HotelMarketing.com’s most popular of 2011

I just received the list of most popular articles from hotelmarketing.com and am republishing it here. I couldn’t find it on their site and emailed them to publish it but am not sure if that’s going to happen any time soon since they also announce that they’re on holidays until January.

Looking through the list is quite interesting. I wrote about it in a  Google+ post (which has limited distribution) so am republishing the content of that post here:

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Just went through the hotelmarketing.com‘s list of most popular articles in 2011. An excellent list, reading through the list alone is a great analysis of what’s happening in the hospitality world. Here’s my analysis of the scene: Feel free to add yours.

1. Hoteliers are more and more worried about their dependency on OTAs. Rate Parity problems, Cutting availability to OTAs being flagged and more.

2. Hoteliers still haven’t figured out how to yield results from social media. And nobody blames them. The stats talk for themselves: while social media brings lots of visits and can be used as a branding strategy the conversion of those visitors is much lower than on search. And what should we talk about?

3. Hoteliers want more direct. OK that’s nothing new, it’s the eternal problem of every industry, how to increase direct sales.

4. Hoteliers are searching for new marketing ideas. The posts with catchy headlines like Google+ will re-shape search… andGroupon and Expedia… are high on the list indicating that new ideas are definitely on their mind, even if many are just not mature yet. It leads me to believe that the common phrase that hoteliers are not up-to-date is just wrong, they are probably more careful and aren’t going to invest heavily into stuff that doesn’t work.

5. Big names still work best. I guess this isn’t limited to hotels but if there is Facebook, TripAdvisor, Google, Kayak or other big name in the headline it just gets much more readers. That’s just one of the PR laws, big names sell.

It’s probably more revealing as a trend to see what posts were most read and shared than the content of the posts. It gives a great crowdsourcing of hotel marketers interests (at least those that read hotelmarketing.com).

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MOST POPULAR ARTICLES IN 2011 Three significant trends driving the hotel industryFive critical trends hotel marketers need to knowTop ten hotel internet marketing resolutions for 2011Getting too many bookings from Booking.com? Google launches Google Hotel Finder A closer look at Google’s Hotel Finder Groupon and Expedia partner to launch travel deals site Hotel web design tips to capture direct bookings 10 types of tweets that work best for hotels TripAdvisor’s fake reviews sickness goes critical Facebook hotel booking conversions growing, for some higher than TripAdvisor Why hotels shouldn’t sell a $200 hotel room for $50 Increase direct hotel bookings with social media Google Hotel Finder vs. Kayak vs. Bing Travel What consumers want most from a hotel in 2011 Expedia’s “no rooms available” practice gets a red card TripAdvisor’s travel trends for 2012 How hotels create a lasting performance on Facebook Rate parity a thing of the past? Google launches into online travel New TripAdvisor complaint threatens review syndication Dysfunctional hotel websites Priceline now largest OTA, eclipsing Expedia in revenue and net income Groupon Getaways with Expedia offers first deals Groupon / Expedia Getaways aren’t the deal they seem to be Story telling through social media for hotel marketers How Google+ will reshape search, social media and travel Google will change your hotel’s distribution strategy Booking.com: improving conversion with best practice persuasive design Top five QR uses for hoteliers Ten Facebook post ideas for hotels Kuoni acquires GTA from Travelport Lessons from the TripAdvisor vs. Google controversy How hotels create a lasting performance on Facebook Survey reveals key leisure travel trends Expedia on how to grow your ADR without impacting occupancy Booking.com named source of 50 percent of European hotel bookings Why OTA hotel customers are not your customers Expedia to spin off TripAdvisor Savvy hotel marketers view front desk as a distribution channel Why hotels should invest more in online marketing in 2012 Google is going Places – is your hotel ready for the ride? More news on Google Hotel Finder New Cornell study shows promotion effect of online travel sites What independent hotels need to do to compete against the big travel brands Why we need a new hotel reservations sales process Are we on the verge of a social networking backlash? Bad hotel publicity in the Internet age The future of hotel pricing What business travelers want from hotels when it comes to mobile Google Flight Search faced with “no OTA booking link” ultimatum from airlines Google, Facebook and TripAdvisor on what’s next for online travel Rate quotation strategies for your hotel’s sales agents A guide to the top 100 hotel review websites How to get along with TripAdvisor How “fresh” is your hotel website? How travelers use online and social media channels to make hotel-choice decision Google reaching out to major hotel brands and CRS providers How Ritz-Carlton embraces digital The 10 steps to Facebook hotel marketing success