Snapchat Marketing, Rate Parity, and Millennials

In recent hospitality news, Marriott became the first major hotel brand to launch a Snapchat campaign, a German court upheld the decision to prohibit rate parity clauses, and the U.S. Census Bureau released population projections that indicate Millennials will overtake Baby Boomers this year.

Marriott experiments with Snapchat marketing

This week Marriott launched its first Snapchat campaign, becoming the first major hotel brand to use the social network for marketing purposes. The hotel brand chose to work with influencers to create one-to-one conversations with Snapchat users.

“Our overall strategy is first content, then community,” said David Beebe, a spokesperson for Marriott’s creative content marketing. “Ultimately our goal is giving consumers what they want, and they in turn will give value back to us.”

It will be interesting to see the results of the three month campaign. Snapchat has achieved explosive growth in the 13-25 year-old demographic, making it a potentially vital way to reach tomorrow’s travelers.

CLICK HERE to read the full article on Skift.

Rate Parity Clauses Prohibited in Germany 

On January 9th, Düsseldörf Higher Regional Court rejected German OTA Hotel Reservation Service’s appeal against the decision of the Bundeskartellamt (another German court) of 20 December 2013 prohibiting HRS from continuing to apply “best price” clauses. The Bundeskartellamt has now promised to pursue proceedings against rate parity clauses at other OTAs like Expedia and Booking.com

OTA rate parity clauses are a common pain point for hoteliers, as they make it difficult to gain direct bookings. Many have called the practice anticompetitive, according to antitrust legislation.

CLICK HERE to read the full article on Hotel News Now.

Millennials to Overtake Baby Boomers

According to recent U.S. Census Bureau projections, Millennials are projected to outnumber Baby Boomers as early as this year. This is in part due to immigration adding more to the Millennial demographic than any other age group.

For hoteliers wanting to learn more, Revinate’s on-demand webinar “Delivering the Ideal Millennial Experience” covers some of the common questions and concerns hoteliers have about the Millennials as an age demographic.

CLICK HERE to read the full article on PewResearch.org.

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