Hotel Digital Marketing ᛫ SEO ᛫ SEM ᛫ Social Media ᛫ Online Reputation
Blessy Townes, M.S. Adv.
Top 25 Exceptional Women in Digital 2024
Hospitality Digital Marketing Leader of the Year 2023 & 2024 (APAC)
Advisory Board Member, Digital Travel APAC 2023
Key Contributor, Digital Travel APAC Benchmarking Report 2023
Top 50 Business Leaders in Asia, Cxociety Magazine
Founding Member, Hotel Heroes Council
Hotel Digital Marketing Expert & Direct Booking Advocate
International Travel Speaker
Appeared on:
Hi, I’m Blessy
I have over two decades of comprehensive experience in Digital Marketing, a plethora of successful hotel brands in my portfolio, and a Master's Degree in Advertising under my belt.
I started my career in Digital in 2001, and was among the first (few!) to practice SEO in the Philippines. I joined the hospitality industry in 2011 and spearheaded Sofitel Manila's E-Commerce initiatives, creating best practices in Sofitel worldwide network during my stint.
Passionate about Performance Marketing and driving Direct Bookings, I give talks on Hotel and Travel Marketing at Asia-Pacific conferences, and was Professor for a Day at the prestigious Hong Kong Polytechnic University's School of Hotel and Tourism Management. I am likewise a founding member of Triptease's Hotel Heroes Council, a panel of trusted experts educating and empowering fellow hoteliers.
I am currently Vice President & Head of Digital Marketing and Branding at Discovery Hospitality, a trailblazer in Filipino hospitality. Outside of work, I'm a proud single mom to my wonderful daughter, Sophia Townes, who shines as a gifted high school varsity player in women's basketball.
Speaking & Judging Gigs
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Digital Travel Summit APAC 2025 Singapore (August 12-13) - New
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Digital Travel Connect 2025 (California, USA) (April 8-10) - New
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Hospitality Philippines Conference 2024 Manila (September 11-12)
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Digital Travel APAC 2024 Singapore (August 14-16)
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World Women Forum 2023 (Las Vegas, USA) (November 1-2)
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Hospitality Philippines Conference 2023 (September 6)
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Digital Travel APAC 2023 Singapore (August 14-16)
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The Marketing Events Awards 2023 Singapore (Judge)
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Digital Travel Connect USA 2023 (April 19-21)
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Direct Booking Summit APAC 2023 Bangkok, Thailand (March 14-15)
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Hospitality Philippines Conference 2022 (October 25-26)
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Digital Travel APAC 2022 Summit (August 23-25, 2022)
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Marketing Excellence Awards 2023 (Judge)
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Seamless Philippines Virtual 2021 (October 12-13, 2021)
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The Innofac Show APAC 2021 (September 23-24, 2021)
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4th Global Digital Marketing Summit (July 22-24, 2021)
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Digital Travel USA Virtual Event 2021 (May 4-5, 2021)
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International Hotel Technology Forum Asia 2021 (March 23-24, 2021)
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A New Dawn for Travel: Mastering Digital Travel in the “New Normal” (APAC Virtual Event, September 22, 2020)
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Hotel Digital Marketing during COVID-19: Turning Lookers into Bookers (July 1, 2020)
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"Perspectives amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic" Webinar (June 25, 2020)
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Direct Booking Summit APAC (Singapore, 2019)
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Digital Travel APAC (Singapore, 2019)
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ITB Asia's Travel Meet Asia (Manila, 2019)
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Email Marketing Forum (Manila, 2018)
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Professor for a Day at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong, 2017)
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Sofitel Southeast Asia & India Regional Sales, Distribution, Marketing and Communication Conference (Vietnam, 2013)
One of our best-received speakers at last year's #DirectBookingSummit in Singapore, Hotel Hero Blessy Townes from Discovery Hospitality...
-- Triptease
Another message that stood out from talks on both days was the importance of working on your acquisition strategy in tandem with your conversion strategy. Blessy Townes of The Discovery Leisure Company, Inc put it best with her succinct summary: “You cannot have the acquisition strategy of a Ferrari with the engagement strategy of a Kia.” -- eHotelier
Success Stories
Brands & Projects* Handled
Discovery Hospitality
Discovery Resorts
Signature Collection
Manami Resort
Discovery Samal
Discovery Shores Boracay
Club Paradise Palawan
Discovery Primea Makati
Discovery Country Suites Tagaytay
Discovery Suites Ortigas
Discovery Fleet
The Shoppes at Vanilla Beach
Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila
Spiral Restaurant
Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua*
Sofitel SO Bangkok*
Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra*
Hotel See-Villa (Austria)*
Advanced Nutrients (Canada)*
WaveMetrix Limited, Inc. (UK)*
Workabroad.ph
Trabaho.com
Vietura Aesthetic Lifestyle
Case Studies & Best Practices
"The race is on for brands to uniquely deliver a holistic 360° scope of services bespoke to the new breed of digital nomads." Read more »
"The balance between the direct and OTA channels has fundamentally changed." Explore »
Hospitality industry experts Blessy Townes and Pelayo Pando reveal how your hotel can budget better and create an effective conversion attribution model. Read »
Learn how Discovery Hospitality reached international travellers, with Sojern. Discover »
"‘Book Direct’ is at the heart of Discovery’s digital strategy. Their digital transformation has enabled the company to grow its direct revenue stream above and beyond annual targets..." Get inspired »
"Find out how you can easily optimize your website experience to drive more traffic and conversions, rank first on search and much more." Download »
"One of the challenges in hospitality is we have a lot of systems and technologies that don’t necessarily talk to each other." Download »
"And while the industry stands at the pinnacle of changes in Generative AI, we hotel marketers must be agile in adapting to rapidly changing business scenarios, algorithms and consumer behaviour in the coming months.” Download »
"While AI’s biggest perk is its efficiency, for us at Discovery Hospitality, it has allowed us to grow our group's YTD Direct Booking share of revenue to 70% (versus OTA’s 30%) with phenomenal Return on Investment (ROI).” Read more »
#HPC2024 (Panel) The Digital Dance: Choreographing Online Visibility for Maximum Impact Watch the video »
