Social media is starting to play a very important part in the way hotels communicate with travelers and guests. Over the past couple of years, more and more people have been using various social media platforms to seek information, connect with hotels after their stay and ask questions before and during their trip. In mid-2012, during the Business School at Carlson Rezidor, the hotel group launched a popular and successful three-day training course for Social Media Ambassadors to really bring home to them the importance of these new communication channels. READ MORE

Hotel guest feedback has taken many forms over time beginning with verbal communication at the front desk and over the phone, progressing to customer comment cards, evolving to online reviews and most recently surfacing with the rise of social media. Is your hotel developing a strategy that includes addressing social media customer feedback? Learn how to identify, evaluate and respond to consumer concerns through online reviews and social media. READ MORE

Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills has long been known as a leader in the hotel industry. The Hotel opened its doors 25 years ago and has since made a name for itself within the entertainment, luxury, dining, and technology industries. Playing host to over 80% of the nation's press junkets, as well as some of Hollywood's biggest Awards Season events, the property is known as an entertainment industry icon. READ MORE

Social media has completely transformed the way that consumers engage with brands, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the luxury travel sector. Early on we recognized the connection between a traveler's desire to share their experiences with the world and the broad, immediate communication facilitated by social media channels. All of a sudden travelers could share, congregate, converse and covet in ways that were unimaginable only a few short years ago. It is no surprise that emerging social platforms with strong visual capabilities like Pinterest and Instagram are experiencing considerable growth, and existing social platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, are continually improving their ability to showcase images more beautifully. READ MORE

Brands are still spending money sending inspectors into their hotels to measure brand standards. With the rise of social media is that money well spent? Could you use social media to inform quality assurance audits to actually get at experience elements and not simply brand standard? Quality Assurance has evolved to more subjective 'how did the experience make you feel' measures than the days of old, but where do they go next? READ MORE

Many hoteliers are just beginning to understand the power of positive guest reviews in driving traffic to their website, but they are unsure of where to begin in terms of proactively managing the process. Is it best to ask our PR company to take charge of this issue? Should we get a young intern to handle Social Media? I get these questions from hoteliers from around the world. At the Library Hotel Collection, our four NYC properties once ranked in the four top spots on TripAdvisor for New York City. Two years later, at the time of this writing, all four of our Manhattan properties rank in the top five in New York. So just what is it that makes these hotel groups so consistently successful with regard to their TripAdvisor rankings? READ MORE

As a business owner, “social media” can be scary, too big or irrelevant. But it's not. Its impact is growing by leaps and bounds each year. Thanks to the plethora of social media networks available, customers have the ability to share their experiences with hundreds or thousands of people. Hotel guests share the good, the bad and the ugly. By embracing the value of and responding to online ratings and reviews, hoteliers can greatly improve their products and service, drive more online traffic to their websites and shape their reputation - all of which contributes to a healthier bottom line. READ MORE

Hotels and Resorts are increasingly finding it harder and harder to compete on the Internet, especially in this competitive environment. The struggle lies in not only finding ways to navigate the web that won't cause issues with the search engines, but also finding new and creative ways to attract customers. We are going to delve into one broad area that is actually awarded in the search arena today and can generate the attention of customers - social media and public relations. In addition to the overview, there will also be some discussion on some tools to use that can improve performance of social media and PR efforts. READ MORE

There are infinite digital resources positioned to assist consumers in all aspects of the travel continuum - from dreaming and researching to booking to traveling and sharing; therefore, ensuring your brand is part of the social conversation is well worth the required effort. The opportunity exists to amplify your brand message by engaging guests and potential guests via social media throughout their journey - every step of the way. READ MORE

Reviews and social conversations happen about you every day whether you pay attention or not. The great social shift allows guests to share with us in more ways than ever before. This shift has created a great opportunity for hotels to actively learn from and engage with their guests. How you listen and how you measure success, will greatly influence your success in the social space. READ MORE

Management compensation packages in the hospitality industry have traditionally been based on factors such as market share, financial performance, guest comment cards or surveys and staff satisfaction. But today, new measurements are being added that take into account the factors that drive real booking decisions today, such as TripAdvisor's Popularity Index, online review ratings, management response rates and social media engagement. READ MORE

China is currently the most social media connected country in the world. Not only do a handful of primary networks each have hundreds of millions of registered users, but their influence over Chinese consumers is also substantially higher than in other markets. As well, the country has seen rapid expansion in smartphone users, largely stemming from the growth of its educated urban populations. Knowing this landscape and its unique conditions will therefore be very important for future marketing purposes. READ MORE

No longer just passive observers, the modern internet and mobile users are now actively engaged and are determining the type of relationship they have with their favorite brands, organizations and communities. Consumers are using Smartphone apps and social media on a daily basis, to connect like never before. As media habits change from static to dynamic, local to global and from fixed to mobile, it is becoming crucial for companies to have a digital marketing strategy that utilizes both a social media presence and mobile applications to cross-promote their brand and products. READ MORE

The 2012 Local Consumer Review survey conducted by Search Engine Land, found that 52 percent of consumers trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations. The survey also reports that Restaurants / Cafes were the most searched businesses, followed by, you guessed it, Hotels/B&B's/Guest Houses. You want more proof that potential guests rely on online reviews? In 2011, research firm Forrester found that nearly 50 percent of consumers won't book a hotel that doesn't have online reviews. READ MORE

Trade secrets - employee and customer lists, financial and marketing information, research and development data - this is prized information to any business. Keeping this information secret gives a business the competitive edge. Compromising that secrecy, especially to a competitor, can be very costly. Employee access to technology and use of social media presents challenges to businesses seeking to protect trade secrets. Overly broad restrictions on employee use of social media may be deemed illegal. Conversely, a lack of effective measures to address the problem leaves a business vulnerable. This article examines measures employers can take to protect business proprietary information. READ MORE

In the past, hotels have used glossy brochures and images on OTAs and/or the direct website to sell their property to potential guests. Now there's TripAdvisor, which allows both the property itself and past guests to upload pictures of the property. But hotels need to use all of the available channels to share their images with potential guests; after all, we all know the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words”. This article examines how Pinterest can be used to promote your property, as well as further develop your brand image with potential guests. READ MORE