Asian temptation: authenticity in social media is key

Interview: Across the world travellers are increasingly using social media to engage with travel brands. In the Asian region as a whole, social media penetration is around 20% but major travel markets such as China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong are boasting levels of between 40% and 54%.

So how does a World Hotels, a brand with 500 affiliate properties in more than 250 destinations and 65 countries worldwide use this game-changing communication channel to tempt customers?

Tim Gunstone, EyeforTravel’s managing director caught up with Edward Perry, the group’s global senior director of social media, OTA partnerships and innovation projects to find out.

EFT: Ed, does World Hotels use social media to ‘humanise’ your brand and what sort of a face do you want to show to the public particularly in Asia?

EP: World Hotels’ social objective is to tell the world of our brand and what we stand for. As such, we believe very strongly that wherever you arrive in the world – be that in America or Asia – it should feel authentic.

And the same is true for social media. Our brand evangelists strive to offer a genuine approach to travel, putting the customer experience at the forefront.

Our brand represents beautiful hotels and resorts worldwide.

Our task is to not only to reflect their grandeur but to share the experience of getting there from the people that make them so special: our hoteliers and our staff.

Our differentiator is our ability to make our beautiful structures come to life and have deep meaning for our customers.

EFT: How do you use social media to drive engagement before, during and after the customer’s trip?

EP: The one thing we have learned about social outreach is that the minute you think that you are doing a great job, you realise that you have only just begun.

We’re emphatic about reaching customers in the place and time zone of their convenience. We answer anytime a customer reaches out to us, whether with good news or not. This can result in some late nights in disparate time zones, but we get the job done.

The relaunch of Worldhotels.com at the end of July 2012, will represent a milestone in our social outreach strategy.

The website has been designed to make booking a room a more social affair. We have looked at the trends and have made some enhancements that we hope will be of value to travellers.

EFT: What has been your biggest success with social media to date?

EP: Social media has given us to means to broaden our global customer brand champions.

Through our social engagement activities (Facebook contests, promos and so on) we have been able to reach an audience that we would have never been able to through other forms of marketing or outreach.

We have been able to get to know many of our followers on a personal level and have been able to better target our product offerings as a result.

Ed Perry will be joining 150 top travel innovators at the region’s ‘Social Media and Mobile in Travel Asia’ in Hong Kong this November 20-21