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posting images to their websites of breathtaking views and enticing pools that sometimes owe a lot to the marketer's imagination or reflect additional luxuries not necessarily found in the real hotel rooms.

"photo fakeouts

Misleading pictures are why the undercover researchers at Oyster.com take their own pictures.

hotel review website tries to capture the gritty reality behind those glittering hotel ads by posting their images side by side with the hotels'.

You don't get to vacation all that often, and you show up and it's not exactly what you were expecting or what you were hoping for,"

"They've manipulated you in some way. ... That's not OK."

On the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill's website, a photo makes it look like the hotel is practically next door to the U.S. Capitol. It's close but not that close: The Capitol is about a quarter of a mile away.

a room that looked spacious on the hotel's website actually measured a little more than 8 feet at its widest point, and there was a wall just 22 inches from the bed.

Switching to the cloud from a client server platform pays off with a big drop in both the initial capital outlay and the ongoing operating costs for the property management and other systems.

pects of a franchisee’s business, from guest check-ins and housekeeping services to billing and finances. Over time new features have been rolled into the software platform making it more robust and useful for hotel owners—it’s currently distributed in eight countries and available in four languages. And while plenty of cloud-based PMS packages are now available from third-party vendors like Micros, Maestro, and RoomKey, Choice’s internal solution has garnered its fair share of attention. “We had been getting knocks on the door from IT vendors at other hotel companies and individual Choice franchisees that own other brands, saying they were interested in our product,” says Pacious, “So we set up a new division so we could take a look at other opportunities we could develop.” This led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system. Pages: 1 2 3 4 2013-06-18 Sean Downey !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); (function() { var li = document.createElement('script'); li.type = 'text/javascript'; li.async = true; li.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//platform.stumbleupon.com/1/widgets.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); inShare0 Related Articles attachment-3

his led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system. Pages: 1 2 3 4 2013-06-18 Sean Downey !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); (function() { var li = document.createElement('script'); li.type = 'text/javascript'; li.async = true; li.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//platform.stumbleupon.com/1/widgets.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); inShare0 Related Articles Hotel Market Insight: Cleveland a

This led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system.

2. Build Your Credibility

Let’s face it – there are unscrupulous hotels who don’t care an iota about their guests. They trick their guests, overpromising in terms of their facilities and amenities and delivering sub-par service. This is why a lot of travelers have developed a healthy level of skepticism toward hotels and this is why it is important that you convey credibility on your website.

3. Make It Extremely Easy To Book a Room in Your Hotel

4. Display Customer Service Channels Prominently

7. Ensure That Your Website is Mobile Friendly

5. Make Your Website Easy to Navigate

6. Have a Single Call to Action Per Page

Best e-commerce practice dictates that you should always be reachable to answer questions from those who want to book a room with your hotel, but need their questions answered first. Not having this information prominently displayed on your site can spell a difference between a non-booking and a successful booking.

8. Ensure That Your Website is Secure for Financial Transactions

The Internet is always under attacked by various security threats and one of the issues that always make people wary is the security of their financial information online. This is why it is important for you to demonstrate that your website can handle financial transactions safely.

9. Always Have an Email Collection Mechanism in Place

10. Use Persuasion Elements

Videos Use video to give viewers valuable information that benefits them as opposed to your business. Do not use videos to give a monologue on how great your resort is

Online Business Listings

Registering your business with Google Maps and Yahoo Business Listings will help it come up in the top of the search results when consumers search for keywords that relate to your business. It’s free and only takes a few minutes.

Blogs and Articles Produce large amounts of informative, keyword-rich content about your destination that will attract attention and establish you as an expert in your field,

Social Media Create Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles in the name of your tourist destination. Post links to your blogs, articles, photos and video. Update followers of your profile about special events and promotions at your destination, and link to interesting articles about the industry, the area and activities that your fans may enjoy.

Email Marketing Gather contacts from your Facebook fans, Twitter followers and past customers. Send weekly or monthly email newsletters with updated information about your destination, new activities and special travel offers.

The study revealed that European properties with 30 or more photos have 42 percent more engagement than hotels with 10 or fewer photos

Like Norwegian, it will rely heavily on an app component, that, like Carnival, will also be available on interactive screens around the ship, in addition to mobile devices and stateroom TVs. And, like Royal, MSC will have a smart watch with geo-location that is also connected to the app.

Beyond that, Royal Caribbean plans to add virtual reality and augmented reality into the passenger experience. These concepts might transform cabin interiors with images of a starry night or a peaceful sunset displayed on screens on the walls, ceiling and floors. It could also transform dining by introducing virtual reality glasses that can transform the venue into a new landscape based on the cuisine passengers are eating.

In the short-term, those innovations will looks like this: Guests will check-in through facial recognition technology — not check-in counters, thus eliminating lines. On board, passengers will be able to sign up for excursions, order drinks and make dinner reservations from a new Royal Caribbean app that also will enable crew to find passengers based on facial recognition. The app will partner with Royal’s WOW Bands, similar to Disney’s MagicBands, to open stateroom doors. And, thanks to RFID tags on luggage, guests will also be able to track the progress of their bags to their rooms. As with Carnival, the more passengers interact with the technology, the better equipped the app will be to offer meaningful recommendations.

For example, as guests approach their stateroom doors, the door senses the medallion and unlocks it for them. A digital photo wall senses a passenger’s approach — thanks to the medallion — and adjusts to show the cruiser his or her vacation pictures. After a guest requests a drink, either on an interactive screen, a smart phone or other device, crew can find that passenger wherever he or she is on the vessel because of the geo-location in the medallion.The operating system behind the medallion is Ocean Compass, an online vacation profile that passengers create before sailing, where they input their preferences; during the trip, they can add information via onboard screens and personal devices. Crew can also access passenger profiles in Ocean Compass, allowing them to offer relevant suggestions and address passengers by name.

In January, Carnival revealed the result of an 18-month project aimed at making the cruise experience more intuitive. Instead of largely relying on a smart phone, the company chose to build a “medallion.” The quarter-sized, two-ounce disc contains passenger information, incorporates geo-location services and is personalized with each cruiser’s name and sail date. It can be carried in pockets or worn on wristbands or pendants for an additional cost.The medallion interacts with the whole of the ship, which will be retrofitted with thousands of sensors and interactive screens, and miles of cable.

But with the new technology will likely come privacy concerns. Much of the software cruise lines are introducing also involves capturing passenger information and using it to curate suggestions about what to do.

It’s already happening. In 2014, Starwood Hotels announced plans to start using smart phones as hotel keys, with the help of an app and Bluetooth connection. Hilton this year discussed plans to build a “Connected Room” in 2018, which will allow guests to control features of the room through an app, including lighting, entertainment and temperature.

It elevates the experience for everyone, not just the highest paying passengers, and not just on its best and newest units. I think it will become the norm...eventually the cruise industry and, not just the cruise industry, but other places, other tourism [entities].

The technology aims to ease irritations: the long lines to embark or disembark, crowded bars, the impersonal feeling of a mass congregation of people.

Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and MSC Cruises — have all come out with tech that promises to make cruising a less cumbersome experience. Most of it incorporates facial recognition and geo-location.

In the next five years, the new normal in cruising is going to be a better-connected voyage that will largely do away with lines and waiting — some of the factors that deter travelers from cruising to begin with.

after moderation, they are posted live

You can easily display a social media stream over an LCD screen or big plasma installed at the wedding location

The wedding hashtag you created for the posts should be placed somewhere where it is clearly visible

It’s a great way to see a wedding from multiple perspectives.

For companies that already have a content management system or guest platform, it’s easy to integrate secure optical character recognition in the form of biometrics facial recognition technology that matches a face with an ID to generate a QR code

Case in point: Hoteza, an interactive, guest-facing platform, is using biometrics to verify photo-based identification for mobile check-in. Over 500 hotels around the globe including Hilton, Radisson, Wyndham, Kempinski, IHG, and Accor look to Hoteza’s cloud-based content management system for online check-in solutions, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), mobile and in-room tablet apps, digital signage, and high-speed Internet access

Biometrics not only helps recognize users when they attempt to log in to the hospitality guest platform, but it also reduces operational costs by enabling self-service capabilities

Hotels and resorts each offer a unique personalized experience when greeting customers as they walk in the door, but if there is one common thread in the industry it’s that hospitality professionals constantly go the extra mile to create a superior experience. Biometrics is advancing that by blending familiarity and ease-of-use with modern, secure, and innovative technology

re-think how collaboration is done in the conference room and how they are designing the next generation of computing interfaces

. Using special software and "spatial wands", the technology works with the touch screens already in our smartphones and tablets to take sharing and moving data to a new Minority Report level.

For instance, Oblong's product Mezzanine lets you take photos with your smartphone and share them on TV screens in the room. Or you can use the wand to grab a shot of the whiteboard, drag it onto a screen, and use your smartphone to annotate it. No matter what device you have, you can share media with everyone else in the conference room.

Spectrio is an all-inclusive audio/video/digital marketing company that was able to work with The Hutton Hotel to create a video email that could go out to the blast list, with the hope that this unique promotional medium would show the hotel to clients without them ever having to visit the property.

The Dreaming Phase: Where should I travel next? When online travel planners are looking for vacation inspiration, they can now turn to Facebook Graph Search to see places their friends have visited. This adds a more personalized element to researching possible vacation destinations. Users can search phrases like "Photos taken at places my friends have been to" and "Photos taken at hotels by my friends" to see more personalized search results from friends rather than conducting a more general Google search for potential travel destinations.

The Sharing Phase: How can I make my friends jealous? Not only can Facebook Graph Search help users discover recommendations from friends on things to do, it also allows them to share their own experiences on Facebook to add additional content to the Facebook Graph. One guest's Experience and Sharing phase can potentially ignite and influence a future guest's Inspiration and Planning phase when they view friends' scenic and enticing travel photos in Facebook Graph Search results.

Guest history modules

a special report

The House Keeping module

CCTV surveillance

The next step would be to have a stringent recruitment procedure in place.

In addition, all employees must be allowed access only into their areas of work.

an online central passport and ID card verification mechanism must be introduced,

A communication engine can be further used to send out pre-defined messages,

simple technology put to effective use,

Artificial intelligence for events

The right event apps

creating content such as photos, videos, articles, and social media posts that do not boldly promote the business but generates an interest in it.

good for customer retention as it engages customers and keeps them in the loop about your services.

search engine optimization, is a marketing strategy that aims at improving your rankings on search engine results pages.

if a potential client searches for “affordable hotels in town A”, chances are he/she will click on some of the results appearing in the first results page

Currently, customers often look up online opinions, ratings, and reviews of your business before making a purchase.

Paid searches involve making payments to search engines such as Google, so that your site’s results may appear first whenever someone searches for a certain keyword.

Search Engine Advertising also requires a lot of technical input. First, you need to identify the right key search words used by potential customers, such as “best spas in town B”. Secondly, getting advertising space on search engines involves a bidding war.

social media is the go-to platform for most internet users

Averagely, internet users spend 30% of their online time on social networking sites. It is, therefore, a great place for advertising your service

The social media marketing strategy will, therefore, aim at reaching users of all social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and LinkedIn

SEA (Search engine advertising), on the other hand, enables you to achieve this almost instantly.

A good e-reputation marketing strategy is multi-disciplinary that often requires input from digital marketing and public image consultants.

Good user experience is determined by several factors. For starters, your web design and layout should be captivating, and easy to use. At the same time, the platform should work well on computers as well as mobile devices and tablets. All these are tasks that are handled by digital marketing agencies.

The key issue in this strategy is to get the content right. It needs to be engaging and captivating so as to draw an audience

In 2019, 63% of social media marketers confirmed that social listening would be crucial in 2020 to continue to engage the traveler

over 40% of social media users are now asking questions on Property and Destination Opening instead of asking for cancellations, showing a highly engaged potential guest.

organizations that respond well to a crisis and continue communications see a 20% increase in brand value as opposed to those companies that respond poorly see a 30% decrease

she owes the success of the campaign on turning the focus from the brand to the guest and their needs during the quarantine.

Building trust is critical for a brand, however sustained engagement to drive bookings and revenue from social media is the key success metric for most marketing leaders.

mitigating negative reviews is critical for driving demand in the future.

encouraging guests to share photos and awarding a two-week stay voucher and promoting the health standards and safety measures taken by the brand.

BCV’s RoI focussed strategy that micro-targeted source markets and personas created tailored content for Cinnamon hotels to deliver more than 200 room nights worth of revenue and an RoI that exceeded 200.

Brands need to understand who their target audience is, what they care about, and how they manage their time to capture their attention.

Instagram now has a shopping feature, which allows users to check out new products from brands in a few swipes. This shows that visual content is more crucial than ever—you can literally put a price tag on your photos on Instagram now.

Every Digital Platform has its own metrics and today, Digital Marketers can track close to 50 metrics to show success such as followers, traffic, share of voice and many more however as hospitality marketers emerge from this pandemic

During the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, Holiday Inn used AR to create immersive experiences for guests around the hotel. Using a mobile device, guests were able to overlay photos or videos of their favorite athletes into a real-world setting.

They used these beacons to send virtual keys to their guests, allowing them to unlock their hotel rooms through their smartphones. All they had to do was tap a button.

The best thing about AR is that it is very accessible. Unlike virtual reality, guests won’t have to wear and carry around bulky headsets. Since AR overlays computer-generated elements into real-world settings, guests are able to see the environment around them at all times