Final Exam : Social Sharing

What is meant by social sharing sites?

Social sharing sites target people who are interested to share their experiences, benefit from others' advice, or simply develop relationships with people who share their hobby.

Social sharing provides a fun and easy way to meet new people in our neighborhood or around the world.

Thanks to social sharing site, we can communicate with each other through forums and instant messages. We can leave comments on other members’ blogs and share photos, journals and interests with our growing network of mutual friends.

The principle of adhesion is simple; an initial set of founders sends out messages inviting members of their own personal networks to join the site.

New members repeat the process, growing the total number of members and links in the network.

Sites then offer features such as automatic address book updates, viewable profiles.

“According to Hitwise, the US market share of Internet traffic to the top 20 social networking sites grew by 11.5 percent from January to February 2007, to account for 6.5 percent of all Internet traffic in February 2007. Perhaps unsurprisingly, MySpace is still the heavyweight in a market made up of featherweights, with an 80% share. Facebook is MySpace's closest challenger with 10% of the market.”

The newest social networks on the Internet are becoming more focused on niches such as travel, art, tennis, football (soccer), golf, cars, dog owners, and even cosmetic surgery.

Other social networking sites focus on local communities, sharing local business and entertainment reviews, news, event calendars and happenings.

There are now over 200 social networking sites.

Here 2 examples of travel social network sites that I selected:

* TripUp - the social travel network

* Travellerspoint Travel Community

2/ How does social sharing influence consumers's choices?

Social sharing sites have an important capacity on the potentials customers, consumers.

Following the various comments left by the other members, the potential customer will be strongly influenced at the time of his decision-making.

The more negative the comments will be on a product, the more the potential customer will decide not to consume it and conversely.

So, the consequences for the companies are with double cutting edge.

The opinion of the other members represents the spokesman of a product and he gives the watchword of purchase of a product.

Consequently, the companies are not any more Master of the evolution of his product on the market this is why the companies must remain attentive and vigilant.

Web of influence article gives us information on this new form of media of mass.

3/ How hoteliers can best utilize social sharing trends to communicate with customers?

I think that hoteliers can use social sharing sites in a more effective way by exploiting this huge communication network in the following way:

* Expose the maximum of photographs on the hotel, its services and its employees (caretaker, agents of reception, housekeeper....)

* Diffuse messages coming from the personnel of the hotel intended for the customers in order to allow them to better know the role of each member of the hotel

* Give cultural information on the country, the city where is established the hotel
(Integrate an interactive map)

* Diffuse videos about testimonies of customers, evening parties and the environment of the sporting courses...

* Make visible the website in bond commercial (=lien commercial)

* Suggest ideas of activities, outings, special places to visit, good restaurants to diner.....


Realtravel.com , triphub.com and intercontinentalvideo.com websites are good examples that illustrate well how to exploit social sharing as well as possible.

4/ What is my opinion.... can hotels effectively establish an online conversation with consumers?

I think that establish online conversation with customers is a good way because hoteliers can create a privileged relation at lower cost with the customers.

Hotels can also be more interactive with the customers and proactive concerning waiting’s customers.

Hotels can have immediate feedback from product/services, grievances, rumours and misinformation.

Hotels can inform more quickly customers on the set of a new service. Hotels can cross short has rumours and argue its positions.

Moreover, thanks to social sharing, hotels can increase its visibility and notoriety. They can develop the consumers’ database and establish a new network of customers.

Moreover, it is a good way to make publicity and to increase the rate of visit of the website and even the rate of reservation.

They can also establish customer loyalty and enables to better maintain customers in our database.

I say yes to this new way of communication but hotels must remain vigilant and king of its image.

Team Exercice : Group 7 Elodie CHOQUET and Isabelle POLOMACK

Elodie CHOQUET and me have chosen to promote collegehotelamsterdam.com Hotel.

Our target are business man, couples, international people.
So we target people who love travels and discover beautiful places.
Our target has a hight purchase power and love stylish and discret places.

For that we have analysed 3 retailers websites:

tobook.com
gtahotels.com
worldby.com


OUR FINAL CHOICE IS WORLDBY.COM

Target
*International target
*Customers with high purchasing power

Offer
*Only European offers
*Various offers hotel chain, villas, apartments, castles, farmhouses, boathouses, chalet


Navigation
*Very good and easy navigation
*Wide choice of the search criteria

Information
*Strong and complete relevant information about the product and Amsterdam
*Photos,map,facilities, tourism information, travellers reviews

Booking
*Easy and fast booking


Services
*Best price guaranteed
*Personal and customized travel assistance

Notes
*Elegant and artistic design
*Wide space to describe the services of our hotel
*Transparency of prices and rate

WorldBY.com represents THE BEST WEBSITE RESELLER.

To conclude, Worlby.com answers waitings of our customers, the profile of our target customer and profits from the programs which we seek.

To see the complete analysis that we carried out to choose our Web site retailer, I invite you to consult the blog of Elodie CHOQUET.

Good reading.

Creation of a Web site for ecological stays

On the website "www.voyagespourlaplanete.com", customers could be find travels and hotels, lodgings and ecolodges sensitive to the environmental protection, which practise responsible tourism, durable tourism, equitable tourism and interdependent tourism.

Voyagespourlaplanete.com is the first travel agency in line specialized in the ecological and interdependent stays.

Travels suggested on the Web site respect all the following principles:
* To provide services of quality
* To support the local economy
* To protect nature
* To promote specificities of the region
* Tourism with human size.

Stays ecotouristic are proposed in several countries of the world such as Russia, Romania, Morocco, Egypt, Mauritania, Madagascar, Brazil, Chile, in Ecuador...

The principle of a ecolodge hotel is to offer to customers an interactive experience and a spiritual communion between nature and culture.

We are entering in the era of durable tourism and I think that this new tourist offer represents the new gold nugget of hotels.

True economic and social appreciation.

Visit Britain creates an online boutique to the tourists

The Great Britain Tourist Office creates an online boutique on its website called Vistit Britain.

On the website, the tourists can find all the different informations about the Great Britain but the specificity of the website is that the tourists can order and buy online all the products that they need during their stay in Great Britain such as train tickets of the national transportation, tickets pass for greatest attractions or spectacles...etc.....

So it is very interesting for the tourists to have its subway map, Heathrow Express tickets, London Sightseeing tours, les Great British Heritage Pass before its stay.

Moreover, I think that is a good way to make easier the stay of the tourist.

I think also that the hotels can have the same mission. To have a partnership with several companies such as cinema, Tourist office, museum, theatre, transportations... represents an interesting profit to the hotel.

Moreover, thanks to its offer of service, the hotel can create a personalized relationship with the customers by sending them a beautiful private letter with theirs tickets bought online.

I envisage to create this concept for my business hotel.

Travelocity Affiliate Program

Travelocity offers 2 types of Affiliate Program.
The first program is "the Travelocity branded program". It consists on:
1/ To feature the partnership with Travelocity on my website.
2/ To earn a commission when my referrals book travel.

The second program is World Choice Travel. It consists on:
1/ Give me the same competitive rates and inventory that are offered on Travelocity.
2/ Get generous commissions
3/ To have the most popular online private-label travel partner program in the world

Accor and Pierre et Vacances Joint Venture

Accor and Pierre et Vacance is being launched a new concept called " Hotel-Flat".

This week, the Customers will be able to discover the first Hotel-Flat in the 15e district of Paris, it is a building with 375 luxury flats. Accor and Pierre et Vacances want to create the same concept in major European cities.

I notice that this concept like similar to the Luxx Hotel (go and see the following article).


Whatever, it is evident that the Hotel Industry is being live a new era. This new offer of service is very interesting to the Customers and it permitts to diversify the offers og lodging.

Fron now on, the Customers can choose between a traditional hotel, a hotel flat, "une chambre d'Hotes", a bungalow, a villa...etc....

With this new concept, I think that the Customers will change their direction of consumption because in the mind of the Customer, it is as if it lived in its secondary house.

So, I think that there will be an impact on the duration of the stay and the frequency of the rate of reservation per customer.

It is a good way to target the families that would like to stay several weeks to Paris or the business men.

I am convinced that this project will be a success and the competition will be hard against the traditional hotels.

LUXX Hotel in Bangkok introduces "Home for the Young, Hip & Trendy Traveller"

LUXX Hotel in Bangkok is a 4-storey twin hotel building composed of a mezzanine floor and 13 individually designed rooms and suites.

Each room is built on a studio concept and features a heavenly bed space, cable TV with hot and cold shower.

Suites are perfectly structured into one-bedroom set-up with LCD TV, personalized DVD player, coffee and tea making facilities, minimalist pantry and private views overlooking the newly created courtyard that reflects the spirit of calmness and zen.

Luxx Hotel is a "Home for the Young, Hip & Trendy Traveller" and I appreciate this new concept because the design is modern and comfortable. Moreover, the fact that an Hotel offers to stay in a studio seems like to be at your Own Home. I think that it is very pleaant to the Customers to stay in a place where they can do everything like at home and to have in addition services and warm hospitality.

I notice that the Hotelier need to be more and more creative in order to be the best competitor. But to create and to develop a new concept takes time and in this new era of Hotel Industry, we must be pro-actif if we don't want that our competitors are always the first innovators.

In order to be innovator or to be ready to give a new image of my hotel, I plan to appeal TENDERS.

What is your thinking?

3 Resllers Sites and their guarantee

Orbitz.com Guarantee: "If you book a prepaid hotel rate that's backed by our Low Price Guarantee, and then find the same room, in the same hotel, for the same dates, at a lower price online within 24 hours, we'll refund the difference. Just e-mail Orbitz within 24 hours of your Orbitz purchase"

Hotels.com: "If there is a lower rate available for the same dates and the same hotel or vacation rental, you must contact us within 24 hours of booking your Prepaid hotel and vacation rental reservation. We will either refund you the difference or cancel the reservations without penalty."

Hotwire.com: "Within 48 hours of booking on Hotwire, if you find a lower price for your entire stay for an equivalent room type in the same hotel on the same dates, we'll refund you double the difference."

Tourism Could Do More To Protect Marine And Coastal Environments | Greenhotelier Reports

According to the January edition of greenhotelier, the tourism industry is accused to contribute to the degradation of marine and coastal environments.

This article shows us that is very important to protect our coastal and marine environments because it is time to become aware of the disastrous consequences that the construction of the hotels and its activities can cause on the natural environment.

Nowadays, the first world concern is the respect of the ecosytem. We enter a new era in which each citizen becomes ecologist. Obviously the companies are also concerned with this new value, ethic, politic and I agree on the fact that the industry of tourism must take part to conserve, protect and rehabilitate the marine environment.

I propose that each company, world organization and Head of State spend each year an amount of money X corresponding to the ECOLOGY Budget.

I adhere to all the new ecologic projects which enable us to use renewable, economic and ecologic energies.

It is time that the things change.

What do you think about it? View article

Wil Ruigrok Expertise about Revenue Management

Che Hotel Group Launch 100% Satisfaction Guarantee

CHE Hotel Group is launching its new '100% Satisfaction Guarantee what consists on to be able to deal with any form of customer complaint quickly and effectively in order to offer an optimal satifaction to the guests.

Through this initiative, the customer complaints are systematically listened and resolved. Thanks to this management, the customer is compensate if he is not satisfied with any aspect of his stay, and if the situation cannot be corrected to the customer’s satisfaction, the customer will not be charged for that element of their stay.

The main objective is to create an atmosphere of trust between the customer and the hotel because it is very important to develop a loyalty relation with the customers.

It is vital to put the customer first because the customer represents the well-being of our business. Thanks to the customer and its word of mouth, our business can have a good financial healthy and our brand image can increase.

Nowadays to satisfy the needs of the customers is not difficult for the companies but it requires to have a consequent budget to invest in good processing system of management. Moreover, the companies have to be able to recruit specialized agents to treat the dissatisfactions customers.

It is also my priority to guarantee ad to offer 100% Satisfaction to my futur customers. My culture of company will be also based on this value.

I think that the customer service must be the first preoccupation to the companies and I am not afraid to spend a lot of money to reach this objective.

What are your objectives to satisfy the customers? View the article

Launch of Proactive Customer Alert System

View the Article


Travelocity has planned the "Customer Championship" program by lauching the Proactive Problem Prevention Service.

This new service consists to identify and to investigate about all the events that can pertub the stay of the Customer.

The goal of this program is to warn Customers in advance of their trips about noisy, ongoing construction at a popular resort, alterations, closing of the swimming pool...etc....

The Travelocity Objective is to keep informed the Customers about the unexpected of the hotel by calling them or sending them an alert e-mail.

This tactic permitts to the Customers to replan their journey and to guarantee an optimal satisfaction.

I'm agree with this politic because it's an additional tool to take care of the Customers and to make them confidence about their journey.

Actually, the Customer hates the unexpected and not to be informed about that and he waits to be recognized and treated like a Privileged Customer.

I adhere to this service.

Customer Satisfaction Guarantee.