Hotels, airlines, airports and other travel companies are joining the Twitter community, too, to pitch services, update travel conditions and respond directly to the individual needs of customers.

They’re finding the mobile nature of the technology is ideal for talking to travelers.

Problems no longer ‘quiet’

“We had one of our (frequent guest) members Twitter from the front desk when the hotel was giving her a hard time,” Michael Davis, co-founder of Tablet Hotels, says. “We caught it within 30 seconds of posting, and our customer service called the hotel to resolve.

“Customer problems can no longer be kept ‘quiet’ with the emergence of the Web,” Davis says.

The Marriott hotel group agrees. It has two Twitter accounts — one serves public relations and customer service, the other focuses on Marriott’s efforts to go green.

“The most interesting way we used Twitter was after the attack on our Islamabad (Pakistan) hotel,” says John Wolf, senior director of public relations for Marriott.

Wolf said the responses after the Sept. 20 bombing that killed more than 50 people “were not only heartwarming, but overwhelming. It really represented what social media is all about, because the conversation was authentic and genuine, and because the replies came from people in so many nations.”

Not all the tweets are during emergencies, big or small. Southwest Airlines regularly posts photos of airport giveaways to its account.

Get the full story at usatoday.com