6 Significant Travel Marketing Posts from the Past Week: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest

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Hiya, Big Thinkers! Hope y’all are having a wonderful Father’s Day weekend. We’re celebrating Father’s Day here at Thinks Central, so hope you don’t mind if we skip the setup and get right to these 6 significant travel marketing posts from the past week. Enjoy:

1. Dennis Schaal from Skift interviews JetBlue’s Marty St. George as part of their CMO Interview Series, and St. George says “Our Biggest Challenge Is Being Cool.”
2. The folks over at Snaphot have put together this infographic featuring “Types of Hotel Data,” which makes a great complement to these “11 Data-Driven Marketing Insights to Start Your Week Off Right.”
3. TTG Asia says the travel industry sees a wave of interest in messaging chatbots. This helps illustrate “Why I’m Bullish on Mobile Payments and Messaging.” While you’re at it, you might also want to review these “Five Reasons Marketers Need to Get Ready for Mobile Messaging.”
4. Lucas Matney of TechCrunch reports “Airbnb begins testing City Hosts program to give guests guided one-of-a-kind experiences.” For more insights into why this matters, you’ll want to see our past coverage of Airbnb, including “How Safe Are Independent Hotels from Airbnb?” and “Are Hotel Brands Doomed?”
5. Shifting gears, Travel Weekly says that “TripAdvisor’s Instant Booking rollout proving to be costly.”
6. Similarly, Tara Lachapelle and Rani Molla explain why “Priceline Is Due for a TRIP” (i.e., buying TripAdvisor). Collectively, these last couple of posts might provide you some useful insights to answer the question, “What in the World are Priceline and TripAdvisor Up To?”

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 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?