Bruce GrantBraham examines the latest hospitality information technology application

Grant-Braham, Bruce

English

Bournemouth University Research Online

Hospitality in Focus – 14th September 2007by Bruce Grant-Braham, FHI, Senior Lecturer, Bournemouth UniversityTHE SOCIAL MEDIA AND TRAVEL CHATTERThere are a number of false assumptions by some  hospitality  managers  and  hospitality  consultants  thatmanaging a hotel’s online reputation is as simple as looking at what has been written on Trip Advisor.This is akin to believing that because one watches  a  24  hour  news  channel  that  one  possesses  all  oftoday’s news that one needs. That channel would  certainly  like  you  to  think  so,  but  there  are  differentperspectives and information sources for the news as much as there are for travel chatter.Recently it has been suggested that all that a hospitality business needs to  do  to  manage  their  onlinereputation is to monitor sites such as Trip Advisor and to purchase advertising on social media websites. Inthe opinion of Lodging Interactive this is way too short sighted! This  approach  limits  the  true  commercialbenefits of social media to those hotels and brands that can afford advertising and there is the  question  ofthe value of advertising where people are going for social comments and non-commercial information.  Theshoppers who go to social media websites and blogs are  seeking  unbiased  reviews  and  chatter  to  helpthem make their buying decision. The buyer’s path will normally go from there to  the  search  engines  andon to the hotel, brand or third party websites for additional information and to conclude their reservation.One also has to address the problem that all contributions  to  social  media  websites  and  blogs  may  notnecessarily be written objectively nor without  malice.  Could  such  content  be  generated  by  commercialcompetitors, for example?Lodging Interactive has taken taken a  distinctive  approach  to  such  problems  as  a  provider  of  InternetMarketing Services to the travel and hospitality  industries  including  businesses  such  as  hotels,  resorts,timeshares and bed and breakfasts worldwide. Their clients include branded  properties  such  as  Marriott,Sheraton, Hilton, Radisson, Crowne Plaza Hotels, Doubletree Hotels, Candlewood  Suites,  Best  Western,Wyndham Hotels plus numerous independent properties.They recognise  that  there  are  millions  of  social  media  websites  and  blogs,  and  that  this  number  isincreasing. Certainly not all of these sites or blogs specialise in hotel  or  travel  reviews,  but  they  presentsocial discussions and postings about hotel experiences by all types of travellers, business, family,  groupsand holiday makers. How often a particular hotel will generate consumer chatter is dependent on a numberof factors for example, the size of the business and its various services.The source of the online chatter depends on a variety  of  factors.  For  example  what  percent  of  yourguests are international visitors  compared  to  local  or  national?  What  are  the  average  ages,  sex  andnationalities of your guests? What percent of your guests are leisure compared to business? Each of thesefactors represents different cultural elements and the  social  media  websites  and  blogs  are  designed  toappeal to cultural and social interests which may or may not include chatter about  travel  experiences  andpreferences. It is a common mistake to think that there is no chatter about travel experiences on  MySpace,YouTube, Hotel Chatter, FaceBook, Expedia and  thousands  of  other  websites  and  blogs  whether  theytarget travel or not. The growth and impact of the social media on travel and hospitality cannot be  ignored  or  simplified.  Itrequires monitoring, response or interaction by the hotel and a means of monitoring your online  reputation.For the average hotel or hotel  company,  it  is  far  too  time  consuming  and  abstract  to  think  Yahoo  orTechnorati data can be sorted analyzed and measured to tell just how your business is viewed in the socialmedia world and what is your online reputation.A recent statement by Jonathan Tisch, Chairman of Loews Hotels, during his  keynote  address  atthe 2007 HITEC conference put  social  media  into  perspective.  Mr.  Tisch  said  that,  ’We  are  usingtechnology to break through the clutter and noise and reconnect with the customer.’ Mr. Tisch was referringto  using  technology  to  build  brand  loyalty  by  learning  more  about  their  guests  and  recognizing  theconsumer wherever they go. And, what better way to know your guests than to join in on their chatter aboutyour hotel and your services, not to mention monitoring what is said about your competition. As you plan your 2008 marketing budget, ask yourself these questions:• How do you manage your online reputation across multiple social media websitesand blogs?• How do you offset negative chatter about your hotel?• How can you capitalize on positive social media chatter about your hotel?• How do you measure your social media online reputation? It is important today that you truly understand the social and  community  aspects  of  the  Internetequally as much as you do the commercial. Another way to justify the importance of social versuspaid advertising is the fact that search engine shoppers respond to organic search listings as  muchor even more than to the paid listings. So  we  might  assume  these  same  shoppers  will  rely  on  onlinechatter from friends, relatives and unsolicited consumer input  as  much  or  more  than  to  a  paid  Internetadvertisement.The simple truth is that  the  Internet  is  evolving  into  a  variety  of  open  forums  for  consumergenerated media and this will inevitably grow in its value for  the  online  shoppers.  This  should  not,though, be misunderstood as there  is  no  diminishing  of  the  importance  of  a  business’  search  enginerankings, brand web pages and the rich content needed for an effective  website.  Nor  should  one  believethat social media will totally replace the value of online advertising. The point is that it  is  equally  importantthat one knows what your online reputation really  is  and  how  you  can  affect  your  return  business  andgenerate new business by interacting with the social media websites and  blogs.  To  interact  you  need  toknow all of the sources of online chatter and you decide which to respond to and how to respond.You need now to seriously consider social media management (SMM) as part of an overall marketing  andpublic relations strategy going forward. Consumer chatter will have as much or more impact on  your  salesresults as any other marketing activities.Lodging Inetractive might well be a good source of help as they  offer  online  tools  and  services  such  asChatterGuard.com which is an online social media monitoring  and  reputation  management  system.  Alsowithin their portfolio of solutions is CommentCards.com which provides a full-service  business-2-consumercomment card service. Lodging Interactive’s ProposalSystem.com is an  online  RFP  response  system  ofinterest to Sales Managers whilst RFPLink.com  is  a  group  RFP  lead  generation  and  reporting  systemcustomised and interactive with Google mapping services.Links: [pic]Chatterguard:   www.chatterguard.com/CommentCards.com: www.commentcards.comExpedia: www.expedia.comFaceBook: www.facebook.comHotel Chatter: www.hotelchatter.comLodging Interactive:Loews Hotels: www.lodginginteractive.comMySpace: www.myspace.comProposal System: www.proposalsystem.comRFPlink.com: www.rfplink.comTechnorati: www.technorati.comTrip Advisor: www.tripadvisor.co.ukYahoo: www.yahoo.comYouTube: www.youtube.com

The Social Media and Travel Chatter

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