1.What is meant by social networking sites.

Social networking sites are site, or rather blogs, where people who share the same types of interests, way of living, hobbies, likes and dislikes can gather. Indeed, thanks to the Internet, they network, discuss, share issues or matters that are of a particular interest to them. Being on the Internet allows people from each and every part of the word to communicate.

Link 2 examples

http://passouline.blog.lemonde.fr/

This blog is owned by a writer/ journalist who works for the French newspaper Le Monde. His blog is dedicated to current political issues and gives his opinion and understanding about it. All the visitors are invited to leave comments. These comments are not only related to the article but also to the other’s comments. All this makes it a real discussion.

http://copainsdavant.linternaute.com/

This site helps to find people’s old fellow strudents or even colleague. By subscribing for free, one is able to search by school, firm, name,etc…. There are loads of articles dealing with how X and Y made up with some old friends by chatting on this site.

2. How does social sharing influence the consumer’s choice? Link one article to support your assessment.

Since social networking sites deal with people that have the same kind of interests, or at least have something in common, they have the power to influence each other in the sense that they trust what the others say. Some sites even reunify people who have one day physically been in the same place but who did not necessarily talked or knew each other. The main idea is that because one is part of a group of people with whom one shares something in common, one considers that whatever the other members of the group say is worthwhile. A single member has the power of influencing the whole group.

The article “How Facebook will impact the Summer Tourism Season” (http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news//4030972.html) is the perfect example of this. Indeed, this article deals with this lady who decided to join Facebook.com. By doing so, she started networking again with some of high school friends and even other people she didn’t know. She mentioned one day that she was going to Nova Scotia on her blog and started getting messages from people who were asking her to tell them, when she returns, about the nice places to stay at in that region. The reason was that this person and her husband happened to be going in that area for their summer holiday.

In this particular case, the couple who will be travelling to Nova Scotia will trust whatever the lady is going to say. If we push it to the extreme, it can even be said that the latter is going to act as a sell representatives for the region. She is going to recommend what she liked and warn what she didn’t like. This can be considered or viewed as another type of word of mouth. The only difference is that, put on the Internet, the information is going to spread and viewed exponentially. Hence, its impact will be much more important and quicker than the “traditional word of mouth”.

3. How hoteliers can best utilize social sharing trends to communicate with customers?

Hoteliers should use those sites first to assessing and know where their name is mentioned. Once they have this information, they can start communicating with those communities or people. This also can be a way of controlling your brand image and prevent it from being damaged on a large scale.

Link to 2 examples.

The first example that springs to my mind is Robert’s comment on the class’s blog. He is Base2Stay’s CEO and after finding the name of his hotel on the blog, he left a comment and invited the students to send him feedback about what the class thought of his hotel’s site. Chloé and I did so and we started a discussion with him. Hoteliers should do exactly the same thing with each and every blog where their name is mentioned. It could also be a great way to let those communities know about special promotions. They could even push it further by offering special prices to the members of a particular community if the reviews are good. If those reviews are not, hoteliers have a great opportunity of justifying themselves and why not try to make it up

http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/ile-de-france/Paris/blog-152800.html

This is Vilius’s blog which deals with his trip to Paris with a friend. On the right hand side of it, there is an ad referring to cheap round he World tickets. For hoteliers, putting ads on blogs which content is relevant to their business is probably worthwhile at the condition that this blog generates loads of traffic. They could also reward the owner of the blog by giving him a commission each time someone clicks through it. This commission could even get higher if it results in a reservation. In this case, both of the parties are winning and therefore there is no point for any of them to damage the hotel’s image. It is a way to preserve it.


4. What is your opinion...can hotels effectively establish an online conversation with customers? Yes, why...no, why not?

I personally believe that hotels should establish an online conversation with customers. However it is time consuming and implies a continuous assessment and a deep knowledge of the web.

On the other hand, by starting this kind of communication, hoteliers will gain a deeper understanding of what the customers expect, their needs, wants and desires. As a consequence, hoteliers will be able to better match the product with whatever the customers want. Further on, by communicating with them, hoteliers will have a better understanding on how the public sees the hotel and the area that is left for improvement. It is also a good way to control more or less your image by using the means we discussed above.

Team exercise

Base2Stay

Mélanie and Chloé

Our thoughts by going on the hotel’s website were as follow:

Target customers: young professionals, needing to stay for a few days in a smart and convenience place, with a special taste for design
The reach: family, groups and professional (information gathered the customers’reviews)
Classy but not too expensive (89 pounds)

Avantgardehotels.com
(Present on this reseller site)

Target: sophisticated, People looking for modern and design places to stay at, while being central. Heavy Internet users.
Reach: since there is no review it is very difficult to determine what type of customers end up on this site
Hotel image:
Base2Stay on its website does not sell itself as a boutique hotel but rather as an alternative from these types of hotel. On the reseller site, Base2Stay is categorized as a boutique hotel.
It seems that they are belong more or less to the same category
· Marketing program: It doesn’t seem that there is a marketing program as such. However, the image of this site appears to guaranty a certain type of customers which matches Base2Stay target market
· Affiliate programs: we didn’t find any on this site

Gtahotels.com
(Base2Stay is present on this site)
· Target: family, tourists, groups, middle class. People who not willing to search many different offers. Price driven customers
· Reach: seems to match the target according to some reviews and all the promotions that appear on the site
· Hotel image:
o Base2Stay is sold as a concept hotel in between a boutique hotel and serviced apartments located in a very convenient part of London city, with many tourist attractions next to it.
o All sorts of hotels, but discounted
· Marketing programs (only for customers)
o Best rate guarantee: a 100% of the purchasing price is refunded to the customer finds a lower rate on another website
o Rebate program: a rebate is offered to the customers as a reward for a long stay in one of these site’s hotel
· Affiliate program: They are offered to anyone who wants to place a banner about advertising the hotel and a commission is given for all the referred visitors who finalize a booking. The host of the affiliated programs can also access gtahotels’ database.



ToBook.com
Base2Stay is not present on this reseller’s site

· Target: Price sensitive customers, especially for tourists and groups. Looking for good value for money.
· Reach: we haven’t been able to find the customers’reviews. However, we think that people look at this site in order to get the best value for money and use it as an informative website to see what types of hotels there are around.
· Hotel image:
o If Base2Stay appeared on that website, the hotel would appear as cheap and offering big discounts which would hinder its first image.
o All types of hotels are listed in this website. The condition seems to be that the price of a room should less than 160 Euros
· Marketing program: we haven’t found any. However being present on this type of site will ensure a hotel’s visibility.
· Affiliate program: a 45% commission is sent to the host of the affiliate program
whenever a booking is made through its site/ blog


Conclusion

gtahotels.com and tobook.com do not correspond at all to what Base2Stay is and wants to target in the sense that they gather too many hotels from too many different categories. The main disadvantage being that there is no streamline or coherence among those hotels.

Secondly, the reseller websites that use affiliate program do not fit with Base2Stay as this hotel only has an inventory of 67 rooms. It is therefore too small.

Avantgarde is definitely the best reseller site this hotel could have chosen among the 3 studied. It fits its image and describes well, although it is classified as a boutique hotel

How Facebook will impact the Summer Tourism Season

Remember how all throughtout the year we've been told in our revenue management classes that market segments are dead and that it now more about communities, life style, addictions.... and blogs. Here is an article that is just simply dealing with that matter. The writter is basically saying that because of - or thanks to - facebook.com, she has been able to influence some people about their holliday plans. Amazingly enough!!

What strikes me about those kind of websites is that yes, indeed, you can be part of a community because you have been to the same school or worked in the same firm. However, how many of these people do you actually really know? How can you rely on a total stranger for your travel plans? How can you trust him/ her just because you happen to have maybe done something similar at some point?

I guess that this kind of blog demonstrates that the word of mouth os a very powerful, if not the most powerful tool, within marketing communications. Nevertheless, I would still be very sceptical. Now that firm now that the blog exist and have that much power, I am sure that some will just start posting some false messages. Anyhow, the power of blogs is already starting to be used with Expedia's exponential communication.

Hotel Website Design? It’s not all in the eye of the beholder…

This article deals with the different tips a hotelier should follow in order to design a website that is efficient. Efficient in this sense means achieving the following objectives:

1. Be search engine friendly: the website should come up within the first couple of pages of the search engine
2. Be attractive to visitors so that they actually browse it
3. The ultimate aim being to convert thise visitors into online revenue (i.e. clients)

The first thing to do with the web designer is to prepare and write an online strategy so that both parties ar making sure that they are heading the same way. Obviously, it is about the look and feel of the website which should reflect the concept and the experience the customer will live in the hotel.

The pages shouldn't be too long so that the visitors do not have to screen the whole page to get the information. However, the headlines and keywords they are looking forought to be very straightfoward to find.

Secondly, the navigation should also be fairly easy. The aim is to not frustrate the visitor with him having the impression of getting lost all the time by not finding what he is looking for. Therefore rates, promotions and special offers should appear clearly.

Images are also very important in the sense that they attract the customers'eyes and give them a more realistic idea of what they are to expect for that hotel. Within the same framework of ideas, designers and hoteliers need to pay special attention to whatever is written on the website. Using bold and italic caracters can attract the vistors eye. Nevertheless, they shouldn't be too much text in order for the visitor not to get bored or too much filled in with information. They should keep it simple but informative and attractive. Further, they should also remember that search engines can only read text and design codes. Therefore, these have to be present enough so that the page can easily be found by search engines (eg. the meta data).

Further on, since most of visitors usually arrive on sub pages, it is primordial to have the contact details, address, phone number and so on on each and every pages of the website.

This is a war that has started with the launch of the Internet. It has become for many countries the major tool related to search. Therefore, the concern for businesses has become to be visible on the net. What this areticle is telling us is that visibility is not enough for those businesses to survive. Indeed, they need more in terms of attractiveness, content, navigation in order to turm a visitor into a customer.

Don’t know your Arsenal from your Elephant & Castle?

Active Hotels launches new London location page

This article deals with the launch of a new website called Active Hotel. Basically, this site aims at helping international travellers arrvivng in London to find the best hotel for the best value in accordance with their needs in demands in terms of location within the city of London.

The authors of this site have found out that people traveling to London had no idea how the city was divided, which place to go to or not, its accessibility and its proximity to the capital sight seeing places and night life. With this site, everything is explained and all types of hotels and prices can be found, with, of course the guests' comments.

Once more, this article shows how important the internet has become for international travelers. It also stresses the fact that hoteliers need to be visible at the right places. This kind of site can generate loads of customers if well used.

LUXX Hotel in Bangkok introduces

"Home for the Young, Hip & Trendy Traveller"

This article deals with a left house situated in Bangkok which has been transformed in a small stylish and design hotel, called the LUXX hotel. Located next to the business centre of the city as well as to the clubs, restaurants entertaining locations of this big city, this 13 room establishment, is targeting young, hip and trendy travellers. The concept is simple: providing premimum class accomodations, which in this case can be comparable to studios, with all the amenities that 4 stars hotels offer while creating an atmosphere of calmness and zen. Luxx hotel also features a restaurant which at night is being transformed in a wine bar. There is also a reading area with a TV. Further on, the Internet is accessible throughout the building thanks to the wifi.

I believe that this kind of hotel is the new trend appearing on the market. Customers are looking for something different than what all the big luxurious hotels are offering. They need something more intimate, while having space and all the IT features that they have at home. The location for this types of businesses are very important in the sense that the environment they are situated in needs to reflect the lifestyle of its customers, ie. close to work and the entertainment area.

Costly fares, hotels crimp spring trips

This article deals with a study carried out by Travelocity concerning the average length of stay during spring break between 2002 and 2007. The result is that this lenght is decreasing with years from 5.9 days in 2002 to 4.9 days this year. This is mainly due a strong demand in travel for the past few years which has impacted air fares and hotel costs (ie. they rised).

What does this mean in terms of Revenue Management?

It could be seen as positive: hoteliers and airline companies have properly assessed the environment they are operating in and charge more in periods of high peak demand, such as spring break, when students are off school and parents take the opprtunity for a family travel.

However, this has had a peverse effect since customers are not staying that long anymore. So the question for hoteliers is: are they getting more money thanks to the augmentation in prices or are they loosing money due to the fact that people stay less?

What would the solution be?

The actors should probably very carefully study the prices they are offering. Indeed, until which extent would people be ready to pay for a 4 day break holiday? Can they augment the number of people traveling by offering more incentive prices if customers book early or at the last minute? Also, in the article it is mentionned that spring break travelers prefer warmer destinations. Is there not a niche to be filled by other places, like in the mountain for example.

Small hotels, big business

This article summarizes the journalist's interview with John SEARS, Executive Vice President of Boutique Hotels and Resort International. He explained why boutique hotels are so succesful when compared to palaces.

Boutique hotels started up in the 1980s. They focuse on exceptional experiences and unique style. Their main objectives is to provide small, luxurious, intimate hotels, surrounded by a great environment and fulfil the customers'desires and wishes "first and foremost. Boutique hotels'advantages in comparison with big luxurious chains, such as the Ritz, is that they are not part of a bigger organization that keeps on challenging them to decrease their costs.

Basically, boutique hotels are successful, thanks to the fact that they operate within a small structure that leaves them more liberty to manage their budget as they wish. This also means a better contact with the guests to whom more attention can be paid. This desire from the customers to be feel important when entering a luxurious hotel is more and more felt. This is why there are 24 hours conciergerie have appeared in 5 stars hotels. Accor's expansion with All Seasons is therefore better understandable. Hotels need to offer more customized services if they are to stay at the top, and it seems that at the moment, smaller stuctures are the best able to achieved that.

Internet becoming indispensible to European travel industry

This article is about the Internet becoming the major tool for the European travel industry. Indeed, customers and providers win on both sides.

Concerning the customers, they can book 24/7 (without having the hassle of going to a travel agency), travels and packages that are more and more transparent pricewise, and customers can even create their own "à la carte travel" without having to buy a whole package. This shows that travelers are getting used to less and less personal services but more flexbility.

On the other hand, for travel agencies or tour operators, offering their products online means also less costs. Indeed, they do not have to rent or buy offices in different places anymore and staffwise, they do not have so many employees anymore. Expedia, EasyJet and Ryanair among others are the best examples of this new trend.

For the hospitality industry, this means that hoteliers need to be more and more present on the Internet and now how to use properly this new way ofdistributing inventory. Transparency is good for the customers but also means that hotels cannot cheat anymore and need the service needs to be as perfect as it is described on the Internet. It has become even more important now that the customers can leave their commentaries anywhere on the net.

10 smart tips for travel shopping on the internet

This article deals with the internet travel shoppers and their buying habits. We will examine each and everyone of them and comment them in terms of the way hotels should use them.

1. Before buying these shoppers visit on average three different sites such as Travelocity or Expedia, which are third party websites, but also supplier sites. This means that buyers are looking for the best deals afford around and do realise that the third party web sites do not always propose best value for money. However, the latter can be used as some kind of advertising tool. If the hotel is attractive enough, even though the price isn't quite right, the fact that the potential consumer also checks the hotel sites may be positive for the said hotel. In terms of revenue management, this means that hotels should also save some good deals on their own site.

2. Third party sites will charge fees for packages (hotel + flight) which can be overthrown if the visitor decides to buy directly to the airline company. In other words, prices have to be well studied in order to be interesting enough for the buyers, otherwise they will go elsewhere. In this case, it might be interesting for hotels to post a link on their site which would direct the buyers straight away on the airline companies flying ticket prices.

3. Online guarantees are hard to claim if not honoured and consumers are becoming more and more aware of that. When purchasing a travel on the Internet, these guarantees better not be opaque, at the risk that it will not be sold. Therefore, hotels might need to work with the third party web sites to make it clearer and with more guarantees to the consumers.

4. Hotels are not quoted in terms of stars in the same way from one site to the other. This has two implications. First of all, hotels need to be aware of that should be careful concerning their choice of the third party web sites that are to distribute their inventory. Secondly, an harmonization of the stars given to the hotels is probably needed. The aim of this being, not to fool the customer.

5. Customers'reviews cannot always be trusted. Even they are alwas interesting to look at, they should be taken into account very carefully by the customer. In other words, to much praises on a hotel can discredit its value.

6. "Sales out isn't necessarily so", meaning that whereas one site has sold out all the inventory it had been given, it isn't necessarily the case for all the others. The consequece for hotels being that they should perfectly know the buying consumer habits so that the rest of the inventory can easily be found.

7. Whereas some customers like to buy way in advance in order to make sure that they have the best deals possible, it is also sometimes interesting to wait until the last minute to get very good deals. This means that hotels should not accostum their clientele to one way of buying but several.

8. E mail notifications are also one of the best ways to be kept up to date with what is happening and the fluctuation of prices. Hoteliers should get in the habit of having and regularly sending those kind of e mails. They can also be used as a way to keep in touch with the customers if personnalised.

9. Travel agents are still working and can still be used by customers. In other words, hotels should not loose track with any of their dustribution channels even if they are not the most widely used, they can still generate revenue.

Global Hotel Market Shifting

This article summarises the 2006 results of the HotelBenchmark Global Ranking Index which compares, on an annual basis, hotel performances in terms of Revenue Per Available Room (RevPar), outside North America.

What comes out of those results is that room occuapancy is subject to loads of external factors. Indeed, Paris and Venice are the two top ranking cities mainly due to the fact that they market themselves as the world's romantic places. Also, other hotels in different European cities have achieved good performances thanks to the events that took place there. The best examples of those hotels are situated in Germany (with the World Cup) and in Turin (World Olympic Games). Further on, economic factors also boost hotel's RevPar, like in India or in China. Middle East hotels have also known a remarkable growth thanks to the buiding of numerous facilities such as airports, resorts, gulfs, etc...).

So what do those results mean in terms of Revenue Management?

When setting their prices, hotels should take into account what is happening in the environment in which they are operating. An event, a town marketing itself, economic growth, each and every one of them can influence the revenue of the hotel. Of course, one has to be careful. Here we have only mentionned positive influences on hotels activities; nevertheless, hotels should also pay attention to "negative factors".