5 Fantastic Posts Featuring Top Travel Marketing Trends: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest

Howdy, Big Thinkers. Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend. Hope you won’t mind if we skip the setup this week and just get right to this list of 5 fantastic posts featuring top travel marketing trends. Enjoy:

1. To kick things off, HSMAI interviewed Lalia Rach about digital disruptors leading into this year’s Digital Marketing Strategy Conference. Really good stuff.
2. Speaking of disruptors, Hotel News Now sat down with a group of top hotel executives to dissect the industry’s issues. As you might imagine, OTA’s and Airbnb dominated big chunks of the discussion, which is why it’s well worth your time to ask how safe independent are hotels from Airbnb and whether hotel brands are doomed. The answer to both questions is “no.” But be sure to read through both posts to understand why that is, as well as what you need to do to keep it true.
3. On a related note, you’ll probably want to check out this 2016 key hotel marketing trends presentation Tim gave to an audience in DC a couple weeks back. Excellent insights, if you don’t me saying.
4. Tnooz suggests that virtual reality is the new Instagram for hotel marketers. We’re probably not quite there yet (mobile video seems far more important in the immediate-term, as does social media marketing generally), but it’s certainly a trend worth keeping an eye on as you move through 2016.
5. Finally, you’ll definitely want to review this post on how to engage your hotel’s secret sales force from Flip.to (and, our own Tim Peter). Excellent read.

If you’re looking to learn even more about how changing guest behavior shapes hospitality marketing, e-commerce, and distribution, be sure an register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

You might also want to take a moment to review the slides from my recent webinar, “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:

• “5 Key Facts About Mobile, Millennials, and Hotel Marketing”
• “How Safe Are Independent Hotels from Airbnb?”
• “The Big Myth About Digital Strategy.”
• “Digital Marketing Directions 2016: Key Trends Driving Your Hotel Marketing Next Year”
• “Huge List of Lessons Learned at HSMAI’s Digital Marketing Strategy Conference”
• “Are Hotel Brands Doomed?”
• “Trends in Hospitality Digital Marketing for 2016”