Need PR and Marketing Help? Ask Away! Q&A with Jennifer Rodrigues of TravelInk’d

By Jennifer Rodrigues

Q: Now that most travelers are using the internet for hotel research and bookings, should I bother to advertise my establishment "offline"?

A: Online is where the travel industry lives and thrives. Increasingly, it's also where it's spending its money. A 2010 survey found that 51% of hotel operators polled were shifting their marketing budgets towards the online space.

There's a simple reason for this trend - marketing chases the consumers, and in travel and hospitality, online is where consumers can be found, and more importantly, where consumers are booking travel. Potential vacationers usually want to maximize their time and their dollar so they're more likely to use the internet and other modes of online communication like smartphone apps to make a decision about their upcoming hotel stay. For travelers, overwhelmingly the easiest way to research a vacation, compare prices and finally make a booking is electronically.

The other gift of the internet is the ability to target your audience more specifically than in most offline channels. People reading Newsweek might linger for a moment over a glossy one-page ad for a hotel or airline, but the chances are fairly high that they don't have immediate plans to travel. Online, though, anyone visiting a travel-oriented web site is at least considering a trip somewhere, making a property's ROI much higher on these customers who are already primed to buy.

Additionally, offline advertising often means local advertising. Very few media have the worldwide reach and speed of delivery of the internet. A big ad spread in a city newspaper, for example, is attention-grabbing and impressive, but it only reaches a certain number of potential customers in a certain place. Of course, the same can be said for the splashier (and often, more expensive) forms of offline marketing like billboards and posters.

All of that being said, traditional advertising still has its place in the marketing mix; after all, despite the dominance of the internet, people still read magazines, watch TV and read posters/billboards. These classic forms of marketing can still serve a function, but they should be seen as complimentary to a concentrated online effort - following instead of leading.

Advertising is about making a potential customer familiar with a brand, and the traditional methods can certainly help with that. Well-produced TV commercials, for example, can make a hotel or destination look tantalizing and irresistible. Also, there do remain pockets of specialization in the offline world. There will always be glossy travel magazines like Condé Nast Traveler and any number of TV shows filmed in exotic locations around the globe to tempt potential travelers into booking with a particular property.

But purchasing advertising space in those mediums is usually expensive and can be time consuming to produce, so it is recommended only for those with very large marketing budgets. Even then, the percentage spent on the classic forms of marketing should be comparatively low compared to the online/electronic channels. After all, hotel marketers are wise to concentrate on reaching consumers where they are researching and booking travel: online.

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Did this information help you?  If you have other questions, I'd love to hear from you - please don't be shy!  Send an email to mailto:jrodrigues@travelinkd.com. 

And don't forget to check back twice a month for more PR and Marketing Q&As.


About Jennifer Rodrigues

Jennifer Rodrigues, Visibility Development Manager with ThinkInk and TravelInk'd, is a seasoned public relations professional with a passion for the hospitality industry, which is expressed in her role at ThinkInk's travel division, TravelInk'd. At TravelInk'd, she is responsible for developing cost-effective and creative public relations and marketing strategies for clients in the travel and tourism, airline, lodging, cruise and meeting/event sectors. For more information on TravelInk'd, please visit http://www.travelinkd.com/ or contact Jennifer at jlr@travelinkd.com. For more news about PR and marketing in the travel industry, follow TravelInk'd on Twitter @TravelInkd and visit the TravelInk'd Facebook Fan Page.

Travel Website Slams Hotel Cleanliness

By Hilary Lehman

On ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday, anchor Juju Chang wrinkled her nose as she spoke about the three dirtiest hotels in the nation -- a sneak peek from travel information site TripAdvisor.com for its list of the Top 10 dirtiest hotels in America for 2011.

"The ceiling was peeling. Walls were cracked. There were cigarette burns all over the room," Chang said, quoting a member review of a hotel as photos flashed on a TV screen in the background.

That review was written about the No. 3 dirtiest hotel in the country, as determined by TripAdvisor -- the Desert Inn at 900 N. Atlantic Ave. in Daytona Beach.

On Tuesday, TripAdvisor released the full Top 10 list. The list is based on anonymous, user-submitted reviews to the site. Out of 260 reviews, 80 percent recommended against staying at the Desert Inn. For the dirtiest-hotels list, only one component of the reviews factors into the rankings -- the cleanliness rating. Since its release this week, the TripAdvisor list has been featured by national TV news shows, newspapers, wire services and websites. As of Friday, the top result on Google News for "Daytona Beach hotel" was a story about the ranking.

HOTEL'S RESPONSE

Desert Inn manager Robin Hof said she and the rest of the staff are devastated by the negative publicity. "It is embarrassing, but we don't deserve the embarrassment," she said.

The staff works hard to keep the hotel clean, and the owners have put a large amount of money and effort into renovating the hotel in recent years, she said. About 70 to 80 percent of the hotel's guests are return visitors, many of whom have called in recent days offering their support.

"We're not a trashy hotel, by any means," Hof said. "I keep using the word classy, but that's what it is."

Hof said she was disappointed with TripAdvisor's lack of response to phone calls and e-mails from the hotel. She said she believed many of the reviews were fake or posted by competing hotels. "TripAdvisor is not literally coming in and checking anything themselves," she said. Desert Inn owner Irene Devlin, who has been in the hotel business for 60 years, said it was wrong that the ranking had become so widespread.

"To use TripAdvisor to destroy competitive business is a sad way of life," she said. "Hearsay is not evidence."

External source: To read complete article 'Click Here'.


Source: news-journalonline.com

Hotels to Start Raising Rates

By Danielle Douglas

Consumers contemplating a getaway may want to book a hotel room sooner rather than later, as room rates are set to rise this year. Substantial increases of $10 or more are at least another year or two away, but the lodging industry plans to take advantage of improving market conditions.

Several leading hotel operators including Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Starwood Hotels and Resorts are incrementally upping average daily rates in light of the return of leisure and business travel, and the relatively fixed supply of rooms given the lack of new construction.

"We continue to see strength in pricing," Arne Sorenson, president and chief operating officer of Bethesda-based Marriott, said at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit here last week.

Marriott, which operates more than 3,000 hotels in 68 countries, got a jump on its competitors by selectively raising rates last year, before any meaningful pickup in travel. The gamble paid off as rooms began to fill in the summer.

Average daily rates for the U.S. hotel industry was $98.08 by year's end, compared with $97.51 in 2009, according to Smith Travel Research. The firm is forecasting a 4.2 percent increase in daily rates, while Colliers PKF Hospitality Research estimates 4.6 percent.

Locally, average daily rates are forecast to increase about 1.7 percent in the next four quarters, after falling 4 percent in the prior 12-month period, according to Colliers.

Rooms in the top 25 lodging markets are priced well under peak 2007 rates, Jan Freitag of Smith Travel Research told a room packed with conference attendees. Average rates in Washington, for instance, are $13 below peak prices.

Top Ten Ways to Score a Free Flight Upgrade

Gone are the days where a smart suit, puppy-dog eyes and a nice smile during check-in could send you champagne sipping in business.

Yes, free flight upgrades are rare and sometimes just a matter of pure luck. However, here's a list of things you can do to increase your odds.

For the full list, see the original post here.

1. Airline Loyalty Program - Join ‘em

Keep your eye on the prize: elite status. Airlines will give priority for upgrades to top-tier members. Pick an airline and stick to it. If you are a regular customer you are more likely to get those three coveted letters: SFU (Suitable For Upgrade) next to your name on the passenger list. Also, there are often rewards for accumulating miles quickly (usually over one calendar year) and different "perks" are awarded each time you hit a certain mileage tier.

2. Choose Your Carrier Carefully

Points systems are not born equal. For example, with Air Canada, you can only use points for complete bookings in economy or business and cannot use points to upgrade from an economy ticket. If booking on Qantas, you can buy an upgradeable economy ticket and request for an upgrade to premium economy or business. British Airways, on the other hand, makes it nearly impossible for those who fly economy, short-haul flights to ever earn enough points to make it to the next level.

3. Travel Alone

This might not be possible, however, keep in mind that if you are travelling as part of a small group, an airline may not be able to upgrade everyone, and thus, will upgrade no one at all.

4. Check in late

The economy seats will likely have been filled, meaning you may get booked directly to business class. This is a very risky strategy however, as you chance not being able to get a good seat in economy, or getting split up from your travel partner.

5. Be Plane Picky

Pick a flight that will be using an airplane with a large first class cabin. You can find out this information from sites like Seat Guru.

6. Volunteer to Give Up Your Seat

Have time to spare? Every so often an airline will oversell the flight and will need volunteers to give up their seat. If you don't mind the delay, you can score a flight voucher and/or a free upgrade certificate. They have done this before on Cathay Pacific.

7. Pay Full Fare

If you purchased a full fare ticket and travel on an oversold flight, then you also have more potential for a courtesy upgrade.

8.  Wear Business Attire

This won't be the reason why you get an upgrade, but not being dressed suitably could be the why don't. Flying like you just rolled out of bed is likely just a bad call all together.

9. Charm Your Way

Once upon a time, being nice could result in someone at the check-in counter upgrading your seat, nowadays, stories like that seem more like an urban myth. It may be rare, but it's worked for me, and a few of my friends before. When experiencing an airline issue, if you ask to speak to management and you articulate yourself in a professional, calm yet confident manner, you can find that you can get a free upgrade (if not this flight, perhaps another for another time) or other perks like free lounge access.