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Unleashing the Power of Social Media on Travel February 2011
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Unleashing the power_of_social_media_on_travel

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Social media are importantfortravellers whousethemtocollectinformation beforethe trip, butalsotoshare travelstoriesand writereviewsafterthe trip. Reviewswrittenbytravellers are becomingincreasinglyimportantforthe travelindustry
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Page 1: Unleashing the power_of_social_media_on_travel

Unleashing the Power of Social Media on Travel

February 2011

Page 2: Unleashing the power_of_social_media_on_travel

© Euromonitor International

2

Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Introduction

The Rise of Social Media

Social Media and Travellers

Social Media and Travel Players

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Go Mobile

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Learn More

To find out more about Euromonitor International's complete range of business intelligence on industries, countries and consumers please visit www.euromonitor.com or contact your local Euromonitor International office:

Disclaimer

Much of the information in this briefing is of a statistical

nature and, while every attempt has been made to ensure

accuracy and reliability, Euromonitor International cannot be

held responsible for omissions or errors

Figures in tables and analyses are calculated from unrounded data and may not sum. Analyses found in the briefings may not totally reflect the companies’ opinions, reader discretion is advised

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Scope

Introduction

Travel and Tourism

Travelaccommodation

Transportation Car rental Travel retailTourist

attractions

Health and wellness tourism

Social Media

• This briefing on the global trends for Travel and Tourism covers the following areas:

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Travel and Tourism: Social MediaIntroduction

The Web 2.0 The development of Web 2.0 functionalities marked a turning point for the World

Wide Web. In only five years social media have become an important part of people’s

everyday life.

Social media are a global

phenomenon

Social media grow on the back of the global internet. The main adopters are the

young, but usage is spreading in more mature markets. Up to two thirds of internet

users in developed economies use social media and this is growing.

Social media types Social media include different types from social networks which are based on

interaction among members (eg Facebook) to repositories of content (eg YouTube

and Flickr) to specialist social media (eg TripAdvisor and Thorn Tree for travel).

The importance of travel

reviews

Social media are important for travellers who use them to collect information before

the trip, but also to share travel stories and write reviews after the trip. Reviews

written by travellers are becoming increasingly important for the travel industry.

Social media to engage

customers

Travel players such as tourism promotion boards, hotels, airlines and travel retailers

are increasingly making use of social media to communicate with their customers

also creating online communities in order to engage customers with their brands.

The new travel retail

landscape

Today the internet is a key place where travel decisions are taken. Social media

represent the social element of this new travel retail landscape where travellers can

interact with their peers and with travel companies in order to make their choices.

A customer service tool Social media marketing is not based on a “click and buy” model like search engine

advertising but it is rather focused on brand awareness and customer loyalty. It has

more to do with customer service and public relations than with advertising.

The ultimate frontier of

marketing

In a way social media represent the ultimate frontier of marketing as they allow

companies to monitor customer needs and respond to them in real time. The next

five years will see marketing departments make a more systematic use of them.

Key findings

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Introduction

The Rise of Social Media

Social Media and Travellers

Social Media and Travel Players

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Go Mobile

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Web 2.0

• Web 2.0, the second generation of the World Wide Web,

indicates the move away from static web-pages in which

content is entirely created centrally to dynamic user-

created content and online social networking.

• Web 2.0 encompasses a number of behavioural trends:

the sharing of information; self-publishing; the creation

and uploading of photos, audio and video files; and

making new friends online.

• Web 2.0 technologies permit one-to-many

communications, in addition to peer-to-peer. It is this

characteristic that makes it so efficient as a means of

advertising.

Social Media Types

• Social media include different types of websites allowing

users to interact with them posting and sharing content:

1. Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace,

Twitter, LinkedIn and Orkut;

2. Repositories for content which can then be shared

such as YouTube and Flickr;

3. Other types including forums, message boards,

podcasts, social bookmarking sites like delicious and

social news sites like Digg or Reddit.

The Web 2.0 phenomenon

The Rise of Social Media

Social media offer “social proof”

that users are doing the acceptable thing:

“We will use the actions of others to decide on

proper behaviour for ourselves, especially when

we view those others as similar to ourselves.”

Influence by Robert Cialdini (2007)

Top Social Media Worldwide October 2010

Rank Site

Unique

visitors

(million)

Page views

(million)

Has

adverts?

1 Facebook 590 690,000 Yes

2 YouTube 490 77,000 Yes

3 Twitter 110 6,400 Yes

4 MySpace 61 7,100 Yes

5 Flickr 46 1,900 Yes

6 LinkedIn 45 2,500 Yes

7 Orkut 37 5,400 Yes

Source: Doubleclick by Google

Note: Monthly data

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

From Web 1.0 to Web 2.0

The Rise of Social Media

website

user

user

user

website

user

user

user

Web 1.0 Web 2.0

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

0

200

400

600

800

1000

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

x1 x2 x3 x4 x5

Me

mb

ers

Inte

raction

s

The Importance of Scale

Members Potential P2P interactions

A “power-law” relationship

• There is a “power-law” relationship between the number

of members in a network and their potential interaction.

• For example, the number of peer-to-peer messages that

can be sent in a network of 10 people is 90. However, in

a network of 20 (ie twice the number of members), 380

messages can be sent (ie a multiple of 4.2).

• The dedication of network members is another important

factor; the hours members spend interacting can vary.

• However, a user may not trust all his/her network equally.

They will accept advice from those most like themselves,

or those that can offer the most relevant advice (the

opinion leaders in that field).

Dynamics of social networks

The Rise of Social Media

The Importance of Acquaintances

Six degrees of separation

• Clusters of “friends” are linked by less strong

“acquaintance” connections. Individuals even in a

large network are only four to eight “friends of friends”

away from any other member of the overall network.

• Some people in a cluster have many loose

acquaintances; they are disproportionately important

to overall network connectivity, despite the lack of

strength in the connections.

• Similarly, some people have multiple diverse interests

and are so members of multiple clusters.

• Identifying and targeting these individuals can help the

success of a social media campaign.

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Social media penetration

The Rise of Social Media

50

27

34 32

40

33

6258

54

66 64

33

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

UK France Germany Italy US Japan

%

Social Media Penetration % of Internet Users 2008/2010

2008 2010

The US is the largest market, but Europe is also growing rapidly

• By absolute size of audience the US is by far the largest user of social media.

• However, use of the internet to visit social media sites has increased in most countries over 2008-2010.

• The greatest increase in usage is in Italy and France where usage doubled between 2008 and 2010.

• Two thirds of Italians now use social media via the internet, more than in the UK or the US.

• Almost 80% of Facebook users are now outside the US.

• In Japan, social media have suffered competition from social communications via mobile phones (sms and email).

This situation may change in the near future following the launch of mobile social media applications.

Source: Ofcom International Communications Market Report 2010Base: Internet users aged 18+

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Demographic segmentation

The Rise of Social Media

Highest popularity among the younger generations

• Social media are especially popular in the 18-24 years age segment where they reach a penetration among internet

users of around 80% in most developed economies, with the exception of Japan.

• Penetration is however still significant in the age range 55-64 years reaching between 30% and 45% of internet

users in developed countries, with the exception of Japan.

Source: Ofcom International Communications Market Report 2010Base: Internet users aged 18+

86

7781 81 79

48

73

6265

70

78

40

64

5449

6064

25

4844

35

62

54

23

4542

30

4441

13

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

UK France Germany Italy US Japan

% o

f u

se

rs

Social Media Penetration % of Internet Users by Age 2010

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Internet Users 2010

Million people UK France Germany Italy US Japan

People online 39.1 44.9 44.9 25.7 195.0 59.5

Internet and broadband penetration

The Rise of Social Media

Source: Ofcom International Communications Market Report 2010

Broadband Penetration by Type 2010

% of households UK France Germany Italy US Japan

Fixed broadband connection 70 69 62 49 71 64

Mobile broadband connection (3G) 16 7 3 16 30 19

Internet Access through Mobile Devices 2010

% of internet users UK France Germany Italy US Japan

Smartphone 29 26 18 23 27 43

Tablet 3 2 2 3 3 4

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Introduction

The Rise of Social Media

Social Media and Travellers

Social Media and Travel Players

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Go Mobile

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Use of social media by travellers

Social Media and Travellers

Before the trip

• Collecting information and suggestions

• Choosing destinations and suppliers

• Booking online or offline

During the trip

• Collecting information locally

• Keeping in touch with friends, other travellers and locals

• On-site booking online or offline (also through smartphones)

After the trip

• Share travel stories and experiences

• Write hotel and destination reviews

• Upload photos and videos

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Importance of opinion leaders

• These travellers are opinion leaders for travelling to the

destination they are specialists on and their role is

particularly important.

• A typical social networker will go to Facebook everyday

and spend an hour online. The majority of use of travel

social media will be episodic, perhaps even task-driven

(eg “find a summer holiday”).

• For this reason, leisure travellers are more willing to

accept advice from strangers.

• For the same reason, specialist social media in travel

and tourism are more trusted by people to collect

information and take decisions concerning their trips.

Focus on the destination

• Social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn are

based on strong links (eg “friends”).

• However, travel social media are based more on

looser acquaintances and wider communities of

interest.

• The emphasis of generalist social networks such as

Facebook is on you and your friends; but the emphasis

of travel social media is the destination.

• Your friends may not have gone to the destination

either.

• Frequent travellers to one or more destinations

become gurus on a travel site.

You

Friends

Acquaintances

Destination

People who’ve been there (travellers)

You

Role of social media for leisure travellers

Social Media and Travellers

Typical Social Networking Site Travel Social Media

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Site Details

Cosmo-tourist

Set up in 2007, Cosmotourist is a travel “meeting place” where tips and reviews are written and where questions can be posed to others who have already travelled to destinations around the world. 400,000 users.

Dopplr Service for international travellers via mobile phone and computer. Dopplr members share personal and business travel plans privately with their networks. Acquired by Nokia in September 2009. Usage fell from 39,000 unique users to 29,000 in July 2009.

Driftr Driven by a proprietary map, Driftr is a user-generated content site “for travellers, by travellers”, providing photos and reviews.

Epic Trip A multimedia travel search engine and social media providing reviews of destinations, attractions, and hotels; comparison shop for the lowest hotel rates; meet like-minded travellers.

Everytrail For geo-tagged user-generated travel content; interactive maps including route photos.

geojoey A Google maps mashup, geojoey provides a full-screen map with personal URL against which users can plot journeys, post photos and videos.

here or there

Rate community travel experiences and add own comment.

iloho Established online travel communities where users can vote on user submitted stories.

Site Details

Lonely PlanetThorn Tree

Where the Lonely Planet travel community exchange travel advice, hints and tips.

Matador Matador Travel is a social media for passionate travellers, associated with glimpse.com.

myTripBook myTripBook is a travel diary and forward planner that you can keep private, share with friends or have open to all.

TravBuddy Find travel buddies, record travel experiences in travel blogs, or share travel tips and reviews.

TravelPost A community “built by travel enthusiasts for travel enthusiasts”; reviews, photos and blogs.

TripAdvisor TripAdvisor claims to be the largest travel site offering advice from real travellers, a wide variety of travel choices and planning features.

TripConnect Founded in 2004 in New York City, TripConnect offers travel advice from friends or people with similar interests, and from established and relevant information sources.

TripSay Users can share trip experiences and connect with travelling friends to exchange insider tips.

TripWolf Social travel guide and trip planner based around a community of locals and travel gurus.

Virtual Tourist

A travel community where 1.2 million registered members from more than 220countries share real travel advice and experiences.

Beyond Facebook - specialist social media in travel

Social Media and Travellers

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Key for brand image and customer service

• Major brand owners are using social media to enhance their customer service.

• Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, Virgin America, Marriott, Starwood, Travelocity, Expedia, and Hertz all have staff

specifically tasked with reacting to social media messages.

• The power of social media means good and bad news about a brand and service can be transmitted to all

corners of the world in hours, forcing big brands to manage the process.

• A dissatisfied customer was once likely to tell up to 100 people, but if a complaint goes viral, it could now reach

millions.

• Complaining on TripAdvisor, Facebook or Twitter is more effective than complaining in a traditional way; more

people can overhear how the company treats you. And the threat of a bad review can give you leverage.

• However, the ease with which a bad review can be posted, or a Twitter complaint made, opens this embryonic

customer service system to abuse. The threat of a bad review can also be perceived as blackmail.

Advantages Disadvantages

• Complaints can be magnified by the lens of

the social network

• Everyone is listening, including executives in

the companies receiving the complaint

• Response times can be very quick

• A bad review can be a trigger for change,

helping the supplier with poor service to

recognise its deficiencies

• Complaining may be too easy; it risks petty or

mischievous complaints, or threats of

blackmail

• Beyond real people “trying it on”, some

complaints may be injected into the system by

travel companies or their competitors

• It is difficult for social media to assess which

reviews are genuine

Empowering consumers

Social Media and Travellers

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

World's largest travel site

• TripAdvisor offers advice from other travellers and a

wide variety of travel choices and planning features

(including Flights search, TripAdvisor Mobile and

TripAdvisor Trip Friends) with links to booking tools.

• TripAdvisor websites make up what is claimed to be

the largest travel community in the world:

• 14 million unique monthly visitors;

• 20 million members in 26 countries, including

China;

• Over 40 million reviews and opinions.

• TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor

Media Group are operating companies of Expedia

Inc.

• However, TripAdvisor does not advertise only the

offer of Expedia companies (such as Expedia,

Hotels.com and Venere.com), but also of other

companies such as Priceline/Booking.com,

Lastminute and Orbitz.

• TripAdvisor is one of the most powerful websites in

the travel industry and its reviews are also used by

hotel companies to measure customer satisfaction.

• In December 2010, TripAdvisor launched an

integration with Facebook which allows users to: see

information on their Facebook friends’ trips; read their

reviews before others; and share TripAdvisor reviews

with them.

Case study: TripAdvisor

Social Media and Travellers

TripAdvisor Users by Country October 2010

Rank Name Unique users % of total

1 US 6,000,000 42.9

2 UK 2,200,000 15.7

3 Italy 1,200,000 8.6

4 Canada 820,000 5.9

5 Spain 690,000 4.9

Others 3,090,000 22.1

TOTAL 14,000,000 100.0

Source: Doubleclick by Google data

Note: Monthly data

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Hospitality Sites Home Exchange

• Websites such as CouchSurfing.com and

HospitalityClub.org have already been around for 10

years but have enjoyed a real boom over 2008-2010.

• Their mission is to put in contact travellers with people

living in the places they visit. Travellers can ask locals

for free hospitality but also just to meet them for a

drink.

• Free hospitality is an important element of this type of

travelling, especially in times of economic downturn.

Saving money however is not the main goal of

hospitality tourism; intercultural exchange is more

important.

• Travellers are able to see how locals live, discovering a

country and its culture from within and making their

experience richer.

• CouchSurfers are not hotel guests, sightseeing on their

own all day and getting back home late at night; instead

they spend time with their hosts, sharing with them their

travel and life experiences.

• Home exchange consists in spending holidays in other

people’s houses while they stay at yours. This is made

possible by companies such as HomeExchange,

Intervac and HomeLink.

• Members pay a small annual fee to get access to this

service via the internet.

• This type of tourism started over 50 years ago through

printed directories, but it has increased dramatically

since the advent of the internet.

• The opportunity to benefit from a low cost holiday plays

an important role in its growing popularity.

• Home exchange also benefits from the desire of

travellers to have a more authentic travel experience, in

the local community.

Hospitality sites and home exchange

Social Media and Travellers

The community is the product

Hospitality and home exchange networks are travel-

related communities, not only exchanging hospitality

but allowing a different way to travel.

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Introduction

The Rise of Social Media

Social Media and Travellers

Social Media and Travel Players

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Go Mobile

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

How social media works for travel players

Social Media and Travel Players

Uploadphotos/videos

Shareexperiences

Writereviews

Askquestions

Booktravel services

Distributeinformation

Uploadphotos/videos

Promotebrands/

products

Selltravel services

Receivefeedback

Social Media

Travel Players

Travellers

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Social media and tourism promotion boards

Social Media and Travel Players

Source: WAYN

Note: Data for November 2010

Tourism promotion boards are increasingly using social

media to distribute tourist information, videos and photos,

keep in touch with travellers and receive feedback.

Brazil

• The Brazilian tourism board created a successful

YouTube channel to distribute videos about the

country’s most important tourist destinations and

attractions, as well as testimonials from people talking

about Brazil.

Australia

• The Australia tourism board created the

www.nothinglikeaustralia.com website where travellers

to the country can share their experiences and readers

can vote the most useful ones.

Spain

• Turespaña, the Spanish tourism board, created two

specific websites to upload photos of trips to Spain and

ask any questions about tourism to Spain. It is also

possible to share travel experiences on its Facebook

page.

National Tourism Boards‟ Popularity on Selected

Social Media 2010

Tourism board Facebook, Twitter, WAYN followers

Australia 966,581

New Zealand 282,945

Spain 265,125

Croatia 173,968

Thailand 114,649

Jamaica 102,647

South Africa 78,502

Iceland 54,914

Ireland 45,411

France

• Atout France, the French tourism board, created

Facebook pages for each of the countries where it has

offices in order to send travel news to Francophiles all

over the world and receive their feedback.

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Hotel companies are present in social media such as

Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor in order to distribute

information to customers, receive feedback and answer

questions.

Accor

• In 2010, Accor entered a partnership with TripAdvisor.

According to this agreement all Accor customers after

their stay are sent an email inviting them to post a

review which will be published on both Accorhotels.com

and TripAdvisor websites. Reviews are available for all

Accor Group’s brands and countries.

Hyatt

• Hyatt Hotels launched a Twitter account in 2009 and

staff based in Omaha, Australia and Mumbai respond to

requests and questions “within an hour”, fielding all

kinds of queries. The Twitter account has 12,000

followers.

joie de vivre

• joie de vivre hotels use Twitter to send an exclusive deal

to around 10,000 followers.

Social media and hotels

Social Media and Travel Players

Hotels‟ Popularity on Facebook 2010

Hotel Facebook likes”

Hilton Hotels 98,396

Best Western 65,067

Starwood Hotels 51,467

Accor Group 22,203

Global Hyatt 22,163

Marriott International (inc Courtyard) 19,190

InterContinental Hotels Group 17,533

Wyndham Hotel Group 6,912

Source: Facebook, December 2010

Marriott

• Marriott is targeting members with large Facebook

and Twitter followings to help spread positive

messages about its SpringHill Suites chain in return for

free stays and other incentives.

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Airlines maintain a presence on social media to push

special fares as well as to respond to customer queries.

Some airlines also sell tickets directly through Facebook,

while Lufthansa created a website to post travel stories.

Lufthansa

• Lufthansa created the www.lufthansawefly.com website

where travellers can share their travel stories and win

free trips.

easyJet

• easyJet was the first airline to give users the

opportunity to book their flight on Facebook. However,

the booking process is then re-directed to the easyJet

website.

Delta

• Since summer 2010 Delta passengers have been able

to buy tickets on Delta's Facebook page using the

“Book a Trip” tab. They can also let their Facebook

friends know of their booking. In this case the whole

reservation process is completed within Facebook.

Social media and airlines

Social Media and Travel Players

Airlines‟ Popularity on Facebook 2010

Airline Facebook “likes”

Lufthansa 150,309

Air France-KLM 132,123

American Airlines 99,794

Singapore Airlines 81,083

Ryanair 67,517

easyJet 55,383

Qantas 35,259

British Airways 17,357

Delta Airlines 4,707

Source: Facebook, December 2010

Southwest

• Southwest has three staff dedicated to monitoring and

responding to queries made through social media

channels.

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

TUI Travel

• TUI Travel appointed social media

agency NixonMcInnes to create a

social media strategy for its First

Choice brand.

• TUI hopes its social media activity,

aimed primarily at families, will

increase customer engagement and

brand consideration.

Booking.com

• Specialist online travel agencies in

hotel bookings such as

Priceline/Booking.com, Hotels.com,

Venere.com and HotelClub, all

integrated in their websites a Web

2.0 functionality allowing their

customers to leave a grade and

review for the hotels where they

stayed.

Thomas Cook

• Thomas Cook is present on Twitter,

Facebook and YouTube.

• Thomas Cook uses Twitter to keep

its followers up to date with news,

offers, and website features.

• The official Thomas Cook Facebook

site has 671 members – its airline

on the other hand has 14,854

“likes”. The main incentive is to hear

about offers and deals first.

• YouTube carries an official Thomas

Cook YouTube channel containing

holiday videos.

• The company encourages

customers to rate and review their

Thomas Cook holiday on

thomascook.com.

Social media and travel retailers

Social Media and Travel Players

Travel retailers are typically using

social media to communicate last

minute deals and other offers,

engage customers with their brands

and receive their feedback. Some

have also added Web 2.0

functionalities to their websites.

Expedia

• Expedia Inc is the owner of

TripAdvisor, the most influential

website for the hotel sector.

However, the company has not fully

exploited this competitive

advantage, allowing TripAdvisor’s

users to book reviewed hotels not

only through the Expedia,

Hotels.com and Venere.com

brands, but also through its main

competitors in exchange for a

commission.

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

• According to Visit Florida figures, tourist arrivals to

Florida rose by 0.6% to 18.9 million in Q3 2010, in

particular foreign tourist arrivals grew by over 17%

driven by 23% growth in arrivals from Canada.

• It is generally recognised by the industry that Visit

Florida’s response through social media significantly

helped mitigate the impact of the oil spill on tourism.

• The idea to let Florida residents post photos, videos and

comments on a website was especially effective due to

travellers trusting more information posted by their peers

than from a tourism promotion board or state authority.

• The risk was that tourists would believe the worst and

change their travel plans, or if they came, they would

stay away from beach areas.

• The global news coverage was focused on the worst-

affected areas. This could inaccurately paint the whole

of Florida with the same brush.

• Hotels reported inquiries dropping off during May, and

occupancy rates were 30% down on the year.

• Florida needed to increase the information available to

potential travellers so they could make travel decisions.

• The BP oil spill which took place on 20 April 2010 in the

Gulf of Mexico was the largest accidental marine oil spill

in the history of the petroleum industry.

• Florida has the longest coastline in the US (1,350 miles)

and its economy is heavily influenced by tourism; one

million jobs are linked to the industry.

• Florida was in the global news for months as oil washed

up on its beaches; oil leaked until July 2010.

• Visit Florida decided to use social media of various kinds

as part of its strategy to respond to the disaster.

• On the basis of its crisis management plan, Visit Florida

invited residents to share their recent photos of Florida’s

locations on a new website page called Florida Live.

• The site was populated by videos, photos and live

Google map-based Twitter feeds.

• Visit Florida released a 31-second video on YouTube

encouraging visitors to check the Florida Live site for

real-time updates on beach conditions.

The disaster The response

The challenge The outcome

Case study: Florida’s response to BP oil spill disaster

Social Media and Travel Players

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Introduction

The Rise of Social Media

Social Media and Travellers

Social Media and Travel Players

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Go Mobile

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Before the internet revolution

Prior to the internet, travel retail services were sold:

1. Directly by suppliers through call centres or in their offices/outlets;

2. Through high street travel agents which played the key role in travel distribution.

Traditional travel distribution model

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Consumers

High street travel agents

Supplier

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

After the internet revolution

The advent of the internet marked a revolution in travel retail. Its main effects were:

• Strong increase in direct sales through travel suppliers’ websites;

• Key role played by online travel agents;

• Gradual move by traditional travel retailers towards online sales;

• Changing role for travel agents increasingly acting as travel consultants and/or specialising in niche products;

• Important role for search engines to promote travel services;

• Important role for specialist travel websites to promote travel services;

• Increasing importance of social media to promote travel services as well as a customer service tool.

New multi-channel model

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Search

engines

Consumers

Social media

Affiliate

websites

Online travel agents

High street travel agents

Supplier’s

website

Supplier

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Increase in independent travellers

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Independent travel growing for over a decade

• Post-deregulation, the airline industry in Europe saw a rise in the size and quality of LCCs (low cost carriers).

• LCCs were quick to adopt the internet as a method of booking, removing agency costs.

• Agents were “disintermediated” from LCCs purchases, as more scheduled air travel purchases are made direct.

• Online travel agencies grew at the expense of offline agencies.

• A wide choice of tourism products can now be booked on the internet including hotels, flights, car rental, attractions,

holiday packages etc.

• The rise of independent travel drove a need for reviews and advice which is satisfied by social media.

• Advent of the internet

• Deregulation of air travel and LCCs growth

• Adoption of internet by LCCs to save on travel agency costs

• Growth of online travel agencies

• Increase of independent travellers

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Independent travel: A more rewarding experience

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Independent travel is inherently rewarding to many

• Tourists like the control it gives them over their itinerary.

• Being so involved in the fact-finding process gives traveller a sense that the holidays start earlier.

• Although the vacation is typically based around low cost air travel, the tourist has the choice of spending more on a

nice hotel, restaurant, activity etc, so the holiday is value for money, rather than cheap.

• Travel agents step in where the itinerary becomes exceptionally complex, or where perceived risk is high (eg

destinations where disease may be an issue).

• Not price alone, affordable indulgence

• More risk –likely to involve travel agent

• Information gathering and choice is part of the holiday

• Control over itinerary and activities

Flexibility and control

Feeling of involvement

Value for money

Risk

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Steady growth for online sales

• Online sales of travel products are especially significant in the air sector where they represented of total worldwide

sales in 2010.

• The importance of online bookings is steadily growing also in the hotel sector where they will reach 20% of total

worldwide sales by 2015.

• Online sales are less developed for other transportation where they accounted for 5% in 2010.

• Still room for the traditional channel

• Although its share is gradually declining, the traditional distribution channel is expected to continue to play an

important role in the travel industry in the next five years.

• More expensive business and international travel will continue to be booked through non-internet channels.

• Online sales will be less significant in developing countries due to lower internet penetration.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Global Online Sales as % of Total Sales by Category 1999-2015

Car rental

Air

Other transportation

Travel retail products

Hotels

Continuous growth for online sales

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Introduction

The Rise of Social Media

Social Media and Travellers

Social Media and Travel Players

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Go Mobile

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

• The promises of social media marketing are:

1. To engage consumers with brands and products and get their feedback about them;

2. To reach a selected target of consumers at minimum cost thanks to the multiplier effect generated by interaction

among users.

• The role of opinion leaders and word of mouth is key for social media marketing.

• Social media marketing is different from search engine advertising which is based on a “click and buy” model. Brand

awareness, engagement of users and building customer loyalty are more important for social media.

• The maximum effect is reached when a campaign “goes viral”.

How social media marketing works

Social Media Marketing

Press

coverage

Company

Global social

media

National social

media

Travel social

media

Opinion

leaders

Word of

mouth

Online

communities

Viral

marketing

Target group

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

“Real time” brands

The anticipatory brand that is always in 2-way conversations with customers and partners is more likely to succeed

Social marketplace

Brands will take more advantage of the virtual marketplace by creating products and services that have a social disposition

Customers as an asset

Money, time and skills will be lavished on monitoring customers before, during and after their travel experiences and identifying points where expectations are met or are not

Customer loyalty

Social media will allow companies to move from engaging members to communities, with new currencies of recognition and relationship status with individuals

Tailored services

Operators will be able to proactively target customers’ desires from extreme sports

to the snacks they find in the hotel fridge on arrival

Social media as marketing tools

Social Media Marketing

• As a contribution to this global briefing, Amadeus sees social media and social interaction driving some key trends.

Source: Amadeus

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

A global success

• Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and

other global social media are gaining

ground worldwide and rank among

the most visited websites of many

countries.

• According to Nielsen in 2010,

Facebook was one of the two most

visited websites in the US, the UK,

France, Italy and Spain.

• YouTube was one of the seven most

visited websites in the US, the UK,

Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Which type: global, national or specialist?

Social Media Marketing

National networking significant

• Local social networking sites generate more traffic than global ones in Brazil, China, Japan, the Netherlands and

Russia.

• Asia Pacific’s biggest economies have successfully developed local sites such as Mixi (Japan), Qzone, 51.com and

RenRen (China), Cyworld (South Korea) and Friendster (Asia Pacific).

• Of the top 10 social networking sites, the Brazilian Orkut.com is the largest regional player. The Russian sites

Vkontakte.ru and Odnoklassriki.ru and the Dutch site Hyves are also significant.

• Important national social networks exist also in France (Skyrock and Viadeo) and Spain (Tuenti).

• Target with specialist sites

• For travel services, specific travel-related social media sites also play a very important role as they allow advertisers

to reach an even more targeted audience, which is key for advertisers.

• In Italy, Turistipercaso.it, a specialist travel social media site where users share their travel stories and tips, is a

favourite choice for travel and tourism advertisers.

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Key facts

• The company was founded in February 2004, but was not

available to non-college students until autumn 2006.

• Facebook employs more than 2,000 people and has offices

in the US, Europe, Australia, Japan and Canada.

Advertising on Facebook

• Facebook is considered a key player in social media

advertising.

• Within its user base of almost 600 million people, advertisers

can target the consumer segment they are interested in,

selecting it on the basis of several criteria including location,

age, interests, sex, language, relationship status, education

etc.

Case study: Facebook

Social Media Marketing

Facebook Users by Country October 2010

Rank Country Unique users, „000 % of total

1 US 130,000 22.0

2 UK 28,000 4.7

3 Italy 25,000 4.2

4 France 23,000 3.9

5 Germany 21,000 3.6

Others 363,000 61.5

TOTAL 590,000 100.0

Source: Doubleclick by Google

• It is also possible to create different adverts which

will be seen by different target groups.

• It is possible to advertise a brand or product, but also

the company Facebook page created to engage

customers, receive their feedback, gain their loyalty

and get them to share it with friends.

• Facebook offers the possibility to create an online

community of users around advertisers’ offers and

products.

• Facebook’s ability to generate profits is often

debated. Advertising on Facebook can be useful and

effective for travel and tourism companies. However,

they need to be aware that their investment will not

translate into a rise in sales in the short term, but

rather in the possibility to engage customers with

their brands and gain their loyalty in the medium and

long term.

Social plugins

• Companies can make their websites more social

adding Facebook social plugins to them such as the

Like button, the Login button, the Comments plugin

and the Activity Feed.

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

What is it?

• Viral marketing describes the deliberate use of social

media to distribute content quickly, cheaply and

effectively.

• Viral marketing mimics the way “word of mouth”

advertising works; users actively recommend the

content to their closest friends, who then pass it on.

• However, it is not the same as word of mouth, which

decays over time, while viral marketing broadcasts and

therefore compounds the message.

• Successful viral marketing can lead to an explosion in

awareness. If one person passes it to two friends, who

then look at the material and pass it on, and so on,

awareness of the content will be exponential.

But...

• Deliberately creating content of sufficient appeal that

others will want to recommend it to their friends is

difficult. Many viral campaigns use humour or heavy

promotion to achieve recommendations; this can

sometimes miss the underlying point of the campaign.

• Campaigns can misfire. The nature of viral marketing is

that once it starts, the originators of the material are no

longer in control. The promotion may even prompt an

active recommendation against the product or service.

• Forecasting success or popularity can be difficult. Over-

subscription to a promotion can lead to disappointment,

high costs or both.

Viral marketing

Social Media Marketing

Company

Tips for a successful viral campaign

1. It is in the right place at the right time to find an

audience that shares its values.

2. It must be quickly and easily digested and inspire

an instinctive “wow, I like it” reaction.

3. It is easily shared, copied or linked to, and sending

it on must be somehow rewarding.

4. Videos, pictures and jokes circulate quickest, hence

the popularity of YouTube to share viral content.

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Case study: YouTube

Social Media Marketing

Your video on the web

• Founded in February 2005, YouTube is the world's most

popular online video community.

• YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video

clips on its site and across the internet through websites,

mobile devices, blogs and email.

• YouTube has numerous partnership deals with content

providers such as CBS, BBC, Universal Music Group,

Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, NBA, The

Sundance Channel, among others.

• YouTube was acquired by Google in November 2006.

Advertising on YouTube

• YouTube offers advertisers a way to promote their

content to the YouTube community as well as to

associate themselves with content being watched by

their target audience.

• YouTube offers analytic tools to help advertisers

understand their audience and derive general

business intelligence and a number of charged-for

services.

• Promoted videos allow advertisers to promote their

videos among their consumer target through an

auction-based marketplace.

• Display and linear adverts include traditional branded

display, linear adverts, and video overlay adverts.

• Brand channels give companies the possibility to

create a specific channel personalised with their look

and feel where customers can be informed about

new products and activities and leave their feedback.

They are aimed at creating relationships with

customers and at strengthening customer loyalty.

• Engagement programmes and contests consist of

sponsored video-based thematic experiences able to

engage the company target market.

YouTube Users by Country October 2010

Rank Country Unique users, „000 % of total

1 US 97,000 19.8

2 Japan 38,000 7.8

3 Germany 23,000 4.7

4 Brazil 21,000 4.3

5 UK 19,000 3.9

Others 292,000 59.6

TOTAL 490,000 100.0

Source: Doubleclick by Google data

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

How to demonstrate success?

• Warning: there is no easy way to effectively track social

media success, despite the use of social media tracking

tools.

• Proving return on investment (ROI) via social media is

not as easy as demonstrating it when using online

search engine advertising.

• The reason for this is that while search engine and

other online advertising aims at a sale, social media

advertising is more focused on brand awareness and

customer service.

An extension of public relations (PR)?

• In many ways social media marketing is an extension of

public relations, as much as it is a new form of

advertising. Part of the value of a social media

impression is in being talked about, including on TV,

radio and in traditional press.

• In a study with Facebook, Nielsen calls this effect

“earned media” (Advertising Effectiveness: Nielsen

2010).

• Social media advertising uses some PR-influenced

methodologies for determining value for money.

Social media tracking

Social Media Marketing

Search engines vs social media

• Return on investment for advertising spending on

search engines is very easy to measure thanks to

effective tracking tools such as Google Analytics.

• On the other hand, in spite of the existence of several

monitoring tools such as the ones listed in the following

slide, measuring the impact of social media advertising

is difficult due to the impossibility to identify the impact

of the different factors, and evaluation is often of a

rather qualitative nature.

• Investments in both these channels will be increasingly

included in marketing plans serving different aims:

increasing short-term sales in the case of search

engine advertising; and strengthening brand awareness

and customer loyalty in the case of social media

marketing.

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

SM Monitoring Tool Clients in Tourism, Hospitality and Travel

Asomo (Socialware)

Wyndham Hotels, Ramada, Days Inn, Hawthorn, Wingate,

Travelodge, Knights Inn, Macrotel, Canary Islands

Tourism Department, Air France-KLM, and others.

Clarabridge Social Media Analysis (Clarabridge)Choice Hotels, Marriott International, Expedia, Gaylord

Hotels, United Airlines, and others.

CharterGuard Social Media Monitoring (Lodging

Interactive)

Claremont Resort, Boston Harbour Hotel, Hershey Hotel,

and others.

Converseon Tools/Conversation Miner (Converseon) Hilton Hotels, and others.

Review Analyst (Standing Dog Interactive)

Aimbridge Hospitality, Omni Hotels, Rydges Hotels &

Resorts, Crescent Hotels and Resorts, Starwood Hotels

and Resorts, Hostmark Hospitality Group (HHG),

LodgeWorks, Prism Hotels, Hotel Wales, Belmont Hotel,

and others.

Revinate (Revinate)

Trump Hotel, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton

Hotels, InterContinental, Andaz Hotels, White Lodging,

Peabody, Roosevelt Hotel, Hilton Hotels (Austin, Las

Vegas), Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, Reidenbach,

and others.

SIM Score - Social Influence Marketing Score (Razorfish) Carnival Cruise Lines, Starwood Hotels, and others.

Source: Ideya Business and Marketing Consultancy, Social Media Monitoring Tools and Services Report

Monitoring tools

Social Media Marketing

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Introduction

The Rise of Social Media

Social Media and Travellers

Social Media and Travel Players

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Go Mobile

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

• The uptake of smartphones and tablets to access the internet created new opportunities for social media to offer new

functionalities based on the location of the user, thanks to geolocalisation services.

• This allowed the development of location-based mobile social media such as Gowalla and Foursquare.

• Traditional social media also created new functionalities based on location such as Facebook Places.

• Mobile social media applications are opening up the market among small companies to online advertising.

• Smartphone penetration is growing rapidly; they are expected to account for 92% of mobile phones in Europe by

2014.

Social media and smartphones

Social Media Go Mobile

2423

13

18

22 22

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

UK France Germany Italy US Japan

% o

f o

wn

ers

Use of Smartphones to Access Social Media by % of Owners 2010

Source: Ofcom International Communications Market Report

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

• Using social media via mobile phone is still a minority activity but is more prevalent among younger age groups.

• 45% of 18-24 year-olds in the UK used their mobile phones for social networking, a similar proportion to France.

• In the US, the percentage of under 25s was less than the UK, France and Japan (at 37%) but the practice was more

evenly spread. 37% of 25-34 year-olds also participated, more than any other country with the exception of the UK.

Demographic segmentation

Social Media Go Mobile

Source: Ofcom International Communications Market Report

4543

26

31

373938

27

16

21

37

2523

18

10

16

21

16

108

5

9

5

11

3 4 31

42

0

10

20

30

40

50

UK France Germany Italy US Japan

% o

wn

ers

Use of Smartphones to Access Social Media by Age by % of Owners 2010

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

• Geolocalisation is the identification of the real-world geographic location of the traveller.

• The focus is on where the traveller is, and what services are available locally.

• Geolocalisation is available through GPS technology.

• An interesting application in travel and tourism is for example the possibility for travellers to scan the immediate area

to find available hotel rooms and book them.

Geolocalisation

Social Media Go Mobile

Opportunities

• Find offers based on location

• Maintain relationships when on the move

• Capture the “impulse buy”

• Use “augmented reality” functions

Issues

• Privacy

• Personal safety

• Lack of technological ubiquity (egbetween developed and developing countries)

• Relevance of marketing offers

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

• Foursquare is a mobile application

that makes cities easier to use and

more interesting to explore.

• It is a friend-finder, a social city

guide and a game that challenges

users to experience new things, and

rewards them for doing so.

• Foursquare lets users "check in" to

a place when they are there, tell

friends where they are and track the

history of where they have been and

who they have been there with.

• As of October 2010, Foursquare had

over four million users worldwide.

• Foursquare offers considerable

potential for travellers as it allows

them to obtain useful tips from locals

via their smartphones.

Foursquare

• Gowalla is a location-based service

to help users keep up with their

friends, share their favourite places,

and discover the world around them.

• Users can connect with friends via

iPhone, Android, Blackberry or Palm

smartphones, as well as on the web.

• Based in Austin, Texas, Gowalla was

launched in 2009 by Josh Williams

and Scott Raymond and is backed

by investors including Greylock

Partners, Alsop Louie Partners and

Founders Fund.

Facebook Places

• Facebook Places is a mobile

application which allows Facebook

users to let their friends know their

current location, to get in touch with

friends who are in their same

location and to know about offers in

commercial activities based in that

location.

• When Facebook users “check in” a

location this is shown on their “Wall”,

in their friends’ News Feeds and

also in the location (bar, cinema,

etc) Facebook page.

• Facebook users can also tag people

who are with them.

Gowalla

Mobile social media applications

Social Media Go Mobile

Mobility and social interaction at an intersection

Thanks to smartphones and tablets like the iPad, social network services and platforms [...] the

concepts of mobility and social interaction are at an intersection, no business can afford to dismiss

a social strategy as a "nice to have".

Amadeus

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Introduction

The Rise of Social Media

Social Media and Travellers

Social Media and Travel Players

A New Landscape for Travel Retail

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Go Mobile

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Strengths

Opportunities

Weaknesses

Threats

• Social media appear very

suitable for use through

smartphones and tablets,

accompanying people

wherever they are.

• This will increase their

importance as sales of

these devices rise.

Real-time dialogue

• The use of social media is

now truly global.

• Brazil, Russia, China and

the Netherlands all have

local sites more popular

than Facebook.

• Where there is broadband,

there are social media.

• Social media will continue

to grow with internet

adoption.

Truly global

• To measure return on

investment on social

media is very difficult.

• Typically social media

activities translate into

brand awareness,

customer engagement

and customer loyalty

rather than into short-term

sales.

• In this respect, search

engine advertising is

superior.

Investment tracking

• Travel is about the

destination (and people

who have been there) not

you and your friends.

• User-generated content

on generalist social media

can appear less credible,

while this is not an issue

on specialist social media.

Credibility gap

• A focus on where

travellers are, and who

they are, can allow

destinations and local

amenities to promote

themselves at the last

minute and in real time.

Geolocalisation

• Social media give

companies the opportunity

of entering into a

conversation with

consumers, get their

feedback in real time,

adjust their offer to meet

consumer preferences.

• They are the ultimate

frontier of marketing.

Social media on the go

• Complaints can go viral as

easily as promotions and

“good news” stories

• Social media need active

management and prompt

response to negative

feedback.

Lack of control

• Lack of checks on reviews

may let competitors

sabotage supplier ratings.

• Some customers may use

their ability to give a

review to blackmail travel

service providers in order

to get discounts.

Authenticity of content

SWOT analysis

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Opportunities for travel players

Opportunities and Future Outlook

The success of social media is opening up many new opportunities travel players cannot afford to miss:

• Promote brands and destinations in an immediate and informal way;

• Engage customers and gain their loyalty;

• Act on bad feedback to improve service;

• Manage emergency crises;

• Promote deals and new products;

• Promote last-minute and real-time sales.

Tourism

boardsAirlines

Travel

retailersHotels

Social

media

Last- minute

sales

Real- time

sales

Crisis

managementCustomer

serviceLoyaltyPromotion

Brand

awareness

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

• Travel retailers need to become better users of social

media tools than anyone else in the marketplace as this

will help them maintain a place in the overall travel value

chain.

• Social media will be key to building brand reputation,

engaging customers and gaining their loyalty.

• Focus will need to be on the company competence, on

its destinations, and on quality of service.

• Social media will also be useful to advertise new

products and current deals/promotions.

• Twitter:

• Can help customer service by answering customers’

questions in real time;

• Can help fill airline seats at the last minute.

• Facebook and YouTube:

• Can help build a community around the airline brand;

• Can help build a market for an airline’s destination.

• Social media can also help push last-minute ancillary

revenue.

• Social media create a buzz:

• Build a community around an interest in the

destination;

• The community can include comments from frequent

travellers to the destination to help promote it.

• Manage a crisis:

• Social media can be used to manage “downs”, as well

as “ups”; evinced in the Florida case study;

• Provision of real-time information by inhabitants can

contribute positively to offset the focus of mainstream

media on “bad news” stories.

• Twitter:

• Can help customer service;

• Can help market distressed inventory, eg fill hotel

rooms at the last minute.

• Facebook and YouTube:

• Can help build a brand and engage customers with it.

• TripAdvisor:

• Hotels should monitor reviews and act promptly to

correct highlighted issues and communicate well.

Tourism boards Hotels

Airlines Travel retailers

Opportunities by category

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Future outlook: a more systematic approach

Opportunities and Future Outlook

• Social media importance within marketing strategies is expected to grow significantly over 2010-2015 thanks in part

to their rising penetration in developing countries.

• The arena will also become increasingly segmented, with growth in international generalist sites as well as national,

local, community, corporate and specialist social media.

• Platforms will increase, including growth in access via smartphones, tablets and possibly televisions.

• Companies will need to employ a more systematic approach, carefully planning their presence on social media,

monitoring them, responding swiftly when needed and exploiting their potential.

Global social

media

Users

Company

National

social media

Specialist

social media

Corporate

social media

CommunicationPlanning Monitor Response

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

• The increasing importance of social media in every day

life all over the world, as well as their growing complexity

and segmentation, will make it necessary for companies

to take a much more systematic approach in future.

• It will therefore be increasingly important for companies

to plan carefully all different steps of their social media

presence and activities.

• Planning, tracking and responding quickly will be key

skills required by future social media marketers.

• TripAdvisor and other specialist travel sites are never

likely to match Facebook in terms of membership.

• Facebook, on the other hand, is never likely to be as

credible and reputable as the travel specialists, in

influencing the final choice of travel provider.

• The two will continue to be tools that do different things

for very good reasons. Travel suppliers (eg hotels and

airlines) will need to be present in both: in specialist

social media where travellers look for information and

advice; and in generalist social networks where people

share their opinions and preferences with friends.

• Use of social media in travel will inevitably grow:

• Broadband penetration will continue in developing

countries. The internet channel will increasingly

penetrate air, hotel and car rental sales (between 10%

and 40% in 2010).

• National and local social media are expected to grow:

• Russia and Brazil are good examples of how language

and custom play an important role for national social

media.

• The growth of social media will also translate into more

websites adopting social media elements and

functionalities.

• Many companies already allow customers to leave

comments on their websites; this will increasingly be the

case in the future as consumers will increasingly expect

to read unbiased opinion before making a purchase.

• Social media functionalities will also play an increasing

role for search engines; Google Places already includes

consumer feedback on local commercial activities and

uses TripAdvisor reviews.

Increasing worldwide penetration More websites will get social

Facebook vs TripAdvisor Planning will be critical

Future outlook: steady expansion ahead

Opportunities and Future Outlook

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

Web 2.0

• A term used for the first time in 2004, Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 is

short-hand for the movement away from PC applications and static web pages to online social networking and

dynamic user-created content.

• However, Web 2.0 is not only a description of a set of technologies. It also encompasses a number of behavioural

trends: collaboration; self-publishing; the creation and uploading of audio and video files; and the sharing of photos

and information. Web 2.0 functionalities permit one-to-many communications, in addition to peer-to-peer. Examples

of travel websites with Web 2.0 functionalities are Booking.com, “Lufthansa We Fly” and “Nothing like Australia”

websites which allow travellers to leave feedback about their trip.

Social Media

• Social media are websites allowing users some form of interaction. They include social networking sites but also

websites with Web 2.0 functionalities, which are not based on people being part of a network and owning individual

profiles. For example, YouTube and Flickr are social media which act as repositories for content which can then be

shared. Social media also include forums, message boards, podcasts, social bookmarking and social news sites.

Social Networking Sites

• Social networking sites permit networks of people to generate a dialogue and share content online. Social network

services typically include a profile for each user and a range of possibility to interact with friends and other members

of the network. Examples of social networks include Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, Orkut, Wayn, Hyves,

Friendster and Mixi.

Viral Marketing

• Viral marketing is the deliberate use of social media to distribute a message, video or other internet content via

personal recommendation. This can take place via email, Facebook “likes”, YouTube “share” etc. “Going viral”

describes the cascading and compounding effect of a successful viral marketing campaign resulting in an

exponential growth of awareness about the object of the campaign.

Definitions

Report Definitions

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Travel and Tourism: Social Media

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