Study Snapshot: Hospitality Industry Trends & Marketing Plans
A new survey showing the industry's outlook for 2012 incorporating responses from more than 9,000 accommodation owners and managers worldwide, has just been released by TripAdvisor.
The TripAdvisor 2012 Industry Index brings forward the hotel industry’s outlook for the year ahead, ranging from hotel representatives’ economic outlook to their plans to engage tech-savvy travelers.
Key findings of the survey include the fact that 58 % of global respondents, led by U.S. representatives, predict their businesses will be more profitable in 2012, while more than a third anticipate a better overall economic climate this year compared to 2011.
Many hoteliers are also planning to monitor traveler mentions of their properties on social media and roll out programs to reach travelers “on the go”, as 50% of global respondents plan to see an increase on their social media marketing budgets for 2012.
However as far as additional services are concerned 62% of accommodation owners/managers do not expect to add additional services or amenities in 2012, while 85% of global respondents do not foresee adding additional fees for services or amenities in 2012.
47 % of global respondents plan to offer a program using mobile devices (e.g. mobile apps, special offers and booking on mobile devices, etc.) to engage with travelers in 2012, with this projection strongest in Italy with a 62%, followed by U.S with a 61%. 28% of these plan to invest in mobile marketing in 2012 for the first time.
Unsurprisingly the two most popular special offers/deals that accommodation managers plan to use most often in 2012 are discounts on rooms and special services such as free wireless internet. France leads the free in -room internet access plans with a 91%.
Check out the full report here.
COMMENTS
Gem Webb
9 things Accommodators 2012 should do: 1: Attach Google analytics to their website and get reports on where traffic is coming from and what pages are working for them. 2: start a blog locally to their website or on wordpress.com 3: Use the blog to talk about area their accommodation is in and show the beauty of the area to net the vacation searcher. 4: start a facebook fanpage and get all their old and recent clients to join their page. 5: start a twitter account and link their facebook post to go out on their twitter account, making it easy to keep both updated. #6 JOIN TRIPADVISOR and nurture their listings. #7 Get a Google Places Business Page and nurture comments and ratings. #8 Get an iphone or Ipad and visit their own website to start understanding that people visit their website on them #9 Keep in mind its all baby steps and after a few months all will be rolling with ease!