Our CEO's contribution to the 3rd Annual Hotel & Restaurant Business Conference, which took place in Dubai on 22nd & 23rd April 2013. Looking for an MC, moderator, or keynote speaker? See what Iconsulthotels can do for you here: http://qoo.ly/ebtb

1. The Power of Online Reviews and Likes
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Meet the NEW travellers, guests, and diners –
social, savvy, and connected…
• Socially connected
• Highly influenced by what they see
online - not just about price, but
endorsement from social
communities, blogs, reviews
• Using mobile & WIFI connected
devices: connected all the time!
• Sharing + connecting + purchasing
online

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Meet the NEW travellers, guests, and diners –
social, savvy, and connected…

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Meet the NEW travellers, guests, and diners –
social, savvy, and connected…
Online consumer recommendations are one of the most
trusted sources of brand advertising
83% of consumers say user reviews often or sometimes
impact their purchase decisions
80% of consumers have changed their mind about buying a
product after reading a negative online review
(Forrester Research Inc.)

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Why your online reputation matters…
Yesterday
Today
Brand
X
Brand
X

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Why your online reputation matters…

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Online Reviews – Resistance is futile…
Can you measure the ROI of a handshake?
The ROI of engaging with online reviews today is that you
still have a hotel or restaurant tomorrow…

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Online Reviews – There‟s more than just
TripAdvisor…

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Online Reviews & Organizational Culture – Some
thoughts…
• Tracking alone is not enough. Action must be taken!
• Often, the problem lies in stretched resources - without
adding reputation management to everyday activities.
• Success requires cross-functional feedback loops & teams:
From silos, lack of
communication, multiple handoffs…
Cross-functional roles, high
collaboration, results oriented…

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The “Social” and “Tech-Savvy” Traveller…
The behavior of today‟s tech-based travel
aficionados…
Are you losing influence with today‟s social consumers? Many of them
are so plugged into networks of friends and peers that your brand can
get completely cut out of purchase decisions.

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The “Social” and “Tech-Savvy” Traveller…

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The “Social” and “Tech-Savvy” Traveller…

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The “Social” and “Tech-Savvy” Traveller…

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TripAdvisor – Facts & Figures
• > 60 million unique user every month
• > 75 million reviews & opinions
• Operates in 30 countries & 21
languages
• > 300 million people view TripAdvisor
content on other sites each month
• > 655,000 hotels; > 1M restaurants
TripAdvisor – The Facebook of Travel?

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TripAdvisor – Fine-tuning your Listings
• Verify that you‟re property/outlet is shown in the right location on TA‟s
“Browse nearby” map
• Upload outlet specific pictures, e.g cocktails, food-shots, etc.
• Rotate and/or refresh main listing photo monthly; consider seasons &
target markets
• Upload a new video at least once a year; preferably upload several
videos throughout the year
• Review all information regularly
• 30+ photos  41% more engagement than listings with 10 or fewer photos
• At least one video  34% more engagement than listings without a video
•50+ reviews  27% more engagement than listings with 10 or fewer
reviews

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Dedicated F&B Review Websites

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Zomato

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Zomato

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Zomato

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Dedicated F&B Review Websites

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Dedicated F&B Review Websites

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Local Review Websites & Location-Based Services

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Local Review Websites & Location-Based Services

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Local Review Websites & Location-Based Services

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Local Review Websites & Location-Based Services

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Local Review Websites & Location-Based Services

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Local Review Websites & Location-Based Services

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Local Review Websites & Location-Based Services

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The Power of “Likes”

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The Power of “Likes”

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Numbers are good, engagement is better!
• Many users who have „liked‟ your page will never actually engage with the
content
• Acquiring 25,000 new likes in a month might sound impressive, but if only 250
of those fans are accessing the content then the other 24,750 are of no
importance with regards to communication. Only direct interaction with a
page‟s content will spread that content to the user‟s friends‟ news feeds.
• Build engaged platforms by providing quality & relevant content on
Facebook, Twitter, blogs
• Acquiring new Facebook fans is still an important task, but when measuring the
impact of a marketing campaign, Engagement and Reach are more valuable
evaluation tools than Likes.
• It‟s all about targeting & segmenting

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Questions?

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Please connect!
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/iconsulthotels-fze
Twitter: @iconsulthotels
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iconsulthotels