Apple recently announced the creation of iAds, a form of mobile advertising for it’s (also newly announced) iPhone operating system 4.0. The iAds are designed to target mobile phone users where they spend most of their time – on the downloadable apps. There are, however, some limitations to this as the 4.0 operating system (due for release this summer) will not support early iPhone and iPod touch models. Instead the OS 4.0 will only support the iPhone 3G and 3GS, the iPod Touch 2nd and 3rd generations and also the newly released iPad.

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Experience of many years has taught me to be wary of reports by consultants whose findings are identical to the agendas of their clients. So it was with some caution last November, that I leafed through the document from economist Peter Bacon which argued for the closure of 15,000 guestrooms in Irish hotels. It had been commissioned by the Irish Hotels Federation which had been arguing for exactly the same outcome for the best part of a year.

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Yesterday we posted an article on how Dublin has dropped its hotel rates making it one of the cheapest holiday destinations in Europe. More figures released by travigo.co.uk have backed up this claim but also uncovered that overall European hotel prices have risen by 12%, with the majority of the price hikes coming from southern European holiday destinations.

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In the not so distant past, Dublin had a bit of a reputation for being one of the most expensive cities in the world. Now, it seems, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. While the price of products remains relatively high, it is the hotel and tourism industries that are leading the charge towards more competitive prices. Figures collected by Hotels.com show that hotel prices in the capital have dropped 23% in the past year, showing that hotels are more than willing to drop their rates to boost tourism as we near the end of the global downturn.

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When it comes to hotel star ratings, it may eventually turn out that the sky is indeed the limit. The old 4 star system has given way to 5, 6 and even 7 star ratings, with hotels continuously pushing to show that their hotel is the best of the best. But as star ratings and the quality they represent varies from country to country, with no global body to regulate the ratings and quite often multiple bodies awarding different ratings based on different criteria within the same country, can they really be trusted?

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It’s sometimes difficult to understand what’s happening to digital marketing in terms of progression. The social media space is developing so fast that it’s difficult to see what’s around the corner. Freddie Laker and AdvertisingAge have written an article that attempts to see into the future and predict what’s coming next for social media…

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Email marketing campaigns still remain one of the most successful digital marketing techniques around. Even with the emergence of social networks and other such avenues, it’s important not to forget good old fashioned email. HotelMarketingStrategies have come up with a simple check list to make sure you’re maximising the impact of your campaign before an email is even sent…

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Last week we published a post on social media best practices for your hotel. We think that these ‘best practices’ are important and have stumbled upon another great article which follows on from last weeks post nicely.
TIG Global share ten best practices that can easily be implemented to increase your followers as well as your web traffic…

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A day later than usual (due to Monday being a bank holiday), our ‘Top 30 Irish Hotels on Facebook’ list will be receiving its refresh today. This week we have a lot of movement, with 5 new entrants and 4 hotels moving up the table.

Has your hotel made the list?

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