Landing a hotel project feels like winning the supplier lottery. But missing out on one? That’s a gut-punch, and a frustrating reality many suppliers face. In today’s fast-paced world of hotel development, even great products and pricing aren’t enough. Many suppliers lose out because of timing, targeting, or simple strategic missteps.
With thousands of upcoming hotel projects and new developments launching all the time, knowing when and how to engage can be the difference between winning big and getting overlooked. In this article, we’ll break down five common mistakes that cause suppliers to miss out on hotel deals—and, more importantly, how you can avoid them.
1. Reaching Out at the Wrong Stage
The Mistake: Ever sent your pitch only to hear, “Sorry, we finalized specs six months ago”? It’s a tough moment; you go from hopeful to realizing the timing was just off.
Why It Hurts: Reaching out too early, when a project is still in concept, or too late, after decisions are made, can mean your efforts don’t land where they should. And it’s one of the biggest ways hotel suppliers are getting ignored.
Tip: Use THP’s hotel project database to track and target the precise stage of each project—from Vision to Under Construction to Pre-Opening.
2. Talking to the Wrong People
The Mistake: Reaching out to hotel managers or investors, assuming they handle supplier selection. Unfortunately, the General Manager you just called isn’t picking bathroom tiles.
Why It Hurts: Decision-making for hotel developments often lies with developers, architects, interior designers, or procurement consultants.
Tip: With THP, you can identify and contact the real decision-makers by using detailed hotel construction leads with verified contact info.
3. Assuming the Brand Makes All the Decisions
The Mistake: Thinking “It’s a Hilton project, so Hilton corporate must be in charge.”
Why It Hurts: Many hotels operate under franchise or management agreements. The brand provides design standards, but selecting suppliers is likely up to the owner or developer.
Example: A Hilton Garden Inn in Kraków might be Hilton-branded but owned by a Polish investment group handling all purchasing independently. A supplier who goes straight to Hilton HQ is likely to get redirected—or worse, ghosted.
Tip: THP shows you ownership and developer data, so you pitch the people actually pulling the strings.
4. Going Silent When a Project’s Delayed
The Mistake: A project gets postponed, so you move on and never check back.
Why It Hurts: Projects often resume after 6–12 months, and suppliers who stayed in the loop are far more likely to be reconsidered. (So don’t break up with your dream hotel just yet!)
Tip: Stay in the loop. Platforms like THP alert you via email—if you’ve saved a project to your ‘Favorites’ list—when paused projects restart, giving you a second chance to re-engage.
5. Sending the Same Pitch to Every Hotel Project
The Mistake: One email template, 100 hotel leads. One-size-fits-all emails are great. . . but perhaps only if you're selling socks. For hotels? It’s better to get a bit more personal.
Why It Hurts: Developers can tell when your outreach isn’t tailored to their project’s needs. For the couches you want IHG to put in their new Africa location, do you have a good understanding of what their interior design will be? Do they have a theme? Do your couches fit in with the theme? Key hotel contacts can tell when you aren’t sure what their hotel is all about.
Tip: Use hotel project data to personalize your pitch—room count, opening date, design plan, special amenities—and show you understand their vision. Even more, we have started linking our THP.News articles to the Description field in our database so that if you want to know more in-depth information about the upcoming hotel project, you can read it in our news article.
Final Word
Avoid these red flags and you won’t just stay in the running, you’ll stand out. In a crowded hotel development market, timing and targeting are your secret weapons.
Want smarter outreach and better targeting?
Book a demo with THP and tap into the data that top hotel suppliers rely on to win more business in the upcoming hotel project pipeline.
