, digital, brand and commercial leaders from 14 countries.
Delegates represented global hotel brands and groups across models and markets, suggesting the gap HoSS was created to address is not confined to one market.
Across those businesses, social media teams have been increasingly expected to contribute to demand, revenue, reputation, and long-term brand value, while the strategy, skills, and commercial frameworks around the function have not kept pace.
Summit creator Kordie identified that gap early and built HoSS to close it: not a conference, but an executive working summit that applies senior-level strategic education directly to delegates’ own businesses to produce decisions, frameworks, and outputs teams can use immediately.
Global hospitality experience, applied
Whitney Reynolds, former Global Director of Social Marketing at IHG Hotels & Resorts and co-producer of the Summit, led day one. Her full-day masterclass ran from business goals, audiences and channels through to brand personality, content direction, tactics and measurement, each applied to delegates’ own organisations.
For Reynolds, the biggest takeaway was realising how ready the hospitality social media community is to elevate this discipline.
“Starting with strategy and commercial outcomes on day one, then layering in practical tools on day two, gave delegates a foundation for smarter decisions about where to invest. We weren’t simply talking about better content; we were working to demonstrate the influence social can have on hospitality businesses.”
Day two moved from strategy to specialist implementation. Faculty included Laura Ferrari, former Director of Social Media EMEA at Hyatt Hotels Corporation; Santiago García Solimei, former Global Director of Social Media and Brands PR at Meliá Hotels International; and Stefano Della Schiava, former Head of the Nespresso Content Studio, alongside specialist hospitality, performance marketing, content and digital teams.
Sessions covered paid social and direct bookings, AI-assisted workflows, AI content quality, video strategy, international market activation, and social care and reputation, worked through as practical frameworks with delegates.
“What stayed with us most was the recognition that social strategy has been sitting in the wrong room,” said Ferrari.
“The conversation has shifted from ‘how do we make more content’ to ‘how do we make social accountable for commercial outcomes’. That’s not a small shift; it’s a structural one, and the teams who make it will look very different from the ones who don’t.”
Built beyond the event room
Delegates retain access to the HoSS Digital Hub, powered by Kordie, which holds the programme’s tools, templates, recordings, and expert-led learning and education that continues after the room empties.
“Across very different markets and businesses, we heard the same underlying challenge: leadership increasingly expects social media to contribute to demand, revenue and reputation, while the commercial frameworks and capability surrounding the function have not evolved at the same speed,” said Alisa Kremer, Founder of Kordie and the Hospitality Social Media Summit.
“That is a wider commercial capability gap, and closing it is exactly what Kordie is being built for. We are grateful to every delegate, faculty member and partner who backed the first edition.”
Further editions will follow in 2027.
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