By David Naffis, founder and CEO of Adwave - 4.23.2026
For most of the history of television advertising, hotels and resorts either had the budget for it or they didn’t. Production costs were high, media buys were structured for large national advertisers, and the targeting was too broad to justify the spend for a regional property or independent hotel. The channel belonged to the big chains.
That has changed. Connected television (CTV) has opened up inventory that didn’t exist a few years ago, at price points that work for properties well below the enterprise level. At the same time, AI-powered ad creation has removed the production barrier that kept smaller operators out of video advertising entirely.
Together, these two shifts put television advertising within reach for a much wider range of hospitality brands. But what does that look like in practice, and how can operators and marketing teams make the most of it?
Streaming Has More Ad Inventory, and the Pricing Reflects It
Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Peacock, Disney+, and others have all launched or expanded ad-supported tiers, and the cumulative effect on available inventory has been substantial. More supply has kept CPMs competitive, and the minimum spend requirements that once made television a large-chain-only medium no longer apply. A regional resort or independent hotel can now run a television campaign on a budget that would have barely registered by broadcast standards.
The mechanics of buying that inventory are also different. CTV runs on programmatic infrastructure, meaning advertisers aren’t purchasing a time slot and hoping the right audience is watching. They’re buying specific audiences defined by geography, travel intent, demographics, and behavioral data, matched to viewers in real time. For a property with a well-defined guest profile, that’s a more efficient use of spend than anything linear TV ever offered.
AI Has Made Production Accessible
Producing broadcast-quality video used to require an agency, a production crew, and a budget most independent properties didn’t have. AI-powered ad creation tools have changed that. A property can now produce a polished, campaign-ready ad without any of that overhead. Entry-level costs for creation and distribution can start under $100, with spend scaling up as needed to expand reach.
On the creative side, most properties running CTV campaigns keep it simple. A general brand awareness spot, and sometimes a second ad tied to a seasonal offer or promotion, is enough. Consistent, well-made ads that stay in market long enough to work will outperform a larger library refreshed too quickly.
The Competitive Window Is Still Open
The inventory is accessible, the production costs are low, and hospitality brands are still underrepresented on CTV relative to retail, automotive, and direct-to-consumer advertisers. That combination won’t last. As more advertisers recognize what the channel offers, CPMs will climb, and the audience attention that’s currently available at favorable rates will become more contested. The properties moving now are getting in before that happens.
Hotel operators make this kind of timing call regularly. Early adoption of cloud-based PMS platforms, dynamic pricing tools, and online booking infrastructure all followed the same pattern. The properties that moved while conditions were still early captured advantages that took latecomers significantly longer to close. CTV is at a similar inflection point. The tools are ready, the inventory is there, and the cost to enter is lower than it’s going to be.
Plan for a Sustained Campaign, Not a Short Test
CTV doesn’t perform like paid search or social, where results are immediate, and attribution is clean. A property running a few weeks of ads and looking for a direct booking spike will likely walk away with the wrong read. The channel builds over time. Campaigns running six to twelve months are where operators see meaningful impact: increased booking volume, more direct inquiries, and stronger brand recall.
Measurement is improving as the platforms mature, but it still requires a different mindset. The signal shows up in downstream metrics rather than last-click data. Properties that run a short test and go dark haven’t given the campaign enough runway to deliver, and they’ve spent money without seeing what the channel is actually capable of.
What to Put in Front of Your Audience
A general brand spot that communicates what the property is and who it’s for does the foundational work of building recognition over time. A second ad tied to a seasonal package, a limited-time offer, or a specific booking window adds a more direct response element when the timing is right. That combination covers most of what a property needs to run an effective CTV campaign.
The targeting is what makes both formats work. Rather than reaching a broad regional audience, a property can target people actively researching travel in a specific geography, frequent travelers who match the guest profile, or households within drive-market distance during a high-intent planning window. The ad doesn’t have to do all the work when it’s reaching the right people to begin with.
A Channel Worth Taking Seriously
Television advertising has moved from something that required significant scale to something regional and independent properties can use effectively. The inventory is accessible, production costs are manageable, and the targeting is more precise than anything the medium previously offered.
Getting in now, while inventory is accessible and costs are still low, means reaching guests in a channel they’re already spending time in before it gets significantly more crowded and more expensive to enter. The properties that run consistent campaigns and use the available tools to produce creative efficiently will be the ones already established when that happens.
David Naffis is the founder and CEO of Adwave. A serial ad tech entrepreneur, David previously co-founded VideoByte (acquired by Kargo, 2023) and Remixd (sold to Global UK/DAX US). In 2014, he served as a Presidential Innovation Fellow applying AI to National Archives documents. He founded Adwave to bring TV’s credibility advantage to Main Street businesses that couldn’t previously afford it.
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