Tech Stack Chats with Molly Peel, Head of Social Media, Red Carnation Hotel Collection
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Molly Peel, Head of Social Media at Red Carnation Hotel Collection, shares her insights with Hospitality Tech360 on the evolving role of technology in hospitality. From shaping guest journeys to refining marketing strategies, she discusses the balance between innovation and authenticity, and how tech supports creativity across the industry.
What would you say are the biggest challenges in hospitality and how can tech help?
For Red Carnation as a brand, authenticity and the human touch are really important to us. Within any of our properties, if you speak to our guests or read the reviews, the service is something that consistently stands out. A major challenge for us is finding ways to work more efficiently and be more concise in our strategies, without losing that authenticity or the personal element that defines us.
I want to explore new software and tools that can help us tailor our strategies and communicate more effectively, but without losing that Red Carnation touch. Maintaining the human element is vital.
Another challenge we face is the rising costs that affect the whole industry, such as the increase in the living wage and national insurance. The question is how we can use technology efficiently, not to replace jobs, but to free up time for creativity and more innovative thinking. Technology can really help us refine the administrative side of things, particularly in central roles within hospitality.
For example, a great AI tool could type up meeting minutes, saving half an hour that can then be used to focus on creative tasks. That is especially important in my department, because creativity lies at the heart of what we do.
How has tech shaped or influenced your marketing strategy?
The social landscape is constantly evolving, and the same can be said of the technology landscape. At times it feels overwhelming, with so many tools available, and it is essential to decide which will work best for your brand and for the type of work I do with my team.
In terms of social media, we really need to look at guest journeys and consider how technology can help refine these, from pre-stay communications or even before that point, when we are trying to capture the attention of potential customers through our social content. Technology can help us here by enabling us to listen to our audiences and potential guests, understanding how they are talking about holidays, booking trips to London or to South Africa, and more widely how they are engaging across the digital landscape.
It is equally important to consider post-stay advocacy. We want to continue communicating with guests after their visit, making their stay as memorable as possible so that they are encouraged to return.
We have also started working with a fantastic piece of social intelligence technology. A year ago I would probably have described it as social listening, but through further research and by learning from the brand we are working with, I now feel that social intelligence is a much more accurate term. This tool is invaluable for tracking audience sentiment, helping us understand how our guests and potential guests are talking about hospitality across multiple platforms, including websites and blogs, not just social media.
It also informs our tone of voice strategy, ensuring we are aligned with how people are speaking about us. Beyond this, it allows us to be one step ahead when creating content plans and developing broader marketing and social strategies for the year ahead. By examining what our guests want to hear about, how they have responded to our previous content, and what they expect from us, we can shape our plans more effectively. This includes competitor analysis, looking at what has worked well for other hotels, and using those insights to refine our own strategies.
What would you say is the most important factor when selecting a new tech provider?
They are not cheap, it is a big investment. One of the main things we look for at Red Carnation is that we want our suppliers and external teams to feel like an extension of our own team. With the brand we chose for this particular piece of software, we built exactly that kind of relationship. It was a team I really enjoyed working with and felt comfortable collaborating with, which was especially important given that there is so much to learn. I wanted to be sure we were in safe hands, particularly when it came to the day-to-day training and communication side of things.
Meet operators and industry leaders just like Molly at Hospitality Tech360 (HT360), launching 30 March - 01 April 2026 at Excel London as part of Food, Drink & Hospitality Week.
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