About Sarah Stahl
Hospitality Marketing Strategist

I've Seen Travel From Every Side, And Along The Way I've Seen Some Things. Now I Help Hospitality Brands Own Their Demand.

Most people experience travel from one side. I’ve worked in three.

I started in destination marketing, helping communities attract visitors and learning what makes people choose one place over another.

Then I moved into hospitality as Head of Marketing at ReTreet Resort. I built the creator system that helped scale a startup property from six treehouses to 21 units at 93% direct bookings, without PPC. That is where I learned what growth looks like when guest experience, technology, operations, and profitability all have to work together.

I later spent time inside the OTA ecosystem as VP of Marketing at Lake.com, studying how travelers discover destinations, evaluate options, and decide where to book.

Along the way, I’ve noticed something

  • Most hospitality businesses don’t have marketing problems, but visibility, systems and guest relationship problems. Ultimately, that’s an ownership problem.
  • The businesses that grow sustainably aren’t always the ones spending the most on marketing. They’re the ones that understand their guests, own more of their demand, and make it easy for people to return.

Today I run Market Movers, where I apply what I learned on all three sides to help hospitality brands own more of their demand.

Truvisionary Top 50 in 2026
Sarah Stahl

Exploring What Makes People Travel, Book & Return as a Strategic Advisor | Hospitality Growth & Travel Discovery

Hospitality Marketing Strategist | Founder, Market Movers 15 years in marketing | 10 in travel

Connect With Me on linkedin

What I've Built

Creator Systems That Drive Direct Bookings

A creator system is a repeatable program that turns creator content into direct bookings a brand owns, instead of one-off posts. I have worked with nearly 500 creators, and the results below come from the same approach.

I have now systematized what worked into a repeatable creator system for hospitality brands, paired with open-source direct-booking systems so creator demand lands on a site the brand owns. Each time the principle is the same: treat creator marketing as a trust problem, then send that trust to bookings the brand owns.

ReTreet Resort

Built the creator system behind growth from six treehouses to 21 units at 93% direct bookings, without heavy reliance PPC, on a modest annual budget.

Wilding Hotels

Applied the same system and increased direct bookings by 50% from a system that was 100% dependent on PPC advertising for bookings.

Lake.com

As VP of Marketing, I built the Lake Creator Program, a two-sided system across tens of thousands of listings. Creators earn complimentary stays and deliver content. Hosts get authentic content and permanent blog posts on Lake.com that build search value.

Ways We Can Work Together

Consulting for Vacation Rental and Boutique Hospitality Brands

An outside perspective for vacation rental and boutique hospitality brands that want more direct bookings and less dependence on OTAs. I look at your visibility, guest relationships, technology, and creator partnerships, then give you a clear plan you can actually implement.

Bring a hospitality insider's perspective to your event, team, or organization. I speak on direct bookings, hospitality growth, creator systems, AI and travel discovery, guest behavior, and the future of travel, drawing on my work at ReTreet Resort, Wilding Hotels, and Lake.com. Keynotes, workshops, and team training.

Looking for a podcast guest, webinar speaker, industry contributor, or creator collaboration partner? I share insights from the intersection of tourism, hospitality, travel technology, and creator marketing,

A Few Things
About Me.

Because if you’ve made it this far, we might as well skip the corporate bio.

  • Named 2026 Truvisionaries, a list of 50 short-term rental industry voices.
  • Master of Science in Marketing.
  • Speaker and podcast guest. 
  • I never pass up a chance to explore a new lake, hiking trail, or small town with a story to tell.
  • I read more books than I finish TV shows.
  • I'm endlessly fascinated by why people choose one place over another—and what makes them want to come back.
  • Most good ideas start with coffee. The really ambitious ones usually require a second cup.
  • I love finding patterns. In travel, in business, and occasionally in places where nobody else is looking.
  • I ask a lot of questions. Usually because the most interesting answer is hiding behind the obvious one.

A Different Perspective on Growth From Someone Who's Lived All Sides

My Personal Philosophy: Creativity Meets Clarity

After working in tourism, scaling a startup resort, and spending time inside the OTA ecosystem, I’ve learned something:

The biggest opportunities are rarely hiding in your marketing. They’re hiding in the gaps between visibility, guest experience, technology, and the way your business is designed to grow.

That’s why I enjoy this work.

I help hospitality brands identify what’s holding back growth, uncover opportunities they can’t always see from inside the business, and create a clearer path forward.

When we work together, you can expect:

  • Honest feedback, even when it’s not the easy answer
  • Practical recommendations rooted in real-world hospitality experience
  •  A focus on clarity, not complexity
  •  Strategic guidance you can actually implement

Because growth doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from knowing what matters most.

Sarah Stahl is a hospitality marketing strategist who helps vacation rental and boutique hospitality brands win direct bookings and own their demand. She is the founder of Market Movers, has worked with nearly 500 creators, and built the creator system behind 93% direct bookings at ReTreet Resort.

I have 15 years of experience in marketing, including a Master’s in Science Marketing, and the last 7 years have been spent entirely in travel—working across three different sides of the industry that most people only ever see from one angle.

I started in destination marketing, helping communities figure out how to attract visitors and understand what actually makes travelers choose one place over another.

From there, I moved into hospitality operations, helping scale a startup resort from six treehouses to 21 units and 93% direct bookings. That’s where I learned what growth really looks like when guest experience, technology, operations, and profitability all have to work together—not in theory, but in the day-to-day grind of running a property.

Has served as the VP of Marketing at Lake.com, sitting inside the OTA ecosystem and studying how travelers discover destinations, evaluate options, and ultimately decide where to book.

The founder of Market Movers LLC, where I do strategic advisory work, speaking, and industry collaboration—helping hospitality brands connect the dots between visibility, guest relationships, and sustainable growth.

Tourism. Resort. OTA. Three sides of the same industry, and I’ve had a front-row seat to all of them for the past 10 years.

Sarah helps hospitality brands find what is holding back growth, whether that is visibility, guest relationships, technology systems, or demand ownership. She works through strategic advisory, audits, speaking, and hands-on consulting, with a focus on creator systems and direct bookings.

A creator system is a repeatable program that turns creator content into direct bookings a brand owns, rather than one-off posts. Sarah has worked with nearly 500 creators and used this approach to reach 93% direct bookings at ReTreet Resort and a 50% increase in direct bookings at Wilding Hotels.

Yes — Sarah regularly speaks and appears as a podcast guest on topics including direct bookings, hospitality growth, AI and travel discovery, and creator partnerships. See speaking topics →


Sarah’s background includes destination marketing organization leadership, scaling a startup resort from six treehouses to 21 units with 93% direct bookings, and most recently as VP of Marketing at Lake.com.

No — these are two different people. This site belongs to Sarah Stahl, the vacation rental and hospitality marketing strategist, VP of Marketing at Lake.com, and founder of Market Movers LLC.

Market Movers LLC is Sarah Stahl’s marketing consulting and advisory practice — the business through which she provides strategic advisory, audits, and consulting services to vacation rental and hospitality brands.

Ready to Find
What's Holding Back Growth?

Every few weeks I share a short observation — a pattern I’ve noticed from inside tourism, hospitality operations, and creator marketing— about what’s actually holding hospitality brands back. No framework selling. No hacks. Just the honest version of what I’m seeing.

If that sounds useful, put your name & email here: