The Social Hotelier

Greger and I are both live stream enthusiasts. We met couple of years in an online community to learn how to create live videos.

The bold headline has some truth in it in the context of hotel marketing. We will have to be able to reach the fickle mobile driven customer looking to catch their attention, while the consider which hotel they will choose for their next stay. Video is the best way to tell stories and connect with a customer. But effective video marketing can be overwhelming task.

Vilhelmiina Mähönen, Finnish by nationality and based out of Copenhagen, video marketing strategist shares some tips and tricks how get started with video marketing.

We talked about the evolution of the travel aggregators aka. OTA that is a way of hotels t become ever so more visible online.

Travellers find the websites useful as they can compare rates, reviews and availability of many different accommodation options at one glance, and book them quickly and easily in just a few clicks.

The hotel can be usually listed free of charge, and add nice pictures, description, room rates etc. You can choose how many rooms you want to sell online.

Many newly opened hotels like to use this as a way to kick start the business. It is not uncommon that OTA represent 60-80 % of the bookings.

The down side are the commissions which are becoming a major expense for the hotel, restaurant.

Sam-Erik is sharing some practical tips on how to be more creative and entrepreneurial minded.

Jayanth Kolla is sharing some data from India about Oyo Rooms and other restaurant and buss ticket aggregators.

For the episodes of Jayanth Kolla report from Bulgaria Sustainable Turism Conference, Follow this  link

https://youtu.be/KeD2nTYhBX0

https://youtu.be/Nr7b9oPZIW0

What happens to tourism businesses that do not listen to changes in travellers habits? Sadly we know the answer to that question, they collapse. The leading hotelier association in Spain are crying foul. Also there is a claim that Thomas Cook in this case ruined the booked trips when the news was announced. In this episode we talk about what believe is the probable reason. More importantly what tourism business can learn from this so they do not suffer the same destiny. We share some tips and tricks especially for hotels on lessons learned.

CHUSOK. We were celebrating September full moon aka the Harvest Moon. The celebration was  our modest version of  Chusok compared to the traditional  Korean Thanksgiving celebrated over 3 days in Korea.

The tradition calls for visit to  ancestral graves during the three-day holiday September 13 – 15. Festive occasions, such as Chusok, demonstrate the importance of family to Korean society. Family members, usually from the paternal line, get together to prepare food, honor their ancestors, and cherish relatives, both living and deceased. Chusok is a reminder that families are connected and bonded in the same fortune and ancestors live through the offspring as part of people’s daily lives.

We celebrate Chusok at our home wherever we are in the world in honor of our parents that passed away, by preparing a morning  meal with dishes that they enjoyed. One of the favourites were song pyun, ricecake which are  made with finely ground new rice as the basic dough, which is filled with toasted sesame seeds, chestnuts, or peas sweetened with honey or sugar. I also added something my father enjoyed, namely Marabou double nougat, quite a sweet treat for breakfast.😀

🔴Personal Branding. What are the key questions you should ask yourself and get answers to. Defining the Problem You Solve

The genesis of a personal brand is being able to answer one simple question with one word: What problem do you solve?

You can easily write an entire book but explaining it in one word or a single sentence is tough. It’s hard work but it’s a necessary exercise to describe yourself to the world. It’s also a litmus test for defining your entire identity as it relates to a personal brand. https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/personal-branding-how-to-successfully-build-brand-rory-vaden/

🔴September hotel opening announcements worldwide. https://tophotel.news/september-hotel-openings-over-180-new-hotels-expected-to-launch-worldwide-infographic/

Mediterranean Stars Festival.

Pop stars featuring, Khaled,  Alessandra Amoroso, Gigi D’Alessio, Elisa, Emma, Francesco Gabbani, Guè Pequeno, J-Ax, Mahmood, Max Pezzali, Raf, Umberto Tozzi and also Maltese artists such as Ira Losco and other representatives of a musical genre of fusion between the Mediterranean tradition and the European pop.

When I left the corporate hotelier job and started on my advisory services 6 years ago, one of the industry buzzwords was “personalisation” — it was everywhere. Somehow, over the years, it felt like our industry replaced personalisation with messaging, chatbots, voice, and then AI. But, in my humble opinion, none of these great new technologies replaced the purpose, they all exist to serve it… finding ways that technology can be used to create a personalised, data-driven, and high touch experience. The problem has often been that at times it feels we have chased the technology at the cost of the human experience.

Have you tried to connect with an independent hotel in the evening with a question, by connecting with their chatbot? How did this experience make you feel?

From my experience 9 times out of 10, the good old fashion phone call is better, because the automated answer that comes back from the message chatbot is a list of options that does not necessarily correspond to my question. The standard answer if the chatbot does not understand you, replies that a human will get back to you the next working day. With this approach my interest to stay at the hotel has diminished to zero, and I start looking for something else.

I also get frustrated to stand in line waiting for my turn at the front desk to check-in. Once reaching the desk the questions start.

Did you have a nice flight? Yes I did. Is this your first time with us? No, this is my third time. May I scan your passport? May I take an imprint of your credit card, as a credit reference? May I recommend a spa treatment experience? I am sure I am not alone on this. No surprises there…we all hate waiting for anything today. More importantly, why the same questions when I return to a hotel I stayed before.

So is the self check in the better solution? The airlines were first, then fast food chains, and now supermarkets. But that does not necessarily mean that the solution is then waiting for a machine too. One imagines that we (someone else much brighter than me) will build technologies that negate the entire check-in transaction in the first place, not just replace a human with a machine for you to do it yourself. The airlines have an easier job with this technology, as everyone gets on and off a plane at the same time.

When they introduced self check in kiosks it wasn’t so bad, but now, as the airline mobile apps have grown so useful, I would hate even about the idea, to use one of those self check in kiosks at the airport. I cannot speak for you, but when I’m shopping at my local Food Market in Helsinki and there is both a kiosk option and a human option and neither has a wait in front of them, I choose the person.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I read the latest research on the subject conducted by Alice Concierge, a hotel operation platform, that the #1 reason a guest has a bad experience is unfriendliness! It means that if hotels focus on getting that one thing right, the industry wins by continuing to deliver hospitality the way it was meant to be delivered… with a warm smile.

Loyalty is Dead Long Live Loyalty – was declared by Sales Force CEO Marc Benioff.Maybe the loyalty programs are the things of the past, but earned loyalty is the glue that keeps your customers and guests coming back time after time.There is a difference between guest satisfaction and guest loyalty-

How do you develop loyalty.  You will need to earn it over and over again. 

Whether you know it or not, you have a personal brand.  Admit it you have at least once Googled your name, I confess, I  check my google presence regularly. Reason is to see how my different online blog posts, podcasts, videos are found in the all mighty Google. I also check out my prospective business contacts to see how they present themselves and their personal brand on Linkedin and Google. The results are always interesting and tells something about the person.

This podcast episode ¨Why your personal brand is important ¨, shares important tips for students, job seekers, entrepreneurs and people past their corporate career keen to make an impact.  

Someone once said: ̈If you lose your brand and integrity you lose everything. ¨

Chances are someone is going to Google you to learn more about who you are. The question is, do you want to allow your online reputation to take on a life of its own or control the narrative? With the proliferation of social media and the gig economy, it has become essential for everyone to embrace personal branding.

Diane Mulcahy, the author of The Gig Economy, says,

 ¨We’re seeing only one trend here, which is that the gig economy is big and getting bigger. Companies will do just about anything to avoid hiring full-time employees. Add to that the fact that there is no job security anymore, and workers are increasingly aware that they need to work differently if they want to create any sort of stability for themselves.”

As a result, workers need to be able to clearly communicate who they are and what they do to stand out to prospective clients and employers. If you aren’t effectively managing your online reputation, then you run the risk of losing out on business.

Whether you’re looking for a better job or more sales for your company, personal branding is more important than ever. You don’t need to be Richard Branson to have a great personal brand. It’s just a matter of continually crafting and curating your digital presence and most importantly, keep it real! Your honesty, transparency and authenticity are what will differentiate you in the long-run. You never get a second chance to make a first impression—make it one that will set you apart, build trust and reflect who you are.

Mediterranean represents one third of all tourism arrivals. Mediterranean region is also hitting the news headlines, regularly sadly focusing on terrorist attacks, economic crisis, political crisis and immigrant drowning.

My guest Andrew Agius Muscat, General Secretary and Co – Founder of Mediterranean Tourism Foundation explains about his mission in life to organise events that will bring people together who are not directly related to tourism, but anyone interested in Mediterranean Tourism. This mission has been recognised and is supported by people from all walks in life, and dignitaries such as

The upcoming Mediterranean Stars Festival music event mentioned in the show will  bringing 15 pop music stars to Malta. Here is the LINK to the event.

In the early fifties Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary where the first confirmed summiting of Mount Everest. 66 years later the peak has become so popular that there are lines of climbers waiting to reach the same peak. Climbers are taking risks while waiting, and this has not been without casualties even this year, during the wait to reach the famous peak.

In 2018 a TV series ¨Memories of Al Hambra ¨ was produced for the Korean TV, and it became a hit worldwide. With the popularity of the TV series Granada and Al Hambra has become a very popular destination for Asians to visit, a destination originally popular for historical tourism. Al Hambra Palace and Fortress in Granada, Andalusia was a place where artists and intellectuals had taken refuge as the Reconquista by Spanish Christians won victories over Al Andalus. The Alhambra integrates natural site qualities with constructed structures and gardens, and is a testament to Moorish culture in Spain and the skills of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian artisans, craftsmen, and builders of their era. Why am I highlighting this?

Tourism arrivals to Europe has grown from 391M in 2000 to 619M in 2018. There are several factors that are contributing to this growth of arrivals. People have more time and money to spend on travel, enjoying to tick off their travel bucket list. Of course the impressive growth of Chinese travel has had a positive impact on the overall growth. We can even feel it here in the Northern Europe, as first stop to Europe from Asia.

It is easier to book flights, hotels and tours via internet and especially mobile generated bookings are taking over. It is easy to find places with Google Map and get a wealth of information about the place we like to visit.

There is a downside of travel visiting world heritage sites and popular destinations are feeling the impact congestion externalities, an expression popularised by economists. You arrive with high exceptions and enthusiasm what was used to be known as a ¨hidden gem ¨. However when you arrive it is overcrowded, and not how you thought it would be.

There are several pieces in this puzzle missing, which begs the question. When is the best time to visit so I do not arrive to an overcrowded place? The question is also how can Emerging Technology support responsible tourism? What role can emerging technologies play in shaping the tourism and travel patterns?

In my chat with Jayanth Kolla my go to expert in emerging technologies, we talk about three key strategies that partly could be the answer to this burning question.