HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW
MAY FOCUS: Eco-Friendly Practices

Navigating The Baffling Hotel Public Relations and Social Media Landscape

By Lorraine Abelow Founder & President, Abelow PR | May 2018

The often variety of content streams can be bewildering for sales and marketing executives in developing a successful hotel PR and social media campaign. Launching an integrated approach that includes travel public relations and social media must engage and ultimately sell to your target market.

What is required is a systematic and diligent effort with sustained momentum over months and years.

Fresh and creative initiatives will propel your campaign forward, but all of that happens after the foundation is in place. Monthly and quarterly reviews to ensure you are on track and succeeding in getting your message out is also necessary to continually calibrate the results.

Finding the Right Travel PR Agency

Find a hotel and luxury PR agency that can affordably manage your entire communications platform successfully. It is wise to select one with whom you have chemistry. Give them a brief summarizing your goals and request a proposal. If you are an individual hotel, a boutique public relations firm is probably best for you, since your budget will be on the conservative side. On the other hand, if you have a group of hotels, you might want a bigger team that encompasses affiliates in the UK and Europe at large.

Your PR Toolbox

Hotel public relations and social media are essential to your sales toolbox. You need a constant churning of content rich messages and intensive outreach by your marketing team, through online PR – be it social media or traditional editorial coverage. Getting through to editors to gain A list exposure in such outlets as Conde Nast Traveler and The New York Times comes from relationships developed over time. That is where a savvy travel and luxury PR agency comes in.

Key Messages

At the outset it is vital to get your foundation in place. That means identifying how you are different than other properties, and from there creating your key message points. After that the team must develop the campaign plan, then interviews and reporting.

An integrated social media marketing and SEO PR with a foundation of traditional media relations campaign is key to reaching the burgeoning Millennial and baby boomers market segments. As a result, hotels, along with their hotel public relations agencies, have had to make massive changes in the past few years in terms of how they conduct their outreach to these exploding market segments. There is little evidence to suggest that the trend will slow down anytime soon. Technological advances continue to spur how the sales function engages and ultimately selling to these tough customers

Push Out That Publicity Through Social Media

There is nothing more seductive than a published article about your property so sharing those placements with your community is a super way to juice up your Instagram and Facebook feeds. So closely integrate your publicity campaign and synchronize your social media program. All of this is happens once you have an integrated your hospitality and luxury hotel public relations plan in place.

When stories appear in the media, push them through your feeds. Your marketing team works hard to place these stories, and whether they are mentions or home runs, your followers interest will be caught by these posts.

Blogger relations is also essential, but a full vetting out is necessary. While blogs are highly influential and get indexed by Google, it is important to evaluate the blogger carefully.

Luxury PR Distinctive Footprint on Social Media

As any solid digital and luxury public relations firm will tell you, visuals are key. If you think about it, what draws your eye on Instagram is stunning shot with people in it having fun. So, building a large variety of images and constantly refreshing that library is essential. Appoint a staff person in your in-house marketing team to go around to your department heads such as the spa director, chef and concierge to encourage them to take pictures of guests enjoying themselves on property or in the surrounding areas where they venture forth.

Hyatt used this approach as a way to get noticed in the social media universe by creating @Hyatt Concierge on Twitter, which displays both their superb customer service and enables its customers to maintain the conversation beyond just days spent at their hotels. Creating these opportunities for customer interaction and integrating them with the PR campaign builds brand awareness in a consumer’s mind, builds loyalty, and in the end goes a long way to creating a relationship with your customer so they come back again and again.

Snapchat: Timely and Powerful

Snapchat is an emerging platform that has caught on like wildfire with the attention of an increasingly important audience – Millennials. W Hotels jumped at the chance to be the first travel brand to participate in a national geofilter campaign. W Hotels partnered with a multimedia artist to create new geofilters.

The filters were created to support the Human Rights Campaign’s fight for equality, and they featured phrases such as “I am what I am” and “The road to equality has never been straight.” Timely and powerful. This is also timely given the #metoo campaign that has created a groundswell on Facebook and Instagram.

Melding Social Media and Mainstream Editorial Coverage

One of the many advantages of a savvy social media PR and luxury public relations agency is their ability to integrate the channels as Instagram and Facebook with traditional media outlets such as the Travel and Leisure.

Whether your hotel is a small property or a sprawling resort, near a national park, or sights capture it in your publicity and posts on social media. Creating community is vital, so frequent engagement Is necessary. Make friends with your followers, and keep going back to feed the well.

Finding a Cause – Or Creating One

Remember, “Pass it on?” We live in a friendly age, and you are a good corporate citizen to congratulate your competition, too. So, if you are mentioned in a round-up, tag the hotel down the block that is featured as well. We are all in this together.

At any given time there is a story in the local news of people “paying it forward.” Some instances are organic, like the “kindness chain” at a Starbucks in Florida. Others, like an initiative to provide holiday cards to military men and women overseas, take some coordination. Always the efforts are built on the philosophy of helping others in a selfless way. So what happens when a brand tries to use this social phenomenon as the basis of a social marketing campaign?

Last year, JetBlue introduced its latest promotional effort, a campaign called “Fly It Forward” that provides consumers worthy of admiration with a free flight and gives them the chance to do the same for others.

The campaign kicked off with a Chicago community worker-turned-United Nations delegate who received a ticket to New York City. She, in turn, awarded one to a woman who was in rehab after losing both her legs in an accident, and the trend continued. JetBlue launched the campaign with four profiles selected by JetBlue crewmembers and a planning team that “scoured the social web for deserving stories.” Then it turned the job over to the people of Twitter, asking them to nominate “Fly It Forward” candidates

Find What’s Unique and Go Creative!

Look for or create something particular to your hotel when creating packages and angles of interest and special rate packages. Pegging to holidays like Valentine’s day is a natural but go beyond the rose petals on the bed to a romantic night dive to find hidden treasures. It could be a mountain top fondue after a gondola ride to the top of a nearby mountain. While candle lit dinners on the beach are old standbys, how can you make yours different? Perhaps it could include fish the couple caught during the day prepared especially for them by the chef.

Though every room and suite at a property like La Samanna in the Caribbean is a dream, its eight Mediterranean-style villas --perched atop a cliff overlooking the beach -- offer the most privacy (and best views). Find which villa or room of yours can be positioned as romantic and geared to honeymooners.

Do something special after they leave. Send a thank you or if they came celebrating an anniversary or birthday, make note of it in your calendar to send a card the next year to commemorate and offer something in celebration of that event. It might be an all-day lift ticket if you operate a ski resort, or send a picture of how beautiful nature is there during your off-season.

Create a Steady Stream – And Keep Feeding It

A successful luxury public relations campaign must be planned and launched with intensity. There must be a steady stream of coverage and exposure daily in your feeds. Through all of these activities, you will gain increased exposure, build website traffic, and the public will gain general knowledge about your property or company. When it comes to making a choice, they will choose you over your competitors. Since you never know when they will be inclined to make a travel decision, your constant visibility is required.

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Strategies for Hiring and Retaining Top Talent in the Changing Hospitality Landscape

By Cynthia Schuler, Principal, IntegriStar HR Consulting

It is crucial to attract and retain top talent in the hospitality industry. In an article in Forbes Advisor entitled, "Key HR Statistics and Trends in 2023" by Kristy Snyder, Cassie Bottorff, and Brette Sember, J.D. it is stated that the leisure and hospitality industry has a separation rate of 79% "when it comes to annual average employment." That means that companies in the hospitality industry must audit their current recruitment process, review their salary structure and benefit offerings, and commit to identifying and offering learning opportunities for current and future employees. Recruitment The first...

How to Deliver a Frictionless Experience at Six Key Stages of the Guest Journey

By Don DeMarinis, Senior Vice President - Sales, Americas and EMEA, Agilysys

Elevating the Guest Experience The hospitality industry has witnessed an explosion in technology that has transformed the way properties engage with guests. From a proliferation of mobile apps and chatbots to self-service options for everything from check-in to food ordering, change is the order of the day. Every touchpoint in the guest journey is an opportunity to provide a hospitality moment, which ensures a frictionless experience but also improves guest interactions. The name of the game is to create memorable experiences, beginning well before the guest’s arrival date and extending beyond check-out. Yet challenges are present at...

Blending Digital Tools With Personalized Service to Elevate the Guest Experience

By Sid Ramani, Area General Manager, Hyatt Regency Irvine

In today’s landscape, where shifting guest expectations for a blended balance of autonomy and connection and advancing technology and digital concierge tools continue to influence the evolution of the hospitality sector, the question is no longer whether hotels should adopt these tools – but rather how and when can they strategically implement them in a way that enhances, rather than simply dilutes, the human connection? This will allow hotels to seamlessly blend hardware – these advancing technologies – with software – the thoughtful and personalized hospitality guests seek out. From mobile check-ins to curated experience platforms, the digital concierge has...

Seasonal Strategies to Drive Revenue

By Theresa Hajko, Regional Director of Revenue Management, Spire Hospitality

It is hard to believe that we are talking about our Winter revenue strategies when it feels like Summer just started and yet, here we are. For seasonal hotels that slow down close to Thanksgiving there is typically a shift in what business we are willing to take, under what conditions we take it and how we sell our hotel. There are a few solid strategies that should be in place now to drive occupancy and assure we are set up for success over the slower times especially the winter holidays. Strategic Seasonal Pricing This is a...

Redefining Hospitality Through Sustainability and Innovation

By Erika Harms, Global Director of Sustainability, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts

When TIME Magazine named Iberostar one of the 100 Most Influential Companies of 2025, we felt so proud—but also humbled. A recognition of this kind is not the destination of our journey, but a reminder that we are on a good path, even as so much work lies ahead. For us, sustainability is not a project or a campaign. It is a transformation—one that began with the Fluxà family’s long-term vision and Gloria Fluxà’s bold decision to launch Iberostar Wave of Change in 2017. Her conviction was clear: the future of tourism depends on healthy oceans, thriving...

Dress Code Considerations and Best Practices

By John Mavros, Attorney at Law, Partner, Fisher & Phillips, LLP

There is no single dress code law that hoteliers can look to for guidance when it comes to dress code policies, which can make their drafting and enforcement tricky. However, employee dress codes can be a valuable tool for hotels. They can help hotels make a positive first impression and set the tone for a pleasant guest experience. Moreover, thoughtfully crafting a dress code policy can set employee expectations, increase productivity, and even prevent claims of unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. This article provides a few of the important considerations for drafting and/or revising your hotel’s dress code policy. ...

The Charm of Adaptive Reuse Hotels Runs Deeper Than Just Aesthetics

By Troy Dixon, General Manager, The Central Station

In the ever-evolving landscape of the hospitality industry, the concept of adaptive reuse has gained significant traction in recent years, especially in urban areas throughout the United States of America. Adaptive reuse refers to the practice of repurposing existing structures for a different use than originally intended. This sustainable approach not only preserves historical and architectural treasures but also offers unique and innovative spaces that can meet contemporary needs of the modern traveler. Naturally, these buildings hold the same allure as a time capsule, oftentimes retaining the original framework and historical decor from their primary use. In the hospitality...

HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW MAY FOCUS: Eco-Friendly Practices

Navigating The Baffling Hotel Public Relations and Social Media Landscape

By Lorraine Abelow Founder & President, Abelow PR | May 2018

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HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW
MAY FOCUS: Eco-Friendly Practices