5 Ways to Apply Social Media in the Travel Industry
December 21, 2007
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In my previous post this week, I talked a little about my honeymoon planning frustrations, which led me to delve into the social media applications and the specific tactics that the travel industry as a whole should adopt.
As I started reading a little bit into it - I stumbled upon an article by Neil Salerno over at Hospitality Net, who wrote an article entitled ” More Social Media Chatter… a Hotel Marketing Tool”. Basically Neil’s post began with the following statement:
“I agree that the benefits (of social media) could be enormous; maybe in the not-so-distant future for hotel franchises but, less likely for individual hotels”
Of course - I’d like to play devil’s advocate and argue that the benefits of social media are now. And they are for the individual hotel AND the franchise. Why? Because the businesses who want to gain competitive advantage (like those in the travel industry) will go the extra mile to build relationships with customers - and social media provides a new way to do it. After all, the customer experience is why families go back to the same cottage year after year. It’s why high-end hotels train doormen to remember guest names. Regardless of small or large, using social media marketing in the travel industry can be a way to manage and foster this customer experience.
However, later on in his post, Salerno stated the following, which I think is a cry of many industries, and a lot of what a social media agency like Ignite works to figure out:
“So far, I hear a lot of dialogue, see many articles, and read about many conferences discussing the potential of social media sites, but no practical answers or workable tactics yet.”
So in light of this “cry” for tactics, I will suggest the following ways that the travel industry could use social media to better meet the needs of their customers. They are as follows:
1) Flickr - Hotels, condos, cabins, and resorts could have a Flickr account where they publish photos regularly (perhaps even seasonally) , and encourage guests to upload and tag their personal pictures as well. Since guests want to know how things are “really like”, these user generated photos will ensure that 1) picture of the hotel wasn’t taken in the 70’s, and 2) the place really exists. Geotagging is also a nifty feature as well.
2) Blogs (Area blogs, cabin blogs, etc) - Blogs are a great way that individual and large hotels can start communicating with their audience year-round. For instance, when I was looking at places in Idaho, I found a blog written by an area local. Not only did it show me what life was like day to day in Tetonia, but the archive showed me a wealth of information about the area in different seasons, activities in the nearby areas, and just random local facts. This can be an excellent way for hotels and local area tourism to leverage their resources such as the area’s “best kept secrets”, and the “hole in the wall” restaurants.
3) Video Tours - Many franchise hotels have paid to have a “virtual tour” created for their hotel. While these can be effective, low-cost video tours could easily be created and published to a YouTube channel for a fraction of the cost. This would also give an opportunity for additional, frequent coverage that a virtual tour wouldn’t provide.
4) Custom Google Maps - Creating a custom Google map for a specific location could be a way to promote an entire region or city. This “visual itinerary” could provide guests with a visual map of lodging, nearby restaurants, museums and parks, shopping, and other areas of interest. It would also provide guests with easy directions.
5) Twitter Updates (Deals, Specials, etc) - Twitter could be a way to update travelers of current specials and promotions, especially during the off-season. On the local level, it also could be a way to promote local events to area or in-state residents. (If this tactic were implemented, a good bit of caution would have to be made regarding the frequency and quality of this content.)
These are just a few that immediately come to mind. Can you think of other applications that would work? Please share - as I hope this industry will learn and embrace social media in its marketing efforts…. and preferably before June 14, 2008 
Comments
4 Responses to “5 Ways to Apply Social Media in the Travel Industry”
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We market clusters of hotels in individual markets with lovely viral success. Since I’m new here, I don’t want to drop links into this thread.
There ARE viral applications which work for individual hotels, especially when using communities like StumbleUpon to promote location specific events like soccer tournaments, corporate gatherings, etc…We are always surprised when grandparents from across the country or even participants interacting with each other find each other in blog-like threads.
Provocative post….found it on Sphin…Sphunn…:)
Hello Lisa
Thanks for picking up on my article. It’s always nice to know when they are viewed. I read your suggestions and I’m afraid that I STILL have not read any practical ways a hotel can use Social media to promote business.
A hotel’s web site is still the most practical way to capture guests. All that you stated can and should be done on their web site.
Good try, though.
Neil
Nice article
Flagr and Frapper come to mind as potential additions.
Also, when it comes to Twitter and hotels, I would say some useful applications could also be things like:
1) If there is airport pickup, a customer can follow the hotel and receive SMS updates on departures to pickup passengers from the airport, and departure from the airport to pickup passengers at the hotel
2) Notifications / Extra information regarding breakfast / dinner / similar service.
3) Around certain times of day, information on potential restaraunts to visit and their location (which could be marked using Flagr, which allows you to easily get directions to the said location).
4) Reminder on checkout times
5) Notification of when all rooms have finished being cleaned (this one would be more difficult to manage).
Woops, accidentally hit post. Also wanted to add Twitter and some of the other social network applications could be used in conjunction with the hotels guests by providing a means for them to connect with one another (rather than the hotel, as the hotel then becomes involved as the staging ground, or the bridge if you will).
Just some thoughts