Best Practices in Travel Advertising, Digital, PR/Communications & Integrated Marketing

2022 Adrian Awards: Platinum and President’s Award Honorees Special Report

In a year that started heavily impacted by the pandemic, destination travel marketing became more prevalent, especially highlighting the ecotourism trend of sustainable and responsible travel. The focus area of recruitment brought us entries that pushed the envelope creatively. We were awed by multi-faceted campaigns with great integration of all platforms, from traditional channels to new and exciting ones like VR, TikTok, and Twitch. We found beautiful storytelling, high quality content, and skillful use of influencers to really engage with guests. Finally, many brands and destinations are focusing on inclusive travel. Winning entries in the diversity, equity, and inclusion focus area included engaging, thoughtful, and authentic storytelling.

HSMAI Adrian Awards Best Practice: Moxy APAC Campaign

The 2023 Adrian Awards are now open! Take some inspiration from last year’s Best of Show –Marriott – Moxy APAC. Submit your entry for the 2023 Adrian Awards by September 8, 2023.

In a new Special Report, we profile all of the Platinum and President’s Award winners — including Marriott – Moxy APAC, which was honored for this Audience Marketing on New Platforms-Focus Category entry:

BEST OF SHOW WINNER: MOXY APAC BRAND CAMPAIGN “MOXY UNIVERSE, PLAY BEYOND”
AGENCY PARTNER: MEDIAMONKS

Background
Moxy is a young and trendy brand for travelers who are young at heart. As a relatively new brand in APAC, having only entered the market in 2017, Moxy needed to make a splash with its 2021 China launch and focus on dramatically increasing brand awareness and establishing a compelling positioning with fast-growing generation Z consumers. Moxy took the rising trend of Metaverse and gaming culture, and gave its own spin, creating a first of-its-kind campaign in the APAC hospitality market.

Campaign
“Moxy Universe, Play Beyond,” was an integrated campaign that broke the boundaries between offline and online, bringing a hotel experience designed to delight, capture and win the hearts of fun-loving generation Z consumers. They embraced generation Z values of diversity & inclusivity and continued to shape their identity through Avatar customization
and creativity and tied it with Moxy experiences.

Results
As the first hotel brand doing LIVESTREAM on Twitch, Moxy showcased its unique experiences and AR engagement with its audience. They hosted 4 offline events in Xi’An, Shenzhen, Osaka and Bandung with over 90 media and influencers. Through the campaign they achieved over 101MIL brand impressions, and a brand lift increased by 237% in TikTok/Douyin search trend and 77% in WeChat search trend index. They drove significant social buzz including over 7.2 million in PR reach and 872K engagements.

 

HSMAI Adrian Awards Best Practices: Visit Seattle Rain Booth

The 2023 Adrian Awards are now open! Take some inspiration from one of last year’s honorees –Visit Seattle. Submit your entry for the 2023 Adrian Awards by September 8, 2023.

In a new Special Report, we profile all of the Platinum and President’s Award winners — including Visit Seattle, which was honored for this Public Relations/Communications entry.

PLATINUM WINNING ENTRY: KISSING IN THE RAIN: SEATTLE EMBRACES ITS MOST CONTROVERSIAL SEASON
AGENCY PARTNERS: COPACINO FUJIKADO AND C+C

Background
After a year of uncertainty and challenging news coverage (crime, safety, homelessness issues) coming out about Seattle, Visit Seattle set out to change traveler’s perspectives of the Emerald City, by launching a national campaign, focused on reigniting excitement back into Seattle travel.

Campaign
Embracing an unexpected element, Visit Seattle headed over to the heat-encompassed cities of Los Angeles and Scottsdale, to launch their Kissing in the Rain Booth: a first-ever sustainable rain booth, built to highlight the magic and romance of a rainy Seattle day and invite potential travelers to fall in love with Seattle’s cozy season. After all, some of the most magical scenes in cinema involve rain – from kisses in the rain (a la The Notebook and Spiderman) to extravagant musical numbers (like the classic Singing in the Rain).

Results
The 17’ x 16’ booth had rainfall that was captured and pumped back to make the booth fully sustainable. The design itself featured wooden ramps and paneling to create a mid-century modern Pacific Northwest look. Visitors in both cities lined up to kiss, dance and sing in the rain, and were then given the opportunity to choose from three unique movie posterstyle Seattle backgrounds to share their Instagram-worthy misty moments in the booth with their followers. Afterwards, visitors walked away with Seattle-branded swag—from sleek bucket hats to cooling misting fans. The Seattle Rain Booth garnered 81 pieces of unique traditional news and social media coverage and was featured everywhere from Reuters to Yahoo News to the Weather Channel to Adweek—to the tune of a combined 167MM+ earned media impressions.

Overcoming Challenges Between Brands and Licensees: Best Practices in Franchising from the HSMAI Global Distribution Advisory Board

Michael Hucho, Management Consultant, HSMAI Global Distribution Advisory Board Member 

Across the world, long term relationships with loyal franchise partners are being put to the test. This is especially true for mid-size operating companies working in a multi-brand franchise environment. Hotels are increasingly questioning what they receive in return to their brand royalty fees, their system and transaction fees, loyalty fees, etc.  

Tensions on the franchisee side are the top line cost of distributions service delivery and staff that has been made redundant or had their hours reduced. Existing contracts are now under review leading to renegotiation in Europe. However, there are challenges on the franchises side as well such as increasing pressure, brand compliance, operational quality, and guest experience.  

The HSMAI Global Distribution Advisory Board met to discuss the challenge and share best practices.  

10 Best Practices in Handling Brand/Licensee Challenges 

  1. Focus on how to mitigate pain points for operators. Staff sizes are shrinking, so think about making their lives easier, make reservation delivery easier and more seamless.  
  2. Create partnerships with B2B and B2C distributors to fill in holes formed from the loss of segments (i.e. – group, business).  
  3. Concentrate on content and how to update content. Create a survey for hotels about what services they’re offering. This helps show hotels the brand value and support. 
  4. Streamline transaction fee pricing so all brands have the same fee structures. This makes it easier for our development offices to articulate the fee regardless of brand.  
  5. Standardize systems – for starting into the franchise arena get compliance from the start. For companies with acquired brands, move towards standard systems.  
  6. Create a distribution manual to communicate with franchise partners on the commercial side that includes resources for them to understand their obligations, rate plans, the fees, etc.  
  7. Communicate – Send emails (and track open rates), host town halls, and call franchisees 
  8. Educate – Do internal education to make sure franchisees understand the key points of distribution, whatever the hot topic is that week or that month and give them the tools and the resources.  
  9. Measure – Have a scorecard that includes pieces of distribution, especially around rate parity and including photo scores, operational compliance, guest review scores.  
  10.  Combine feedback with action plans and resources. That’s the job of a franchise company – to supply the resources. Then that makes that make operators successful.  

Content and Rate Parity Best Practices from Global Distribution Executives

In the first ever HSMAI global distribution executive roundtable, leaders in the field gathered to share best practices and challenges. It was clear from the start that the group had a lot to talk about around content and rate parity and leakage – the biggest challenges everyone faced. Below are best practices that came out of the discussion.

CONTENT

3RD Party Content Current State

There was consensus among the group that for most hotel companies, a content hub does not exist to update all booking channels. Updating content across all booking channels requires a lot of work and a lot of communication between corporate and the properties. Many systems are antiquated and need to be updated to a be more integrated so that a change made in one place distributes across all channels. Some mentioned technologies that vacation rentals use to streamline content.  Many agreed that partners don’t seem to be putting a priority on assisting with content development. In fact, some partners regularly add content fields and do not tell hoteliers. It was agreed that hoteliers need to come together and push the partners to further technology in this space.

Given the limitations and challenges, here are ideas participants shared for optimizing efficiency in content.

Best Practices

  • Build the business case to have a dedicated team for updating content for third party partner sites.
  • Ensure there are proper communication channels in place, so the properties update corporate on changes.
  • Ensure you track changes made to content on all channels.
  • Reference the vacation rental industry who has a content hub for ease of updating content.
  • Contract with a company that can assist with image distribution and question/ answer sites.
  • Leverage content APIs provided by some partners.
  • Push your CRS & PMS providers to add more content fields to their systems.

RATE PARITY

Rate parity and leakage was the other hot topic among the global distribution executives. Though there are technology providers that say they can solve rate parity, it continues to be an issue. There were some great tips shared for handling parity and leakage.

Rate Parity and Leakage Tips

  • Sunset any contracts that provide static rates and move to dynamic rates.
  • In the B2B space – give the same discount to everyone to level playing field.
  • Do test bookings to find the source of distributer that is reducing the rate – either internally or using a 3rd Build clauses into the agreement to have the 3rd party pay for test bookings.
  • Contract a partner that will perform rate shops on your behalf.
  • When leakage is found, either terminate the offenders or give them limited rates.
  • Add clauses to the contract that leakage is grounds for termination.

Executive Roundtables are invite only discussions and networking for HSMAI members that are senior level hotel leaders.

HSMAI Foundation Talent Best Practice: Find Yourself and Your Team

Kate Lochridge, Director of Resorts Marketing at Universal Orlando Resort

As hospitality organizations, our team members’ voices are important. Their level of engagement affects their service delivery and directly impacts our guests’ satisfaction. We solicit our team members for feedback in their self-evaluations, team member satisfaction surveys, annual reviews, quarterly development lunches, random one-on-ones, and several team member engagement activities.

With all these activities, do we do an adequate job providing our team members with the tools to articulate how they contribute to the organization’s culture and success?

StrengthsFinder (now called CliftonStrengths 34) is an assessment tool designed to showcase a person’s top strengths and what that means for them as an individual. The assessment has been taken by more than 25 million people worldwide.

I am privileged to work for an organization that has a dedicated StrengthsFinder coach on property. We leverage this expertise in a variety of ways including our internship program, mentoring program, and personal development courses. It has made a dramatic difference in my perspective and how I lead, daily, as a Director of Resorts Marketing.

Before we start on this journey, I want to share my definition of what StrengthsFinder is vs. what it is not:

What It Is:  A tool to help gain greater insight for self-awareness. There are 34 strengths that can be identified by the assessment. It provides an opportunity to identify and focus your energy into your natural talents vs. focusing energy on areas that do not come to you as easily.

What It Is Not:  A replacement for common sense. An excuse for not being able to accomplish projects, tasks, or assignments. The authority on other people’s thoughts, feelings, and capabilities.

Most of us recognize that we have room for improvement in various areas. However, identifying our unique talents and understanding those around us allows for easier collaboration, and the opportunity to combine the superpowers of the team. Using StrengthFinder helps us accept individuality versus requiring someone to contribute in ways that may not come as naturally.

Here are five ways to leverage StrengthsFinder results:

1. When you receive your results, read your report. Read it again. Answer the questions provided.

    • That may sound obvious, but often we skim over the descriptions provided and chalk it up to ‘of course I know myself.’ If you truly read it with focus, there are some unique truths and insights you may not have known.
    • The report provides an exercise to actively identify the areas of your talents that speak loudest to you. Answer those questions for each of your top five talents. Keep them in a journal or print them out and reference as needed.
    • Here are a few examples of the questions that were posed and what stood out for me as I read about my strength of ‘ideation’ in my report:

Q: As you read your personalized strengths insights, what words, phrases, or lines stand out to you?

A: You refuse to be stifled by traditions or routines.

Q: Out of all the talents in this insight, what would you like for others to see most in you?

A: You likely spring from one original thought to an entirely different one.

These phrases afforded me the opportunity to articulate that I do not want the status quo, I want to innovate, and quickly. The second statement spoke loud and clear to me, as I have often been criticized for being ‘scattered’ or ‘distracted.’ However, this insight allowed me to see that I am actually processing seemingly unrelated thoughts in support of that innovation. This exercise gave me the ability to share why I operate the way I do and demonstrated the strength I bring to the team.

2. Ask Your Team to do the same exercise: Read and answer the questions for each talent.

Then, talk about it! After each response, ask your team member the prompt ‘WHY?’  i.e., Why did the phrase ‘You refuse to be stifled by traditions or routines’ stand out to you? By having this open dialogue, you are developing a deeper understanding of your team member, and they will recognize and appreciate your efforts.

3. Share Your Results.

Sometimes leaders believe they are exempt from talking about themselves, as if our titles mean we only can share with those at our level or above, rather than with our team. However, by sharing your own talents and reflections with your team and colleagues, you are developing a deeper mutual understanding and creating the opportunity for a stronger working relationship.

4. Plot the Domains.

Once you’ve done the previous exercises with each member of your team, see how they compare as a group. StrengthsFinder tiers each talent into four unique domains:  Strategic, Influencing, Executing, and Relationship Building. By seeing your entire team’s strengths on display, you understand how the dynamics can work together, or where you may need to lean on others to bring in different perspectives.

5. Identify Special Projects & Partnerships.

Now that you have your team’s strengths laid out, use your insight to identify growth opportunities. For example, many of my top talents fall within the Strategic Thinking domain. That doesn’t mean I am unable to execute, rather it positions me as naturally leaning towards thinking vs. implementation. However, I have two extremely strong team members in the domain of Executing, which means I can have confidence in delegating projects to them and allow them added benefit of exposure and visibility throughout the organization, as well as a sense of purpose for bringing our vision to life.

 6. BONUS! Keep the Conversation Going.

For me and my team, StrengthsFinder isn’t a one and done conversation. If you are committed to using it, you need to remind your team of what they uniquely bring to the table every day. Here are some ways we do that within my organization:

  • Intentionally use your strengths in your self-evaluation to highlight the successes of your company.
  • Actively use your team’s strengths in their annual performance reviews to highlight the successes of your company or use it as a coaching tool.
  • Start your team meetings with shout-outs by characterizing your team’s combined strengths in the various dynamics, or specifically calling on the talents of a project completed by an individual contributor.
  • Make a commitment at an annual meeting for each Team Member to share one of their talents and an insight it has afforded them.
  • Give your team a visual reminder of what they are good at in fun and creative ways. We posted signs outside each of our office spaces to highlight and celebrate that person’s unique strengths.

StrengthsFinder has been an incredible tool for me as a leader. It has allowed me to build a team that approaches any challenge from multiple angles, utilizing our executors, influencers, relationship builders and strategic thinkers. We’re better for it, and I hope you’re able to use these ideas to improve the dynamics of your team.

Kate Lochridge is the Director of Marketing for the portfolio of hotels at Universal Orlando Resort where she is responsible for developing brand strategy and marketing programs. Kate began her career at the front desk of Loews Royal Pacific Resort in 2002, during college. Over the past 20 years, she has held roles in Guest Service Operations, Human Resources Recruitment, Executive Administration, and Marketing. She has had the privilege of opening seven hotels, five of which contribute to the growth of the Universal Orlando hotel portfolio. Kate currently serves on the HSMAI Marketing Advisory Board and is a proud member of Women in Travel THRIVE.

Digital Marketing Best Practice: Visit Norway ‘Where Is Will?’ Campaign

Insights into what went into HSMAI Adrian Award 2021 winning entries, excerpted from the HSMAI SPECIAL REPORT 2021 Adrian Awards: Platinum and President’s Award Honorees.

PLATINUM – DIGITAL MARKETING | VISIT NORWAY
Agency Partner: Visit Norway/Maverix

BACKGROUND
When General Motors aired a Super Bowl commercial with Will Ferrell being obsessed with how Norway has outdone the United States in its use of electric vehicles, Visit Norway saw an opportunity to maximize the exposure and highlight the country’s sustainable solutions, in a world increasingly focused on climate change

CAMPAIGN
Visit Norway capitalized on being in the spotlight after the Super Bowl spot, launching a social media campaign that aimed to create a general desire to travel to Norway.

RESULTS
The campaign generated 1.8 million impressions, a reach of 3.1 million, and more than 70,000 engagements across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. The centerpiece video, “Where are you, Will?” generated 450,000 views and 22,000 engagements. In addition to receiving a lot of media attention and trending on Twitter, the video was listed as one of the top four in Adweek and received favorable mentions in The Next Web, Meedia (Germany), and Kampanje (Norway).

Enter the 2022 Adrian Awards Competition

Digital Marketing Best Practice: Accor Get Real – Experience It All Campaign

Insights into HSMAI Adrian Award 2021 winning entries, excerpted from the HSMAI SPECIAL REPORT 2021 Adrian Awards: Platinum and President’s Award Honorees. 

PRESIDENT’S AWARD – RECOVERY MARKETING | ACCOR 

BACKGROUND 

Accor set out to launch a campaign encouraging people to visit its hotels and reenter the travel world. In addition, Accor wanted to raise the profile of its loyalty program, ALL – Accor Live Limitless, in North America. 

CAMPAIGN 

Accor partnered with Momentum Worldwide and celebrity Neil Patrick Harris to reignite people’s passion for travel. They created a series of five comedic tutorial videos depicting Neil’s struggles with the basics of human interaction, covering topics such as how to pack and how to greet people. Each video featured an Accor destination, linking back to its main offer. Accor supported the campaign through digital and PR tactics, and the videos were housed on a microsite, which was promoted via email and display and social advertising. 

 

RESULTS 

The campaign achieved 1.5 billion combined impressions across digital, social media and PR, and Accor saw a 111% increase in bookings and 141% increase in revenue, versus the same period in 2019. The campaign was also picked up by publications such as People, Travel + Leisure, and Conde Nast Traveler.

Enter the 2022 Adrian Awards Competition

HSMAI Foundation Talent Best Practice: How Stay Interviews Can Improve Employee Retention

Lovell Casiero, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, PM Hotel Group. HSMAI Foundation Board Member

Before the pandemic, the hospitality industry began to see an exit of sales, marketing, and revenue management professionals and started to experience challenges attracting new talent. In the aftermath of COVID-19, this problem has only exacerbated.

Over last two years, people have started to rethink their life choices, with family and travel taking precedence over climbing the corporate ladder. Priorities such as fair pay, flexible work schedules, enhanced benefits, and work-life balance are top of mind for those entering or returning to the hospitality industry today. Employers cannot assume the associate or manager who is tenured with the company and continued to work through the pandemic is not considering these things as well.

If you are not taking the time to understand the change of mindset within your team, it could create turnover. Turnover is costly and, ultimately, has a negative impact on the profitability of the P&L. Open positions also affect the ability to meet topline goals.

As employers are enhancing benefits and increasing salaries, one of the most important best practices to implement now is staying in touch with managers and associates in a meaningful way. One method of doing this is through a stay interview.

A stay interview can be considered the opposite of an exit interview. It is a conversation that assesses what an employee enjoys about their role, what motivates them and what they might like to change. This proactive approach to communication can also help you understand why associates are leaving before reading it on Glassdoor. Negative employer ratings can create reputational issues for the company and impact your ability to recruit talent.

Stay Interview Sample Questions

Following are examples you may consider asking your current team members:

  • What is your favorite part about working here?
  • What do you look forward to most when you come to work each day?
  • If you could change something about your job, what would that be?
  • What do you think we could do better?
  • What keeps you working here?
  • What would make your job more satisfying?
  • What motivates (or demotivates) you?
  • Do you get enough feedback or recognition about your performance?
  • What kind of recognition do you prefer?
  • Do you feel you have an opportunity to grow here?
  • What talents do you have that are not being used in your current role?
  • What would you like to learn in the next six months?
  • What career goals have you set for yourself that I might help you reach?
  • What can I do to best support you?
  • What can I do more of or less of as your manager?
  • What might tempt you to leave?
  • Are there any tools or resources you need to do your job more efficiently?
  • Do you feel valued and appreciated for your contribution?
  • Do you feel you have a healthy work-life balance?

Building a Stay Interview Program

Deciding who should conduct the interview will depend on the existing organizational chart. If you are the interviewee’s supervisor, you will need to ensure you are creating a safe and welcoming environment. There is value in a leader taking the time to sit down and genuinely listen to their team members.

The HR team could also conduct the interview, as the employee may not be as forthcoming if they are speaking to their supervisor. The associate should feel safe to speak freely and respond to questions honestly.

Following up on actionable items in a timely matter is a must. If areas of opportunity are not addressed after the interview, the associate’s perception could be the company does not care or does not value their opinion. Immediate and ongoing communication is key to the success of the stay interview process. A stay interview should not be one and done. As you introduce this process, think about the cadence for follow-up sessions as well.

After launching this program, the following overall trends and outcomes should be considered and addressed:

  1. What is the overall associate satisfaction by department or manager?
  2. Are the interviews uncovering company-wide trends?
  3. Is the intended culture of the company being executed or highjacked by managers?
  4. Do schedules and goals allow for a reasonable work-life balance?
  5. Are we allocating time and funding to associate development?
  6. Do people have an opportunity to grow?
  7. How will you address ongoing communication? Frequency?
  8. How will you measure success?

Case Study

In late 2021 and early 2022, I worked with PM Hotel Group’s people and culture department to create a survey for property-based directors of sales. The interview focused on understanding their personal journey in hospitality sales as well as their professional goals for growth. Directors could request a coaching session with me to determine their career development needs. The session was well-received by the associate but was also beneficial to the company. The communication was a learning experience on many levels for both participants. The following outlines some of the key outcomes from the discussion:

  • Developed a database for bench strength (general managers, revenue management and task force)
  • Identification of challenges around recruiting and developing talent, including flexible work schedule solutions, training opportunities, and salary and benefit expectations
  • Validation of the quality of the support properties received from the above-property team members and areas of opportunity
  • An opportunity to express gratitude and recognize the team’s achievements
  • A clear understanding of the company’s growth plan

If the company is not prepared to implement processes to address work-life balance, flexibility in schedules, the opportunity for financial growth and mental well-being, then the process is moot. However, if you can embrace change management and intentionally listen to the constructive feedback of the employees within the company, a stay interview could improve your ability to retain and develop your existing talent.

Keep in mind that the approach to this process should not be one size fits all. The interview should be specific to the department’s functionality as well as the demographic and level of the associate or manager’s experience.

This new process of communication will uncover areas where the company performs well, and you will be able to lean further into these practices. You will most certainly find opportunities for improvement, but at least you will know how to tweak culture, benefits, and policies to become the employer of choice for your current team and the talent you will attract in the future.

Diversity Marketing Best Practice: Visit Atlanta

Insights into what went into HSMAI Adrian Award 2021 winning entries, excerpted from the HSMAI SPECIAL REPORT 2021 Adrian Awards: Platinum and President’s Award Honorees.

PLATINUM – DIVERSITY MARKETING | DISCOVERATLANTA.COM
Agency Partner: MADDEN MEDIA

BACKGROUND

Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) and their agency partner Madden Media set out to develop a new website that showcased Atlanta’s diversity and create a personalized experience for each website visitor.

CAMPAIGN

When a user reaches the homepage, they are greeted with a large header video that features couples and families of all ages and ethnic backgrounds discovering things to do. The agency worked with local Black content creators to write inspiring, personal stories of their favorite places to spend time in Atlanta, so travelers got a local’s view of the city.

RESULTS

The ACVB successfully added several Disadvantaged Business Enterprises to its membership base. The bounce rate has improved by 7% and the number of pages per session increased by 58%. Organic search visits have increased by 27% and new users coming to the site have increased by 30%. Four stories on DiscoverAtlanta.com became featured snippets on Google search results in the first month, and organic traffic page views also increased by 83%.

Enter the 2022 Adrian Awards Competition