Weekly Roundup #21: Travel, Tech and Social Media
Week 21/2017
Greetings, everyone and welcome back on our blog, for another Weekly Roundup! As usual, we gathered every single piece of information that is of interest to us and the travel industry, so make sure to take a look at the headlines!
And if you want daily updates and news, don’t forget to follow our social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Instagram!
Until next Friday, have a lovely weekend!
Industry News
Best Western buys Sweden Hotels in latest consolidation move:
Our clients from Best Western have recently completed the acquisition of Sweden Hotels, a collection of 59 hotels across Sweden, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition makes Best Western the largest hotel chain in Sweden, with a total of 135 properties. As noticed recently, due to multiple acquisitions and investments going on in hospitality, more is better, so we can only say that we are glad to witness Best Western’s continuous expansion.
Updated TripAdvisor app focuses on lowest hotel prices:
The TripAdvisor app was updated and improved, so that travelers could more easily plan every aspect of their trip. This includes finding the lowest price for the right hotel, as well as get the best value on flights, vacation rentals, restaurants and other things to do in-destination. The new app better supports the needs of millions of hotel shoppers increasingly coming to TripAdvisor to compare prices and book. Travelers visiting the new native app will notice a simpler and more streamlined design, as well as greater consistency across TripAdvisor's various travel categories.
Google confirms it’s rolling out new reviews format for hotels:
Google has confirmed with Search Engine Land that it is now rolling out a new user interface and feature set around local reviews for hotels. Earlier this month, we saw Google begin testing new hotel reviews features, and now Google has begun to roll them out. The new hotel reviews interface added some core features. Here are a few: Third-party reviews show in a carousel for some of the listings; The review overview section has a more robust interface showing stronger colors and reviews also by attribute; The detailed review section will show a graphical user interface based on type of travel.
Trends and Insights
How to make your hotel’s social media a source for travel inspiration:
These days, having social media accounts for your hotel (or any business, in general) is imperative. Being online is considered a marketing strategy. But when it comes to travel, you have to take things a bit further and make sure that your hotel’s social media profiles have what it takes in order to actually make travelers interested. So this week we focused on the first part of a two-part series that is all about making your hotel’s social media a source for travel inspiration. This week it’s all about Facebook and Twitter, so make sure to check out the extended blog post for useful tips & tricks.
Guest feedback is the main focus around a huge industry nowadays and it’s, obviously, our favourite subject. But knowing the ins and outs of this business also implies taking a steps back and looking into the history of the review. In this article, written by our Co-Founder and CEO, Ben Jost, you can see how reviews went from words-of-mouth to an actual industry and get some insights into the art of handling guest feedback and enhancing a hotel’s reputation.
Study: Holidays are the number one choice for European consumers:
The Pan-European YouGov conducted a survey on behalf of our client TUI Group, in order to determine buying choices for discretionary spending - and holidays came on top. In a poll of more than 8,000 adults in six countries, research institute YouGov has asked Europeans about their spending habits. In spending discretionary income, Europeans all agree: holidays are first. In the UK, 43 percent would invest their money in a holiday. 39 percent of French and Belgians, 37 percent of Germans, 35 percent of the Dutch and more than one a quarter of all Swedish adults (26 percent) would most likely spend any additional income on a vacation.
Technology
Technology augments guest experience at top hotels:
It’s no secret anymore that technology is infiltrating hospitality more and more everyday. In this post, you can find examples of hotels and big chains which are incorporating technology and innovation in their daily operations. Voice activated hotel rooms, bookings on Facebook Messenger, virtual-reality tours, all of these features have been put to the test and are becoming more and more popular in the travel business.
The Data Shows Now Is The Right Time To Implement CRM Into Your Call / Contact Center:
Although many reservations, bookings and inquiries are being taken care of online, there are still times in which a hotel, especially a big one, needs a contact center. Here you can find a detailed report of inbound and outbound calls during the summer season, that determines the call trends and multiple reasons why it’s important to implement CRM / Call Tracking into your Resort / Vacation Rental Company.
