Holiday Travel Trends, Hotel Content Marketing, and Gadgets for Business Travelers

From left: The Mophie Space Pack and Sharper Image’s 4-USB-Port Charging Tower on top of Brookstone’s Pocket Projector Pro; Brookstone’s 3-to-1 USB Cable and 5200 mAh USB Backup Battery on the Tranquil Moments Bedside Speaker; and Sharper Image headphones. CreditTony Cenicola/The New York Times

In recent hospitality news, American Express found that more Americans are booking holiday travel, Skift reported on best practices in website design with Kimpton, and the New York Times published an article on tech gadgets for business travelers.

More Americans are Booking Holiday Travel Than Last Year

This week, Tnooz reported on a study from American Express in partnership with ebiquity, which showed that 90 million Americans will travel during the 2014 holiday season. According to this year’s Spending and Saving Tracker, 62% of Americans would rather travel than receive gifts.

It’s also interesting to note that, while the vast majority of respondents are traveling to see family and friends, 16% have decided to travel during the holidays because they found a great travel deal. This indicates that the holiday season is a great time for your hotel to offer special rates, as you might capture bookings of prospective guests that wouldn’t be traveling otherwise.

CLICK HERE to read the full article on Tnooz.

 The Content Marketing Strategies Behind Kimpton Hotels Website

In promoting its new report, Content Marketing Strategies for Travel Brands, Skift looked at how the new Kimpton website uses hotel content marketing. For example:

• The new website integrates Kimpton’s brand values: different, down-to-earth, healthy, simple, and carefree.
• The content is localized and in-depth, with a 50-50 split between hotel and destination editorial.
• The non-hotel content is further split between travel information, such as the top 10 places to go for bike rides near a hotel, and life-style oriented posts with actionable takeaways, like recipes and fashion trends.
• The Life is Suite blog was removed from its independent URL and embedded into the brand.com site.
• Blog content is determined by guest data, such as psychographic and buying behavior.

CLICK HERE to read the full article on Skift.

Gadgets for Business Travelers

Recently, the New York Times reported on some of the tech gadgets available for business travelers. The list is very telling of the needs of the modern business traveler, as it includes products like miniature projectors, USB hubs, and portable backup batteries.

Additionally, some of the items on the list are relatively inexpensive. It may be worth the budgetary consideration for some hoteliers to consider investing in products like these, to better service the needs of business travelers. After all, hotels like Marriott are already providing guests with tech-supporting amenities.

CLICK HERE to read the full New York Times article.