Archive for the ‘Travel and Facebook’ Category

Travel and Facebook are natural partners, according to Facebook spokeswoman, Jillian Carroll. “Travel is inherently social,” she said. Travelers ask their friends for hotel and restaurant recommendations and then share their impressions afterwards. Hotels have begun offering direct bookings through Facebook, luring travelers from on-line travel agencies. “We want to be there when someone transforms the recommendations of their friends into booking a reservation,” said David Godsman, vice president for global web services for Starwood Hotels. “If they press the “like” button, we want to start a conversation.”  Hotels want their booking engines to be found where the customer is, and not ask the customer to search them out. And using social media to communicate can take the relationship beyond the booking transaction to such niceties as preferred pillow type, preferred drinks in the minibar or preferred type of room. Travelers are now expecting trip-related services to be available on the new platforms, and hotels make more money from rooms booked directly than from rooms booked through on-line travel agencies.

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