• Home
• News Article

Social Media Most Important Sales and Marketing Tool for Hotels Today, HITT 2011 Experts Say

Hotels are increasingly turning to social media as key initiatives to build brand loyalty, attract more customers and to keep up to date with consumer discussions. Hotels that "invest in it will be the ones who are benefiting", according to Rezidor Group 's Global Director of Sales & Marketing, who will be addressing this topic at HITT 2011.

The trust associated with peer reviews combined with the scope and speed at which opinions and recommendations are distributed across the internet mean that social media is probably the most important tool that hotels can capitalise on today. "Social media is the new telephone, it is the new e-mail, it is the new TV, and it is the new newspaper," says Yigit Sezgin, Global Director of Sales & Marketing of Rezidor Hotel Group , "It will offer the industry a higher democracy and transparency."

HITT 2011 experts recognise that a huge proportion of their guests are actively using social networking sites and they want to exploit these channels of communication. Hotels in the Middle East are currently in the beginning stages of implementing their social media strategies, and currently experimenting, trying to identify where and how to pitch it, what level of effort and investment to put behind it, and how to do it most effectively.

With the technological infrastructure now firmly in place, it is easy for customers to share experiences on websites like TripAdvisor, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and FourSquare. Facebook, on the other hand, is fast becoming more than a customer relationship tool for many independent properties and chains who have added a booking function in their Facebook page. "The industry is experiencing a total online integration and is shifting to direct booking. We are certainly following the current trends of the airline industry - both on booking patterns, revenue management and marketing activities," adds Yigit Sezgin.

But Cornell Hospitality Research warns that "no industry runs greater risk from poorly considered tactics or inappropriate social media strategies". The potential commercial benefits of using such social media are clear, but hotels must be aware of the potential pitfalls. Online review sites must be closely managed and monitored and negative reviews need an immediate response as they can cause considerable damage.

"Today, as a hotelier, I can have a system that scans the internet and gives me a report about what people from around the world are talking about my hotel. It's quite impressive and important," says Jose Ventura, VP IMEA of Preferred Hotel Group.

Social media is one of the key topics that will be discussed at HITT 2011 - Hotel Innovation, Trends and Technology, which is running alongside The Hotel Show at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 17-19 May 2011. Forty speakers will identify and debate the new rules of a new hospitality landscape. For further info, please visit www.hitt2011.com
-Ends-

About HITT 2011
HITT 2011, The Hotel Show Summit, is designed to address the most urgent challenges of today, celebrate market breakthroughs and inspire out-of-the box thinking. The programme features a speaker line-up of the industry's most influential and inspiring business leaders who have continued to adapt and reinvent themselves to respond to the challenges of a new market. Successful case studies and real-life implementations on 7 critical areas will be featured: innovative and breakthrough strategies, leadership innovation, operational innovation, service innovation, technological innovation, product innovation and innovation in hotel design.

About dmg::events
dmg :: events have been organising high level market-leading business events for over 20 years. dmg's conferences & training division provides you with highly specialist, bespoke professional conferences and training programmes that are designed to deliver firsthand knowledge on functional and industry specific sectors. For further information visit us today on www.dmgeventsme.com.

For further information, contact:
Saudin Dungog-Noddings
Phone: +9714 438 0355
Email: saudindungog@dmgevents.com
Website: www.hitt2011.com

© Press Release 2011

---

© Copyright Zawya. All Rights Reserved.

---