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This is an article about how 1/3 of all consumers would subscribe to receive mobile messages from their favorite suppliers, retailers, etc. It is interesting to note that 70% of respondents to the survey would not use mobile messaging with their work colleagues, but they will with financial institutions, healthcare (even to using mobile messaging with their Dr.) and travel instances/ie confirmations. Further, nearly half of consumers would subscribe if the message was personalized to them based on their specific choices or preferences.

This article talks about how hotels can use location based marking to drive business and create customer loyalty. Hotels and restaurants can use proximity marketing and geofencing to get the messages out to customers. Proximity marketing uses Bluetooth technology and WIFI to send messages to a customers mobile phone when they are within a specific proximity to your business. Geofencing creates a virtual "fence" that once the customer is within this area they can be reached on their mobile device. Hotels can use this technology to build customer loyalty by sending special messages to guests when they enter the hotel. These personalized messages can you give a competitive advantage by making the guest feel special and welcome. They can also send messages to guests encouraging them to visit the hotel's restaurant or spa instead of going somewhere else. According to a recent study, customers are willing to give up personal information and privacy in exchange for money saving deals. It is important for hotels and restaurants to take advantage of this new technology to reach the people who are willing and want to be contacted this way.

Hi Dawn This article is great and learning about proximity marketing made me understand it way more now. I think that it could be a good feature to reach out to people that signed up for your program when they get within a certain distance to your property to get them know about current specials. I know if I was part of a loyalty program at a hotel this would make me feel special for sure having them send me a personalized message to my phone upon returning to the property. With the economy where it is at people will willingly give up their personal information to get deals that can save them money for sure. Great post!

In the article, "Travel Agents Increase Use of GDS to Book Hotel Rooms," it talked about how the leading global provider of revenue is generating solutions for hotels, it shows how important GDS platforms are to travel agents. "84 percent of respondents indicated that they were using their GDS platform the same amount or more often than in the past, with 35 percent stating that they are using GDS more." Back in 2009, when the last study was conducted, about 26 percents of travel agents said that they used their GDS platform more often than in the past. This study also states that the annual GDS shopping displays will be over $50 million in 2011, which will increase more than a million bookings compared to 2010. There was another survey that was done and they surveyed different travel agents from across the world that were subscribed to a major GDS system. In the survey the travel agents indicated that promotional messages are effective and often prompt bookings. Out of the travel agents they surveyed, 66% said that they were aware of the "promotional messages requested addition information by looking at the screen attached to he promotional message." From this survey it showed that promotional messages are an excellent way to reach travel agents and from reaching the agent, they also reaching the customer, it's a win-win reaction.

I enjoyed the part about brand and promotional messaging, that is always a lure for me. When I see an attractive offer, evern If I'm not interested in booking or going to the destination, I often click on it anyway just to see the offer. It is a very effective marketing tool.

Restaurant Message Marketing is growing extremely quickly.  It is increasing revenues for restaurants.  By opting-in, clients can receive coupons from the restaurants automatically.  With the added use in smartphone technology, this is a e-marketing strategy that many hospitality firms will look to implore in the near future.

Telecommunication is a kind of trasmission and information. In old times, smoke signal or colorful flags were used as telecommunications. Nowadays, telecommunication involves use of electrical devices such like telephones and videos.  I think there are lots of people among us working in restaurant right now. So I want to ask a question: Does it frequently happen  that the phone rings when you are crazy with customers' orders? I am always struggling in such crazy situation which leads me to bad working mood. In this article, it mentioned telecommunication method that help servers in restaurant handle with phone calls in rush hours. Instead of voice message, Automated Attendant will send voice messages directly to managers' emails, which means not have to pick up the phone to hear voice mails. It really makes sense because sometimes servers even have no time to listen to the voice mails in phones, which will let restaurant miss some important dinner reservations. So as a server in restaurant, I do think telecommunication is helpful and significant.

"TravelCLICK, Inc. the leading provider of emarketing solutions for the hotel industry. This results are from a three year old survey that demonstrates travel agents continue to increase their reliance on Global Distribution Systems (GDS) promotions for hotel bookings. Conducted for TravelCLICK by Phoenix Marketing International, the online, biannual survey included 500 travel agents from 30 countries, representing the four major GDS systems-Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, and Worldspan. The study finds that 41 percent of travel agents worldwide are using their GDS platform more often than in the past, while 30 percent are using the GDS shopping displays more often. When asked about their awareness of GDS promotional messages, 55 percent of travel agents recalled seeing promotional messages in the past three months. Of this group, 52 percent made a booking at a hotel shown in the promotional message they saw, while 68 percent requested more information by looking at the click-through screen attached to the promotional message, and more than 70 percent looked inside the GDS systems for more information. "

Earlier his week I learned about Proximity Marketing and I am not certain if I like the idea.  According to this article written by Romanov, Proximity Marketing "combines the digital and physical worlds in a new way, offers many advantages to both consumers and retailers. It's an agile ad strategy that allows merchants to make changes on the fly to improve message effectiveness and reach sales targets on specific items. It provides amazing consumer insights." Sounds like a great concept; it uses mobile devices, which most people have, to send an alert once shoppers are within range advising that bargains are available.  The consumer then has the choice to accept (or not) the message, which could be a simple discount or even an interactive game.  The consumer's privacy is protected as it is at no cost to them.  This can potentially increase retailer sales, at a lower costs, and produces data on consumer buying habits.  Win-Win. The issue I have with this is the overall multitude of alerts received from various retails.  I am not concerned about privacy issues; it is more of an annoyance issue. 

I actually like this idea because I shop aimlessly. When I'm in the radius of a sale I get excited!!. It makes it easy to choose which store I will go into. It will be great if you can turn the alert on and off. On days I'm not shopping I don't want the alerts to go off. That can be distracting and annoying.

I think it is important not to post just a message on your online marketing initiatives, but to post the right message. As highlighted, viral marketing is most effective when the message is passed along to other users. Its all about spreading the word.

This article discusses proximity marketing within the hospitality industry. Proximity marketing is a growing useful tool. Hotels are among those utilizing proximity marketing. As noted in the article and highlighted in yellow, proximity marketing allows the hotel to reach there guest after they check in. Following check in your phone can be used as increased access to the hotel. Proximity marketing is an enhancement which leads to increased innovation. Per the article proximity marketing is one of the most effective advertising tools to become available for hotels. Through proximity marketing messages are transferred to the guest cell phone. The cell phone access has the ability to lead to increased revenue. The hotel and guest can interact in new ways. This form of marketing caters to guest engagement, provides a new method of communication and allows for guests to receive information. Proximity Marketing is an innovative tool that I believe will continue and grow as the years continue.

Mobile proximity marketing in my opinion will continue more vigorously in the future . This is a captive audience for the hotel to connect with its guests to upsell , inform , drive business to the brand and its affiliates as well as a great tool for guest retention . Undoubtedly , the cell phone has replaced Ipads and computers in the movement for vacation guests for example . A guest would usually not take their laptops to the pool area but will more often than not , take their cell phone. A popup Ad while walking by the boutique or an outlet can stir emotions to visit or purchase that was never planned.

This article discusses how, using proximity marketing and hotels can deliver relevant content to guests' mobile devices at moments of maximum influence, in a contextually relevant environment. With proximity marketing, hotels can advertise to a captive audience without leaving their property or hotel rooms. Messages can be tailored according to the hotel or advertising partner's needs in real-time.

Note: my above post is comprised of highlighted excerpts and intended to be in quotes but the editing tab is not working accordingly. No plagiarism is intended and credit goes to the authors of the posted web page. Nelson AS DESCRIBED ; this is the fundamental problem with the proximity marketing process. The fact that this is some sort of "subliminal" type of messaging through push marketing, that not only send out ads but collectively gathers personal data, should be an area of concern for everyone utilizing a smart device. "Our in-app features enable you to reach the right customer and push the right message at the right time and at the right location BLE iBeacons for accurate mobile proximity marketing. Analyze customer patterns, dwell times, measure performance, promotions, track conversions and customer retention & loyalty better understand your customers & increase your foot traffic, sales and revenue."

This article is a good one that demonstrates how GDS are now more often used than times before. The article states that the 2011 Global Travel Agent GDS study demonstrates how important GDS platform and shopping Displays are to the travel agents. They stated the 84 percent of those who took the survey stated that they are using the GDS just as much or even more than they did in the pass and 35 % of these stated that they were using it more than they did in the pass. The article explained how these numbers have greatly increased since 2009 where only 26% agents admitted that they used the GDS systems more than before. This study is 2011 reaffirmed Travel Click's projection, which was that GDS hotel bookings would surpass %50 million in the year 2011. This was far more than that of 2010. The article goes on to explain how the GDS will improve the booking and services of the industry all around. Furthermore, the article went on to explain a worldwide survey conducted for agents who were among the largest GDS in the world and some 495 responses were collected. The survey was conducted by Phoenix Marketing International, which is and independent marketing research firm Travel agents were indicated that promotional messages were effective and prompt during bookings and 66% of these agents request additional information about it. While, 68% of these agents looked into the GDS for more information. After this survey was complete the agents who were aware of promotional messages, 46% of them made North American bookings within 3 months as a result of the promotional messaging and 44% made non- North American bookings. The survey itself shows that promotional messages were and excellent way to get the agents interested. In the article it is quoted how the promotional messages acts in a chain reaction to reach the agent and then the customer, which allows sales all over the world.

GDS provides a perfect virtual marketplace for travel inventory sellers such as hotels, airlines, and car rental systems to showcase their wares to a global Internet travel audience. The GDS is a natural outlet for hotels, resorts, and even smaller inns that want to increase revenue and online marketing exposure. As the GDS channel produces one of the highest average daily rates of any booking channel, there is a huge opportunity for hoteliers to influence travel agents through the GDS at the point-of-sale.

Yes, GDS is of great importance for tourism development. It provides such a huge market of tourism information for customers, airlines, hotels, travel agents and any parts included in the tourism. Someone said that GDS will end travel agent, however, in my opinion; they have their own advantages and will supplement each other in the future.

All Business creates this article to show the importance and revolutionary aspects of Location-based Mobile Marketing. Text messages, push notifications, in-app messaging all can be used to lure new guests into your business. It also includes a section of the best practices for this type of e-marketing.

In this article, the author pointed out that nowadays the Internet has played a prominent role in the lives of most consumers, so hotels and restaurants must make the good use of the Internet to send their marketing messages. Through the e-marketing experiences, the article has introduced some best practices as well as tactics for hotels and restaurants, revealing a list of e-marketing Do's and Don'ts. In one word, the author believed that striking the right tone is essential in an e-marketing program. Be clear, straightforward, respectful and fun to score points with recipients, and offer things they value: exclusivity and meaningful rewards. In addition, use database analysis tools to make the most of the data collected: to cater to specific groups and even personalize messages.

In this article it begins to explain property management systems PMS going mobile in the hotel industry and how beneficial it is for hotel corporations and for customers. The author explained that the most in-demand PMS function for hotels is the ability to have a real time data of room availability, access to guest information such as comments and special request, room/ work order status, and up-to-date pricing. For customers facing mobile apps they would enjoy the guest self-service of booking, self check-in/out, service request, and messaging to staff. However even though mobile devices makes such functionality seem easier mobile-enabling a PMS is not easy at all in fact, making functions available via a browser would be a huge transition for a business.

More and more are properties interested in having a PMS device that they can be accessed at anytime and anywhere. The answer to this challenge is to have PMS functions accessible via mobile devices which can be challenging for some of the systems, especially those that do not reside in cloud. For some smaller properties, the goal is to have no front desk at all and some have been quite successful in making this a reality. As stated in the Property Management Goes Mobile article, the ski resort Tremblant Elysium has been successful with using the cloud-based FrontDesk Anywhere. The guests receive a letter a week prior to check in containing a door code and 30 minutes after their arrival concierge comes to their room to complete their check in and sign the registration card. The CEO of Tremblant Elysium stated: "Guests love it because it is simple and easy and we do not have staff waiting around for people to check in." As stated in the article, guest require for Mobile PMS to include access to room availability and full front desk access including guest profiles and preferences, room/work order status, up-to-date pricing and housekeeping access for rooms statutes. Mobile-enabling PMS can be quite challenging to design, as it can bring difficulties with screen size, performance or choosing which device to use as the code must be re-written for each one. Another major concern for this type of PMS is the synchronization with other system with which PMS is integrated. As hotelier consider implementing mobile-enabling PMS device for their property, there are concerns about security as far as data storage or mobile check-in or the issuing of keys for guests. In my opinion mobile-enabling PMS is the future for smaller properties. Why would a hotel need to have a stand-alone front desk when we can use mobile phones to do the work for us as we are on the go? Eventually, we can have our staff cross trained in smaller properties all equipped with phones, all available to ch

This article discusses the wish-list for hoteliers when they are considering cloud-based systems.Tthe most in-demand mobile PMS functions include GM access to KPIs, CRM and room availability, and front desk staff access to guest information such as comments and special requests, room/work order status and consolidated messaging among staff. It would seem that with all of these personal apps that are appearing on the market, that mobilizing a PMS would be easy, but that is not the case. The code is not universal; i.e. code must be re-written for each one, although there are tools like service-oriented architecture and html5 to help. There will naturally be concerns when considering adopting a mobile PMS across properties. Before investing in a roll-out of new technology, decision-makers must ask the right questions dealing with security, data storage, and functionality.

Email marketing is a crucial component of the hotel eMarketing and online distribution strategy. The website is a key to establish interactive relationship with customers and capture client email profiles by the company. In hospitality industry, especially the travel agency frequently use the emarketing to retain the loyalty, and offer accurate communication. The permission-based email marketing is very useful and practical for sending the promotional emails. And the precision e-mail marketing used by the airlines has generated up to a fivefold increase in response rates and tenfold lower conversion costs than direct mail. The email marketing provides some benefits for hoteliers, such as low cost, accessibility, protecting brands integrity, hommization, timeliness, good visual sense and positive results. The consumers, travel intermediaries and corporate clients are the significant customers for email marketing. The hotel can stratify the customer list by specific characteristics, communicate and offer value in the message. Hotels must employ new strategies to take advantage of these opportunities to capture this Internet market.

As this class teaches us, along with this article, " the marketing power of the Internet in terms of reach and frequency." This article in particular speaks about the advantages of email marketing. With the low cost for companies in the hospitality industry, email marketing can produce positive results form the masses. The article goes on to explain how and why email marketing have been seen to be so efficient as a marketing tool. One obvious pro for instance is that everyone uses emails in today's society. After reading this article I can agree that email marketing is a very good way to put the internet to use when it comes to marketing. My concern, however, as mentioned in the article is the control the receiver has with the emails. For instance, how many emails are too much, too frequent or just not relevant? Features today have given the consumer the opportunity to now have a bit of control over this issue as I have mentioned. I believe this may be one of, if not the best form of marketing online because it gets directly to the customer, usually requires interaction whether to the main website or further clicking for deals, and sets up a format in which sufficient information can be given.

Many hospitality managers choose email for its low cost, rapid spread, and measurability. There is an incline to online purchasing, which means that Internet is the place to establish relationships with your customer, through email for instance. Email can be easily personalized, include only relevant promotions, and be a tool to keep in touch with your regular and new customers. Permission-based email is sent only to customers who have allowed to be emailed, thus, you are targeting people who gave you permission and who most likely are interested in your product/service. Email is also a better tool because it is cheaper and faster than regular mail. Also, it is easier to track the results, using the tools to see who opened the email, clicked on the link, etc. There are key factors to remember in order to be successful: -interactive relationships -frequency -personalize and relevance -permission-based The article provides a rationale for implementing total email marketing strategy.

To ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business, it is very important that the hospitality industry determine what type of telecommunication equipment is going to optimize their guest experience. Our guests want to stay connected, either they are on vacation or in a business trip. Before installing telecommunication equipments in a hotel room, it is a good idea to know what type of customers your business handles. They could be a family on vacation or professionals on a business trip. There are a lot of companies that offer telecomunications equipments for this industry, and base on customer satisfaccion , the hotel industry needs to fit customer needs....

This article definitely explains all of the uses that will benefit the guests in hotels. The first thing that it mentions is choosing a telecommunications equipment that meets all of the needs of the organization and is easy to use. This to me is the most important aspect because if you choose equipment that does not suit all of your companies needs it is not efficient at all to the company because you may then have to end up purchasing other equipment and spending more money in the long run. Choosing telecommunications equipment that is secure and has a reliable messaging system is also important because guests may need to relay messages to someone as well as employees may need to relay messages to one another. If the system is not reliable there is always a chance that messages will not be delivered to the proper person or in the proper time frame causing problems. If you can find a system that has all of these features in one it is definitely the best option for your organization. This is a great article because it talks about all of these issues which we may not realize exist.

Optimize your guests' experience with hotel telecommunications equipment In an ever more global society, many businesses are becoming progressively more dependent on telecommunications equipment. For the hospitality industry, this is an increasingly vital priority. Whether your main focus is family vacations or business trips, your guests want to stay connected.

GDS and text messaging being used in the travel agency

This article describes how Paramount Hospitality Management will utilize text messaging into their Property Management System (PMS). This new feature is intended to aid the hotel in informing the customers about property activities beyond just when their rooms are ready. It is projected that this new ability will lead to increased revenues and greater customer satisfaction.