GLOBAL UPDATE
One fun activity coordinated by 137 Pillars House for School for Life students is informal flower arranging .
137 Pillars House , a 30-suite property of SilverNeedle Collection in Chiang Mai , Thailand , has introduced new ways for guests to provide hands-on help in conjunction with its corporate social responsibility program via a partnership with the local School for Life . Chiang Mai ’ s School for Life was established in 2003 to provide a home and care for children living in difficult situations .
Guests at 137 Pillars House can choose various activities in conjunction with School for Life , including purchasing and delivering needed supplies , sponsoring and participating in a special event such as a barbecue for the school , organizing sports activities and other games for the children on location and covering monthly costs of living for a child through the school ’ s Godparent program .
“ For the hotel and our staff , I see this is an obligation to support local communities and the less fortunate , while we are living a rather privileged life ,” says General Manager Manfred Ilg . “ For guests , this is an opportunity to learn about some of the social difficulties Thailand has to deal with when it comes to the relatively poor population from tribal villages — many of whom do not even have the Thai citizenship — and to make a difference in the lives of some children .”
PINNING FOR REFERRALS
The private infinity pool of a beachfront villa at Four Seasons
Resort Koh Samui is included on Four Seasons ’ “ Laps of Luxury ” Pinterest board .
Hotel companies say the concrete ROI of using the photo-sharing website Pinterest is unclear . However , some are leveraging the visual beauty of their properties to turn their Pinterest accounts into traffic referrals to their main websites and encouraging repinning to feed their link economy , which improves search engine optimization .
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts , Toronto , prioritizes sharing imagery that communicates the Four Seasons brand experience and point of view on luxury via its Pinterest account . The account has more than 2,300 pins , and Four Seasons says its goal is to generate awareness , engagement and website traffic . The company says its referral traffic to FourSeasons . com from Pinterest was 21,911 unique visits from April 2012 to December 2012 , and its referral traffic to Four Seasons Magazine online was 24,895 unique visits from April 2012 to December 2012 .
The Dorchester Collection ’ s Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan emphasizes photos taken by guests and behind-the-scenes photos on its Pinterest account , which has more than 600 pins . “ We were surprised at how easily our images spread virally and how photos loaded by third parties have been growing ,” says Irene Dal Bello , the hotel ’ s digital marketing and online communications manager . “ There is no monetary ROI , but what we clearly see is greater engagement not only with our guests but also with the segment that we define as ‘ aspirational .’”
12 HOTELS September 2013 www . hotelsmag . com