1. Social media, important in travel and
hospitality business?
1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 2
2 Defining and positioning social media ............................................................ 2
3 The online community .................................................................................... 3
4 Social media cases in travel and hospitality industry...................................... 3
4.1 Customer publishes location of accommodation with Foursquare ............................. 3
4.2 How the city tourism board of Oostende uses social media ..................................... 4
4.2.1 Corporate website ......................................................................................................... 4
4.2.2 Twitter ......................................................................................................................... 5
4.2.3 Facebook...................................................................................................................... 5
4.3 How a tour operator uses social media ................................................................ 6
5 Popularity of social media in numbers ............................................................ 8
6 Advice from experts........................................................................................ 9
7 Epilogue........................................................................................................ 10
8 Sources......................................................................................................... 10

2. 1 Introduction
The use of social media is a fact, also in travel and hospitality business. Some think it's an
opportunity to improve online reputation of actors in sub-industries of travel and hospitality
business while others are convinced that the potential impact is overrated. The answer is
somewhere in between. The exact effect is hard to measure, especially when searching for
short term, quantitative results but several practical examples have shown that both positive
as negative scenarios can occur.
Nowadays, holidays are no longer a product. More than ever they are an experience. Booking a
holiday is a large investment in terms of money spent and happiness returned. As a
consequence people want clear information and reassurance that their holiday will be as
perfect as possible. Whereas in the past they found this information in written press, from tour
operators , travel agencies or stories from peers, now they can double check this information
using several tools on the internet.
2 Defining and positioning social media
Social media consists of websites used as a conversation tool. The key feature is that users
talk to each other. They are online media that allow users to participate in the creation of the
content while traditional media delivers the content but doesn't allow the audience to
participate.
Table 1 shows the differences in use between social media and e-commerce in general. They
also count for tourism industry.
Social media E-tourism
• marketing • marketing
<communication < selling
• B2C + B2B + C2B +C2C • B2C or B2B
every direction one direction
• public • private
• harder to manage • easier to manage
harder to measure results easier to measure results
• focus on networking • focus on service
Table 1 - Tourism on the internet
Both e-tourism and social media are part of the marketing strategy but e-tourism can be
considered as the whole system of selling and booking holidays and accommodations online.
Social media are the tools used for communication and networking in several directions. Not
only business to customer or business to business but also customer to business and customer
to customer. While this communication is public and traceable on the internet, the one way
communication of e-tourism in general is private. Using the interface of travel websites, the
customer provides the companies database with input. As a result these kind of information is
easy to manage and the company can measure the results. The cost of this system can be put
in figures. The communication via social media are harder to manage because of the
conversation which is harder to control. There are no databases to support the strategy. How
can a company measure the benefits? In which term using social media should increase the
company's profit? How can reputation been measured? What is the correlation between online
reputation and sales volume? All this questions, in combination with the restraint of using new
technology stimulate the hesitation for social media.

3. 3 The online community
A company can offer a conversation platform on its corporate website. In the past an online
guestbook and the possibility to contact by e-mail were common. Today companies use social
web applications and integrate them in their website.
At this moment in Europe the most frequent social networks exist on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr,
blogs, Foursquare, You Tube and Linkedin.
4 Social media cases in travel and hospitality industry
4.1 Customer publishes location of accommodation with Foursquare
This is a small case in which an individual customer uses social media to share a travel
experience with peers. The smart phone proposes nearby locations where the user can 'check
in'. If wanted, the user can add comment and a picture as a small review. This information can
be shared with the social network on the Foursquare application only or even with Facebook
and Twitter where a conversation with peers is possible.
Used on a larger scale this will affect online reputations and as customers are much more likely
to trust peers instead of companies advertising, good reputation has a positive impact on the
company's success.

4. 4.2 How the city tourism board of Oostende uses social media
In this example of a good practice, social media is used to stimulate conversation with and
amongst visitors of Oostende, a city at the Belgian coast with a large range of cultural
activities.
4.2.1 Corporate website
On the corporate website not only information can be found, people can book a hotel and
participate in the conversation about what is going on in Oostende. As a Facebook user you
immediately see which of your friends like Oostende and you can push on the I like button of
the different posts. This kind of interaction is not only attractive for the user, it is also a
valuable feedback for the city to understand the preferences of their target group.
With images and videos on Flickr and You Tube, the charm of the city is emphasized and
participants have access to images of the events they attended. This content is even public for
everyone.

5. 4.2.2 Twitter
Many companies and organisations have made a Twitter account but then it stops. They ‘are
on Twitter’ but that is not enough. If you don’t have interaction on Twitter, it is better to stay
away from it.
This screenshot of the Twitter page of the tourism board of Oostende shows that they have a
good balance between following and being followed which indicates a good level of two-way
communication. The timeline confirms this with the next examples of efficient tweeting . A
local newspaper shares a hyperlink to the pictures of an event organized by the tourism board.
The tourism board asks who lost the teddy bear they found during the event. They answer and
show interest in other users.
4.2.3 Facebook
Facebook is used as a platform for communication by publishing messages on the wall of the
enterprise page of Oostende. The screenshot shows that they publish a lot of pictures and
within the hour 19 persons liked the album about the last event. Some give reactions such as
‘I really liked the event’ or ‘I was there’.
Notice that the tourism board very quickly shares content about a past event on all social
media. Every piece of content sharing is part of an integrated marketing campaign on the
internet. People really can participate in the conversation while in the traditional media such as
television, the only are informed or receive a general summary. On Facebook the audience is
reached on a more personal level. People feel connected and a part of the big picture which is
a totally different experience.

6. 4.3 How a tour operator uses social media
This example is about Jetair, one of the biggest tour operators in Belgium and part of the TUI
group.
Instead of launching a marketing campaign under the brand name Jetair, the tour operator
uses story telling. Two cute children, a girl and a boy with the very famous first names in
Belgium Marie and Louis, have a mission for the customers. They check the holidays. People
really adore these kids. They only have to put a smiley on Facebook and people start to push
the I like button. Children imitate their quotes. Comparing to the number of fans of the brand
Jetair (954), the page of Marie and Louis is a success (20 652). Marie and Louis tell a story
and it’s working. People participate in the conversation on the Facebook page while at the
Jetair page there is no interaction. Only Jetair itself is publishing without response. This proves
that brands have to be creative to make social media work.
In the first place, people know Marie and Louis from the television campaign with very
charming and funny advertisement videos. Marie and Louis check for example if the airplane is
good enough as if they were providing this as a service for the customers of Jetair. This movies
of Marie and Louis can also be watched and commented on You Tube. Posters of Marie and
Louis at the airport wish the customers a nice holiday.

8. 5 Popularity of social media in numbers
With statistics and figures, one should be very careful to make statements. What do these
numbers really mean? Is it a hype that will end soon? It's not a hype. Social media are here to
stay. At this moment this is only the beginning of the booming period. All sources on the
internet will confirm this. Some brands are still in the first stadium of exploring social media
but playtime is over. What is the impact for business?
Table 2 gives an idea of the worldwide range of social media that are used for general content.
The tools in Table 3 are especially tourism or travel related.
Notice that the influence of social media is hard to measure with numbers. Because, how many
reviews on Tripadvisor are written by companies themselves? Also, some start twittering today
and quit next week because it is hard to network on Twitter when you are a newbie. How
many inactive accounts, how many unread posts are there? Nobody knows. The question is
not, how many people are on a platform such as Twitter. It’s about how many people read the
content and let this content influence their behaviour.
In the Netherlands, f.e., there was an incident with T-mobile this year. Someone started
complaining on Twitter about the T-mobile help desk and many people joined the conversation.
The damage was estimated over 200 000 euros.
As for travelers, 70 % trust online recommendations, while only 14 % trust advertisements.
Social media also determines destination selection strongly. As a result, most of the travel
companies plan to increase their budget for social media.
As a conclusion, closing your eyes for social media is wrong because they are here to stay.
They improve or damage the reputation of brands, companies or organizations. The industries
should invite customers to talk on their own platform. If not, they will talk anyway on places
on the internet were it is very hard to join the conversation such as on discussion fora,
consumer blogs or consumer made Facebook pages.
who? sharing what? how many?
facebook conversation + multimedia + 500 million users
twitter conversation + multimedia + 200 million users
blogs storytelling + multimedia + 113 million blogs
youtube video + conversation + 700 billion plays (in 2010)
flickr photography + conversation + 30 million visitors/day
delicious bookmarks + 4 million users
Table 2 - General social media tools
who? sharing what? how many?
tripadvisor travel + hotel reviews + 34 million visitors/month
virtual tourist travel advice + experience + 9 million visitors/month
foursquare check in to location + 6,5 million users
yahoo travel travel + hotel reviews + booking no statistics available
Table 3 - Specific social media tools for tourism

9. 6 Advice from experts
• Tourism business should have a strategy for online social networking. This includes
interaction on TripAdvisor, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. (Jennifer Huber - social
media consultant)
• Use social marketing in conjunction with all your web presence. (Axses – travel marketing
company)
• Social media are not advertising tools. It’s an online public relations medium. Show sincere
interest in your customer. Let your customer talk and listen attentively. Talk about what
concerns your customer. (Peter Desmyttere - marketing consultant)
• Stimulate interaction. Ask questions. Be creative and funny. Tell a story.
• Develop a useful web app. (Polle de Maagt)

10. 7 Epilogue
I made this presentation for the International Week of Tourism on e-tourism in April 2011 at
the Akdeniz University Antalya, Turkey.
I was sent by the KHBO University College where I’m a lecturer in ICT, statistics & market
research.
I would like to say thank you all the people who published useful content on the internet,
especially Olivier Dujardin from Travelmedia Belgium, marketing consultant Peter Desmyttere,
my employer KHBO, my collegues, my contact in Antalya Yιlιdrιm Yιlmaz, my parents, my
partner and my children.
8 Sources
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/socialmedia/g/socialmedia.htm
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/7219-what-do-users-do-on-travel-websites-2
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/7134-what-do-customers-want-from-travel-websites
http://www.tnooz.com/2011/01/25/news/tripadvisor-accuses-tv-star-and-hotel-owner-of-
intimidating-hotel-guests/
http://www.visitoostende.be/
http://www.stikkymedia.com/articles/social-media-and-the-tourism-industry-statistics
http://www.suite101.com/content/5-social-networking-sites-for-tourism-businesses-a174939
http://www.axses.com/encyc/archive/arcres/Social-Media-Travel-Marketing.cfm
http://www.slideshare.net/PeterDesmyttere/sociale-media-voor-bedrijven
http://www.slideshare.net/maxmanagement/online-travel-marketing
http://www.penn-olson.com/2010/04/05/how-to-promote-tourism-through-social-media/
http://www.emedium.nl/social-media-een-hype/
http://www.nrcnext.nl/blog/2010/10/25/youp-vant-hek-brengt-t-mobile-imagoschade-toe/
and many more on http://www.delicious.com/cattoor/socialmedia