10 Terrific Travel Marketing Posts from the Past Week: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest

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Hey, Big Thinkers! Hope you’re having an amazing weekend. And hope you won’t mind if I let you enjoy your weekend a little more by skipping any big setup and simply presenting you these 10 terrific travel marketing posts from the past week as the latest entry into the Hospitality Marketing Link Digest series. Enjoy:

1. Leading off, you’ll want to check out these “21 Can’t Miss Travel Marketing Insights: The Top Posts of 2016 (So Far)” as selected by your fellow Thinks readers.
2. Hotel Marketing breaks down “Airbnb vs. Hotels: New Study Reveals Key Consumer Purchase Drivers.”
3. Fortune takes a good look at “How Restaurants Use Instagram and OpenTable to Gather Data on Diners,” which is a key step towards delivering more personalized and more effective services to your guests (something we looked at in more detail in “The New Digital Strategy Playbook: Part 1”).
4. Speaking of Instagram, don’t miss this excellent article that asked, “Is Social a Waste of Time for Hotel Marketers?”
5. According to Tnooz, “Boxever Says Travel Brands Need to Improve Personalization.” No doubt. If you’re interested in actually accomplishing that, you might want to remember that “Personalization Starts With a Person.”
6. In case you couldn’t make it to HITEC this year, be sure to watch “This Week in Hospitality HITEC Round-Up and Recap” featuring our own Tim Peter, as well as industry thought leaders, Robert Cole, Loren Gray, and Ed St. Onge.
7. Hetras provides “11 Digital Marketing Tips to Differentiate Your Hotel” that are worth reviewing.
8. The fine folks at EyeForTravel ask “Talking Technology: Is This What Hotel Guests Really Want?”
9. While we’re on the topic of technology, Tnooz uncovers “What CMOs Need to Hear About Chatbots.” And while we’re on that topic, you might want to review Five Reasons Marketers Need to Get Ready for Mobile Messaging as well as listen to hear “Why I’m Bullish on Mobile Payments and Messaging.”
10. Finally, why not round out this week’s list of 10 terrific travel marketing posts from the past week with these “5 Helpful Hospitality Marketing Stories for You” from the Hospitality Marketing Link Digest series for you. Great stuff to start your week off right.

If you’re looking for even more travel marketing goodness, you might also want to take a moment to review the slides from my recent seminar, “Digital Marketing Directions 2016: The Key Trends Driving Your Hotel Marketing Next Year” here:

Finally, you will definitely want to check out some of our past coverage of the mobile, local, social web and how to make it work for your hotel, including:

• Is Social a Waste of Time for Hotel Marketers?
• 5 Fantastic Insights Into 2016 Travel Marketing Trends: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest
• 6 Key Hotel E-commerce Tips: A Cheat Sheet to Drive Direct Business
• 5 Hospitality Marketing Trends You’ll Want to Keep in Mind: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest
• Expedia’s Accelerator Program: A Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing
• For Travel Marketers, Content is Still King
• Trends in Hospitality Digital Marketing for 2016
• 8 Great Posts About 2016’s Top Trends: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest
• 5 Key Facts About Mobile, Millennials, and Hotel Marketing
• How Safe Are Independent Hotels from Airbnb?