The Weekly Eye: When Dallas did destination marketing, Three views on social

Feb 26 - Mar 4: One year on for Dallas campaign, Social in 2014, Focus on loyalty and more, Europe’s growth trajectory and more…our pick of the week’s stories

When Dallas did destination marketing

 

In a detailed case study on EyeforTravel.com this week, Pamela Whitby finds out how Dallas shook negative perceptions and used a public engagement campaign to get locals to be the city’s brand ambassadors. It was able to do this after the Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District (TPID) stepped in to give the city a $3.5 million boost. Nearly one year on since the ‘Big things happen here’ campaign launched, Noelle Le Veaux, Chief Marketing Officer for the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB), says this additional marketing spend has really given the city the impetus to build a brand that residents can be proud of. It’s also given a boost to the city’s digital dealings – there has been a 550% increase in Facebook page visits between March and November, website visits are up 67% and Twitter followers have doubled.

 

Three views on social in 2014

 

Many travel brands today focus their social attention on one, two or possibly three platforms but this may not be enough, writes Pamela Whitby on EyeforTravel.com this week. She hears from Ed Perry, Senior Director, WorldHotels, who believes hotel’s social media evangelists may have to change tack and focus proving how efforts impact overall sales potential. Also sharing her views is Allison Sitch, Ritz Carlton’s Vice President of Global Public Relations; for her brand, however, social media metrics are 100% about engagement. Meanwhile Mike Supple, Director of Social Media at Milestone Internet Marketing points out that you have clearly defined conversion points (like a booking engine on a hotel website) and then use social media campaigns, to drive qualified traffic back to your conversion point it can and does impact revenue. All three will be sharing their thoughts in San Francisco later this month.

 

A focus on loyalty

 

Hotels.com’s EMEA marketing boss has criticised big hotel chain’s loyalty programmes as ‘complicated’ and ‘convoluted’, reports Marketing Week. The hotel booking website believes it offers a simpler approach – such as its book ten nights get one free programme - to loyalty that works. Matt Walls is reported saying that loyalty will be central to the company’s message going forward, and this will help to stave off competition. In fact next steps include expanding its simple loyalty scheme by making it accessible to a larger part of its hotel base. Hotels.com will also target customers in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America, putting loyalty at the ‘centre’ of its marketing message as it looks to target 10 million members in each of the regions where it operates. Hotels.com is currently reviewing its brand positioning and recently launched a new campaign featuring brand ambassador ‘Captain Obvious’. A new creative for Europe is on the cards. Watch this space.

 

Europe here we come

 

It seems Europe is the place to be. A number of hotels this week have announced European expansion. One of these is franchise group Choice Hotels, which will open 11 properties in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy. Going forward Europe, says UK chief executive Duncan Berry, “will be a key growth region”. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is another chain to announce plans to open more than 60 new hotels and resorts across Europe by 2020, increasing its current European hotel portfolio by nearly 40%. Simon Turner, President of Global Development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, says: “We are seeing rising demand for development in both established and rapidly growing markets [in particular Turkey and Russia] across Europe”.

 

Rising tide of mobile bookings

 

Cross-Channel ferry operator Condor Ferries has seen a significant rise in mobile bookings. Launched late last year, the service allows customers to book travel using most handheld devices - including Apple and Android compatible smartphones and smaller tablets. Over £80,000 in bookings was made in the two months since going live. The mobile booking service follows the launch of Condor’s mobile site in May last year and is fully integrated with Condor Ferries' social media communities, including Facebook and Twitter, along with up to date sailing and timetable information. The company says, around 20% of web visits come from customers using mobile devices.

 

Romanian rush

 

Online travel agency Tripsta boosted its Romanian turnover to by 80% to €2 million in Romania this year and it's not stopping at that. The firm aims to reach total sales of around €4.5 million in Romania this year, according to reports. Marius Negre, Country Manager Romania is reported saying that in 2014, he estimates a 20-25% year-on-year increase in the online market of plane tickets. Estimates are that Tripsta’s local team will exceed 60 members by the end of this year, from the current level of 40 employees. Overall, in 2013 the firm is said to have doubled turnover to €190 million.

 

 

Boom times for airports

 

With the global airport retail market set to rise 73% to $59.2bn between now and 2019 maybe it’s time for destinations to think ahead. Asia Pacific is expected to have the fastest growth in airport retailing sales over the next six years, with the market more than doubling. Passenger numbers will increase by 37.8% in the period and spend per passenger will rise from nearly $8 to $11.37. While the weak economy has dampened passenger number growth in Europe and North America over the last five years, growth is set to pick up again as the economy shows signs of improvement.

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