Social Media Trends in Toursim

Inspired on the article of David Armano published by on the blog of Harvard Business Publishing I would like to try to reflect  David’s thoughts and reflexions on the tourism sector.

It is very true that in 2009 we saw exponential growth of social media. According to Nielsen Online, Twitter alone grew 1,382% year-over-year in February, registering a total of just more than 7 million unique visitors in the US for the month. Meanwhile, Facebook continued to outpace MySpace. So what could social media look like in 2010? In 2010, social media will get even more popular, more mobile, and more exclusive — at least, that's my guess. What are the near-term trends we could see as soon as next year? In no particular order:

1. Social media begins to look less social
Niche networks are an opportunity for tourism.  For example the newly created Twitter lists and Facebook News Feed hyperactivity are the perfect scene for destinations and tourism related products to provoke more attention and offer  more options to the traveler who seeks for more value. Travelers can change their mind if the feeds they receive are suggesting innovation, service, quality and value for money. The high level of customer interference in those environments may look less social but defiantly this phenomena give us more targeted ways of reaching the end user effectively and more engaging.

2. Corporations look to scale
Hyatt has been one of the first corporations in the tourism industry to assist customers online by creating http://twitter.com/HyattConcierge. This initiative is a clear example of top level and personalized customer care at low personnel cost. This kind of initiatives could hide certain risks in terms of the so called “Social Media Time Wasting” policy corporations may have. On the other hand side, a well structured use of the social media by adequately trained and customer oriented personnel, will defiantly increase in the next few years the levels of service. At the same time the competiveness criteria of tourism destinations - corporations will change and from being the price as criteria we will have the Quality of Service, and the Value for Money.

3. Social business becomes serious play
David mentions Foursquare as an example of social media becoming local and mobile. Foursquare is a US network, so what happens with the rest of the world? I would suggest you  take a tour in Ning. There are thousands of communities created who treat local tourist products and services. Communities of Companies, Destinations, CVBs, DMCs, special tourism Products and many more. As an example I bring an interesting site that aims to bring excursion funs together with independent tour guides in Cyprus www.escapes-n-breaks.ning.com . The carrots David mentions in the world of tourism can be translated into tourism prizes that would defiantly increase tourist interest to old and new destinations.

4. Your company will have a social media policy
After discussing for one month with  40 top level marketers in how social media policy is important to their tourism enterprises we realize, at least here in Cyprus, how slowly but surely tourism companies adapt dynamic social programs. Still with some reservation on how social media can help them increase sales, but those reservations will disappear when they will receive the first inquiry, in social media the first inquiry may take some time to come but it is usually a firm “sale”  and a guaranteed satisfied customer (of course if we deliver at least the expected). And yes David is very right when he says  “If the company you work for doesn't already have a social media policy in place with specific rules of engagement across multiple networks, it just might in the next year.”

5. Mobile becomes a social media lifeline
In a meeting with a hotel owner I was really surprised to see that he was very furious about the fact that the Guest Relations Officer was “playing” on Facebook. So he personally asked the hotel director to “cut” all “Facebooks”. Like this, 70% of corporations and companies are banning social media. What this banning achieves is a huge explosion in smartphone sales and we are already experiencing Guest Relation Offices playing with their blackberry in the staff cafeteria, having Nimbuzz breaks at the same time of cigarette breaks and best about this is that the hotel gets benefited.

6. Sharing no longer means e-mail
Email ? who emails today to share a link, a presentation, etc ? Hotels and travel agents are the last of “Mohicans”. The of tools we have today to share our products and services are creating a revolution www.Ping.fm  , www.hootsuite.com  or www.sendible.com are simply the tip of the iceberg. I am wondering how many will still come. With one click you share your entire hotel inventory or via iphone applications you simply put your hotel in the telephone of every iphone user.

Thank you David for the inspiration.

In times of Crisis Technological Innovation, top level Consultancy Services and Training are the key to stay profitable.

The internet has been converted into the best friend of the companies and other organisations trying to mitigate the side effects of the financial crisis.  An increase is observed on the issues of online Marketing especially in the field of tourism.

The interest of large Cypriot tourist companies to ensure valid information and to study the new trends which are daily presented in the internet is highly increased.  From our experience we see companies like Amathus Hotels, Stademos Hotels, Four Seasons Hotel, Holiday Inn Hotel in Limassol, The Intercontinental Hotel in Paphos, St. George Hotel in Paphos and smaller companies like Pefkos Hotel in Limassol and travel agencies like A.L. Mantovani Travel ,  Sunhouse Travel , Travelorama ,  Azuro Travel and many more to have strong concerns as to the management of their online reputation.

Other organizations like  Louis Tourism Organasation, preferred to incorporate in their daily routine Open Source internet tools which they aspire to change into productive internet management tools.  Louis preferred the popular Joomla Content Management System in order to build its internet tools which will be interfaced with its traditional internal management systems.  The free open source tools as well as  the popular social media tools even though are free they need training, strategic planning and most of all change of culture within the Organizations.  For this reason, consultancy services as well as a humanly understandable training programmes from well established and specialized companies are necessary.

The capability of open source and “freenium” tools to adapt to the needs of small and large companies is judged on how they are used and not on how much are those used.  Hence, large organizations like Louis Tourism Organisation decided to use consultancy services which will assist them to incorporate in their daily processes a new work culture which will include the management of their online reputation, their online clientele and finally to develop an “Online Management” which will defiantly be proved  as very productive, measurable and profitable.

In the era when financial management was in “fashion”, organizations like PriceWaterhouse Coopers, KPMG and many more have placed their foundations in the market (in Cyprus and abroad) so as the entrepreneurs use new tools to better control their companies for more profitability.Now on the era of the new technologies the Cypriot companies should consult specialized companies on how to invest on human internet capabilities and how to use new tools to continue being profitable.

If large enterprises like Louis decided this change of culture, imagine how easy this will be for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs)  to take advantage of the chance of “free” internet.  In Cyprus, in terms of consultancy,  training and especially the practical aspect of applied strategic internet, specialized professionals are available.  A sample of networking with highly qualified professionals from abroad, we had the chance to experience during the First E-Tourism Forum (www.etourism-forum.com) which took place in Limassol last February with the most recognized and well known professionals of the sector.  The Forum will be happening again in February 2010 and this time it will become a regional congress to attract tourism professionals from the Mediterranean countries.

The Choice of Expedia

I would like to thank Max Starkov for bringing up the courageous decision of Choice hotels to leave the conversations with Expedia.

Yes finally we have a big player in accommodation supply to stand up and protest actively against the “Market Dictatorship” of a portal that acts as hotel rooms online are of its property.

We keep experiencing this same authoritarian approach by wholesalers, even now after the appearance of the internet. Hoteliers in coastal resorts and especially in the Mediterranean, are under the “boot” of the tour operators. In Cyprus, due to the flight “embargo” imposed for so many years by the State of Cyprus  its through its Flying Department,  Cyprus Airways,  we suffer by what we can call  Tour Operator Stockholm Syndrome.  Big and small Tour Operators have found the perfect ground in Cyprus so as to have the last word on pricing and availabilities.

Choice Hotels is an example of a non homogeneous group of hotels that has put the interest of their owners above all other priorities. Sharing interests today is a virtue, but sharing them and making common actions in Cyprus is impossible.

In a meeting I assisted recently with tourism businessmen in the chamber of Commerce I have noticed that the interests are not shared. The tourism entrepreneurs are divided and do not share the same objectives and goals. Some think about today, some think about tomorrow some others about 2010 and many are simply pessimists that tourism industry has reached its end.

Well here I need to say that if we keep suffering in silence our “Stockholm Syndrome” then for sure we will loose the only recourse we have left on this island.

I am wondering if hoteliers, and especially the independent ones, will soon wake up and with one united voice take strategic actions and recover the lost ground.  I am wondering if we will stand up and ask for real flight freedom, I am wondering if will stand up and ask for accesible towns, I am wondering if will stand up and demand more funds Technology and Internet applications, I am wondering if we will stand up and claim the abolition of "Taxi Dictatorship" and invest in honest public transport.

Change is hard and painful but defiantly is the only way to achieve profitable numbers and quality. We are looking into change as a thread in Cyprus, we always did, now is time to see it as opportunity.

Allbury Travel Group will go bankrupt

The travel organisation the is led by Andreas Drakou and his collaborators will not support the pressure and will announce its bankruptcy just before Christmas,

This is what we think since the payments for last summer’s accommodation and services in Cyprus are paid with great delays and after huge pressures from the stakeholders.

Allbury Travel  that took over all Libra Holidays operations 2 years ago it was contempt to die since the directors were still managing the finances of the company as if they were their pocket money.

I am wondering how many tourists will stay in destinations and how many booking will remain unpaid.
It seems that hoteliers and other suppliers do not understand the bankruptcy of Allbury will take the reputation of the Cypriot Travel Product even lower.

I guess after this post I will get another phone call from them asking why I give them bad name. They will get their answer soon ... even better they will answer the question themselves in less than 2 months time.

In Tourism, innovation, training and collaboration can turn Crisis into an Oportunity

The internet has become the first ally of Tourism Companies to fight Crisis. In the last months there is an increased interest from Cypriot travel companies to get trained on E-Marketing.

This interest is mainly visible among the big travel related companies who are keen to have their top level marketers trained to face the new challenges using The Online as  Major Business tool.

From our experience we see companies such as Louis Group, the Amathus Hotels, Stademos Hotels, the hotel Four Seasons in Limassol, the Aphrodite Hills Intercontinental, the Hotel St. George, the Capo Bay Hotel, the small Pefkos Hotel in Limassol, the Hotel Grecian Park, the travel agencies Elpis Travel, A.L Mantovani, CTT, Sunhouse and many others including the newly renovated Napa Mermaid (which already is managing its online reputation in a more active and effective manner), to have great interest on Online Marketing training. They want to create the adequate circumstances within their organisation so as the online becomes part of their dayily management routine.

This is the line the Cyprus Tourism Organisation is following as well. After the in house training the staff of the CTO received from October 08 until March 09 they have realised the need to manage their Online Reputation effectively and this is the reason that from this moment we will be able to see and feel online actions with direct and indirect reflections on Cyprus’ good name online.

This innovative initiative is the result of long training and change in the way the CTO sees Online tools. The seed was planted in October 08 and grew especially during the first E-tourism Forum (www.etourism-forum.com) that took place in Cyprus last February. Speakers from all over the world, experts in Online Marketing, have given their views on Tourism from very different, interesting and practical points of view.
Probably is the first time in the history of Cyprus that the Public Sector leads on the online world and this is the greatest opportunity for the Private Sector to join and create a strong cluster of collaboration with the objective to fight crisis and come out of it stronger and more competitive tourism wise.

Measures to boost Tourism in Cyprus cause collateral damage

Lately we hear on the news that the measures the Cyprus government adopted to boost tourism will continue for the year 2010.

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism through the Cyprus Tourism Organization spends millions of Euros on “bonus plans” to the Tour Operators from almost all over the world (at least all the markets they consider primary) who manage to land tourist in Larnaca(LCA) and Paphos(PFO) Airports. This policy is widely accepted in the Tourism Sector since the bonus is given to the Tour Operators either according to the number of passengers landed or as advertisement fees for the advertising campaigns the Tour Operators make in the country of origin.

The list of the Tour Operators is huge and is of public domain. What is not public is the amount of bonus each Tour Operator received and the agreement signed between the 2 parts. Nevertheless, studying the list we will see companies from the UK, USA, Germany, France, Italy, East Europe, Arab Countries and many others.
Lately we had some rumors that an Italian Tour Operator that had a bonus agreement with the Republic of Cyprus and also had contracts with hotels in “North Cyprus”. This provoked the reaction of the Minister and the Tourism Professionals in the Republic and the Minister promised to investigate the mater in depth.
The fact that tourists land to Larnaca and then taxis, private cars or other means of transport drive them to the hotels in “North Cyprus” is neither a secret nor a lie. It can be for sure verified very easily just by visiting the arrivals hall of Larnaca airport and see taxi drivers holding signs with names of hotels located in the “other Cyprus”. Hotels like “Acapulco Hotel “ Kyrenia”, “Manolia Hotel in Lapythos”, “Dome Hotel - Kyrenia” and many others including many casinos.

The big tour operators that land to Larnaca and Paphos such as Thomas Cook and Thomson “ Tui do not only offer Tourist Packages with flight, hotel and transfers but they also offer flight-only options to their customers. They do than not only in Cyprus but all over the world and there is nothing wrong with that, on the contrary they cater for the FIT market (Free Independent Travelers) who definitely have a different spending power and interests. Now, in Cyprus since the road blocks to the “North” are still open there is no way to control who and why visits the “North”. What happens the last years is that tourists who the Greek Cypriots taxpayers have paid them to come to Cyprus, land in Laranca and then spend their holidays in hotels that were built on Greek Cypriot occupied land. The internet and especially travel forums and the Social Media sphere are full with comments like "We had a wonderful time in North Cyprus, we flew to Larnaca with Thomsonfly..."

This shows us that our Government in an indirect but “effective” manner is taking the “North out of the economic isolation”. We, the Greek Cypriot taxpayers even now in times of Crisis and when tourist overnights are down by at least 20%, still support the model of prizing operators and airlines. It is not possible to control who is crossing the Green Line since the road blocks remain open. We cannot prohibit to EU citizens to go on holidays on European land but we can stop paying for that.

At last we have to stop pumping tax money into the bank accounts of the big guys and look into a serious change of tourism policy, we should finally make this policy very personal. We need to look at tourism as a face to face relationship with each and every visitor to Cyprus. I would suggest new bonus plans that have direct effect to all the visitors, we need to encourage independent travelers to come to our country and stay here with us. Bonus plans that promote our hospitality and do not give in to the “warnings" of the “feudal lords of tourism”. For more information I remind you the speech of a director of  Thomson - Tui during the Hoteliers Association Conference in Nicosia the 12th of February 2009 when in front of the minister of Public Works and the Minister of Tourism said, “help us to help you” when in a direct manner asked us for more money. He and his team were pushing for a 20% discount on the contracted rates for 2009 something that they achieved. During lunch break he also achieved a 5% retroactive discount on the pending invoices in order to “decrease corporate losses”. Nevertheless the biggest achievement for companies like Tui was to assure that the Cypriot taxpayers keep paying them to bring visitors to the legal airports of the country and then let them free to visit “the uncovered north where time seems stopped, the authentic Cyprus, North Cyprus”

Dear Mr. Paschalides in tourism we need measures without collateral damages, we need measures that assure future to the only industry left which you can be minister of, we need to control those measures and make sure they really bring a benefit. We want those measures to be under the control of those who pay them.