HOT | Event
In one of her early tweets, Ms. Abidin highlights a strong point by
Tiket.com CFO, Dimas Surya Yaputra by tweeting: “Release early,
release often, don't wait for the market to exist! Lead the change! @
dimasphase #IETS2013 - totally agree! A powerful one.”
Hoteliers must stay actively engaged with Social Media to protect
against negative feedback that may arise in Facebook, Twitter and
TripAdvisor. Transform potentially damaging negative feedback into
a lucrative strategic sales and marketing tool.
With Indonesia fourth in the world for using Facebook and Twitter,
and Jakarta the top tweeting city in the world, these social media
options provide a very strong channel for hoteliers to reach the
domestic traveler.
It also demonstrates Indonesia’s ability to
embrace the latest technologies to reach beyond their borders.
Never respond to negative online reviews with more negativity. These
posts and replies are in a public arena and last forever. A sincere apology and an offer will be more likely to win over dissatisfied customers
while presenting a professional image to those you hope to have as
future customers.Several of the international experts at IETS highlighted methods to maximize a hotel’s distribution Strategy. A few of
the highlights included:
Significant messages from a majority of the speakers revolved around
engagement. Engage the customers with interactive social networking. Engage employees and have them as part of your overall social
media plan. While having employees participate in your social
networking, ensure they are clear on what type of comments are
forbidden and which are acceptable. Ensure your employees on your
side as brand evangelists.
Several IETS experts had outlined guidelines for hoteliers when they
develop their Social Media Strategies. Specifics were provided on
how the industry leverages social media to win during an economic
crisis.
In developing any Social Media program, the hotel and tourism group
must have a deep understanding of what they’re trying to accomplish. Specifically questions they’ve posed to hoteliers included:
1. Which regions and audiences are most relevant for your brand?
2. Where are you willing to invest and why?
3. Where would you like your social search revolution to reach?
4. Does Twitter matter? Does Facebook matter? Does Weibo matter?
During the process, ensure you monetize the social media effort.
Determine how much time, money and labor you are prepared to
invest. Justify a business case for social initiatives by demonstrating
the tangible benefits and ROI.
Ineract on the Internet. As part of your hotel marketing strategy,
keep a presence on social sites such as TripAdvisor, Facebook, Twitter
and Weibo. Don’t just set these up and ignore them. Monitor them
frequently and respond to comments, questions, and re-tweets. Post
exclusive social media deals and encourage fans to hit the “share”
button.
www.hotelier-indonesia.com
Developing a strategy that clearly positions your property above the
others. Tell future guests that the experience something is extraordinary and worth paying more for. With this, the hotel may set their
prices a bit higher than the competition in order to bring in guests
who are willing to pay more. This strategy can be profitable, but must
be used cautiously, as guests will need to understand why they’d pay
more to stay at your hotel.
Set pricing on par with the competition, but not necessarily for every
rate. Set one rate comparable to similar properties and another
slightly higher. This allows you to stay competitive for a majority of
the market, yet doesn’t undercut the your competition.
Along with these pricing considerations was additional input that if
the property's price is too low … lower than the competitive set, you
will realize a boost in occupancies, but will also see a lower relative
RevPar. The best strategy suggested is to maintain rate integrity and
price above the competitive set. Though the property may take a
slight reduction in occupancy, it will be more than offset by a higher
relative RevPar.
For online bookers, it’s important that there is a recognized Parity
of Experience. Offer Value-Added packages for events that are not
available through an OTA. Though a room-only rate on the hotel’s
website likely won’t dip below what was offered through an OTA, the
overall value of the package can be much higher than room-only rate.
During a month of promotion, the hotel can see a significant percent
year-over-year increase in total visits to its website and a year-overyear increase in reservations through the website.
IETS 2013 was a worthwhile and informative event for the 100+
in attendance. With the growth they’ve experienced in the first four
events, we’re looking at 2014 as an event not to miss.
HOTELIER INDONESIA | SEPTEMBER 2013 • 21