Before the boom of social media, hotels could attract bookings based on brand, loyalty programs, location and price. Today, recommendations and reviews are driving more bookings that anything else. So how can savvy hoteliers drive sales and loyalty in this new era of user-generated content? This article will examine practical steps hotels can take to drive loyalty and describe how leading hoteliers are winning over guests on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. READ MORE

Many marketers mistakenly equate loyalty with rewards. Loyalty, however, denotes advocacy and commitment, not a points-based reward scheme. This belief is supported by the June 2010 Cornell Hospitality Report which contends that loyalty programs focusing on price-oriented rewards actually encourage more comparison shopping as customers seek out the most profitable loyalty program benefit. The points system, says the report, promotes loyalty to the best offer, not loyalty to the brand. READ MORE

Online guest feedback is one of the biggest opportunities hotel companies have today for improving product quality and maximizing revenue. Yet too many hotel executives do not have the adequate supporting technology to take advantage of this opportunity. This article will provide some criteria to help you select a tool that fits your needs. READ MORE

In the recent months Google has been trying out new projects and applications at an almost feverish pace. They seem to have made the transition from using names that made no sense in relation to the project (Google Hot Pot) to taking a page from Prince's playbook and going with a symbol that throws wrenches into grammatical structure and HTML code (Google+). You may be asking yourself these questions: what is Google+, what relationship does it have with the Google +1 Button, what are Circles, what is a Hangout, and most importantly, how do I get involved in this? READ MORE

It is important for the public relations and marketing industry to continue moving forward as the world of media and technology changes, updating yesterday's strategies and tactics to ensure that we, as marketing professionals, are most effective at spreading the word for our clients, our companies or our brands. So to help you to update your PR strategies, here are three ways to rethink your outdated hotel marketing and media strategies and become more effective at generating consumer interest and inspiring action (i.e. bookings). READ MORE