Here are the best tweets from our Online Marketing, Social Media and Mobile Strategies conference in Amsterdam

Best Tweets from TDS North America 2013

#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