The social media plays an essential
role in the tourism industry. This graph below shows a clear growing trend of
social medias on travelers.
Source: MarketingZ
We may wonder why a such
enthusiasm? Is it only an ephemeral or a lasting trend?
In this article, we will highlight two major aspects,
discussed by I. Katemliadis in Travel Daily News, that clearly show the
significance of the social media in the travel industry. However, we will also
investigate more about its legitimacy.
In our ultra-connected era,
social medias play a significant role in the tourism industry.
Firstly, it allows tourism
specialists to better know their consumers: indeed, thanks to social medias
like Facebook, Twitter or TripAdvisor, they can easily identify and understand
their consumers’ needs and desires. Travelers post about their experiences and
expectations, giving hotels the chance to have a better understanding of them.
As such, it also allows a better targeting. However, the author insists that
tourism specialists should keep in mind that social media’ users do not
constitute the totality of their clientele. The risk here is to forget this
other part of their consumers by focusing exclusively on their ultra-connected
clientele.
Hotels also need to be
aware of the very fast changing trends of social medias. We can here take the
example of Facebook which was the most popular social network for the 18-24 age
group very recently whereas it is now slightly shrinking in the same group. The
65+ age group has now a bigger growth presence rate than the 18-24 age group.
Hotels always have to adapt their way of communication to their targeting
customers. Furthermore, the Travel Daily News’ article highlights that Youtube
is today an incontournable tool of communication since it has the highest
visitation rate. Most of largest hotel groups have now their own Youtube Channel, where they can regularly upload videos about their properties.
Therefore, social medias are a good way to find and collect accurate information about customers. However, this is not the unique way anymore to manage it. Indeed, as mentioned by T. Rokou in Travel Daily News, an artificial intelligence has been recently introduced in the travel industry. Now, “Phil le Voyageur” is able to communicate with travelers, by chatting, and to give theme advices and information.
Furthermore, reputation and company’s image are increasingly
managed through social medias. It is significant for the company to find the
most appropriate tools for the image that the company wants to give to its
clients and potential consumers. The company must take care and keep a close
watch on what is written about itself and how it could affect it.
Besides, a recent
TripAdvisor survey indicates that responding to comments could be favourable to
the company. Positions, such as Community Managers, are now crucial for any
kind of companies which want to manage their online reputation. However, it is
here important to note that one third of the online reviews are fake. Tourism
companies should necessarily work closely with the social medias in order to
avoid this practise. Not all the
travelers write online reviews: it could be either because they are not
familiar with social medias or because their trip was not remarkable. Hotels
need to also take into consideration these kinds of travelers. For instance,
properties could offer to their guests to fill surveys in their room before
their departure in order to have their opinion.
Finally, it is still
difficult to distinguish serious issues from benign problems met by consumers
and explained in their social media’s reviews. That is why the face to face
contact, by phone or by e-mail remains always necessary and beneficial.
Clothilde and Louise
Sources:
http://www.traveldailynews.com/columns/article/51220/social-media-and-the-hotel
Clothilde and Louise
Sources:
http://www.traveldailynews.com/columns/article/51220/social-media-and-the-hotel
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