What Luxury Hotels Can Learn From 2025's Search Trends: Preparing Your Digital Strategy for 2026


What has 2025 taught us about online behaviour? One of the key learns is that the way travellers search for hotels is changing, and fast. Between shifting seasonal patterns, Google’s continued push toward AI-driven search results and the rise of hyper-local travel intent, hotels saw a year of big digital shifts.

Now, with 2026 coming up, you should be thinking about your post-festive strategy. There’s a huge opportunity to use last year’s search trends to your advantage. At Aró Digital Strategy, we’re all about turning data into action so here’s what luxury hotels can learn from 2025, and how to turn those insights into bookings.

1. Intent-Based Searches Are Overtaking Generic Queries

Searches like “hotels in Dublin” or “spa hotels Ireland” are slowly giving way to more specific, intent-led queries such as:

"winter wellness break for couples"
"dog-friendly hotel near beaches"
"midweek escape with dinner included"

In 2026, hotels that optimise for these richer, more descriptive phrases will win. This means updating your landing pages, FAQs, and blog content to mirror the way real travellers talk, not a list of old-school keywords.

Action

  • Create pages or blog posts that speak to micro-intents: wellness, foodies, couples, adventure, pet-friendly, car-free travel, etc.

2. Local Search and Maps Played a Bigger Role in 2025

More travellers searched while on the go in 2025, especially around the Wild Atlantic Way, the southeast coast, and major cities. Google Maps and Local Pack results did much of the heavy lifting.

If your Google Business Profile wasn’t updated regularly last year, you likely missed out on high-converting search traffic.

Action

  • Double down on local SEO: fresh images, updated amenities, offers, Q&A responses, and weekly posts. Google rewards relevance and recency.

3. Voice Search Growth Isn’t Slowing Down

With more travellers using mobile, car integrations, and smart speakers, voice queries grew across 2025. These searches tend to be longer and more conversational:

“Where’s a quiet hotel near Galway with free parking?”
“What’s the best family hotel in Cork for February breaks?”

Hotels with conversational content, strong schema markup, and clear answers to common questions will appear more often in AI-generated responses and voice search results.

Action:

  • Add structured FAQ sections and incorporate natural-language queries into your content.

4. AI Overviews Changed Click Patterns

Google’s AI-powered summaries surfaced more often in 2025, especially for broad hotel searches. This pushed organic listings further down the page meaning hotels with strong brand presence and clear, structured info performed best.

Action

  • Focus on brand search optimisation (reviews, citations, consistent NAP details) and use structured data to help Google “understand” your hotel.

5. Direct Booking Demand Increased

Travellers were more intentional about avoiding high OTA fees last year. But they only booked direct when:

  • website UX was fast and frictionless
  • price parity (or better) was clear
  • benefits of booking direct were obvious
Action


2025 reshaped how travellers discovered and compared Irish hotels. But that shift is a big opportunity if you adapt early. By leaning into intent-driven SEO, strengthening your local presence and optimising for AI-driven search, luxury hotels can start 2026 with a serious competitive edge.

If you want help translating these trends into a real booking boost, the team at Aró Digital Strategy is ready to dive in. Let’s make 2026 your strongest digital year yet - get in touch.

 Author: Richard Blowes