The recession is taking a toll on travel industry loyalty marketing and rewards programs, according to Colloquy research on U.S. consumer attitudes and perceptions.
The travel-specific results indicate that customers are consolidating their spend with fewer hotels and fewer airlines as the travel-whenever-you-want-for-business “bubble” has burst, and consumers are no longer able to earn elite status [...]

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Hotels are utilizing the social media channel of Twitter to reinforce their brand image and to communicate directly with their guests. While each hotel chain interacts differently with their following, here are the TOP TEN I think are doing the best job in providing customer service, building brand loyalty and engaging their followers with suite [...]

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What are the pros and cons of creating a link on the hotel website to the customer reviews page of the hotel on TripAdvisor and displaying TripAdvisor reviews directly on the hotel website via the TripAdvisor Review Widget.
We have always recommended against both of these options. Here is why:
1. Creating a [...]

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The online hotel sector is proving more resilient than traditional channels in volume terms but not prices, acccording to hotels.com.
The Hotel Price Index, produced by hotels.com at the end of last year, showed global hotel prices were 12% down. “There is some fairly aggressive price cutting,” added Pocklington.
He maintained there continued to be a shift [...]

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Travelers visit search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN first (34%) when considering vacation destination alternatives. The Web sites of specific countries or destination boards are visited next (23%), followed by online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity (22%).
While the percentage of leisure travelers who report making reservations online has grown more than [...]

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As U.S. hotels are forecast to struggle with declines in occupancy, ADR, and revenue, we believe there is an opportunity for spa operators to capitalize on operational and competitive advantages.
Hotel spas are an important amenity to all market segments and should be leveraged with regards to meetings, conventions, and other special events. Innovative [...]

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While guests still check the Internet first for best deals, an increasing number calls the hotel directly, stressed by spending countless hours online researching. Here are some great sales training tips for your next reservations meeting, on how to convert these calls into bookings.
by Doug Kennedy
For veteran hoteliers who are experiencing our industry’s fourth economic [...]

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You can get more than just links from social media. You can also get really great content. And one of the best places to find free content is on Flickr.
There are tons of ways to use Flickr. If you can take a great photo, you can use Flickr to build inbound links and get your [...]

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Internet bookings will surge. Demand for online virtual meetings will gather pace. Domestic travel will stay stable or grow. Long haul travel will fall sharply. And the most pain will be felt in the business travel and MICE sectors, according to the latest ITB World Travel Trends Report.
Internet bookings will surge. Demand for online virtual [...]

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