#TwitterParty and #TwitterSuites...and how social rules in Sol Wave House

Today people are spending more time on social media that what they did 5 years ago.   Time spent has increased from 2.6 hours a month in 2007 to 6.9 hours a month in 2012. 

Well that’s not any news, but what is really interesting is how travel executives are trying to work out how to take these trends on board for their hotel strategies. After all, people love communities and sharing with their friends and families what they have been up to, especially when they are on holiday.

Back in 2011, we featured Palladium Hotel Group’s successful launch of a revolutionary online Facebook sharing experience: where guests of Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel were able to share their experiences on Facebook in real time using radio frequency bracelets. 

In 2012, they became the first hotel in the world to offer PayTouch, an innovative cash-free system that allows visitors to pay with just once touch of their fingertips through biometric technology. I don’t know about you but I was very excited by it as a Social Media lover!

Well just today I was reading through some articles and guess what I found. Twitter is now a part of the action too. It has provided its technology for the first Twitter hotel experience for all the Tweetaholic at Sol Wave House in Mallorca, one of the main Spanish gateway islands.

The hotel has created Twitter-themed rooms, drinks and a virtual community where they can be easily found by a simple #SocialWave. Guests can use Twitter to interact and flirt with one another, and if you want to meet up? Simply just arrange to meet them on that #TwitterPoolParty.

Sounds good so far? Well it’s about to get better. It doesn’t stop at the parties, as soon as you start the ball rolling there is the Twitter party suite waiting.  The twitter themed suites are designed for twitter lovers – decorated with sky blue balloons, with chilled cava at the ready, a big mirror that is definitely worth tweeting about or the opportunity to relax on VIP sunbeds.

What was really thrilling though was the minibar service. Did you run out of champagne or do you happen to feel hungry? Well, you can just tweet with your request and #FillMyFridge. Spotted someone you like near the pool or the bar? Send them a drink by tweeting @SolWaveHouse.

I believe this is great, innovative service, it not only allows the guests to communicate with the staff but also with the community and the people around them. For me, I’d go there in an instant, it just sounds like the place to start you #SummerBromance. Oh summer, aren’t you just so short?

Posted by Ina Zekaj (EyeforTravel’s sunshine party loving marketing intern)

The subscription economy and the travel industry

Right now some of the fastest growing companies are now membership based. Danish company Zendesk 0 to 30,000 companies in 6 years, Box 0 to 10,000,000 in 8.

In deed this trend has been recognised by analysts Gartner “By 2015, 35% of Global 2000 companies with non-media digital products will generate incremental revenue of 5% to 10% through subscription¬based services and revenue models.”

Certainly we have had some impressive travel resultsi in this space.  AirBnB, a membership accommodation provider has been around since 2008 and has arranged over 10 million nights booked.

Of course we have had membership elements in our industry for years.  Travel media companies have subscribers and loyalty schemes for hotels and airlines are a recognised business model. But reading the comments of Zuora CEO the subscription SAAS provider for Zen desk and Box you would think it’s a complete new way to drive your busisness

They say that they enable membership organisations to be flexible and to test products, pricing and marketing deals and build a long term relationship with the industry.

Right now I am looking for travel companies that are doing this utilising these new subscripotion services. Personally  I think that the annual rather than more frequent buying pattern for a lot of our products may limit the impact of the subscription economy. But it is a interesting trend.

TDS Asia 2013 beats records for gathering biggest and best travel experts in APAC

The 9th Annual Travel Distribution Summit, Asia (28-29th May, 2013, Singapore) broke record numbers in attracting APAC’s biggest and most influential travel executives to speak, network and learn over two days of industry packed insights and strategies.

Held at the prestigious Raffles Convention Centre, Singapore, the travel industry experienced globally renowned travel brands discuss insights on how to roll out successful strategies for their own organisations.  Speakers included Starwood, Marco Polo Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Malaysia Airways, Royal Brunei Airlines – to more internet and online focussed brands including Booking.com, Expedia, Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Global Senior Director - Social Media - OTA Partnerships & Innovation Projects, Worldhotels said on this year’s event, “EyeforTravel is one of the premier digital conferences in the hospitality space. It's a must-attend for anyone responsible for enhancing their company's digital footprint.”

On top of this, perhaps an equally as valuable opportunity was the networking, as Lawrence Kuok, Manager - Social Media and Mobile Strategy AP, Starwood Hotels, Asia Pacific pointed out, “I think these conferences are always great and you can meet so many people. The panels allow for you to re-examine yourself - for better or for worse. The networking is also quite helpful. In just two days, I already met two people that I have immediate future business opportunities with and three that have potential.”

Judged by a number of the EyeforTravel team and based on the amount of fantastic feedback, EyeforTravel also awarded the winner of this year’s ‘Best Speaker in Show’ to Duncan Bureau, Senior Vice President Distribution, Malaysia Airlines.   Duncan Bureau was the winner of the 2 night’s stay at ‘L Hotels’ - a luxury boutique hotel in Bali.

Conference Director, Emily Assender commented on the event this year, “The reason this event keeps getting stronger and stronger is due to the need for information on the rapidly evolving online travel space, coupled with the ever-increasing market share of online global sales, which the travel industry owns.  The opportunity to network with the biggest brands in APAC’s travel industry and learn how to be ahead of the game is paramount, and this event facilitates that perfectly.”
If you’d like more information on any of EyeforTravel’s upcoming events, click here: http://www.eyefortravel.com/events 

Missed TDS Europe last week? Here the best tweets from the event!

Mobile Should Make Things Easier, Not More Complicated

The Travel industry has been discussing mobile for years now, and though no-one can deny the mobile revolution is well and truly here, large parts of the industry are still behind. While researching for EyeForTravel’s upcoming Travel Distribution Summit North America, it’s evident that mobile is still an area where we as an industry need to grow

The smart phone in essence is the marketer’s dream come true, it is in our hands at all time (I know I for one am guilty of holding text conversations in the middle of face-to-face conversations, much to my friends’ annoyance), it is solely ours, we do not share our phones amongst our family or friends to use, which means that all browsing, researching and bookings can be assigned to us. Why then is travel technology so behind?

There are of course plenty of brands taking the leap forward and investing in new and exciting ways to use the technology – mobile payment being one of them. Yet for each brand that offers one-touch booking (because what is mobile if not a platform to make things easier for the consumer?) there are 10 who insist you type out your full credit card details on tiny phone buttons, which not only increases the margin for error, but causes inordinate amounts of frustration – frustration that will then be directed at your brand. Your mobile booking strategy should make it easier for consumers to book, not more complicated.

We as an industry should be actively pursuing this; after all, the technology is there, Passbook and Google Wallet being just two popular examples. Looking at it from the consumer’s perspective, when booking quickly (according to GuestCentric “60% of smartphone [hotel room] bookings were for same night or next night stay” Source: Travel Daily News) would you rather a slow clunky service that requires the entering of countless details, or a slick easy few clicks?

As the booking window shortens, so does the consumers’ patience – thus it is imperative the process becomes quicker. Not only will a poor mobile booking platform harm your brand image, but you can be sure if you don’t keep up, your competitors will be snapping up your potential consumers and losing you bookings.

To learn more about mobile booking and the impact it’s having on the travel industry make sure you attend the Travel Distribution Summit: North America 2013

Can Social Media help combat the demise of brand loyalty?

At EyeforTravel’s recent Social Media & Mobile in Travel event in San Francisco, Lee McCabe from Facebook quoted Jim Abrahamson, CEO, Interstate Hotels & Resorts - “We’re going to see the death of brand loyalty”

McCabe highlighted the fact that people are travelling more than ever, income levels are rising and technology has enabled customers are planning and sharing their travel ideas and experiences more and more, inspiring others to travel.  It should be a great time for travel brands and yet in reality the travel space has become more complicated and many execs are feeling the pressure.

Does brand loyalty exist in this hyper-competitive space?  What should travel brands be prioritising to win customers and compete?

McCabe highlighted that brands should focus on building good connections with their customers and work on turning them into influencers.  He advised that taking the approach to build connections on Facebook as quickly as possible through sweepstakes and competitions, is not the right way.   Instead brands need to invite their existing customers to be fans on Facebook and encourage them in turn to influence those in their network to also become fans. 

With developments such as Facebook Graph Search, the influence of a friend’s network with play a stronger role in their decision to purchase.  Encouraging customers to share their travel experiences post their stay is often a forgotten tool in the travel marketers armoury to help to further influence travellers at the dreaming and planning stages.

It can certainly be said that the connections a brand has will become more and more important in the near future.  In addition, customising message and ensuring consistent connectivity across multiple devices will play an important role in influencing a customer’s decision to choose your brand.

Facebook will be sharing more insights into the above at EyeforTravel’s TDS Europe Summit in London, 23-24 May.  Feel free to drop any questions you may have to them to me (gina@eyefortravel.com).

Research into Collaborative Marketplaces in The Travel Sector

I have spent the last few months (alongside my day job at EFT), researching the space of collaborative marketplaces and peer2peer websites. Essentially, this means the selling of a product from one consumer to another (using a platform or website) to exchange or buy direct without a business driving the transaction. The emphasis of these brands are that they are “green,” and “eco” and induce a sharing type attitude. 

As a brief introduction to the topic, you don’t need to look far to see examples of the p2p model, simply because these companies are not new. Ebay and Amazon are prime time early adopters of the p2p model, and are now two of the biggest retail outlets on earth.

So, what does the travel industry have to offer in this space?  At first thought, some of us might not think of any. But the truth is that the travel sector has one of the most rapidly expanding p2p networks in the world under the name Airbnb. The ethos is very much the opposite to hotels- it’s about sharing, caring and meeting new people in exciting places. Yes, Airbnb does take a hefty cut from both those listing and those receiving, which means there is a business driver behind the model. However, all in all, it works a little like Ebay, where by you reach to someone about their property and then liaise and work out the logistics. It just so happens that Airbnb has a great interface to facilitate easy transactions between two individuals.

Besides Airbnb, who else is experimenting in p2p? Most travel industry professionals will be familiar with car-share websites like Zipcar or even City Car Club. These models (whilst not exactly p2p) have a great ethic when it comes to greener car usage too. New kid on the block Whipcar takes the borrowing to another level, whereby you can borrow a car from your neighbour or someone in the local vicinity. You’ll be fully insured against damages and theft in the same way as you are with a mainstream organisation. So what’s the catch? Well, there isn’t one besides you generally won’t get the same quality of vehicle and it may well smell of stale smoke. You also don’t necessarily get a cheaper price than via the likes of Avis, Sixt or Europcar for example.

So why have we been looking into the p2p space? Well, many travel brands have indicated a concern over the growing market share of collaborative networks and websites. In fact, Avis bought Zipcar earlier this year for a reported $491.9 million.  BMW has also stepped into the space with its “BMW Drive Now” efforts. But what will happen in the hotel space? And is there room for p2p flying networks? Who knows!

We are keeping a close eye on this area with a view to commissioning a report about peer to peer marketplaces.  We’d love your feedback and thoughts on this, so please post them below or send me a tweet to @rosieakenhead