Final Exam - Conversations with Customers

1. What's meant by social sharing sites, link to 2 examples:

They are services to divide the documentary ones, the films and fasten them visual short which can legally be downloaded and freely distributed under the terms of the licence. It is a platform which allows shared the images, videos, photographs, etc… These different platforms make it possible to consult the destinations, hotels, and all four your trip. Normally in the different social sites you can add their videos (you can’t need to pay)on a public web site

www.realtravel.com
www.tripup.com


2. . How does social sharing influence consumers' choices, link to 1 article to support your assessment:

Today in hotel industry is not enough to communicate the hotel ones towards the consumer. At our days people need to be to reassure better than before. A person, whom wishes to leave on a journey, does not take with light the choice of their destination these for that the social sites of division be very useful. They will give more credibility and confidence with the travellers. These always better if a person that already part on this place can inform us. The article enables us to see the interest which carries the hotel ones towards this new type of marketing.

See the follow article:
http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/
070426_travelers_go_and_tell_tourism_sites_show_and_sell/

3. How hoteliers can best utilize social sharing trends to communicate with customers, link to 2 examples:

One thing that hoteliers can do to utilize social sharing trends is to utilize a popular social networking.
On Part of a popular social networking is to make sure that your hotel is not only listed in the search engines, but that it can also be found on the most popular social networking sites. One of the currently popular social networking sites is del.icio.us. del.icio.us is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks. The site came online in late 2003 was recently purchased by Yahoo!. Visitors use the site to create an online list of their favorite sites and to review what other visitors have bookmarked. People use this as they are planning trips and researching cities, so it is important for your hotel to be listed. We can help to insure that your hotel is included in the results for their research. Our Internet Marketing professionals will make sure that your site is properly bookmarked, tagged, and optimized for the highest possible ranking in the search results

reddit.com.
As the Internet continues to grow, social networking sites are becoming more popular to help surfers sort through information, organize it, and share it with others. The latest site to quickly gain popularity is reddit.com. reddit is a community web site where users can post links to content on the web. Other users may then vote the posted link up or down, causing it to appear more or less prominently on the reddit home page. reddit.com is the source for what's new and popular on the web. With over a million unique visitors a month, you can see why it is important to have your hotel listed with reddit.com. Your account manager at HotelTravelCheck.com will add links for your hotel to the reddit.com site. Users of reddit.com can also cast votes on sites/links. Their votes train a filter and reddit will begin to recommend links filtered to the user's taste. As a result, if a visitor is viewing numerous sites that are hotel or travel related, it is possible to have reddit.com start recommending your site links to those users.


www.tripup.com
The idea for TripUp originated when I was traveling with friends. Guide books led us to stuffy hotels and empty bars. The best trip advice we received came from locals and other travelers-- the true travel experts. So, we built a social travel network where you can interact with people who share similar interests and obtain candid and current trip advice before you depart. TripUp is also the first website where you can effectively find a Trip Buddy-- someone to meet up with on a trip. Many single travelers don't travel because they either don't have someone to go with or don't know anyone in their destination. TripUp empowers the single traveler by providing an opportunity to find a Trip Buddy either traveling to or living in a particular place. People from all over the world are using TripUp to link up, meet up, and hook up with travelers and locals.

4. What is your opinion..can hotels effectively establish an online conversation with customers? Why?

Yes, Hoteliers can effectively establish an online conversation with customers.
Today the hotel ones must know the comments as of their consumers for better targeting their waitings is thus better to satisfy them. At our days Internet creates occasions to communicate directly with their customer, a simple social site of the management of the networks. Travels 2.0 is have simple option to makes the communication reality between the customer and the hotel.

Team Online Exercise
Team up with Annelore Hue
*Kube Hotel*

Target customer: Young professionals, artist, hip people, design lovers...

Image: Design Hotel, Rooms & Bars

The Plus: Can subscribe to a newsletter + can download carte + very nice website

*Resellers*

avantgardehotels.com

Target: Young professionals, artist, hip people, design lovers...with high revenueReach: Big cities, Capitals all around the world (translation in 5 different languages)

Image: Very design Website which propose Boutique Hotel, Design Hotel, Small Hotel, Luxury Hotel,

HotelAffiliation: avantgardehotels is affiliate with epoquehotels.com which proposes the same products

Distribution: Reservation online by GDS, can find your hotel by the interactive map or select the country and city on the list, best rates for the hotels.

The Plus: can subscribe to a newsletter + can download brochures + link to some website hotel, can sent comments on hotels ('what people say about our hotels') + the links 'tell a friend about our website' + lot of pictures + good hotel description + download hotel brochure PDF + lot of information about the hotel and area + membership form online

flashbooking.com

Target: Young, backpackers...

Reach: Cities & Capitals all around the world (translation in 10 different languages)

Image: Youth Hostels and Budget Hotels

WorldwideDistribution: Reservation online by GDS, can find your hotel by the interactive map or select the country and city on the list, link for the membership

The Plus: If you need help you can Skype them + download free pocket travel guides for cities breaks + Benefits for hotelier: No costs to start, manage, update or cancel + manage your prices and availability online at any time + free to join + no obligation, commitments or annual fees + decide prices, room availability, special offers and update them at any time+ if the hotel have no website, flashbooking provides with a professional, multilingual and informative 'micro site' on the web + special program partners for customers

hotelclub.net

Target: everybody

Reach: Cities and Capitals all around the world (translation in 13 different languages)

Image: Last minute booking, discount

HotelsDistribution: Reservation online by GDS, can find your hotel by the interactive map or select the country and city on the list or hotel name

The Plus: mambership programs + can plan and allow inventory online

*Our Choice*

avantgardehotels.com seems to be the best 3 rd party reseller to sell The Kube Hotel. They have the same target, image, they also have a affiliation with a other site which have the same target and image. They promote design and concept hotel which is exactly what the Kube Hotel is.

In class exercice:

We are a design hotel such as Habita in Mexico city.
3rd Party sites:

- www.designhotels.com
We want to belong to this 3rd party site because:
- it reaches our market: design + luxe
- it corresponds to the image we want give to the customers + all the hotels which belong to this site are also design and luxury hotels

- www.tripadvisor.com
This site don't correspond to our category.
There are all kind of hotels so it doesn't respond to our image.

ORBITZ

OrbitzTLC

Orbitz is the first and only travel site with a seasoned team of experts that monitors nationwide travel conditions for our travelers around the clock, every day. At our command center, the OrbitzTLC Team gathers and interprets FAA, National Weather Service and other data to provide you with travel intelligence - real-time information that travelers won't find elsewhere.
At Orbitz, the customer relationship doesn't end when you hit the "purchase" button. The OrbitzTLC Team is on the case 24/7 while you're on the road, providing automated OrbitzTLC Alerts via your device of choice: mobile phone, pager, PDA or e-mail. Orbitz is there to make your journey as easy as possible, providing the latest information on flight delays, weather conditions, gate changes, airport congestion or any other event that might impact your travel.

What can we offer you?

Þ We pay commission on:
o Air: $5.00 USD for each air ticket
o Hotels:
§ $6.00 USD for each retail hotel transaction
§ $12.00 USD for each merchant hotel (OrbitzSaver) transaction
o Car Transaction: $2.00 USD for each car transaction.
o Cruise Transaction: $22.00 USD for each cruise transaction.
o Vacation Packages:(Packages are paid out to affiliates as individual components of the package)
§ $24.00 USD for each air+car+merchant hotel booking.
§ $22.00 USD for each air+merchant hotel booking.
§ $12.00 USD for each air+car booking.
o Also, our commission payouts are calculated at point-of-sale. We dont wait for travel to be completed.
o Return Days: Orbitz offers 30 return days.
o Our affiliate program is Free to Join.
o We offer deep-linking, Dynamic Rich Media -- which allows your users to enter their trip details right on your site. And dozens of sales and promos throughout the year.

Group viral Marketing!!!!

Beautiful photo of our colegue Roger, his new haircut suits him has wonder!

Viral Maketing

Hotel Campari Campari, the brand of wine and spirits, has just launched a hotel of online charm.

For the occasion, a YouTube page, a MySpace page and a Flickr page were created. In this viral countryside, Campari knew to exploit the topic of the hotels of charm without falling into obsession .
Hotelcampari.com proves to be a site which uses well the ludic applications, the Community supports (MySpace, YouTube, Flickr) and the modules of diffusion (sending to a friend of the address of the site, photographs, of vidéos and personalized photographs). Lastly, the use of the phase of teasing reinforces the attractivity of the site over the duration.

3rd Party Sites VS hotel group sites on BRG practiceWe take the example of Orbitz.

They guaranty the best rate. In fact if the guest find a lower price within 24 hours after the booking, they refund the difference.It is a customer satisfaction strategy, they are not loosing the sale but they are not fidelise the customer.In comparison, Hotel group like Mariott make you pay the lower rate you can find plus 20% discount. It is a brand royalty program. Their goal is to satisfy and fidelise the customer.

Strategy:The strategy of Marriott is to fidelize and to control all their own distribution channels (phone, web...)That way the GM must check their distribution channels very closely.

Compared to it a hotel site like Mariott focus on the loyalty: when you book trough a Marriot chanel (internet, phone, travel agency...) for a brand of the group (Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Springhill Suites...) you have 24 hours to search if you find a better price for:
- the same room category, the same hotel, the same dates

Article posted by Annelore Hue.


The article Video Ipod Training @ Homewood Suites is very interesting because to allow you a new way of formations for the employees with the use of a high technology. This new way of formation is a revolutionist in hotel industry, by hoping for that all the hotel ones adopted.

LUXX Hotel in Bangkok introduces "Home for the Young, Hip & Trendy Traveller"Beyond Hotel...Stay with LUXX

LUXX, probably the smallest hotel in Bangkok introduces a new taste of luxury for its guests. Going by the theme, "Beyond Hotel...Stay with LUXX," this home for the young, hip and trendy traveller is bringing design, comfort and experience to a new level. From being a home of one of the owners to a left alone building, a young architect and designer merge a vision to create a premium class accommodation facility to fit the taste of the young, hip and trendy.



The Holistic Concept of AccommodationBeyond Hotel is a philosophy translated to its features and amenities. It is a 4-storey twin hotel building composed of a mezzanine floor and 13 individually designed rooms and suites. Each room is built on a studio concept and features a heavenly bed space, cable TV with hot and cold shower. Suites are perfectly structured into one-bedroom set-up with LCD TV, personalized DVD player, coffee and tea making facilities, minimalist pantry and private views overlooking the newly created courtyard that reflects the spirit of calmness and zen.



Open Fun Bathrooms and Beds of HeavenRooms and suites are designed in generous floor sizes giving guests the extra space to feel free and be comfortable. One of the unique features of LUXX is the open bathroom concept in every room exuding fun and excitement for guests. This concept was built on the purpose of saving weight to maximize renovation activities in the property. While other 4 to 5 star hotels in Bangkok can only dream of providing more space in their rooms, LUXX expands its features in extra space and offers wireless hi-fi internet not only in the rooms but in every hall way and totally free of charge.

http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000600/4027798.html

Resseller Websites

http://hotel.booking.com


The Hotel Booking Engine for the Hotel Web SiteiBooking Hotel has been developed over the last 9 years to be one of the most fully featured hotel booking engines on the market. Used by more than 200 hotels worldwide it allows seamless integration to existing hotel web sites. It's multi-language, multi-currency and loaded with features all designed to allow the hotelier to sell confirmed room bookings 24/7.


iBooking Hotel on a white label basisAs well as operating directly with hoteliers throughout the world, ibooking Hotel is delivered by a powerful, highly flexible reseller solution. Resellers include web development companies, travel portals, consultants, and travel organisations.

The iBooking Hotel reseller solution comprises of a customised version of our back office system. For the reseller this means total control of your own clients, the ability to set your own commission agreements, and the power to own label all booking screens. No other hotel booking engine offers so much.

iBooking has resellers in several European countries. Some are earning upwards of 300,000UKP annually in commissions, processing millions of Euros worth of bookings for their clients.


Privacy Policy
This statement discloses the privacy practices for the entire web site. iBooking Limited. ("iBooking Limited") may collect implicit information on an anonymous basis from users who visit our web site, for aggregate statistical analysis and site customization. Implicit information is data that we can gather about the user without asking them. Importantly, aggregate statistical analysis means that iBooking Limited reviews trends based on information as a whole, but does not do so in an effort to identify the individual identity of the visitor to its site. We also may solicit email for site feedback, business development, press inquiries, and human resources inquiries. In select instances, this information may be shared with reputable third companies. However, iBooking Limited does not disclose human resource information solicited from our Web site to third parties or affiliates.

When you use our email feature to email another individual any content on our site, such as a case study, we may collect information about the email sender and the recipient. We may use this information to email our quarterly newsletter or other iBooking Limited information from time to time. We will not share this information with any third parties or affiliates.
Any personal information that you voluntarily provide to us, such as site registration information, will be collected and used by us on an internal basis only. Unless we tell you otherwise at the point on the site where the information is collected, we do not share any personal information about you with third parties or affiliates.


www.gnws.co.uk

www.aohostels.com

Habita Hotel , Mexico


- OPODO
www.hotels.opodo.fr/habita-hotel.html
- TRIPADVISOR
www.tripadvisor.fr/Hotel_Review-g150800-d254876-Reviews-Habita-Mexico_City_Central_Mexico_and_Gulf_Coast.html
-TABLETHOTELS
www.tablethotels.com/Hotel/fr/1387/Review/The-Hotel-Habita/Mexico-Mexique
- GHOTW
www.ghotw.com/hotel/home/habita-hotel.htm
- LHW
www.lhw.com/HotelHabita
- ASIA ROOMS
www.fr.asiarooms.com/mexico/mexico_city/habita.html
- TRAVELHERO
www.travelhero.com/prophome.cfm/id/129917/hotels/reservations/index.html
- KIWICOLLECTION
www.kiwicollection.com/rooms/VIEW=PR000042/

Hotel Habita , Mexico DF