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THE LUXURY TRAVELLER & SOCIAL MEDIA 2014: THE AMERICAS

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Last year at ILTM Americas 2013, we

released the first edition of The Luxury

Traveller & Social Media. We were

inspired by the idea that the social

media about luxury travel brands

represents a living focus group; a unique

lens into the experiences that luxury

travellers seek and share online.

One year later, this idea remains

as important as ever.

This year’s report finds that it’s the

little things that make a big difference

to luxury travellers in the Americas.

As digital content becomes more

concise and marketing become truly

personalised, luxury travel marketers

must evolve their messages and targeting

to profit from the latest digital advances.

04060810

14 16

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262930 30

With a specific focus on the Americas,

we interpret the collective voice of

luxury travellers across the region. By

analysing their opinions about 2,000+

leading hotels around the world, we

discover the preferences and behaviours

of current and future generations of

luxury travellers, and explain key changes

across the global luxury travel landscape.

All insights were drawn exclusively

from Brand Karma’s research on social

media postings left by luxury travellers

both in the Americas and globally.

On behalf of Brand Karma and ILTM, we

wish you a successful ILTM Americas

with hopes that the insights from this

report will guide your brand’s digital

journey into 2015 and beyond.

KEY FINDINGS

THE AMERICAS SOCIAL MEDIA AT-A-GLANCE

LUXURY TRAVEL HOTSPOTS

LOOK WHO’S TALKING: ONLINE REVIEWS & SOCIAL MEDIA BY GEOGRAPHY

REVIEW SITES BY HOTEL TYPE

THE GUEST EXPERIENCE: DELIGHTS & DISAPPOINTMENTS

COMPARING LUXURY TRAVELLERS IN THE AMERICAS

KEY TRENDS: GLOBALLY & WITHIN THE AMERICAS

LUXURY HOTELS: TOP PERFORMERS

CASE STUDIES

METHODOLOGY

ABOUT BRAND KARMA

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL LUXURY TRAVEL MARKET

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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54

“SMALL IS THE NEW BIG” IN LUXURY TRAVEL SOCIAL MEDIA If there’s a unifying trend across The Luxury Traveller & Social Media 2014: The Americas, it’s that small is the new

big. Social media has now become so

pervasive that luxury travel marketers

must be extremely creative to reach

the right audience and ensure their

messages are seen, shared, and loved.

Going small is key to succeeding in the

important domains of digital content

and personalisation. “Small is the new

big” means short, mobile-friendly,

image-rich posts. Personalising digital

communications to each customer’s

preferences. Focusing on being best at

3-5 buzzworthy elements. Spotting small

disrupters like Airbnb that will eventually

change the travel landscape. We elaborate

on each of these trends below and in the

pages that follow.

CONTAGIOUS CONTENT: BE BRIEF, BE BRIGHT, BE REMEMBERED The consumer’s attention span continues

to shorten as sites like Buzzfeed, Upworthy,

and The Huffington Post reinvent internet

content with sensational headlines (Man Tries to Hug a Wild Lion, You Won’t Believe What Happens Next), nostalgic quizzes

(Which “Friends” Character Should Be Your Roommate?), and animated GIFs (33 Places In Ireland You Won’t Believe Are Real). While some argue that these sites’ formula

is simply a ploy for clicks, results show

their micro-messages are connecting with

Millennials. Furthermore, studies show the

ideal length of a tweet is 100 characters

while the optimal length of a Facebook post

is just 40 characters1.

So what does contagious content look

like for luxury travel brands? Our research

shows it’s drawing from the creativity and

clarity of Buzzfeed’s approach, keeping

messages as concise as possible, but

avoiding the hyperbole and irreverent tone

INSTAGRAM AND TRIPADVISOR FEATURE THE LITTLE THINGSIn last year’s report, we highlighted

the importance of “instagram-mable”

experiences. The one-of-a-kind little

things at a luxury hotel get shared most

in social media. Instagram’s growth

remains staggering with over 200 million

monthly active users sharing 60 million

photos a day as of March 2014. In the hotel

review space, TripAdvisor still accounts

for just under half of all luxury hotel

reviews worldwide at 46.2%. Although

losing some of its global share to online

travel agencies like Booking.com and

ctrip globally, its reign in the Americas

continues as well, accounting for 50.8% of

all luxury reviews. As arguably the most

important social sites for luxury travel

brands in the Americas, ensuring a hotel

has several instagram-mable experiences

(think views, jaw-dropping lobby

design, latte art, personalized amenities,

etc.) remains key to a luxury brand’s

success on Instagram and TripAdvisor

and their respective audiences.

HOW DO LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISORS SUCCEED IN DIGITAL? ONE CUSTOMER AT A TIMESocial media continues to hold huge

opportunities for luxury travel advisors. The

key to success is winning new customers

one by one. For many travel advisors, their

brand is their own name rather than that

of their agency, so adding current and

future clients as Facebook friends and

sharing one’s own luxury travel lifestyle

on Facebook is a credible and creative

way to win new business. The TripAdvisor

forums also present a largely untapped

opportunity for travel advisors to showcase

their expertise and meet new prospects.

By becoming community leaders in forums

on virtually any destination or travel topic,

travel advisors will interact virtually with

an active community of travellers seeking

advice on where to stay, where to dine, and

what to do.

that is inconsistent with luxury. Start by

visualising your brand’s message with a

beautiful image or video in your customers’

Facebook newsfeed. Staying true to your

brand’s voice while exploring the new

content model is a formula for success.

IN LATIN AMERICA, SMARTPHONES QUALIFY AFFLUENCEMobile is transforming Latin America, with

more than 414 million people having a

mobile phone at the end of 2013 (nearly

70% of the population). But most mobile

devices remain feature phones (i.e. non-

smartphones), making smartphones a

qualifier of affluence in key markets. High-

income households accounted for 16.4%

of the smartphone audience in Chile, 45%

of the smartphone audience in Mexico,

and 53.9% of the smartphone audience

in Peru2. While smartphone adoption will

inevitably go mass in the coming years,

there’s a short-term opportunity to target

today’s smartphone users in Latin America

with luxury offers.

MICRO-TARGET FOR MASSIVE RETURNS The advertising and posting platforms

of Facebook and Twitter now allow

marketers to target their messages to

specific individuals. Micro-targeting

technology improves every year and

has enormous implications for brands

wanting to personalise messages in a

social context. Facebook’s platform

features Custom Audiences – enabling

brands to match their customer database

with Facebook’s users and present them

with a specific offer or ad. Early results

amongst luxury travel brands have been

promising, with ROIs reaching 50:1.

LUXURY TRAVEL HOTSPOTS GROW IN LATIN AMERICA, DECLINE IN NORTH AMERICA Latin America holds a relatively small

portion of all luxury travel hotspots based

on our social media data. However, the

region increased its appeal in 2013 to

luxury travellers, generating 5% more

luxury travel reviews than in 2012.

Destinations like Puerto Rico and Rio

de Janeiro have the highest draw but

La Romana in the Dominican Republic

and São Paulo in Brazil are seeing strong

increases each year. On the other hand,

North America comprises nearly one

third of all luxury reviews globally but

high-end hotels saw a 3% decrease in

chatter between 2012 and 2013. New York

City and Las Vegas remain among the

top 10 luxury destinations globally, but

as the world gets smaller, luxury travel

brands across Canada, Mexico and the

US will need to be creative in 2014 to stay

competitive in the luxury travel market.

DIFFERENCES IN NORTH AMERICAN VS. LATIN AMERICAN TRAVELLER PREFERENCESSince last year’s report, the similarities and

differences between North American and

Latin American travellers have evolved. In

terms of commonalities, luxury travellers

in both North America and Latin America

most often prefer to post reviews on

TripAdvisor and Facebook and to write on

Monday. Key differences remain, however.

Latin American luxury travellers care

most about bedrooms and breakfasts

while North American luxury travellers

concentrate on service concepts like

attitude and cleanliness. Moreover, more

luxury travellers in Latin America post

reviews in May versus in North America,

who write the most reviews in April.

KEY FINDINGS

1 buffersocial, The Ideal Length of Everything Online, Backed by Research, 2014

2 eMarketer, The Global Media Intelligence Report: Latin America, 2013

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76 7

THE AMERICAS SOCIAL MEDIA AT-A-GLANCE

COUNTRY POPULATION

MOST REVIEWED DESTINATION ON TRIPADVISOR

SOCIAL MEDIA PENETRATION

SOCIAL MEDIA MATURITY (EARLY, HIGH GROWTH, MATURE)

% OF SOCIAL MEDIA USERS ACCESSING VIA MOBILE

MOST POPULAR SOCIAL NETWORKS

United States 318,892,000 New York City 56% Mature 86% Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest

Brazil 202,657,000 Rio de Janeiro 45% High Growth 74% Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Ask.fm, Orkut

Mexico 120,287,000 Mexico City 45% High Growth 85% Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn

Colombia 46,245,000 Bogota 48% High Growth 71% Facebook, LinkedIn, Ask.fm, Twitter, Scribd

Argentina 43,024,000 Buenos Aires 56% Mature 77% Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram

Canada 34,835,000 Vancouver 56% Mature 79% Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn

Uruguay 33,330,000 Montevideo 60% Mature 67% Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Taringa

Peru 30,148,000 Lima 44% High Growth 64% Facebook, VK, LinkedIn, Ask.fm, Twitter

Venezuela 28,686,000 Margarita Island 39% High Growth 64% Facebook, YouTube, Twitter

Chile 17,364,000 Santiago 61% Mature 81% Facebook, Windows Live, YouTube, Twitter, Fotolog

Ecuador 15,654,000 Guayaquil 47% High Growth 73% Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Guatemala 14,647,000 Antigua 22% High Growth 88% Facebook, Windows Live, Twitter, Google+, Badoo

Bolivia 10,631,000 La Paz 26% High Growth 69% Facebook, Twitter

Dominican Republic 10,350,000 Punta Cana 33% High Growth 76% Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Taringa

Haiti 9,997,000 Petionville 7% Early 86% Facebook

Honduras 8,599,000 Roatan 21% High Growth 87% Facebook, Twitter, Google+

Paraguay 6,704,000 Asuncion 33% High Growth 91% Facebook, Twitter

El Salvador 6,126,000 San Salvador 36% High Growth 87% Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Instagram

Nicaragua 5,849,000 Managua 20% Early 76% Facebook, YouTube, Taringa!, Twitter

Costa Rica 4,755,000 San Jose 50% High Growth 92% Facebook, YouTube

Puerto Rico 3,621,000 San Juan 54% Mature 92% Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Panama 3,608,000 Panama City 36% High Growth 86% Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Jamaica 2,930,000 Montego Bay 27% High Growth 83% Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Trinidad and Tobago 1,224,000 Port of Spain 46% High Growth 79% Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, TriniTuner

Guyana 736,000 Georgetown 24% High Growth 75% Facebook

Suriname 573,000 Paramaribo 30% High Growth 88% Facebook

Guadeloupe 409,000 Guadeloupe 45% High Growth 75% Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Martinique 398,000 Trois-Ilets 37% High Growth 76% Facebook, Twitter

Belize 341,000 Ambergris Caye 29% High Growth 76% Facebook

Sources: We Are Social: Social, Digital & Mobile in The Americas, TripAdvisor, Facebook, eMarketer

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98

As social media progresses, we have

seen luxury travel hotspots also evolve.

Defined as cities or destinations with an

above-average quantity of luxury hotel

reviews, the luxury hotspots of today

and tomorrow are illustrated on this

map. Existing hotspots are based on the

number of luxury hotel reviews within

a destination since 2012; upcoming

hotspots exhibit the highest growth rate

in luxury hotel reviews year-over-year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, luxury

destinations most often receive

reviews written by travellers within that

continent. For example, Asian travellers

wrote 82% of the reviews posted about

hotels in the Asian luxury hotspots.

The same intra-continent trends holds

true for hotspots in North America

(70%) Europe (48%), Oceania (48%)

and the Middle East (32%). However,

hotels in the luxury hotspots in Latin

America received the largest number of

reviews by North Americans (68%) while

Europeans accounted for the greatest

portion of reviews for hotspots in Africa

at 49%.

Focusing on The Americas, luxury

reviews for North American hotels

decreased in frequency by 3% from

2012 to 2013, and although large cities

like New York City, San Francisco, and

Chicago are still popular destinations for

luxury travellers, all three cities received

less reviews in 2013 than in 2012. On the

other hand, review frequency increased

by 5% in Latin America from 2012 to

2013. Destinations such as Puerto

Rico, Punta Cana, Buenos Aires, and

Rio de Janeiro are still popular while

luxury hotels in La Romana, Dominican

Republic and São Paulo, Brazil have seen

large increases in reviews.

LUXURY TRAVEL HOTSPOTS

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1110

With all the different types of digital

content, it can be challenging for luxury

travel brands to determine how to

measure their performance in social media.

From a global perspective, Brand Karma’s

research measures social media health by

the positivity and share-of-voice a luxury

travel brand attracts from two major

sources: online review sites like TripAdvisor

and social networking sites like Facebook.

As evidenced in the map, there has been

a significant shift in the number of reviews

written by travellers from each continent

since last year’s report. Travellers from

Asia have become much more active

in writing luxury hotel reviews and are

now the stand-out leaders, representing

41% of all luxury hotel reviews globally.

Driven by the 60% increase in number

of reviews written from 2012 to 2013,

Asians’ overall share of global luxury

reviews written grew by 31% since last

year’s report. With China now the top

outbound travel market globally and

ctrip containing a large share of China’s

hotel reviews, hoteliers should watch the

digital space in that market closely.

In contrast to Asia, North America,

Europe, and Oceania’s shares of luxury

hotel reviews have all dropped since

last year’s report by -14%, -11%, and -5%,

respectively. That being said, North

Americans still account for one-third of

the world’s luxury reviews at 33%, and

Europeans have remained fairly active in

posting reviews at 16% of all the reviews

in the sample. By comparison, travellers

from Oceania (4%), the Middle East (3%),

Latin America (2%), and Africa (1%) do

not write nearly as many luxury hotels

reviews, but each of these continents saw

growth in the number of reviews posted

by their travellers between 2012 and 2013.

What does this mean for luxury travel

brands in the Americas? In order to

maintain a positive social media health, it is

now imperative for luxury hotels, especially

those whose target guests include Asian

travellers, to understand the needs and

expectations of their guests and how

they might vary according to culture or

traveller point of origin. Additionally, luxury

hotels in the Americas need to commit

or recommit to delivering a remarkable

travel experience to their guests in

order to ensure the guests share their

experiences in social media. Though it

seems rudimentary, guests’ expectations

have advanced, particularly in light of the

fact that it is so easy for them to read the

experiences of their family, friends, and

other travellers in social media. In order to

meet and exceed their expectations, luxury

travel brands must actively manage their

presence in social media and find ways to

enhance their encounters with travellers.

Globally, social media giants such as

Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn

still hold the top spots in social networking

sites. Image-heavy sharing sites, like

Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest are

used most predominantly. Social video

platforms like YouTube and China-based

YouKu remain among the world’s most

popular rich media sites, and global

messaging apps like WhatsApp, WeChat,

and LINE have achieved significant scale

as well, with WhatsApp breaking into

the top five largest social media sites.

In the Americas, Facebook continues

to dominate the social networking

landscape in both Latin America and

North America. In addition to Facebook,

Twitter, LinkedIn, ask.fm, Google+,

YouTube and Instagram are the most

popular social channels in Latin America

while North Americans most often

engage on YouTube, Twitter, Google+,

Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn.

LOOK WHO’S TALKING: ONLINE REVIEWS & SOCIAL MEDIA BY GEOGRAPHY

Luxury Hotel Reviews: Percentage Breakdown by Author’s Country of Original (January 2012 - June 2014)

Luxury Hotel Facebook Likes: Average by Region (July 2014)

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The conclusion? Globally travellers are

sharing more of their experiences in

online reviews and engagement on social

networks continues to grow. While

Asians lead the in luxury reviews by a

significant margin, they use regional social

channels more than the global giants.

North American travellers continue to

have a strong presence in both online

reviews and social networks and Latin

America travellers are increasing presence

as their digital engagement expands.

Other interesting statistics:

• Overall, social media penetration in

The Americas is at 48%, and of those

using social media in The Americas,

80% access via mobile devices.

• Brazilians and Argentinians spend

more time on social media than

another country in The Americas

with an average of 3 hours and 5

minutes per day each. Mexicans

average 2 hours and 58 minutes per

day while social media users in the

United States and Canada average

2 hours 3 minutes and 1 hour 55

minutes per day, respectively.

Sources: Most Recent User Data in Company Press Releases, as of July 2014

Source: Social, Digital and Mobile in the Americas, We are social 2014

LOOK WHO’S TALKING: ONLINE REVIEWS & SOCIAL MEDIA BY GEOGRAPHY

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1514

Looking more closely at hotel review sites,

we fi nd several important distinctions

between luxury and non-luxury hotels, as

well as between luxury hotels within the

Americas.

• TripAdvisor remains the most

popular review site worldwide, and

luxury hotels have more reviews on

TripAdvisor (46.2%) than non-luxury

hotels (29.1%). In the Americas, 50.8%

of all luxury reviews are posted on

TripAdvisor.

• When comparing Quarters One and

Two (January – June) of 2012, 2013,

and 2014, Latin Americans wrote 97%

more luxury reviews from 2012 to 2013,

but have written 47% less reviews

from 2013 to 2014. North Americans

also increased the total number of

reviews they wrote in 2013 by 42%

as compared with 2012 but are also

writing less reviews in 2014 – 34% less

than 2013.

• Each year Chinese booking and review

sites like Ctrip and Dao Dao continue

to gain popularity globally and are

increasing their share of luxury reviews

worldwide.

The table below lists the top ten most

reviewed cities on TripAdvisor in the

Americas with the percentage of positive

reviews for each city.

NORTH AMERICALATIN AMERICA

REVIEW SITES BY HOTEL TYPE

COUNTRY

REVIEW CHANNEL WITH MOST POSITIVE REVIEWS

% POSITIVE REVIEWS

REVIEW CHANNEL WITH LEAST NEGATIVE REVIEWS

% NEGATIVE REVIEWS

Latin America TripAdvisor 65% Booking.com 12%

North America TripAdvisor 70% Priceline 12%

CITY COUNTRY% POS REVIEWS

1 Punta Cana Dominican Republic

66%

2 Puerto Rico Puerto Rico 53%

3 Montego Bay Jamaica 73%

4 Buenos Aires Argentina 65%

5 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 52%

6 Barbados Barbados 77%

7 Panama City Panama 57%

8 La Romana Dominican Republic

67%

9 Southampton Bermuda 70%

10 Sao Paulo Brazil 65%

CITY COUNTRY% POS REVIEWS

1 New York City United States 65%

2 Las Vegas United States 69%

3 Washington DC United States 71%

4 Cancun Mexico 66%

5 Chicago United States 75%

6 San Francisco United States 64%

7 Orlando United States 66%

8 Miami United States 65%

9 Playa del Carmen Mexico 71%

10 Puerto Morelos Mexico 64%

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1716

What drives guest satisfaction?

Identifying the varying points of

delight and disappointment uncovers

deeper insights into the mind of

the luxury travel consumer.

In the following charts, green circles

indicate points of delight while pink

circles indicate points of disappointment.

The difference in the size of the outer

circle represents the impact of each

category - that is, how often a luxury

traveller mentions that topic in his/her

online postings. Meanwhile, the inner

circles signify the attributes within those

drivers, with varying shades suggesting

the extremity of the positive or negative

feeling based on the top ten most positive

and negative concepts selected from the

top 100 most mentioned topics overall.

While there are commonalities in

the luxury travellers’ delights and

disappointments globally, it is worth

noting the regional preferences across

the Americas. The top three most positive

travellers in the Americas include the

Americans, Canadians, and Brazilians.

First impressions really are everything.

Luxury travellers around the world are

happiest when they are greeted by

a Spacious, Charming Guest Rooms,

Stunning Views, and a Helpful Front Desk.

Though luxury travellers expect to

pay a higher premium, Price remains

the largest driver of dissatisfaction

globally. Expensive Food and Drinks

cause the most discontent.

THE GUEST EXPERIENCE: DELIGHTS & DISAPPOINTMENTS

GLOBAL

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1918

LATIN AMERICA

Favouring the instagram-mable

experiences, Latin Americans are most

satisfied when luxury hotels offer

Excellent Amenities like a comprehensive

and delicious breakfast, quality bedding,

large swimming pools, and thoughtful,

personalised service. Enjoying those

amenities amidst a Pleasant Ambience

with spectacular views, lovely gardens,

and modern and stylish designs further

amplify their stay. Luxury hotels

that go above and beyond to deliver

these little experiences can have a

huge impact on guest satisfaction.

With rapidly rising internet penetration

rates in Latin America, guests are as

connected as ever and expect to remain

so while travelling. As such Internet

Access costs disappoint many luxury

travellers who feel Complimentary

and Fast Wi-Fi should be available.

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NORTH AMERICA

North American luxury travellers strongly

appreciate when their wonderful getaways

include attentive and personable service,

superb restaurants, and spacious and

immaculate rooms, especially when

accompanied by amazing Views and

beautiful Gardens.

Luxury travellers in North America are

almost constantly on the go. Therefore,

Efficiency of Service is very important to

them. Whether checking-in, ordering room

service, or riding an elevator, satisfaction

deteriorates significantly the longer these

travellers have to wait.

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2322

COMPARING LUXURY TRAVELLERS IN THE AMERICAS

KEY TRENDS: GLOBALLY & WITHIN THE AMERICAS

MOBILE REVIEWS PHOTOS & VIDEOS

Global Luxury Travellers

Four of the top ten largest social networks are mobile messaging apps

57% of luxury reviews written in 2013 were positive

42% of Facebook posts in 2013 were travel stories4

Latin American Luxury Travellers

62% of travellers consider mobile booking on-the-go important or critical5

Travellers wrote 40% more luxury reviews in 2013 compared to 2012

The second largest user group for YouTube, 60% of users in Latin America are Millenials

North American Luxury Travellers

Travellers prefer to book travel via a brand’s mobile app versus the brand’s mobile website6

67% of luxury travellers read hotel reviews to make purchase decisions7

Eight of the top ten destinations most frequently added to travel wish lists via Place Pins on Pinterest are located in North America

4 Luxury Daily, Affluent travellers more receptive to online reviews than traditional media: report, 2014

5 CTW, Tap into mobile: managed travel in the digital economy, 2014

6 eMarketer, Can Apps Help Streamline Mobile Travel Sales?, 2014

7 Thinkinsights, The 2013 Traveler’s Road to Decision: Affluent Insights, 2014

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LUXURY HOTELS: TOP PERFORMERS

Hotel Name Location Likes Visits Subscribers Views Followers Views

GLOBAL

Mandarin Oriental, Paris Paris, France 75 5.0 18,068 20,758 4,228 27 4,544 1,392 315,513 8,352 1,061,705

Oberoi, Mumbai Mumbai, India 77 5.0 7,795 144 938 2 8 1,552

Oberoi, New Delhi New Delhi, India 72 4.5 108,686 53,017 1,491 134 276 3 420 9 366 636

Le Royal Monceau Paris, France 64 5.0 6,735 2,390 4,178 61 315 0 384 1 443 545

Four Seasons, Florence Florence, Italy 73 5.0 9,926 13,816 5,983 562 2,383 119 1,640,091

Four Seasons, George V Paris Paris, France 66 4.5 40,583 32,678 16,800 4,608 11,939 5 60

Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok Bangkok, Thailand 67 5.0 50,669 173,262 3,628 6,152 195 44,747 47 2,677

The Oberoi, Bangalore Bangalore, India 70 4.5 7,172 128 510

The Oberoi, Gurgaon Gurgaon, India 80 5.0 12,488 11,428 1,286 10 1 143 2 3,667

Four Seasons, Istanbul at Sultanahmet Istanbul, Turkey 70 5.0 5,443 7,173 3,047 403 3,594 3 3,601,578

Hotel Fouquet's Barrière Paris, France 75 4.5 15,452 5,605 1,309 1 437 1 1,190 445

JW Marriott, Ankara Ankara, Turkey 77 5.0 8,956 47,921 223

Taj Lake Palace Udaipur, India 75 5.0 11,276 40,266 0 1

Sofitel, Mumbai BKC Mumbai, India 72 4.5 21,133 19,978 670 7 2,955

Four Seasons, Gresham Palace Budapest Budapest, Hungary 73 5.0 5,833 15,982 3,560 442 1,422 0 28 65 3,703,162

LATIN AMERICA

Casa Gangotena Quito, Ecuador 88 5.0 3,579 598 2 581

Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo Hotel Sao Paulo, Brazil 57 4.5 17,884 38,664 3,470 68 33,941 3 1,782,729

Belmond Miraflores Park Lima, Peru 76 4.5 11,413 24,274 751 1,068 1,781 240 69,854 115 68,822

Alvear Palace Hotel Buenos Aires, Argentina 48 4.5 14,922 6,244 9,083 81 1,190

JW Marriott, Hotel Lima Lima, Peru 57 4.5 12,949 17,523 223 18 1 339

The Phoenix Resort San Pedro, Belize 91 5.0 2,810 1,999 942 6 97,188

Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina 74 4.5 18,859 18,880 6,017 173 954 7 3,473 57 1,508

Belmond Copacabana Palace Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 48 4.5 19,776 60,655 3,792 1,068 15,951 2,209

Inkaterra La Casona Cusco, Peru 88 5.0 6,331

Belmond Hotel das Cataratas Foz de Iguacu, Brazil 68 4.5 3,581 10,136 399 3

NORTH AMERICA

The Grand Del Mar San Diego, United States 76 5.0 11,017 37,889 4,382 15 75 37,250 2,536,896 874

Rosewood Mayakoba Resort Playa del Carmen, Mexico 76 5.0 32,156 3,001 7 6,908 41 19,750 9 2,165

21c Museum Hotel Louisville Louisville, United States 64 4.5 29,196 23,674 2,962 41 41,628 2

Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas Las Vegas, United States 59 5.0 25,290 54,300 24,800 2,195 58 54,689 58 6,724,752

Auberge Saint Antoine Quebec City, Canada 76 5.0 5,891 4,367 1,143 170 1 946,738 282

Le Blanc Spa Resort Cancun, Mexico 67 4.5 7,807 314 904 67 19,304 4 2,155,376

Hotel 1000 Seattle, United States 78 4.5 7,098 13,429 5,577 207 3 2,557 98 3,280,048

Capital Hotel Little Rock, United States 81 5.0 2,734 8,798 3,130 17,490 127

Secrets, The Vine Cancun Cancun, Mexico 77 4.5 30,157 1,876 17,900 3,877 5,520 588 282,847 28 276,884

Capella Pedregal Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 73 5.0 9,418 475 3,423 308 9,878 43 15,645 3 1,087,899 1,106

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Following the conclusion of the 2014

FIFA World Cup, which began on 12 June

and ended on 13 July in Brazil, analysts

around the globe have been trying to

determine how FIFA and Brazil did and

did not live up to the enormous hype

they received in the months and weeks

leading up to the event. Millions of dollars

were spent renovating and building hotels

to accommodate the massive gathering

of tourists. As the dust settles, luxury

travel marketers are analysing results

to glean insights that can be applied to

upcoming global events and everyday

operations and marketing alike.

From a social media perspective, the

internet has been saturated with statistics

all reiterating that the event was the most

talked about event in social media ever.

On Facebook, more than 350 million users

posted more than 3 billion interactions

during the tournament while Twitter

users posted a total of 672 million tweets

related to the World Cup. The #WorldCup

hashtag alone was used 24 million times

during the event, including 99.2% of those

mentions on Twitter, 28,000 mentions

on Google+, and 22,000 blogs posts.1

Focusing more specifically on travel,

3.4 million domestic and international

travellers visited Brazil during the

FIFA World Cup this year. Brazilian

officials indicate that international

tourists accounted for approximately

one million of those visitors, much

higher than the 600,000 expected.2

So how did luxury hotels fare amidst this

massive event? Brand Karma’s data shows

that luxury hotels throughout Brazil saw

a 25% increase in review volume posted

during Q2 2014 thus far, compared to

the same timeframe in 2012 and 2013.

That’s to be expected, as more travellers

usually mean more reviews. However it is

encouraging to see such a sharp increase

in luxury hotel reviews. Social guest

Statistics clearly show that today’s

travellers, especially affluent travellers,

are more social than ever. For example,

829 million people use Facebook at

least once a day and 100+ million

people are active daily on Twitter. To

capitalise on these growing statistics,

brands have increased engagement on

popular channels like Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram and Pinterest and started social

advertising to monetise the prevalence of

social media. As such, today’s travellers

are more inundated with brands vying

for their attention and ultimately their

money. In order to stand out amongst

all the other brands then, luxury travel

marketers must use creative targeting

and personalised content focusing on

short, mobile-friendly, image-rich posts.

There a few luxury brands who identified

this trend early on and have seen success

with their campaigns. Four Seasons

has been one of the first luxury travel

brands to use social media to evolve the

way consumers engage with the brand

and to model its legendary service

into the online world. In Q3 2013, Four

Seasons launched their Pin.Pack.Go

campaign on Pinterest. The Pinterest-

based concierge program invites guests

to co-curate a custom itinerary with

a local Four Seasons expert of their

choice on a group board. To participate,

guests create a Pin.Pack.Go board and

describe their aspirations for the trip, and

then leave a comment on Four Seasons’

Pin.Pack.Go board specifying which

hotel they will visit. The appropriate

Four Seasons hotelier will then follow

each guest and pin recommendations

filled with local knowledge and hidden

gems according to the description and

other pins provided by the guest.

Ultimately, Pin.Pack.Go is a proactive

way for Four Seasons hotels to

communicate with guests before they

arrive and to customise the experiences

CASE STUDY:HOW THE 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP IMPACTED LUXURY TRAVEL IN BRAZIL

CASE STUDY: LUXURY GETS PERSONAL

satisfaction, interestingly, also increased.

In fact, luxury reviews indicate that

guests posted 15% more positive reviews

than in those same months in previous

years despite the fact that rates were

uncharacteristically high and comparable

to Thanksgiving in New York City. Looking

closer at the larger host cities, like Rio

de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Salvador, the

trend is similar with a staggering 41%

growth in luxury hotel reviews and 5%

increase in social guest satisfaction.

Brazil’s Tourism President Vicente Neto

has also reported that international tourists

visiting Brazil during the World Cup were

given a satisfaction survey. Responses

indicated that 61% of international tourists

visited Brazil for the first time and 95%

indicated their willingness to return to

Brazil. Additionally, they stayed an average

of 13 days and visited 378 Brazilian

municipalities, including the 12 host cities.3

Given all the media attention Brazil

received in the years and months leading

up to the FIFA World Cup, all eyes were

looking to see if their hospitality industry

could deliver. So far, results seem to

show that they did. In fact, building on

that momentum, Neto expects to see a

5% to 10% increase in tourists following

the World Cup conclusion with one of

the priorities being to show the world

that there is more to Brazil than ‘futbol’.

In fact, they already have campaigns

lined up called “Brazil Beyond”, which

Neto says highlights everything else that

makes Brazil such a fantastic country.

Luxury brands throughout the country

and region will be smart to do the same as

everyone prepares for the 2016 Summer

Olympics, also in Rio de Janeiro.

for individual guests, creating a more

personal relationship. The image-centered

pins provide enticing imagery with

concise, succinct recommendations.

The results are pretty impressive.

According to Pinterest’s case study

on Four Seasons, the hotel brand

experienced “a 1,000% increase in daily

average visitors and a 1,700% increase

in daily average clicks to its website.”

Additionally, the Four Seasons Pin.Pack.

Go page has nearly 10,000 followers,

and has seen a 525% increase in

followers to its main account. Each of

the 77 property pages on Pinterest have

also seen impressive engagement.

1 The Story of the 2014 World Cup on Social Media in 42 Stats, HootSuite, 2014

2 Brazil welcomed one million international visitors during World Cup, eTN, 2014

3 Interview: Brazil’s Tourism President on the World Cup Disaster That Wasn’t, Skift, 2014

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CASE STUDY: LUXURY GETS PERSONAL

Turning to another brand, Park

Hyatt is focusing on personalised,

individual luxuries as part of its most

recent “Luxury is Personal” campaign

launched in July. With crisp black and

white imagery, the digital and print

advertisements “describe people through

their personalised experience, and we

came up with the notion of a luxury list,

with no face, that would describe the

guest’s personality,” says Tyrone Sayers,

director of account management at

campaign creator Toth & Company.

Katherine Melchior-Ray, Vice President

of Luxury Brands for Hyatt, says the

campaign’s social media initiatives

were inspired by research that found

that approximately two-thirds of luxury

consumers worldwide who travel take

photographs with their smartphones,

share these on Instagram, Facebook

and Twitter, and are themselves inspired

by others’ social media photos.

Building on the luxury list idea, Park

Hyatt is partnering with Travel &

Leisure, The New Yorker, Bon Appétit

and GQ to enable travellers to create

their own luxury lists with photos to be

shared on their new website myluxlist.

hyatt.com as well as posted on these

individuals’ social media accounts.

It has been said repeatedly. Today’s luxury

travellers are incredibly social and want

to be inspired. A brand Facebook page

is no longer sufficient to inspire them.

Luxury traveller marketers can follow the

example being set by Four Seasons and

Park Hyatt to cut through the noise and

reach their guests on a personalised level.

The Luxury Traveller & Social Media: The Americas presents findings from Brand

Karma’s research on comments, photos,

and videos left by luxury travellers the

Americas and globally on social media

and travel review sites between January

2012 and June 2014; year-over-year

comparisons were undertaken between

the calendar years of 2012 to 2013.

The data presented in this report

has been analysed from 1,936,145

reviews written for more than 2,000

luxury hotels worldwide, which were

specifically selected for this study.

Hotels are categorised geographically

into five major regions: North America

(Canada, Mexico, United States); Latin

America (Caribbean, Central America,

and South America); Europe; Middle

East & Africa; and Asia-Pacific.

Brand Karma interprets the way in which

consumers perceive hotel brands by

analysing brand sentiments on travel

review sites, OTAs, discussion forums,

and social networking sites. Through

applying text analysis and natural

language processing to examine all

statements within a hotel review,

METHODOLOGY

Brand Karma can then determine the

attribute(s) discussed and categorise the

guest’s sentiment toward that attribute

as positive, negative or neutral. Moreover,

the technology detects subtle differences

in expression. For example, a comment

describing the hotel’s breakfast buffet

as “delicious” is scored more favourably

than one describing it as “pretty good.”

Brand Karma combines these scores to

calculate a review’s net satisfaction score.

Unless otherwise footnoted, standard

social media performance metrics

– including but not limited to the

number of Facebook likes, number

of YouTube views, etc. – are pulled

directly from the source website. All

figures were current as of July 2014.

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Brand Karma helps hospitality and travel

brands attract and retain customers

via social and digital media. Founded

in 2006 by three friends who are

former Microsoft executives, today

Brand Karma provides analytic tools

marketers use to audit their brand,

a social CRM to manage reputation,

agency services to increase social

commerce and brand awareness, and

consultants to form winning competitive

sales and marketing strategies.

The company tracks the social media

performance of over 350,000 hotels

worldwide, working with the world’s most

admired hospitality brands including

Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott

International, InterContinental Hotels

Group, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group,

Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-

Carlton Hotel Company, Dorchester

Collection, Frasers Hospitality, and

many independent hotels. Brand

Karma has offices in the US, Singapore,

Greater China, Japan, and Europe.

To learn more about Brand Karma,

email info@brand-karma.com or

visit www.brand-karma.com.

Now entering it’s third year, ILTM

Americas is the leading luxury travel

event for the Americas region, where

the very best travel agents and advisors

from across North, Central and South

America meet the world’s very best-

luxury travel experiences.

For more information on ILTM Americas

please visit www.iltm.com/americas

International Luxury Travel Market

is a portfolio of global, regional and

specialist luxury travel events. Alongside

the global flagship event in Cannes,

ILTM has core international events in

the Asia Pacific and Americas regions

and three specialist events; ILTM Japan,

ILTM Africa and ILTM Spa. For more

information on ILTM events please visit

www.iltm.com

ABOUT BRAND KARMA

ABOUT ILTM AMERICAS

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL LUXURY TRAVEL MARKET

INTERNATIONAL LUXURY TRAVEL MARKET

For further information please contact:

Jen Barratt

Marketing Manager

T: +44 (0) 20 8910 7804

E: jen.barratt@reedexpo.co.uk

For media enquires please contact:

Lucy Clifton

Cut Communications

T: +44 (0) 20 8334 4008

E: lucy.clifton@cut-coms.co.uk