of an adventure without actually having
to go out and do it ourselves. Stories
mean emotion, they trigger our brains
to feel and powerful stories can inspire
people to do great things.
I noticed that you have invited guest
bloggers to share their stories too.
Can you tell us a little about your
collaborative concept?
Through collaborating with other
travelers and guest bloggers we can
achieve greater value for our readers,
meaning that we can cover different
travel perspectives, destinations, hobbies
and experiences. Guest blogging is
an excellent way to reach a far bigger
audience, create an authority and build
a portfolio by writing on a wider scale.
Sharing other bloggers’ stories or by
interviewing hospitality professionals
helps to increase exposure and brand
awareness. This is a concept that has
been well received over the years and
there are already some international
hotel chains that are applying this digital
marketing strategy to their properties.
How effective is blogging and the use
of social media in the luxury hospitality
space?
Luxury is all about the unique experience
and blogging is about sharing this
unique experience with your audience.
It is about creating and maintaining
relationships, whether they are
happening in person or online.
Hoteliers are always looking for ways
to attract direct business and this was
one of the discussions that we had at
the first European Luxury Hospitality
Summit in Athens last month. As a
matter of fact, social media provides
great opportunities to connect with your
guests. You can provide customer service
beyond all expectations and there are
hotels that have found modern ways to
communicate with their in-house guests
which has made them seem friendlier,
more approachable and at the end of
the day it can help turn guests into
loyal, repeat customers. To give you
a great example of a modern way to
communicate with your guests, St. Regis
Abu Dhabi uses the Starwood WhatsApp
service called ‘Let’s Chat’ where the
guest can message the Butler their
requests via WhatsApp, their policy is to
respond in 60 seconds.
Implementing a creative blogging
strategy is not only a great way to
connect with your guests and potential
bookers, but also to establish yourself
as an influencer in your industry.
Search engines place high value on
fresh, dynamic and sharable content,
thus maintaining a corporate blog on
your property’s website will help you
stand out from your competition. By
providing valuable information about the
area or things to do and see, personal
recommendations and communicating
it in a tone of voice which is friendly yet
professional, will help your website grow
authority and eventually direct sales.
Blogging is the future.
ILHA 15