Business travelers poised to take fun out of social media tools

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Where are you looking for the latest travel information? Well, if you’re a business traveler, especially with a mid-sized company, you’re probably turning to social media tools. And, that makes more than a little sense, given the reach of platforms such as Facebook and Twitter (the former of which pierced the 500 million-user mark this week).

According to the latest research by American Express Business Travel, the white collar crowd is turning to social media more and more to stay in touch with other travelers and keep up with travel industry developments. This is just the beginning, however. Down the road, many expect to use these online utilities to engage more directly in business, particularly through webcasts, forums and online video.

Basically, businesses will figure out how to put to work what kids have been doing for years. The good news? Since social media tools will become synonymous with work for this population, wasting time on Twitter won’t be fun any more, and the boss will recapture some productivity.
According to Christa Degnan Manning, director, eXpert insights, American Express Business Travel, “As businesses around the globe alter the way they communicate and receive information from clients and prospects, social media has also proven to be a useful and effective tool to share pertinent information with employees and drive change in organizations.”

Half of the respondents to the American Express Business Travel survey indicated that “they use social media to some extent to support travel management today,” and the proportion went up to 59 percent for mid-sized companies (defined as $3 million to $10 million in air volume).

So, why do they use social media tools? Forty-four percent say they want to stay up on the latest travel information, with 43 percent reporting that they can “learn and communicate best practices and reduce business travel costs”. Other priorities include finding preferred vendors and services (42 percent), hunting for travel patters that could result in improved rates or services (34 percent) and encouraging networking among travelers (26 percent).

What’s most horrifying about this research? Well, it’s that social media tools are becoming useful …time to kill that FarmVille account, right?

Hotels on social media: we’re trying!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

For the properties using social media, the effort seems to be paying off. Guests are using tools like Facebook to score discounted rates all over the country. This shouldn’t exactly be shocking, but since the travel industry lags other businesses, there’s a sort of novelty to the impact of promoting in these emerging online environments.

What’s interesting is that the greatest benefit may not be the booking itself, or the attendant revenue. Rather, it’s the subsequent online chest-puffing involved in telling the world you scored a great deal. Why? It’s electron-based word-of-mouth, which sends people over to the property’s Facebook page creating the potential for more clicks, bookings and braggadocio … to kick the cycle off again.

Travel missing among fastest growing Facebook pages

by Tom Johansmeyer on

What happened to the hotels, resorts and destinations? These naturals for social media didn’t make the cut on All Facebook’s list of the fastest growing Facebook pages. Media and celebrities dominated the list, which consists of Facebook pages not on All Facebook’s leaderboard, but even there, there isn’t a travel-related site until #37, the destination- and company-agnostic “I need a vacation!!!”

Of course, there is no shortage of travel content available on Facebook, from Gadling‘s page to resorts such as Turtle Island on Fiji. And, social media marketing is starting to creep into thetourism and travel business. There have been some successes, such as JetBlue and Southwest, but the gains haven’t been as profound as in other industries, particularly media. Hotels are lagging. A quick poke around shows that the W Hotels page, for example, has a bit more than 10,000 “likers.”

The travel business is taking steps toward a more robust social media presence, but there’s still plenty of ground to cover. For now, it looks like it’s up to traveler to fill in the gaps! How do you use social media on the road … or to book your trips? Leave a comment below to let us know.

Social media addicts get hotel points when they jones for recognition

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Does check-in mean more to you than a pretty girl at the front desk, fumbling with your credit card and a humble request for an upgrade? If this expression instead reminds you that you’ve been the uncontested mayor of your tiny cubicle for the past seven and a half months – and you like to travel – Topguest.com has you in mind. This new social media service seeks to score hotel points for you based on foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt and a handful of other networks.

So far, Standard Hotels is previewing Topguest. According to CNET:

Right now, there are two rewards in place: check in to all four Standard hotels in the course of a week (which involves being in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami) and earn a complimentary week’s stay at any one of them), or check in to Standard establishments ten times and receive a 25 percent reservation discount.

Okay, so the perks are a little thin right now. But, if Standard can wrangle the addicts, look for the other hotels to get on board.

Whereboutz by TeleNav lets you create a social networking travel journal

by Scott Carmichael on

Whereboutz is a new social networking site from the people behind the popular Telenav navigation software. The site lets you create your own trip journal, filled with maps, geotagged photos, videos and more.

Unlike many other social networking sites, Whereboutz allows you to keep your site private, which means you get to pick the people you share your trip with. Of course, if you prefer to share everything you do, you can also share your updates using Twitter of Facebook. With the iPhone app, you can upload your location, along with photos, videos and voice memos.

The site is free of charge, as is their iPhone app. Best of all, if you sign up, and provide some feedback, you’ll be entered to win a $500 Visa gift card!

So, if you are heading on a trip this summer, and you’d like to keep friends and family updated on your adventures, go sign up for the site and take it for a spin.