SPECIAL REPORT : SOCIAL HOTEL AWARDS
BEST TWITTER ACCOUNT
BY PROPERTY
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL AUSTIN , Texas
DESCRIPTION : The hotel ’ s Twitter account is monitored seven days a week by the in-house social media team , which creates content such as “ Concierge Recommends ” showcasing events around the city , and behind-the-scenes details about the hotel . The team produces an average of six to seven tweets per day . The hotel also used the account to address concerns or complaints posted via Twitter and leave care packages to Twitter followers staying at the hotel .
RESULTS : The hotel has grown its @ FSAustin followers to more than 5,000 in three years , with an 81 % upsurge of 2,200 followers from January 2011 to March 2012 . The account receives on average of 20 to 60 retweets per day and 10 to 40 mentions per day . It maintains a Klout score between 50 and 56 and averages nearly 125,000 weekly impressions .
RUNNER-UP : Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel , Los Angeles
JUDGES ’ COMMENTS : “ Listening for guests tweeting about the hotel and then leaving care packages in their room recognizing them for the mention is certainly going above and beyond .”
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts ’ brand Twitter account
BY BRAND
FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS , Toronto
DESCRIPTION : In addition to engaging customers and followers with content , Fairmont gives exclusive offers via its Twitter account to drive revenue such as Twitter-only rate discounts as low as C $ 119 ( US $ 118 ) at hotels like The Fairmont Empress in Victoria , complimentary appetizers and free music downloads .
RESULTS : Discounted social media rate offers created about US $ 12,000 in revenue from bookings and added 8,000 new followers in response to the offer .
RUNNER-UP : ITC Hotels , Gurgaon , India
JUDGES ’ COMMENTS : “ The brand is doing a good job engaging customers with transactional offers .”
BEST TWITTER PROMOTION
BY BRAND
BEST WESTERN INTERNATIONAL ,
Phoenix , Arizona
DESCRIPTION : Best Western hoped to grow its Twitter following by 2,000 and increase engagement levels by sparking travel conversation among friends . “ Wanna Go , Wanna Bring ” was designed to be an organically shared Twitter promotion that would allow followers to tell friends where they wanted to go on a trip , who they wanted to go with and what they wanted to do after arriving . Participants would tweet the answers to these questions using the promotion ’ s hashtag , # wannagobw , so other Twitter users would see a common link and join in .
RESULTS : Over 18,000 tweets were written with the # wannagobw hashtag . Best Western ’ s Twitter following also grew from 14,000 to over 17,000 in less than a month , exceeding its goal . Engagement levels increased to the highest levels to date .
RUNNER-UP : Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts , Toronto
JUDGES ’ COMMENTS : “ Great incorporation of a travel promotion to capture existing demand with a brand-strengthening contest .”
BY PROPERTY
MARQUIS LOS CABOS , Mexico
DESCRIPTION : The hotel initiated an international tweetup event for Travelers ’ Night In (# TNI ), which is a Tweetchat of travel experts and avid travelers to create a buzz about the resort and mitigate negative headlines about travel in Mexico . The event was themed as a “ Mini-Indulgences ” remote # TNI weekend at Marquis Los Cabos , and top Twitter influencers with large followings were invited to give the event maximum credibility . The hotels also secured other luxury brands — such as Hartmann Luggage , Luxury Avenue Los Cabos and Virgin America — as co-sponsors to contribute to added chat content . The hotel formulated 10 # TNI questions for tweeting to travelers around the globe , including asking what their favorite hotel amenity is , the most impressive hotel service and fantasy travel experiences . It
JUDGES ’ COMMENTS : “ Stellar creativity and commitment to this campaign . Just about perfect .”
also steered # TNI discussions around the topic that Mexico is a safe and family-friendly vacation .
RESULTS : With a budget of US $ 3,500 for the promotion , the event saw more than 14 million impressions that corresponded to more than 1.4 million unique impressions . Close to 4,500 tweets were sent during the 90-minute event .
24 HOTELS September 2012 www . hotelsmag . com