However , while technology to integrate loyalty programs with social media accounts remains in the future , hotel companies are personalizing their loyalty program offerings beyond leaving wine and cheese in the guestroom .

Some companies are using vendor software that give guests Amazon . comstyle sales suggestions for extra amenities or upgrades to boost ancillary spending , and costs only a commission on the sales made .

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants , San Francisco , sorts its loyalty program members by lifestyle interests and uses the data to send them targeted offers and to offer top loyalty members free personalized trips .

Given the large revenue impact of high-frequency business travelers , Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide offers guests booking more than 100 nights a year a personal travel assistant .

Counting social media clout Hotels are researching guests ’ social media clout and even are rewarding the most influential with , for example , invitations to special events .

Hotels around the world are holding tweetup events , where top Twitter influencers are invited to the hotel and encouraged to tweet onproperty . Other hotels are using Instagram to invite public figures or musical groups to take on-property

photos to disseminate to their followers .

Tune Group , Petaling Jaya , Malaysia , has taken this a step further by conducting pre-arrival online research to offer guests with social media clout special offerings for its budget brand , Tune Hotels . Tune Hotels CEO Mark Lankaster says during a one-month period in 2012 , Tune engaged 3,500 guests with 160 social connections on average per guest , meaning half a million people read about Tune Hotels across social media , which translated into 11,000 unique website visitors and 914 room nights booked .

Geo-location on mobile apps Three years ago hotel companies started offering rewards for online check-ins via location-based services such as Foursquare or Yelp . Now , hotel companies are using geo-location technology that allows their mobile applications to make location-specific offers and adjusts the app ’ s behavior based on user ’ s location .

The Starwood Preferred Guest mobile app adjusts its look , feel and content depending on whether the user is planning , en route or already checked in to a specific hotel , and also provides instant translation , for example , automatically giving hotel

Geo-location mobile applications make location-specific offers and adjust the application ’ s behavior by ascertaining the user ’ s location .

directions in Chinese if the user is in China .

“ Our new iPhone app was developed to help us build even deeper relationships with our loyal guests , providing them with personalized , relevant content not only while on-property but also before and after they stay with us ,” says Mark Vondrasek , senior vice president , Starwood distribution , loyalty and partnerships at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide .

Using data management to lower energy costs Not all hotel sustainability measures translate into financial savings , but hotel companies say investing in data management directly reduces the costs of existing energy and water systems .

This can include retrocommissioning , through which Energy Star says savings for hotels typically result from having engineers reset existing controls to lower HVAC waste levels . It can also help hotels reduce equipment downtime and maintenance expenses . Vendor studies show depending on a property ’ s size , the hotel can save hundreds of thousands of dollars each year .

Hilton Worldwide reports in 2011 it generated US $ 147 million in

cumulative savings from efficiency with the company ’ s proprietary sustainability measurement system LightStay . The program uses a database to track energy , water and waste .

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group , Hong Kong , says it saved 399 TJ ( 110 million kwh ) from 2007 to 2011 , which translates to cost savings of US $ 13.2 million , and the first step was collecting data related to its portfolio ’ s waste generation , recycling and disposal methods .

Tracking ancillary spending by guests Major hotel chains are researching methods to collect and integrate guests ’ on-property ancillary spending data .

“ It is imperative that revenue managers identify their most profitable market segment by taking into account total spend ,” says Bryan Mulliner , strategic development and revenue director , Protea Hotels , Cape Town , South Africa . “ This requires detailed analysis of spend by customer . Revenue managers have been inhibited in doing this primarily due to the lack of appropriate tools to provide the correct information and drill down . These tools are now more readily available .”

In January , The Walt Disney Co ., Burbank , California , announced the

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