Social media channels are capitalizing on the popularity of avid travelers from the high-end to the budget-savvy in terms of identifying travel hotspots, which is being embraced by the travel industry.
Leaders in the travel industry had a gathering at the Riviera resort near Cannes for the annual LTM trade fair, which highlighted the pivotal role of the social networks.
“Social networks, such as Facebook with its 600 million users, will have a dramatic impact on how affluent consumers make their (travel) decisions,” Klara Glowczewska, editor of Conde Nast Traveler, told a conference at the event.
Matthew Upchurch, CEO of Virtuoso, which is a network of travel agencies and advisers who develop vacation plans for customers, perceives the Internet to be an opportunity and does not believe its product is being cannibalized for its 6,000-plus advisers spanning over 22 countries.
“Social media is one of the best things that ever happened to true professional travel advisers,” Upchurch told AFP.
“I have up to 1,200 friends on Facebook, who are either close friends or colleagues, and when I learn something really interesting about a destination that I have just come back from, I click ’share' and everybody benefits.”
The exclusive nature of certain promotions is being leveraged by the upper echelon of the market where a hotel and a resort is able to target its marketing and publicize certain new activities and offers.
While the bulk of the hotel bookings are conducted online, around 55 to 60 percent of all business, according to Oliver Chavy, a senior luxury and lifestyle executive at the Conrad and Waldorf Astoria hotels and resorts, told AFP.
Around 6.5 million of the U.S.’s 77 million baby boomers are already active social networkers, according to a study carried out for the Preferred Hotel Group.
Leaders in the travel industry had a gathering at the Riviera resort near Cannes for the annual LTM trade fair, which highlighted the pivotal role of the social networks.
“Social networks, such as Facebook with its 600 million users, will have a dramatic impact on how affluent consumers make their (travel) decisions,” Klara Glowczewska, editor of Conde Nast Traveler, told a conference at the event.
Matthew Upchurch, CEO of Virtuoso, which is a network of travel agencies and advisers who develop vacation plans for customers, perceives the Internet to be an opportunity and does not believe its product is being cannibalized for its 6,000-plus advisers spanning over 22 countries.
“Social media is one of the best things that ever happened to true professional travel advisers,” Upchurch told AFP.
“I have up to 1,200 friends on Facebook, who are either close friends or colleagues, and when I learn something really interesting about a destination that I have just come back from, I click ’share' and everybody benefits.”
The exclusive nature of certain promotions is being leveraged by the upper echelon of the market where a hotel and a resort is able to target its marketing and publicize certain new activities and offers.
While the bulk of the hotel bookings are conducted online, around 55 to 60 percent of all business, according to Oliver Chavy, a senior luxury and lifestyle executive at the Conrad and Waldorf Astoria hotels and resorts, told AFP.
Around 6.5 million of the U.S.’s 77 million baby boomers are already active social networkers, according to a study carried out for the Preferred Hotel Group.
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