Friday, July 29, 2011

Copia has Farmer's Market produced 7 day a week! Awesome! Like Tom's Did

Copia has Farmer's Market produced 7 day a week! Awesome! Like Tom's Did

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Thursday, July 28, 2011

LaSource Grenada All Inclusive Resorts in Pink Gin Beach Grenada

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This is a great island and a great spa.

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LaSource Grenada All Inclusive Resorts in Pink Gin Beach Grenada

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This is a great island and a great spa.

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Spa Week Daily - Spa Week's Blog

This is something we should all do each day. Make a gratitude list and then dance the dance!

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Miami Hotels: $184 -- Miami: 4-Star Golf Resort, w/Breakfast & $50 Credit | Travelzoo

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Check my review on TripAdvisor. This place is fabulous! Super deal at basically $104 per night..

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The Business Traveler of Today: New GBTA and Concur Study Profiles Corporate Travelers; 79% Use Technology to Travel Smarter and Adapt to Life on the Road / July 2011

July 26, 2011 - Business travelers increasingly use technology to make travel more productive but also to stay in touch with those back home, says a new research study released today that outlines different types of road warriors. Looking across all travelers, a strong majority (79%) noted they commonly bring technology on their trips to stay in touch with their family and friends. At least two-thirds bringing laptops, wireless broadband, portable GPS, and smartphones also utilizing mobile travel apps, among other tools.

The Business Traveler Market Segmentation Study survey findings – sponsored by Concur, a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions for companies of all sizes – were released today by the Global Business Travel Association Foundation (GBTA), the research arm of the Global Business Travel Association.

In general, looking at all road warriors:

  • Majority of business travelers report there is no substitute for being there in person (78%), and enjoy traveling for work (78%).
  • Almost half of business travelers report that staying in touch on the road with family and friends (46%) and staying safe (46%) while traveling are the most important goals on trip.
  • Nearly half (46%) have to work under tight budgets, putting pressure on their travel plans.
  • The average trip lasts four days and costs $1,837 USD.
  • Business travelers tend to be college-educated (71%), 38 years old on average, and male (59%).

"The more we know about the business traveler of today in the myriad of developments across the industry, the better we can develop strategies to help them make the most of each trip. Companies wisely invest in travel and this research will help them better cater to the needs of varying traveler types. They will be able to determine what they need to be experts on the road and also be stewards of travel for their companies, making every dollar invested and every meeting even more beneficial and productive," said Joe Bates, director of research, GBTA Foundation.

"Business travelers are the engine that drives our industry, and millions of them rely on Concur to help them manage every aspect of their trip," said Michael Hilton, executive vice president, worldwide marketing for Concur. "GBTA's research clearly shows that business travelers look to technology providers to help them manage their travel and stay productive while on the road. Whether it's combining travel and expense into one seamless process, providing a platform that brings all aspects of the travel eco-system together or integrating new technologies like TripIt into their business travel experience, Concur is continually innovating on behalf of these business travelers to help make their lives a little easier."

Types of Travelers

Understanding the differing needs and habits of business travelers is crucial to identifying pain points and easing them through new technological developments and market approaches. The study identifies five segments of travelers in the market today: The Veteran (33%), Road Weary (25%), Wide-eyed and Anxious (21%), Passionate High-Tech (14%) and New Recruits (7%) based on their travel goals, characteristics, technology usages and demographics.

The Veteran – The Most Experienced

  • At a glance: average of 12 trips taken per year with an average of four nights away from home per trip; (88%) are 35 years of age or older
  • Typically older travelers who have no problem with managing travel, handling arrangements and keeping track of expenses.
  • The most important goal identified by Veteran travelers is ensuring they are not hindered by a lack of equipment of connectivity showing a high receptiveness to new technology for more productivity on the road.
  • This group enjoys traveling with almost all (94%) bringing laptops on the road to stay in touch with those back home.

Road Weary – Frequent and More Reluctant

  • At a glance: average of 15 trips taken per year with an average of three nights away from home per trip; Majority are older in age with (74%) being older than 35 years of age.
  • The most important goal to Road Weary travelers is feeling safe when on trip (42%) and staying in touch with family (41%).
  • Road Weary travelers are most likely of all traveler groups to bring a portable GPS on trip.

Wide-eyed and Anxious – Less Frequent Travelers Who Experience Travel Challenges

  • At a glance: average of 11 trips taken per year with an average of four nights away from home per trip; typically younger travelers, (89%) are less than 55 years old.
  • In general, Wide-eyed and Anxious travelers are younger travelers with less experience on the road, these travelers tend to enjoy travel but get nervous navigating new destinations and following policies.

Passionate High-TechEnthusiastic Travelers and Early Adapters of Tech

  • At a glance: average of 13 trips taken per year with an average of four nights away from home per trip; almost all younger travelers with (91%) less than 54 years old.
  • Passionate High-Tech travelers love to travel for work and look to technology to make them more productive and stay in the know with their friends and family.
  • Likely to spend more per trip and fly to their destinations, Passionate High-Tech travelers embrace new technologies such as tablet devices (25%) while on the road.

The New Recruits – Less Experienced Travelers Who Want to Share their Adventures

  • At a glance: average of 14 trips taken per year with an average of six nights away from home per trip; the youngest group with (98%) less than 54 years old.
  • Generally this group of younger travelers is eager to explore new destinations while on business and are eager to travel more and share experiences, often using social media to meet up with friends and other colleagues on the road.
  • Likely to do more international travel and work in the computer technology industry.

GBTA and Concur are also teaming up to do an in-depth presentation on this research at the 2011 GBTA Convention in Denver on August 22, 2011 at 10:15-11:15 AM, elaborating on figures and findings and providing supplementary information about how to fulfill the eminent needs of each type of traveler. Attendees of the educational session will also be able to complete a personal survey to determine their corresponding traveler type category.

The full report is available exclusively to GBTA members and offers detailed insight for travel managers interested in understanding types of business travelers in the market today. Non-members can purchase this study through the GBTA Foundation website: http://www.gbta.org/Lists/Resource%20Library/Forms/Foundation_Research_and_Surveys.aspx

About the GBTA Foundation | The GBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world's premier business travel and corporate meetings organization.

Collectively, GBTA's 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its network of 17,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy. The foundation was established in 1997 to support GBTA's members and the industry as a whole. As the leading education and research foundation in the business travel industry, the GBTA Foundation seeks to fund initiatives to advance the business travel profession. The GBTA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, see gbta.org and gbtafoundation.org

About the Global Business Travel Association | The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world's premier business travel and meetings organization. Collectively, GBTA's 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its network of 17,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy. For more information, visit gbta.org

Mobile, mobile, mobile, LBO, LBO, LBO

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The Business Traveler of Today: New GBTA and Concur Study Profiles Corporate Travelers; 79% Use Technology to Travel Smarter and Adapt to Life on the Road / July 2011

July 26, 2011 - Business travelers increasingly use technology to make travel more productive but also to stay in touch with those back home, says a new research study released today that outlines different types of road warriors. Looking across all travelers, a strong majority (79%) noted they commonly bring technology on their trips to stay in touch with their family and friends. At least two-thirds bringing laptops, wireless broadband, portable GPS, and smartphones also utilizing mobile travel apps, among other tools.

The Business Traveler Market Segmentation Study survey findings – sponsored by Concur, a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions for companies of all sizes – were released today by the Global Business Travel Association Foundation (GBTA), the research arm of the Global Business Travel Association.

In general, looking at all road warriors:

  • Majority of business travelers report there is no substitute for being there in person (78%), and enjoy traveling for work (78%).
  • Almost half of business travelers report that staying in touch on the road with family and friends (46%) and staying safe (46%) while traveling are the most important goals on trip.
  • Nearly half (46%) have to work under tight budgets, putting pressure on their travel plans.
  • The average trip lasts four days and costs $1,837 USD.
  • Business travelers tend to be college-educated (71%), 38 years old on average, and male (59%).

"The more we know about the business traveler of today in the myriad of developments across the industry, the better we can develop strategies to help them make the most of each trip. Companies wisely invest in travel and this research will help them better cater to the needs of varying traveler types. They will be able to determine what they need to be experts on the road and also be stewards of travel for their companies, making every dollar invested and every meeting even more beneficial and productive," said Joe Bates, director of research, GBTA Foundation.

"Business travelers are the engine that drives our industry, and millions of them rely on Concur to help them manage every aspect of their trip," said Michael Hilton, executive vice president, worldwide marketing for Concur. "GBTA's research clearly shows that business travelers look to technology providers to help them manage their travel and stay productive while on the road. Whether it's combining travel and expense into one seamless process, providing a platform that brings all aspects of the travel eco-system together or integrating new technologies like TripIt into their business travel experience, Concur is continually innovating on behalf of these business travelers to help make their lives a little easier."

Types of Travelers

Understanding the differing needs and habits of business travelers is crucial to identifying pain points and easing them through new technological developments and market approaches. The study identifies five segments of travelers in the market today: The Veteran (33%), Road Weary (25%), Wide-eyed and Anxious (21%), Passionate High-Tech (14%) and New Recruits (7%) based on their travel goals, characteristics, technology usages and demographics.

The Veteran – The Most Experienced

  • At a glance: average of 12 trips taken per year with an average of four nights away from home per trip; (88%) are 35 years of age or older
  • Typically older travelers who have no problem with managing travel, handling arrangements and keeping track of expenses.
  • The most important goal identified by Veteran travelers is ensuring they are not hindered by a lack of equipment of connectivity showing a high receptiveness to new technology for more productivity on the road.
  • This group enjoys traveling with almost all (94%) bringing laptops on the road to stay in touch with those back home.

Road Weary – Frequent and More Reluctant

  • At a glance: average of 15 trips taken per year with an average of three nights away from home per trip; Majority are older in age with (74%) being older than 35 years of age.
  • The most important goal to Road Weary travelers is feeling safe when on trip (42%) and staying in touch with family (41%).
  • Road Weary travelers are most likely of all traveler groups to bring a portable GPS on trip.

Wide-eyed and Anxious – Less Frequent Travelers Who Experience Travel Challenges

  • At a glance: average of 11 trips taken per year with an average of four nights away from home per trip; typically younger travelers, (89%) are less than 55 years old.
  • In general, Wide-eyed and Anxious travelers are younger travelers with less experience on the road, these travelers tend to enjoy travel but get nervous navigating new destinations and following policies.

Passionate High-TechEnthusiastic Travelers and Early Adapters of Tech

  • At a glance: average of 13 trips taken per year with an average of four nights away from home per trip; almost all younger travelers with (91%) less than 54 years old.
  • Passionate High-Tech travelers love to travel for work and look to technology to make them more productive and stay in the know with their friends and family.
  • Likely to spend more per trip and fly to their destinations, Passionate High-Tech travelers embrace new technologies such as tablet devices (25%) while on the road.

The New Recruits – Less Experienced Travelers Who Want to Share their Adventures

  • At a glance: average of 14 trips taken per year with an average of six nights away from home per trip; the youngest group with (98%) less than 54 years old.
  • Generally this group of younger travelers is eager to explore new destinations while on business and are eager to travel more and share experiences, often using social media to meet up with friends and other colleagues on the road.
  • Likely to do more international travel and work in the computer technology industry.

GBTA and Concur are also teaming up to do an in-depth presentation on this research at the 2011 GBTA Convention in Denver on August 22, 2011 at 10:15-11:15 AM, elaborating on figures and findings and providing supplementary information about how to fulfill the eminent needs of each type of traveler. Attendees of the educational session will also be able to complete a personal survey to determine their corresponding traveler type category.

The full report is available exclusively to GBTA members and offers detailed insight for travel managers interested in understanding types of business travelers in the market today. Non-members can purchase this study through the GBTA Foundation website: http://www.gbta.org/Lists/Resource%20Library/Forms/Foundation_Research_and_Surveys.aspx

About the GBTA Foundation | The GBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world's premier business travel and corporate meetings organization.

Collectively, GBTA's 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its network of 17,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy. The foundation was established in 1997 to support GBTA's members and the industry as a whole. As the leading education and research foundation in the business travel industry, the GBTA Foundation seeks to fund initiatives to advance the business travel profession. The GBTA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, see gbta.org and gbtafoundation.org

About the Global Business Travel Association | The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world's premier business travel and meetings organization. Collectively, GBTA's 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its network of 17,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy. For more information, visit gbta.org

Mobile, mobile, mobile, LBO, LBO, LBO

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$75 - Luxe Facial w/Massage at New SoHo Spa, Reg. $256

I love this deal. And confirmed quality by Housewives of NYC $75 - Luxe Facial w/Massage at New SoHo Spa, Reg. $256

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

It’s Time for a Mid-Year Course Correction: The Results of the Annual Survey on Digital Marketing Are In « HeBS Internet Marketing Blog

By Max Starkov & Mariana Mechoso Safer

The results of the industry’s 5th Annual Benchmark Survey on Hotel Digital Marketing Budget Planning and Best Practices are in! Now is the perfect time for hoteliers to re-assess their digital marketing practices, compare notes with their peers, and if warranted, perform a 2011 mid-year course correction.

It has been 16 years since the advent of the Internet distribution channel, the most cost-efficient hotel distribution and marketing channel ever. While we have come a long way, the many challenges of the past three years – such as the emergence of the hyper-interactive traveler, social media, and mobile marketing – have made it difficult for many hoteliers to keep up.

In light of these challenges, is more of the hotelier’s budget going towards digital marketing efforts? Has focus started to shift away from the fundamentals of hotel Internet marketing such as website design, optimization and paid search marketing? Are hoteliers starting to view social media as a revenue-generating tool? Will we see more hoteliers participating in mobile marketing initiatives this year?

The purpose of the HeBS Digital 5th Annual Benchmark Survey on Hotel Digital Marketing Budget Planning and Best Practices is to answer these questions and to assess hoteliers’ Internet marketing priorities and strategies for the year ahead. By analyzing the responses of many different types of hoteliers, the survey results provide the industry with insights on how Internet marketing strategies for the hospitality industry are developing year after year.

This year, HeBS Digital partnered with New York University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality Studies to launch and analyze the results of the survey.

Key Findings from the 5th Annual Benchmark Survey

  • Hotel Website Revenues: There is still a way to go before survey respondents get to where they should be with their websites. Hoteliers responded that 25.6% of business at their hotel comes from their hotel website, 16% from the property pages/mini-site on the major hotel brand website, and 17.8% from the OTA’s.
    • More than 36% of CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands currently come from the brand websites (eTRAK), so the industry as a whole has room for improvement.
  • 2011 Digital Marketing Budgets Are Higher: Hoteliers increased their website re-design/design (20.2%) and website optimization (13.7%) budgets this year. Even so, over 73.4% of hoteliers reported that the economic environment and overall budget constraints continue to affect Internet marketing budget planning (30.3% and 43.1% respectively). The good news is that for 74.5% of respondents, their 2011 Internet marketing budget was higher than in 2010.
  • Shift from Offline to Online: Of the respondents that increased their 2011 budget, 49.1% shifted money from offline marketing budgets. This is most likely because hoteliers believe that Internet marketing (40.5%) produces better results than traditional and offline marketing (9.5%). This is a smart move considering the online channel is still the only growth channel in hospitality and the most measureable marketing channel.
  • Social Media is an Industry Favorite: Perceptions toward social media have changed over the years, with 43% of hoteliers saying they believe social media is one of the Internet marketing formats that produces the best results and the highest ROIs. This is a dramatic change from the first benchmark survey (2007), when only 16.8% of hoteliers believed social media produced results.
  • Hoteliers Realize the Importance of the Mobile Web: More hoteliers are planning for a mobile site this year (37.5% vs. 25.9% last year) and a mobile booking engine (37% this year vs. 22.4% last year). Also of note, only 8.9% of hoteliers are budgeting for a mobile app vs. 24.1% last year.
  • Conformity to Best Practices: Hoteliers believe they have hotel Internet marketing under control. Seventy-eight percent responded that they believe their hotel conforms to the latest best practices in terms of Internet marketing, compared to 76% last year. As the industry matures, hoteliers continue to professionally develop in this area.
  • What Was the Most Common Objective Hoteliers Did Not Achieve in 2010? Most survey respondents (41.7%) said they did not achieve their mobile marketing objectives last year. With 1.5% – 3% of visitors to hotel websites accessing the hotel site via mobile devices, as well as a 3,000% increase in mobile hotel searches year-over-year (Google), hoteliers cannot afford to lag behind in the mobile space.

Breaking Down the Hotel Digital Marketing Budget

The shift from the offline/traditional channel to the online channel is permanent: 52.3% of overall CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands come from the online channel, which is an increase of nearly 10% compared to 2008 when online channel contribution was 47.6%. As a reminder, in 2006 the online channel share was 37.6% (eTRAK Report).

For the industry as a whole, over 45% of all hotel bookings in 2011 (leisure, unmanaged and managed corporate travel) will be via the Internet (direct + indirect online channels) (HeBS Digital research).

GDS Travel Agent bookings are slightly up for corporate travel (.08%) and shrinking for leisure travel, voice reservations are in decline (-2.7%), and the group market will be flat at best this year. The online channel is still the only growth channel in hospitality. HeBS Digital estimates a minimum growth rate of 3%-4%. Are hoteliers budgeting adequately for this demand?

Based on the well-defined shift from offline to online distribution, what portion of hoteliers’ budgets are devoted to Internet marketing activities in 2011? Similar to previous years, the majority of respondents devoted between 11-20% (27.9% of respondents) and 21-49% (22.8%) of their budget to digital marketing initiatives this year.

Within the obvious budget constraints, how are hoteliers allocating their budgets? As a whole, hoteliers are making more room in their budget for website re-designs and optimizations, SEM/paid search and SEO, mobile marketing and social media initiatives.

Table A below shows how respondents are breaking down the hotel Internet budget:

Table A

Of your total Internet marketing budget, where did you spend your money?

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011 (projected)

Website re-design/design

18%

22%

19.6%

16%

16.34%

20.2%

Website optimization

9%

11.3%

12.8%

10%

10.1%

13.7%

Strategic links to property website from online directories, portals

6%

9.6%

7.5%

8%

7.7%

14.2%

Paid Search Engine Marketing: Pay-per-click (PPC)

14%

8.6%

17%

16%

17.7%

20.2%

Local search/Online Yellow Pages

3%

3.6%

4.2%

4%

3.4%

4.7%

Meta search (Kayak, etc.)

2%

2.6%

2.6%

3%

2.6%

4.3%

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

10%

11.5%

8.7%

12%

10.5%

13.4%

Display advertising (banners)

6%

6.6%

7%

5%

7.6%

7.6%

Email marketing

10%

11.5%

8.7%

7%

11%

12.3%

Mobile marketing (mobile search, mobile websites, SMS messaging, etc.)

N/A

N/A

N/A

2%

4.5%

6.9%

Interactive/Web 2.0 /Social Media

1%

3.1%

3%

6%

2.9%

N/A

Social Media*

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

7.5%

11.7

Online Video

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

4.3%

7.9%

Outside Internet marketing agency

6%

7%

5.1%

7%

10.5%

9.6%

*In 2011 Social media was separated from Interactive/Web 2.0 for the first time. All years prior these initiatives were combined in this question.

The numbers show a renewed focus towards budgeting for website design. This is promising, as the hotel website is the main hub for content delivery and multi-channel customer engagement, and even in 2011 many hotel websites are outdated and don’t align with the needs of today’s travel consumer.

With the recent Google “Panda” algorithm update, the percentage hoteliers are dedicating to website optimization may be too low. Google Panda, the next evolution in Google search algorithms, is more than ever based on relevancy and quality of web content. Unique and thematic writing is prized over bland content and traditional SEO keyword stuffing, which poses new requirements to the quality of hotel websites. Metrics like bounce rate, length and depth of visit, all indicative of how interesting the content on the site is, as well as page load time are all critical factors in achieving the highest desired keyword rankings. Hoteliers must take this into account and budget for in-depth website optimizations and re-designs for next year.

Where is the ROI?

Of all hotel digital marketing initiatives in the survey, hoteliers believe that website optimization produces the highest ROI. Social media however, introduced as its own category this year – was not far behind at 43%. This shows a dramatic change in the perception over the past few years of how much revenue Facebook, Twitter, etc. really generate. While social media is not a distribution channel, it is increasingly becoming an important customer engagement channel. Whereas in the past hoteliers were skeptical as to whether social media should even play a role in their Internet marketing strategy, today it is one of the fundamentals.

Table B

What Internet marketing formats do you believe produce the best results and the highest returns on investment (ROI)?

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011
Website design/redesign

62.9%

70.19%

56.3%

61.7%

64.9%

Website optimization

71.9%

68.27%

81.6%

70%

71.9%

Strategic links to property website from online directories, portals

52.7%

41.35%

48.3%

48.3%

46.5%

Paid Search Engine Marketing: Pay-per-click (PPC)

40.7%

39.42%

56.3%

38.3%

47.4%

Search optimization – Organic search

68.3%

56.73%

60.9%

58.3%

65.8%

Display advertising (banners)

16.2%

12.5%

28.7%

21.7%

14%

Email marketing

58.7%

60.6%

51.7%

48.3%

59.6%

Email sponsorships

6.6%

26%

37.9%

10%

3.5%

Mobile marketing

N/A

N/A

N/A

15%

14.9%

Web 2.0/Social Media formats (e.g. TripAdvisor, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc)

16.8%

26%

37.9%

41.7%

N/A

Social Media**

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

43%

Online Video

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

17.5%

**In 2011 Social media was separated from Interactive/Web 2.0 for the first time. All years prior these initiatives were combined in this question.

Most respondents (34.5%) expect to achieve 11-15 times ROI from their Internet marketing campaigns in 2011, as they should if they are following best practices.

Mobile Still Growing Exponentially

Mobile marketing was introduced as its own topic last year, and rightly so, has quickly become a very important tool in the hotelier’s digital marketing arsenal. As you may see in Table C, more hoteliers fit a mobile site into their 2011 planning (37.5%) and a mobile booking engine (37.5%) this year.

Over the past two years, the mobile channel has become an important travel planning and transaction channel in the U.S. and worldwide. Hotel guests and travel consumers in general are mobile-ready, and hoteliers and travel suppliers have to respond adequately to this growing demand for mobile travel services.

By 2014, mobile Internet users will surpass the number of desktop Internet users. The most important statistic though is the number of smartphone users. Smartphones are changing how we do business in hospitality, how we market, how we service customers. There are nearly 75 million smartphone users in the U.S. alone; their number will exceed 100 million by 2014.

Table C

What mobile marketing initiatives are you planning for?

2010

2011

Mobile site

25.9%

37.5%

Mobile booking engine

22.4%

37.5%

SMS Text marketing

27.6%

25%

Mobile banner advertising

19%

12.5%

iPhone app

24.1%

8.9%

I am not planning on mobile marketing initiatives for 2011

32.8%

38.4%

We can see from the results there was a dramatic decline in hoteliers planning for an iPhone app this year. Perhaps this is because hotels do not need a mobile app if they are single-property, independent and franchised hotels and resorts or smaller and mid-size hotel chains and multi-property companies. These hotel companies are better off focusing on building and enhancing their mobile websites and promoting the mobile site via mobile marketing initiatives. Click here to read the HeBS Digital perspective on the subject.

In 2011, independent or franchised hotels and resorts, as well as small and mid-size hotel chains and multi-property hotel companies, should continue to focus on building and enhancing their mobile websites and launching mobile marketing initiatives, such as mobile SEM, SEO, mobile-social media initiatives, interactive sweepstakes and contests.

Who’s Gone Social?

Facebook is not necessarily an “e-Commerce engine’” yet it should not be ignored. Engaging your current and potential guests via social marketing has become the norm.

In last year’s survey, we really started to see a proliferation of hoteliers participating in Interactive/Web 2.0 & social media initiatives. The numbers were steadier this year (see Table C below), however there were significant increases in hoteliers planning for ‘share this site’ and RSS on the website (33%), the use of reputation monitoring services (23.2%), participation in blog(s) that concern the hotel (39.3%) and advertising on social media sites (50%).

Table D

What type of Web 2.0 & Social Media marketing initiatives are you planning?

2008

2009

2010

2011

A blog on the hotel website

14.5%

14%

37.9%

37.5%

‘Share this site’ and RSS on the website

N/A

N/A

24.1%

33%

A photo sharing functionality on the hotel website

12.7%

4.7%

32.8%

29.5%

Sweepstakes and contests on the hotel website

9%

3.5%

36.2%

30.4%

Survey and comment card on the hotel website

18.4%

14%

31%

35.7%

Subscribe to a reputation monitoring service

8.4%

2.3%

19%

23.2%

Create profiles for my hotel(s) on the social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc.)

13.3%

14%

50%

56.3%

Create and post videos on YouTube

N/A

N/A

46.6%

37.5%

Actively participate in blogs that concern my hotel

12.7%

5.8%

24.1%

39.3%

Advertise on social media sites (e.g. TripAdvisor, Facebook, etc.)

8.1%

15.1%

39.7%

50%

I am not planning on Web 2.0 and Social Media initiatives for 2010

N/A

15.1%

6.9%

12.5%

Additionally of interest, 31.1% of hoteliers surveyed said they have hired a designated person to handle social media management at their hotel(s) vs. doing this themselves (27.2%) or hiring a company to do this for them (24.3%).

As managing social media profiles and initiatives becomes an even more time-consuming process (as it has every year since the topic was introduced), we expect the percentage of designated social media management personnel to rise.

Planning for Video

Nothing sells a travel experience better than video. Are hoteliers budgeting adequately for this initiative?

Table E

Which online video initiatives are you planning for 2011?
Creating videos of my hotel 39.1%
Add video to my hotel website 42.7%
Online video advertising 13.6%
MMS Messaging 4.5%
Combine video with social networking 34.5%
I am not planning on online video initiatives for 2011 35.5%

HeBS Digital highly recommends adding videos to the hotel website, which a majority of respondents are planning on (42.7%), followed by posting videos on social networking sites (YouTube and Facebook first), and sending videos out via MMS messaging. These videos do not need to be long – today’s attention spans, along with mobile distribution restrictions, call for shorter 30 to 60-second videos representing different aspects of the hotel product (meeting space, spa, dining, etc.).

Conclusion

This year’s survey results showed that while hoteliers have not fully put poor economic conditions behind them in their planning, they continue to move budget dollars to the direct online channel and to important digital marketing initiatives that reach the hyper-interactive traveler, such as mobile, social media and video.

How can hoteliers succeed this year? There is no doubt that hoteliers need to invest their marketing efforts and budgets in the direct online channel. Especially today, with hotel distribution ideas and channels entering the picture such as flash sale sites. These are not only detrimental to the hotel industry from a pricing and branding perspective; they also do not make any economic sense.

Hoteliers need a robust direct online channel strategy accompanied by adequate marketing funds to be able to take advantage of the steady growth in the Internet channel and the shift from offline to online bookings in hospitality due to declining GDS and voice channels. Hoteliers must carefully employ ROI-centric initiatives including website redesign, website optimization and SEO, SEM, email marketing, online media and sponsorships, mobile marketing and proven social media initiatives.

Furthermore, due to the fact that today’s travel consumers live in a perpetual “digital information cloud,” hoteliers need to employ multi-channel marketing and distribution strategies. Multi-channel marketing has become the foundation for a smart direct online channel strategy. In this environment, the hotel website, SEM campaigns, email marketing, social media presence, mobile, etc. have a symbiotic relationship. Hoteliers should not attribute all revenue to the last click, and should understand that unleashing a marketing promotional campaign simultaneously across all available marketing channels produces far greater returns than each individual marketing format alone.

About the 5th Annual Benchmark Survey

HeBS Digital would like to extend a warm thank you to Professor Dr. Jukka Laitamaki’s NYU hospitality students for helping launch and analyze the results of this survey.

Survey Participation:

Hoteliers worldwide participated in the survey, representing the United States, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, South America, New Zealand and Australia. Respondents included mostly General Managers (46.2%), Directors of Sales & Marketing (18.3%), and Corporate Management (17.3%). A small percentage of respondents were comprised of Revenue Managers, E-Commerce Managers, and Front Desk Managers.

Forty-four percent of respondents are from independent hotels, 31% franchised hotels, 24.8% hotel chains/major brands, 10.1% resorts and 2.8% casinos. The majority of respondents were from midscale and luxury properties (39.1% and 32.7% respectively) with the rest from boutique (17.3%) and budget-economy properties (10.9%).

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 25th, 2011 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Benchmark Survey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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It’s Time for a Mid-Year Course Correction: The Results of the Annual Survey on Digital Marketing Are In « HeBS Internet Marketing Blog

By Max Starkov & Mariana Mechoso Safer

The results of the industry’s 5th Annual Benchmark Survey on Hotel Digital Marketing Budget Planning and Best Practices are in! Now is the perfect time for hoteliers to re-assess their digital marketing practices, compare notes with their peers, and if warranted, perform a 2011 mid-year course correction.

It has been 16 years since the advent of the Internet distribution channel, the most cost-efficient hotel distribution and marketing channel ever. While we have come a long way, the many challenges of the past three years – such as the emergence of the hyper-interactive traveler, social media, and mobile marketing – have made it difficult for many hoteliers to keep up.

In light of these challenges, is more of the hotelier’s budget going towards digital marketing efforts? Has focus started to shift away from the fundamentals of hotel Internet marketing such as website design, optimization and paid search marketing? Are hoteliers starting to view social media as a revenue-generating tool? Will we see more hoteliers participating in mobile marketing initiatives this year?

The purpose of the HeBS Digital 5th Annual Benchmark Survey on Hotel Digital Marketing Budget Planning and Best Practices is to answer these questions and to assess hoteliers’ Internet marketing priorities and strategies for the year ahead. By analyzing the responses of many different types of hoteliers, the survey results provide the industry with insights on how Internet marketing strategies for the hospitality industry are developing year after year.

This year, HeBS Digital partnered with New York University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality Studies to launch and analyze the results of the survey.

Key Findings from the 5th Annual Benchmark Survey

  • Hotel Website Revenues: There is still a way to go before survey respondents get to where they should be with their websites. Hoteliers responded that 25.6% of business at their hotel comes from their hotel website, 16% from the property pages/mini-site on the major hotel brand website, and 17.8% from the OTA’s.
    • More than 36% of CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands currently come from the brand websites (eTRAK), so the industry as a whole has room for improvement.
  • 2011 Digital Marketing Budgets Are Higher: Hoteliers increased their website re-design/design (20.2%) and website optimization (13.7%) budgets this year. Even so, over 73.4% of hoteliers reported that the economic environment and overall budget constraints continue to affect Internet marketing budget planning (30.3% and 43.1% respectively). The good news is that for 74.5% of respondents, their 2011 Internet marketing budget was higher than in 2010.
  • Shift from Offline to Online: Of the respondents that increased their 2011 budget, 49.1% shifted money from offline marketing budgets. This is most likely because hoteliers believe that Internet marketing (40.5%) produces better results than traditional and offline marketing (9.5%). This is a smart move considering the online channel is still the only growth channel in hospitality and the most measureable marketing channel.
  • Social Media is an Industry Favorite: Perceptions toward social media have changed over the years, with 43% of hoteliers saying they believe social media is one of the Internet marketing formats that produces the best results and the highest ROIs. This is a dramatic change from the first benchmark survey (2007), when only 16.8% of hoteliers believed social media produced results.
  • Hoteliers Realize the Importance of the Mobile Web: More hoteliers are planning for a mobile site this year (37.5% vs. 25.9% last year) and a mobile booking engine (37% this year vs. 22.4% last year). Also of note, only 8.9% of hoteliers are budgeting for a mobile app vs. 24.1% last year.
  • Conformity to Best Practices: Hoteliers believe they have hotel Internet marketing under control. Seventy-eight percent responded that they believe their hotel conforms to the latest best practices in terms of Internet marketing, compared to 76% last year. As the industry matures, hoteliers continue to professionally develop in this area.
  • What Was the Most Common Objective Hoteliers Did Not Achieve in 2010? Most survey respondents (41.7%) said they did not achieve their mobile marketing objectives last year. With 1.5% – 3% of visitors to hotel websites accessing the hotel site via mobile devices, as well as a 3,000% increase in mobile hotel searches year-over-year (Google), hoteliers cannot afford to lag behind in the mobile space.

Breaking Down the Hotel Digital Marketing Budget

The shift from the offline/traditional channel to the online channel is permanent: 52.3% of overall CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands come from the online channel, which is an increase of nearly 10% compared to 2008 when online channel contribution was 47.6%. As a reminder, in 2006 the online channel share was 37.6% (eTRAK Report).

For the industry as a whole, over 45% of all hotel bookings in 2011 (leisure, unmanaged and managed corporate travel) will be via the Internet (direct + indirect online channels) (HeBS Digital research).

GDS Travel Agent bookings are slightly up for corporate travel (.08%) and shrinking for leisure travel, voice reservations are in decline (-2.7%), and the group market will be flat at best this year. The online channel is still the only growth channel in hospitality. HeBS Digital estimates a minimum growth rate of 3%-4%. Are hoteliers budgeting adequately for this demand?

Based on the well-defined shift from offline to online distribution, what portion of hoteliers’ budgets are devoted to Internet marketing activities in 2011? Similar to previous years, the majority of respondents devoted between 11-20% (27.9% of respondents) and 21-49% (22.8%) of their budget to digital marketing initiatives this year.

Within the obvious budget constraints, how are hoteliers allocating their budgets? As a whole, hoteliers are making more room in their budget for website re-designs and optimizations, SEM/paid search and SEO, mobile marketing and social media initiatives.

Table A below shows how respondents are breaking down the hotel Internet budget:

Table A

Of your total Internet marketing budget, where did you spend your money?

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011 (projected)

Website re-design/design

18%

22%

19.6%

16%

16.34%

20.2%

Website optimization

9%

11.3%

12.8%

10%

10.1%

13.7%

Strategic links to property website from online directories, portals

6%

9.6%

7.5%

8%

7.7%

14.2%

Paid Search Engine Marketing: Pay-per-click (PPC)

14%

8.6%

17%

16%

17.7%

20.2%

Local search/Online Yellow Pages

3%

3.6%

4.2%

4%

3.4%

4.7%

Meta search (Kayak, etc.)

2%

2.6%

2.6%

3%

2.6%

4.3%

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

10%

11.5%

8.7%

12%

10.5%

13.4%

Display advertising (banners)

6%

6.6%

7%

5%

7.6%

7.6%

Email marketing

10%

11.5%

8.7%

7%

11%

12.3%

Mobile marketing (mobile search, mobile websites, SMS messaging, etc.)

N/A

N/A

N/A

2%

4.5%

6.9%

Interactive/Web 2.0 /Social Media

1%

3.1%

3%

6%

2.9%

N/A

Social Media*

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

7.5%

11.7

Online Video

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

4.3%

7.9%

Outside Internet marketing agency

6%

7%

5.1%

7%

10.5%

9.6%

*In 2011 Social media was separated from Interactive/Web 2.0 for the first time. All years prior these initiatives were combined in this question.

The numbers show a renewed focus towards budgeting for website design. This is promising, as the hotel website is the main hub for content delivery and multi-channel customer engagement, and even in 2011 many hotel websites are outdated and don’t align with the needs of today’s travel consumer.

With the recent Google “Panda” algorithm update, the percentage hoteliers are dedicating to website optimization may be too low. Google Panda, the next evolution in Google search algorithms, is more than ever based on relevancy and quality of web content. Unique and thematic writing is prized over bland content and traditional SEO keyword stuffing, which poses new requirements to the quality of hotel websites. Metrics like bounce rate, length and depth of visit, all indicative of how interesting the content on the site is, as well as page load time are all critical factors in achieving the highest desired keyword rankings. Hoteliers must take this into account and budget for in-depth website optimizations and re-designs for next year.

Where is the ROI?

Of all hotel digital marketing initiatives in the survey, hoteliers believe that website optimization produces the highest ROI. Social media however, introduced as its own category this year – was not far behind at 43%. This shows a dramatic change in the perception over the past few years of how much revenue Facebook, Twitter, etc. really generate. While social media is not a distribution channel, it is increasingly becoming an important customer engagement channel. Whereas in the past hoteliers were skeptical as to whether social media should even play a role in their Internet marketing strategy, today it is one of the fundamentals.

Table B

What Internet marketing formats do you believe produce the best results and the highest returns on investment (ROI)?

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011
Website design/redesign

62.9%

70.19%

56.3%

61.7%

64.9%

Website optimization

71.9%

68.27%

81.6%

70%

71.9%

Strategic links to property website from online directories, portals

52.7%

41.35%

48.3%

48.3%

46.5%

Paid Search Engine Marketing: Pay-per-click (PPC)

40.7%

39.42%

56.3%

38.3%

47.4%

Search optimization – Organic search

68.3%

56.73%

60.9%

58.3%

65.8%

Display advertising (banners)

16.2%

12.5%

28.7%

21.7%

14%

Email marketing

58.7%

60.6%

51.7%

48.3%

59.6%

Email sponsorships

6.6%

26%

37.9%

10%

3.5%

Mobile marketing

N/A

N/A

N/A

15%

14.9%

Web 2.0/Social Media formats (e.g. TripAdvisor, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc)

16.8%

26%

37.9%

41.7%

N/A

Social Media**

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

43%

Online Video

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

17.5%

**In 2011 Social media was separated from Interactive/Web 2.0 for the first time. All years prior these initiatives were combined in this question.

Most respondents (34.5%) expect to achieve 11-15 times ROI from their Internet marketing campaigns in 2011, as they should if they are following best practices.

Mobile Still Growing Exponentially

Mobile marketing was introduced as its own topic last year, and rightly so, has quickly become a very important tool in the hotelier’s digital marketing arsenal. As you may see in Table C, more hoteliers fit a mobile site into their 2011 planning (37.5%) and a mobile booking engine (37.5%) this year.

Over the past two years, the mobile channel has become an important travel planning and transaction channel in the U.S. and worldwide. Hotel guests and travel consumers in general are mobile-ready, and hoteliers and travel suppliers have to respond adequately to this growing demand for mobile travel services.

By 2014, mobile Internet users will surpass the number of desktop Internet users. The most important statistic though is the number of smartphone users. Smartphones are changing how we do business in hospitality, how we market, how we service customers. There are nearly 75 million smartphone users in the U.S. alone; their number will exceed 100 million by 2014.

Table C

What mobile marketing initiatives are you planning for?

2010

2011

Mobile site

25.9%

37.5%

Mobile booking engine

22.4%

37.5%

SMS Text marketing

27.6%

25%

Mobile banner advertising

19%

12.5%

iPhone app

24.1%

8.9%

I am not planning on mobile marketing initiatives for 2011

32.8%

38.4%

We can see from the results there was a dramatic decline in hoteliers planning for an iPhone app this year. Perhaps this is because hotels do not need a mobile app if they are single-property, independent and franchised hotels and resorts or smaller and mid-size hotel chains and multi-property companies. These hotel companies are better off focusing on building and enhancing their mobile websites and promoting the mobile site via mobile marketing initiatives. Click here to read the HeBS Digital perspective on the subject.

In 2011, independent or franchised hotels and resorts, as well as small and mid-size hotel chains and multi-property hotel companies, should continue to focus on building and enhancing their mobile websites and launching mobile marketing initiatives, such as mobile SEM, SEO, mobile-social media initiatives, interactive sweepstakes and contests.

Who’s Gone Social?

Facebook is not necessarily an “e-Commerce engine’” yet it should not be ignored. Engaging your current and potential guests via social marketing has become the norm.

In last year’s survey, we really started to see a proliferation of hoteliers participating in Interactive/Web 2.0 & social media initiatives. The numbers were steadier this year (see Table C below), however there were significant increases in hoteliers planning for ‘share this site’ and RSS on the website (33%), the use of reputation monitoring services (23.2%), participation in blog(s) that concern the hotel (39.3%) and advertising on social media sites (50%).

Table D

What type of Web 2.0 & Social Media marketing initiatives are you planning?

2008

2009

2010

2011

A blog on the hotel website

14.5%

14%

37.9%

37.5%

‘Share this site’ and RSS on the website

N/A

N/A

24.1%

33%

A photo sharing functionality on the hotel website

12.7%

4.7%

32.8%

29.5%

Sweepstakes and contests on the hotel website

9%

3.5%

36.2%

30.4%

Survey and comment card on the hotel website

18.4%

14%

31%

35.7%

Subscribe to a reputation monitoring service

8.4%

2.3%

19%

23.2%

Create profiles for my hotel(s) on the social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc.)

13.3%

14%

50%

56.3%

Create and post videos on YouTube

N/A

N/A

46.6%

37.5%

Actively participate in blogs that concern my hotel

12.7%

5.8%

24.1%

39.3%

Advertise on social media sites (e.g. TripAdvisor, Facebook, etc.)

8.1%

15.1%

39.7%

50%

I am not planning on Web 2.0 and Social Media initiatives for 2010

N/A

15.1%

6.9%

12.5%

Additionally of interest, 31.1% of hoteliers surveyed said they have hired a designated person to handle social media management at their hotel(s) vs. doing this themselves (27.2%) or hiring a company to do this for them (24.3%).

As managing social media profiles and initiatives becomes an even more time-consuming process (as it has every year since the topic was introduced), we expect the percentage of designated social media management personnel to rise.

Planning for Video

Nothing sells a travel experience better than video. Are hoteliers budgeting adequately for this initiative?

Table E

Which online video initiatives are you planning for 2011?
Creating videos of my hotel 39.1%
Add video to my hotel website 42.7%
Online video advertising 13.6%
MMS Messaging 4.5%
Combine video with social networking 34.5%
I am not planning on online video initiatives for 2011 35.5%

HeBS Digital highly recommends adding videos to the hotel website, which a majority of respondents are planning on (42.7%), followed by posting videos on social networking sites (YouTube and Facebook first), and sending videos out via MMS messaging. These videos do not need to be long – today’s attention spans, along with mobile distribution restrictions, call for shorter 30 to 60-second videos representing different aspects of the hotel product (meeting space, spa, dining, etc.).

Conclusion

This year’s survey results showed that while hoteliers have not fully put poor economic conditions behind them in their planning, they continue to move budget dollars to the direct online channel and to important digital marketing initiatives that reach the hyper-interactive traveler, such as mobile, social media and video.

How can hoteliers succeed this year? There is no doubt that hoteliers need to invest their marketing efforts and budgets in the direct online channel. Especially today, with hotel distribution ideas and channels entering the picture such as flash sale sites. These are not only detrimental to the hotel industry from a pricing and branding perspective; they also do not make any economic sense.

Hoteliers need a robust direct online channel strategy accompanied by adequate marketing funds to be able to take advantage of the steady growth in the Internet channel and the shift from offline to online bookings in hospitality due to declining GDS and voice channels. Hoteliers must carefully employ ROI-centric initiatives including website redesign, website optimization and SEO, SEM, email marketing, online media and sponsorships, mobile marketing and proven social media initiatives.

Furthermore, due to the fact that today’s travel consumers live in a perpetual “digital information cloud,” hoteliers need to employ multi-channel marketing and distribution strategies. Multi-channel marketing has become the foundation for a smart direct online channel strategy. In this environment, the hotel website, SEM campaigns, email marketing, social media presence, mobile, etc. have a symbiotic relationship. Hoteliers should not attribute all revenue to the last click, and should understand that unleashing a marketing promotional campaign simultaneously across all available marketing channels produces far greater returns than each individual marketing format alone.

About the 5th Annual Benchmark Survey

HeBS Digital would like to extend a warm thank you to Professor Dr. Jukka Laitamaki’s NYU hospitality students for helping launch and analyze the results of this survey.

Survey Participation:

Hoteliers worldwide participated in the survey, representing the United States, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, South America, New Zealand and Australia. Respondents included mostly General Managers (46.2%), Directors of Sales & Marketing (18.3%), and Corporate Management (17.3%). A small percentage of respondents were comprised of Revenue Managers, E-Commerce Managers, and Front Desk Managers.

Forty-four percent of respondents are from independent hotels, 31% franchised hotels, 24.8% hotel chains/major brands, 10.1% resorts and 2.8% casinos. The majority of respondents were from midscale and luxury properties (39.1% and 32.7% respectively) with the rest from boutique (17.3%) and budget-economy properties (10.9%).

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 25th, 2011 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Benchmark Survey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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