My Twitter Digest for the Past Week 2009-11-23

  • @tomtravel2 Couldn't agree more. Must engage customer, provide value & exceed expectations. Technology is only a tool. in reply to tomtravel2 #
  • @spencerrascoff Spencer, was wondering if you agree with my post regarding the survival of agents http://bit.ly/6L88tY in reply to spencerrascoff #
  • RT @augieray @marismith: What Does a World With 1 Billion Facebook Users Look Like?! http://bit.ly/1qElow Amazing stats #fb #
  • Thanks 4 tweeting about travel agent survival @tomtravel2 @theflaggagency @lynnerae @Darci37 @TMBTravel http://j.mp/6L88tY #
  • RT @PhoCusWright: Recession's Lasting Effects on Consumers http://bit.ly/2RM6sP | A Hotel baseline reset? http://j.mp/2Xi7mS #
  • Thanks @Crash905 @KierMatthews @ClaudeBenard @twoandahalf @TravelByCannon @EliteTravelGal 4 RT Travel Agent Survival post http://j.mp/6L88tY #
  • Planning a Dec trip to Las Vegas – Should I book a hotel I have favorably tweeted about? They just unfollowed me. #badmove #
  • How can Twilight #newmoon marketing team miss obvious "Team Edward sucks" & "Team Jacob bites" fan girl faction tag lines? #
  • One of my favorite travel guide sites – Video interview with @nextstop founder by @Scobleizer http://j.mp/8nkvUG #
  • Incredibly gratuitous Virgin America #newmoon product placement. They just captured 100% female/teen awareness & preference #
  • @augieray Saw Precious last night, not at all what I expected – enigmatic teen vampire, buff werewolf dude #oopswrongtheater in reply to augieray #
  • RT @andybeal: If you change the way you tweet because of peer pressure, please let me know so I can unfollow you. Be true to yourself #agree #
  • Wondering why my blog archive page http://j.mp/7xTh9R is generating lots of page views. A bit odd it would suddenly spike. #
  • @CiaoBambino A couple Kid-centric guides I built on NextStop: http://j.mp/xVdii & http://j.mp/gAC8i | Nice 2 meet you at PCW #
  • Great post about a DMO that "gets it" by @PembridgeAnna http://j.mp/81zu0z | It was a pleasure to meet you at #phocuswright #
  • Thanks @rtsnance @Kijubi @pcolaco @kenpenny for adding me to your lists – I'm honored #
  • Congrats @philipwolf & @PhoCusWright on a great conference. Still wish there was a cage match; maybe in PHX 😉 #phocuswright #
  • My "Views from a Corner Suite" blog should now work across all mobile platforms. Please prove me wrong 🙂 http://j.mp/x3eob #
  • RT @askirby: @hotelchatter Hotels are absolutely blocking porn. They call it "traffic shaping." IHG is open about it. http://bit.ly/8SnWng #
  • Thanks for the #FF shout outs – @hharteveldt, @Douglas_Quinby @Susantravels – 3 people who are definitely on my #FF list #
  • RT @HHotelConsult: "Hotels That Help You Cheat", & the rise of AshleyMadison.com http://ow.ly/E8l3 | Not a good niche market #
  • @wendyperrin Tell @CNTraveler readers lots of smart people were trying to make travel better at the #phocuswright conference in reply to wendyperrin #
  • @gonomad Uncompleted Las Vegas projects will sit – Cost of finishing the projects exceeds property valuation when complete in reply to Gonomad #
  • RT @timothychughes: social web = "conversion, contribution, collaboration and communication" @phillipwolf #phocuswright #
  • Booking.com model in Europe supporting strong sales – puts pressure on chains to lower fees #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Key issue for hotel chains is brand differentiation – Brands need to create value for hotels #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Future role of hotel chains – will not die (travel agents & GDS did not die either) #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Revenue management needs to give way to demand mgmt. More marketing focus closer 2 property #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Days of revenue manager being a yield junkie are long gone – probably for 10 years #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • @timothychughes Chris Anderson feels non-refundable rates offfered by hotel brand sites may start disappearing #phocuswright in reply to timothychughes #
  • @timothychughes Bill Carroll feels recession gave OTA's more negotiating power #phocuswright in reply to timothychughes #
  • PhoCusWright study seeing OTA conversion rates increasing. #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Any questions from the Twittosphere for the #phocuswright lodging recovery panel? #
  • Hotels also looking at standby upgrades & value added (3rd night free) offers protect price #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Hotels protecting retail pricing structure – Opaque, package, OTA promo, private discounts #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Cornell study identified billboard effect of OTA presence on non-OTA res volume & ADR #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Cornell study – Sample properties shifted from prime display to no display on Expedia #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Chris Anderson showing Continental Air study (at full rate parity) – OTA's at lower yield – #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • OTA hotel volume growth YOY in 3Q 2009; OTA marketshare now 2.8% (up by 25-30%) Lower ADR #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Jake Fuller Forecasting hotel RevPar in 2012 at 95% of 2007 levels. Also Occupancy to 60% #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Future supply growth 2010 +1.5%; 2011-2012 <+1% Should reach equilibrium in next couple years #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Jake fuller – Hotel demand trails GDP – demand down 5-6% in 2009; Supply up 3% this year #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Partial ownership lodging inventory expands lodging options, Increasing hotel supply pressure #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • Bill Carroll pessimistic on outlook (me too) financially unviable hotels not getting closed #phocuswright lodging recovery #
  • In the #phocuswright lodging recovery workshop – Jake Fuller, Bill Carroll & Chris Anderson speaking #
  • Look outside of travel industry for social media best practices #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • Most important for social media – Be transparent #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • Listen to people, be authenttic & genuine – empower people – the rest will take care of itself #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • Engage in social media NOW – search engines now indexing social media feeds #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • Social media "fan boys" community comes to defend a brand – Apple a good example @elliottng #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • Social media marketing – essential to understand the your network @kevinlukemay #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • @kevinlukemay The conversation is more important than the one-way message #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • Q: How are hoteliers using social networks like TripAdvisor to engage their customers? #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • Entire room in agreement on one topic in travel social media – we all worship @wendyperrin 🙂 #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • An organization can not control its brand in social media – but, they can participate smartly #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • @barbdelollis You should be here – some interesting topics. and interaction. I think @wendyperrin is really enjoying it. in reply to barbdelollis #
  • Social media can be used as a marketing tool – cuts across organizational barriers – engagement #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • Twitter's best use is not a marketing trumpet, better used as a listening tool #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • Hippo (Highest paid person in organization) doesn't need to tweet. Should be most interesting. #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • Tweeps – Any questions 4 panel, let me know & I will ask them #phocuswright blogger town hall #
  • #phocuswright blogger town hall paricipants: @stephenjoyce @kevinlukemay @JEBworks @denschaal @elliottng #
  • Dennis Schaal picking on Continental airlines social media policies at #phocuswright blogger summit #
  • Blogger Town Hall – Want to create #pcblog as a hashtag? #phocuswright #
  • @Susantravels Terrible strategic error – doing a short blog post on each innovation summit participant – too much content! in reply to Susantravels #
  • Yes, I am at #phocuswright. No, I am not live tweeting. No, I am not sleeping. Trying a different approach. Lots of work… #
  • RT @ApplExpert50 A near massive outage affecting appx 75% of users on the Blackberry Network http://bit.ly/1lUYps | #BREAKING #
  • I earned the Globe Trotter(25) sticker on #GetGlue! http://bit.ly/1Xixgz #
  • Enjoyed the new MKE-MCO flight to #phocuswright on @southwestair – on time, engaged team. no bag fees, snacks – all great #
  • A WordPress plugin zapped my blog's header image gallery – including all CC citations | Not welcome before #phocuswright #
About Robert Cole

Robert Cole is the founder of RockCheetah, a hotel marketing strategy and travel technology consulting practice. He also authors the Views from a Corner Suite Blog and publishes the Travel Quote of the Day. Robert speaks regularly at major travel industry conferences, authors articles for leading travel industry publications, advises travel-related startups and the equity investment community. He is an evangelist for the global travel industry.