What ’ s Hot : TECHNOLOGY
NEW SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYERS
New social media websites that facilitate guest engagement continue to sprout up . Many hotels are now active on Pinterest , a pinboard-style social image-sharing website , sharing images of their properties and destinations . The website is now among the most visited on the Internet . Instagram , a photo-sharing program and social network specializing in stylized image filters , has been taken up by hotel companies to share aspects of their properties and destinations .
CINEMATIC MARKETING
Hotel video marketing has moved past rudimentary property profiles . Hotels and their outside marketing agencies are creating everything from major productions like “ Here ” — produced for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide ’ s Luxury Collection , complete with fictional characters and plots taking place on-property — to amusing YouTube-ready clips designed to go viral . In addition to this , hotels such as Terranea Resort are utilizing videos made by guests to showcase the experience of staying at on-property . While the costs can be expensive — in the tens of thousands of dollars for major productions — hotels say it is justified it based on the amount of engagement video can generate .
MOBILE CHARGING PORTS
Smartphone and tablet chargers take up precious space in a traveler ’ s luggage and are easy to forget . To eliminate the need to bring these , some hotels are installing USB power outlets in their rooms , so guests only have to bring a USB cord to charge their smartphone or tablet . Some hotels are offering iPod / iPhone stereo system alarm clocks that charge the device in addition to playing music .
LobbyFriend , another “ temporary ” social media site designed to let hotel guests meet and interact with each other and hotel staff , launched in February at the Tryp New York City Times Square South .
RESPONSIVE
DESIGN
Responsive design has emerged as one of the top trends in website design , although given its newness it has yet to be implemented for a significant number of hotel industry websites . Using CSS3 and HTML5 media queries , websites with responsive design automatically resize based on an Internet browser ’ s size , allowing for convenient accessibility whether the user is on a mobile phone , tablet or desktop-sized browser and eliminating the expense of dedicated mobile sites and applications . “ The issue with the dedicated mobile site is that there are so many versions of browsers — for example , an iPhone , iPad and Android ’ s browsers . Meanwhile , with a native app , what ’ s the reason for someone to download it and keep it ?” says Robert Cole , hotel technology consultant and founder of RockCheetah , Menomonee Falls , Wisconsin . “ As different things happen on the mobile side you don ’ t have to constantly redo your site or redo your app if you switch to responsive design .”
52 HOTELS October 2012 www . hotelsmag . com