How do I create an editorial calendar for a hotel?
Short answer
A hotel editorial calendar is a simple plan of what you'll publish or update, when, and who's responsible. Build it around your booking windows — publish seasonal and event content well before travellers plan those trips — and include updates to existing pages, not only new ones. Keep it realistic for your team, tie each item to rooms or offers, and schedule a yearly review of everything already published. A spreadsheet with dates, owners, purpose, and status is enough for most hotels.
By Lodging Engine Editorial Team· Reviewed by Eric Zwanenburg· Last reviewed
Start with your booking windows
Work out when guests book for each season or event. Content needs to be live before that window — ideally early enough for search engines to crawl and index it.
What to put in the calendar
- Seasonal pieces: guides and offers for the coming season.
- Events: local events your guests plan around; your own events.
- Updates: room pages after renovations, policy changes, new photos.
- Reviews: a date to check every guide for accuracy.
A simple template
| Publish by | Piece | Purpose | Owner | Links to | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March | Spring walking guide | Planning content | Front office manager | Garden rooms, walking package | Drafting |
| April | Summer festival page | Event demand | Marketing | Festival package | Planned |
| Ongoing | Room page updates | Accuracy | Revenue manager | — | Monthly |
Example — adapt to your season and team.
Assign real owners
The best content comes from people with first-hand knowledge: concierges, chefs, event coordinators. Give them the topic and a simple brief; an editor can shape the result.
Keep quality checks in the process
- Every fact checked before publishing.
- Every piece linked to relevant rooms or offers.
- AI-assisted drafts reviewed by a named person. See should hotels use AI to write content?.
Review the calendar quarterly
Drop items that no longer make sense, add new events, and note what performed well.
Common mistakes
- Planning only new posts, never updates.
- Publishing seasonal content after guests have booked.
- Calendars no one owns.
Checklist
- Booking windows mapped by season and event
- Updates and reviews in the calendar
- Owner and purpose for each item
- Links to rooms or offers planned
- Quarterly calendar review
Sources
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content — Google Search Central
- SEO Starter Guide: the basics — Google Search Central