- Guides unveiled for London, Edinburgh, Dublin & Manchester
- New venture coincides with YOY mobile sales growth increase of 17%
- Campaign responds to Deloitte’s Digital Channels in Travel January report
Hotel Direct has responded to a recent study into social media integration with a range of new online city guides.
The study, conducted by Deloitte, found that more than 50 percent of travel executives believe their companies are behind the competition concerning digital media presence. To address the issue, Hotel Direct have come up with an innovative campaign that harnesses the power of Twitter.
“We are always looking into ways of adding value for our customers, particularly online,” says company director Mark Wilson. “After extensive research, we found the web was saturated with well-written city guides, more often than not written by hoteliers or travel experts. There seemed a gap for more of-the-moment advice, written by locals who live and breathe their home cities and Twitter provided the ideal platform to pass on these expert recommendations.”
The idea was to utilize Twitter’s List functionality to collate a carefully selected collection of twitter feeds from local experts. Featuring tour guides, historians and event organizers who tweet about places to eat, cultural activities, the best deals, trending events and fascinating local facts, Hotel Direct have created a unique alternative to the guidebook – at the cost of an internet connection.
All users need to do is subscribe to the lists, found at Hotel Directs Twitter List. To provide further inspiration, Hotel Direct have also interviewed each of the Twitter List members on their Event Hub, including influencers such as @KERB_, @CURIOCITYMag and @CitySocializer.
To help spread the word about the unique resource, Hotel Direct recently launched a competition themed around its inaugural London list. Each of the list members was asked to recommend one hidden gem in London and these were used to create an action-packed weekend itinerary of activities for 2, including a stay at one of Hotel Direct’s 4-star hotels.
The eventual prize featured tickets to Simon Drake’s House of Magic, a guided tour of Soho and a canal cruise on Regents Park Canal. On the activities, competition winner Daneeka said the experience was: “something very different and enjoyable” getting the chance to “view some amazing street art… great views and the most wonderful painted ceilings of St. Pauls” to name but a few of the recommendations.
Hotel Direct has rolled out Twitter lists for London, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Dublin. With recent figures confirming online bookings up 27% year on year, the company is proving the worth of social interaction with improved sales.
Sources:
Deloitte survey: http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/travel-company-social-media-capitalization-press-release.html
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About Hotel Direct:
Launched in 1997, Hotel Direct is a hotel booking service wholly based in the UK. Over 2 million people have booked hotels with Hotel Direct. They are the only hotel agent with a full 5 star Google seller rating and a near-perfect score of 4.9/5.
About the author
Are Morch is the founder and owner of Are Morch – Hotel Marketing Coach. Get more from Are on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Instagram| Podcast
