The festive season remains one of the most important moments on the hospitality calendar, not simply because of the volume it brings, but because of the opportunity to create experiences guests remember, return to, and associate with a property for years to come.
In our 2026 Festive Season Webinar, we explored how leading hospitality brands are building stronger seasonal programs through repeatable experiences, thoughtful partnerships, intentional pricing, and programming designed to grow over time.
Why the Festive Season Matters
The festive season continues to stand out as one of the most commercially important periods for experiential programming. Across Way, the strongest properties are moving beyond one-off activations and building seasonal calendars with greater staying power, experiences that can return, evolve, and become part of what guests look forward to each year.
The opportunity is not simply to add more programming. It is to make deliberate choices around what deserves to become a tradition, where a partnership can introduce a new audience, and how each experience contributes to the broader identity of the season.
Create Traditions
Novelty has its place, but some of the strongest festive experiences are the ones guests already know to come back for. Returning experiences become easier to operate, more recognizable to guests, and more valuable as awareness compounds year over year.
Leading properties are treating successful seasonal experiences as long-term assets, refining the format, strengthening the storytelling, and allowing signature moments to build familiarity and demand with each return.
Expand Through Partnerships
The season is moving from brand placement to brand participation. The right partner can bring a new audience, a distinctive point of view, added expertise, and a stronger sense of occasion to an experience.
The strongest collaborations build on what each brand already does well. A hospitality brand brings the setting, service, and access; a partner brings its own audience, expertise, and perspective. Together, the experience becomes more distinctive, more discoverable, and more valuable to both sides.
Seasonal Highlights
Across the festive calendar, each holiday presents a different opportunity:
Halloween: Demand continues to grow, creating room for playful programming, immersive experiences, workshops, tastings, and family-friendly activations.
Thanksgiving: Dining is the experience. From grand feasts to intimate dinners and beautifully packaged take-home moments, the strongest Thanksgiving programming begins around the table.
Christmas: The largest participation moment of the festive season, where familiar traditions, family programming, gifting, and signature experiences can become annual destinations in their own right.
New Year’s Eve: A high-value occasion where guests are willing to spend more for an experience that feels genuinely worth celebrating.
Customer examples throughout the webinar reinforced a consistent theme:
The most memorable festive programs
are rarely built around a single event
They are shaped over time through repeatable ideas, evolving formats, strong partnerships, and a clear understanding of what guests want to return for.
Proven Best Practices
Publish early: Festive demand begins well before the season itself. Giving guests more time to discover and book experiences creates a longer window to build momentum.
Create a dedicated seasonal destination: Use categories in Way to bring your festive programming together in one place and make it easier to merchandise across email, social, web, and on-property channels.
Market across channels: Extend visibility through email, social, web placements, on-property signage, concierge teams, and direct guest communication.
Use distribution to reach new audiences: Sharing experiences through Way’s distribution network can introduce programming to guests beyond a property’s existing audience.
The Takeaway
The best festive seasons leave behind a signature. They create moments with enough character, relevance, and staying power to build year after year. A great season can drive meaningful revenue. A distinctive one can build a reputation.
The opportunity is to identify the experiences worth repeating, the partners worth building with, and the moments guests will want to return to long after the season ends.
For more inspiration, download the 2026 Festive Season Guide.