HoReCa Industry

HoReCa Digital Marketing in Romania: direct bookings, reviews, community

HoReCa is one of the industries most strongly affected by digital: Google and TripAdvisor reviews, Instagram and TikTok content can make or break a restaurant within weeks.

Updated: September 2026 ITargetMarketing study 🇷🇴 The Romanian market
5.2M
HoReCa searches/month (RO)
88%
Check reviews beforehand
32%
Average aggregator commission
4.3
Minimum review threshold for growth
Market context

HoReCa in 2026: the aggregator platform or your own brand?

Romania's HoReCa industry generates around EUR 4 billion a year. Digitalisation has brought a paradox: booking and delivery platforms (Bolt Food, Glovo, TheFork, Booking) increased accessibility but also increased dependence, commissions of 20-35% eat into already thin restaurant margins.

The dominant trend in 2026: profitable restaurants and hotels invest heavily in building their own digital brand to attract direct bookings, cutting dependence on aggregators. A customer who books directly on the site or via WhatsApp costs 3-5x less than one who comes through a platform.

Reviews are everything
88% of HoReCa consumers check reviews before a first visit. The 0.3-star difference between 4.4 and 4.7 can mean 20-30% less footfall.
TikTok has democratised food content
A viral TikTok clip of a dish or the restaurant's atmosphere can generate hundreds of bookings in 24 hours. UGC content (posted by customers) has 5× the reach of paid content.
WhatsApp Business = direct booking
Restaurants that accept bookings via WhatsApp Business cut commissions by 40-60% and have a no-show rate 25% lower than bookings through platforms.
Google Maps: the spontaneous decision
For spontaneous restaurant decisions (70% of visits), Google Maps is the first point of contact. Being in the local top 3 = +150-200% footfall versus page 2.
The digital challenges

The digital challenges specific to HoReCa

HoReCa is a low-margin industry with pronounced seasonality and constant pressure from aggregator platforms. Effective digital marketing has to address all of these realities.

  1. !Dependence on high-commission platformsBolt Food, Glovo and TheFork take 20-35% of the order or booking value. Reducing this dependence through direct bookings is the #1 priority for profitability.
  2. !Managing negative reviews across multiple platformsGoogle, TripAdvisor, TheFork, Facebook: negative reviews on any of them affect perception. An active monitoring and response system is essential.
  3. !The cost and consistency of visual contentProfessional food photography is expensive. Content produced in-house (phone, natural light, simple filters) can be just as effective if there is a clear guide.
  4. !Seasonality and capacity managementRestaurants swing dramatically between packed weekends and empty Mondays. Targeted digital campaigns can balance capacity, but they require planning in advance.
What works in HoReCa

The highest-impact strategies for restaurants and hotels

Based on results with HoReCa clients and data from the Romanian market, these are the strategies with the best bookings-to-cost ratio.

Google Maps + local SEO
Complete GBP optimisation: up-to-date menu, monthly photos, weekly posts with specials. Position #1-3 in Maps generates 60-70% of new bookings.
Instagram + TikTok food content
Short video of dishes, kitchen, staff, atmosphere. Authentic content 3x/week. A viral clip = sold out in 48h.
WhatsApp Business direct bookings
Menu catalogue, booking by message, automatic reminder. Eliminates 25-40% in commissions compared with third-party platforms.
Proactive review campaign
QR code on the bill/table with a direct link to the Google review. +15-20 new reviews/month at no extra cost: the best ROI there is.
Email/SMS for loyal customers
Monthly newsletter with exclusive specials for repeat customers. Return rate rises by 40-60% versus no post-visit communication at all.
Schema.org Restaurant + booking
Structured data with menu, opening hours, reviews: shown directly in Google as a rich result. CTR 35-50% higher than a standard listing.

Benchmark for restaurants with a complete digital ecosystem: 60-85% direct bookings (versus 20-30% without a digital strategy), aggregator commissions cut by 40-55%, Google rating up from 4.0-4.3 to 4.7-4.9 in 4-5 months.

The ITargetMarketing approach

How we work with restaurants and HoReCa venues

ITargetMarketing's HoReCa strategy has one central goal: more direct bookings, less money to platforms. We build the restaurant's own digital brand: we don't make it dependent on another aggregator.

The workflow includes: a complete audit of online presence (Google Maps, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Instagram), a visual content strategy tailored to the in-house team, a review collection system, WhatsApp Business setup for direct bookings and an email/SMS campaign for existing customers.

The most important result we track: the share of direct bookings. Every percentage point moved from platforms to direct means higher margin and better control over the customer experience.

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