The Tourism Ministry has utilised the social website Facebook to promote domestic tourism among IT-literate Malaysians, especially the youngsters, said its Deputy Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit.
He said the ministry had developed six Facebook applications for Tourism Malaysia which cost a total of RM1,758,432 with each page costing RM293,072.
"The pages include product promotions, tourism destinations and activities such as 'Cuti Cuti 1Malaysia', Citrawarna 1Malaysia, 1Malaysia Mega Sales Carnival, Year End Sales Carnival and Fabulous Food 1Malaysia," he said in reply to a question from Loke Siew Fook (DAP-Rasah) who had asked on the justification for the expenditure at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Dawos added that an advertising company, Impact Creations Sdn Bhd, was responsible for all advertisements and events of the ministry and Tourism Malaysia or the domestic market for 2011 until 2013.
However, the RM1.8 million expenditure was questioned by several members of Parliament who claimed that it was a waste.
Loke said it was irrelevant as the social website could be accessed free of charge while Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) asked whether the ministry had set any key performance indicators to monitor the advertising agency's performance.
Source : Bernama
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel tourism news]
Showing posts with label SocialMedia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SocialMedia. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Tourism Ministry Opens Facebook Account To Further Promote Tourism
The Tourism Ministry created the Facebook account "Citrawarna 1Malaysia" because it is aware of the social networking site's potential to promote popular locations in Malaysia to visitors, said its minister Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen.
"We know that we are now at this social media era and we have to keep with the times. Our target (in using the application) are young people and we encourage them to go the site and share their experiences with others," she said after launching the "Citrawarna 1Malaysia" Facebook account here Wednesday.
The application created in conjunction with the annual Citrawarna 1Malaysia event which will take place at Dataran Merdeka on Saturday is to enable the public to access the ministry's www.facebook.com/cuticuti1malaysia site and participate in various contests in the form of dance games.
The participant with the highest score as of the end of June gets to win an iPad while there will also be 10 consolation winners who will be given vouchers to dine at Saloma Bistro.
Ng added that the Facebook feature was part of the ministry's transformation plans to further improve its delivery system.
Source : Bernama
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel tourism news]
"We know that we are now at this social media era and we have to keep with the times. Our target (in using the application) are young people and we encourage them to go the site and share their experiences with others," she said after launching the "Citrawarna 1Malaysia" Facebook account here Wednesday.
The application created in conjunction with the annual Citrawarna 1Malaysia event which will take place at Dataran Merdeka on Saturday is to enable the public to access the ministry's www.facebook.com/cuticuti1malaysia site and participate in various contests in the form of dance games.
The participant with the highest score as of the end of June gets to win an iPad while there will also be 10 consolation winners who will be given vouchers to dine at Saloma Bistro.
Ng added that the Facebook feature was part of the ministry's transformation plans to further improve its delivery system.
Source : Bernama
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel tourism news]
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Facebook leads to hotel room revenue
Facebook is fast becoming more than a customer relationship tool for many independent properties and chains. Many hotels now offer room-booking technology on their Facebook pages, which is leading to incremental sales.
“There is real commerce that is starting to grow on Facebook. Companies like Delta (Airlines) are putting booking engines on Facebook, and Sony just started a deal where consumers can rent movies,” said Michael Hraba, owner of Hraba Hospitality Consulting in San Mateo, California.
For the independent properties that Hraba Hospitality advises, Facebook booking engines do not yet produce a lot of revenue, but Hraba believes it is necessary to offer the option. “If you are there, you (won’t) miss the ones who do want to book. You are available in every possible way your guests need you,” Hraba said.
Facebook conversions growing
“Over the course of 2009, we saw the volume of direct referrals from Facebook to hotel websites grow. The conversion rate was higher for Facebook than it was for TripAdvisor and other travel review sites,” said Douglas Quinby, senior director of research for PhoCusWright, a travel research firm in Sherman, Connecticut. The conversion rate on direct referrals from traveler review sites to hotel supplier websites ranged from 4% to 6% in 2009, while conversion from Facebook to hotel websites was 8%.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has provided a booking function within a tab on Facebook for all of its brands and properties since it has been on Facebook.
“Conversion on Facebook is smaller but close to conversion on our brand websites. (Starwood’s Facebook fans) start to see other people’s experiences at the properties,” said David Godsman, VP of global Web for Starwood.
While Starwood primarily uses Facebook to “engage” with its guests, the company’s executives realize the valuable e-commerce potential on the global social-networking site. To that end, Westin Hotels & Resorts in January introduced a “Shop” tab on its properties’ Facebook pages. The shopping widget serves as a fully-contained shopping transaction, instead of working as a link from Westin’s website.
“What we are seeing now is an emergence of technology that that we didn’t see six months ago. There is an opportunity for ourselves and other hotel brands to enable these type of transactions within Facebook,” Godsman said.
Facebook booking engines
While most hotel companies have a booking link within Facebook that takes users to their websites to make transactions, Bolongo Bay Beach Resort in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, sports a unique, free-standing booking engine on the social-networking site.
“We had a hotel-and-air booking engine on our website for years, so we asked our Web developer to put that on Facebook. They can click on the Reservations tab on Facebook and book rooms,” said Katarina Doumeng, director of sales, marketing and Internet for Bolongo Bay.
The hotel-and-air engine has proven successful for Bolongo Bay.
“In the last four weeks, for example, we had 207 people on Facebook who either booked or checked rates. That is big, since we are a 62-room property,” Doumeng said. Because the property has made a concerted effort to interact with its guests on Facebook, it has grown its fans from 300 in 2009 to 9,000 this year.
Shopping on social networks
The booking success that hoteliers are experiencing on Facebook makes sense because consumers are using social-media sites much more for travel research and purchases than in the past, according to PhoCusWright. Nearly 13% of social-network users use social networks to shop for travel, according to the firm’s “Traveler Technology Survey 2010.”
In addition, 35% of U.S. online travelers interacted with a travel company on an online social network in the past year. Not only are guests talking with their friends and family about travel on Facebook, but they are also being served travel-related ads, Quinby said.
Given such engagement, other hotels are quickly jumping on the Facebook booking bandwagon. The Hyatt Regency Irvine in Irvine, California, for example, recently became the second Hyatt hotel globally to offer room booking capability on its Facebook page.
“We believe social media is part of the future of how guests will interface with hotels prior to checking in,” said Colleen Kareti, manager of Hyatt Regency Irvine.
While Fairmont Hotels & Resorts does not yet have a booking function on its Facebook pages, executives plan to add the capability soon. “Part of the audience does want and expect to find out about offers. They may feel excluded if they don’t hear about offers,” said David Doucette, executive director of internet marketing for Fairmont.
Fairmont's social-media policy is to have 80% of its information about travel, hotel and its hotel's food and beverages options. Only 20% of Facebook posts have anything to do with travel offers.
Meanwhile, Fairmont’s Swissotel brand in Zurich, Switzerland, is realizing limited success with a booking link on its Facebook page. “We have seen a slight increase in conversions, but it is not dramatic. Their activity on Facebook is not as evolved as Fairmont’s is yet, so we don’t want to use that as a case study for analyzing potential,” Doucette said.
Despite the current and future success with hotels’ e-commerce activities on Facebook, hoteliers still say their primary purpose on social-networking sites is to develop relationships with their guests.
“We didn’t enter this space with a commercialization concept—we entered it to really re-define the relationships we could have with our guests,” Starwood’s Godsman said. “We haven’t tried to get as many fans as possible. Instead, we have a really engaged group of people.”
Source : HNN
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel tourism news]
“There is real commerce that is starting to grow on Facebook. Companies like Delta (Airlines) are putting booking engines on Facebook, and Sony just started a deal where consumers can rent movies,” said Michael Hraba, owner of Hraba Hospitality Consulting in San Mateo, California.
 |
| Michael Hraba owner Hraba Hospitality Consulting |
Facebook conversions growing
“Over the course of 2009, we saw the volume of direct referrals from Facebook to hotel websites grow. The conversion rate was higher for Facebook than it was for TripAdvisor and other travel review sites,” said Douglas Quinby, senior director of research for PhoCusWright, a travel research firm in Sherman, Connecticut. The conversion rate on direct referrals from traveler review sites to hotel supplier websites ranged from 4% to 6% in 2009, while conversion from Facebook to hotel websites was 8%.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has provided a booking function within a tab on Facebook for all of its brands and properties since it has been on Facebook.
“Conversion on Facebook is smaller but close to conversion on our brand websites. (Starwood’s Facebook fans) start to see other people’s experiences at the properties,” said David Godsman, VP of global Web for Starwood.
While Starwood primarily uses Facebook to “engage” with its guests, the company’s executives realize the valuable e-commerce potential on the global social-networking site. To that end, Westin Hotels & Resorts in January introduced a “Shop” tab on its properties’ Facebook pages. The shopping widget serves as a fully-contained shopping transaction, instead of working as a link from Westin’s website.
“What we are seeing now is an emergence of technology that that we didn’t see six months ago. There is an opportunity for ourselves and other hotel brands to enable these type of transactions within Facebook,” Godsman said.
Facebook booking engines
While most hotel companies have a booking link within Facebook that takes users to their websites to make transactions, Bolongo Bay Beach Resort in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, sports a unique, free-standing booking engine on the social-networking site.
 |
| Katarina Doumeng director of sales, marketing and Internet Bolongo Bay |
The hotel-and-air engine has proven successful for Bolongo Bay.
“In the last four weeks, for example, we had 207 people on Facebook who either booked or checked rates. That is big, since we are a 62-room property,” Doumeng said. Because the property has made a concerted effort to interact with its guests on Facebook, it has grown its fans from 300 in 2009 to 9,000 this year.
Shopping on social networks
The booking success that hoteliers are experiencing on Facebook makes sense because consumers are using social-media sites much more for travel research and purchases than in the past, according to PhoCusWright. Nearly 13% of social-network users use social networks to shop for travel, according to the firm’s “Traveler Technology Survey 2010.”
In addition, 35% of U.S. online travelers interacted with a travel company on an online social network in the past year. Not only are guests talking with their friends and family about travel on Facebook, but they are also being served travel-related ads, Quinby said.
Given such engagement, other hotels are quickly jumping on the Facebook booking bandwagon. The Hyatt Regency Irvine in Irvine, California, for example, recently became the second Hyatt hotel globally to offer room booking capability on its Facebook page.
“We believe social media is part of the future of how guests will interface with hotels prior to checking in,” said Colleen Kareti, manager of Hyatt Regency Irvine.
 |
| Bolongo Bay |
Fairmont's social-media policy is to have 80% of its information about travel, hotel and its hotel's food and beverages options. Only 20% of Facebook posts have anything to do with travel offers.
Meanwhile, Fairmont’s Swissotel brand in Zurich, Switzerland, is realizing limited success with a booking link on its Facebook page. “We have seen a slight increase in conversions, but it is not dramatic. Their activity on Facebook is not as evolved as Fairmont’s is yet, so we don’t want to use that as a case study for analyzing potential,” Doucette said.
Despite the current and future success with hotels’ e-commerce activities on Facebook, hoteliers still say their primary purpose on social-networking sites is to develop relationships with their guests.
“We didn’t enter this space with a commercialization concept—we entered it to really re-define the relationships we could have with our guests,” Starwood’s Godsman said. “We haven’t tried to get as many fans as possible. Instead, we have a really engaged group of people.”
Source : HNN
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel tourism news]
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
MAS Launches MHbuddy On Facebook
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) passengers can now book and check-in for a flight while sharing their trip details with their friends with the launch of MHbuddy, an application on Facebook.
In a statement Monday, MAS said the introduction of MHbddy today would take flight bookings to another level.
"Besides opening up another distribution channel for ticket sales, our customers can also experience amazing convenience now.
"At the same time, they can stay connected with their friends," it said.
Its executive vice president (commercial strategy), Dr Amir Khan, said a few airlines were already selling tickets on Facebook.
"However, no other airline allows its customers to integrate their travels so deeply into the Facebook social graph. Neither do they allow customers to check-in via Facebook," he said.
He said MHbuddy would also allow passengers to select their seats.
"During seat selection, they will also be able to view the seats of their friends who are travelling on the same flight," he said.
MHbuddy is developed by SITA Lab.
Source :Bernama
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel tourism news]
In a statement Monday, MAS said the introduction of MHbddy today would take flight bookings to another level.
"Besides opening up another distribution channel for ticket sales, our customers can also experience amazing convenience now.
"At the same time, they can stay connected with their friends," it said.
Its executive vice president (commercial strategy), Dr Amir Khan, said a few airlines were already selling tickets on Facebook.
"However, no other airline allows its customers to integrate their travels so deeply into the Facebook social graph. Neither do they allow customers to check-in via Facebook," he said.
He said MHbuddy would also allow passengers to select their seats.
"During seat selection, they will also be able to view the seats of their friends who are travelling on the same flight," he said.
MHbuddy is developed by SITA Lab.
Source :Bernama
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel tourism news]
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Airlines leverage on social media sites
As travellers become more Internet and social media-savvy, airlines have started to leverage on social media sites for branding, promotion and marketing.
Airlines including Malaysia Airlines (MAS), AirAsia Bhd, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Delta Air Lines are using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and even blogs to market themselves and engage with the public. Some airlines turn their Facebook page into a fan page whereby they can connect with their fans on the Internet. Some promote their business, products, and new offerings on Twitter to reach out to more people.
MAS senior general manager, commercial strategy, Dr Amin Khan said the carrier had a two-pronged approach for its Facebook and Twitter accounts. “For Malaysia Airlines Travel on Facebook, @MAS Twitter account and blogger engagements, our primary objective is to inspire travel by engaging and building a connection with our fans and followers.
Our efforts here are focused on engaging our younger audience and customers, around 20 to 35 years old. This includes promoting our fares and deals, destinations, travel stories and competitions,” he told StarBiz.
Amin said MAS started its social media outreach including the Malaysia Airlines Travel on Facebook in March 2009. “To date, we have more than 125,000 fans on Malaysia Airlines Travel on Facebook and some 16,500 followers on @MAS Twitter account.”
He added that the MH Deals by Malaysia Airlines on Facebook, which started in January, had 37,000 fans and it had 3,500 followers on @MHdeals Twitter account. “We also have 11,500 fans on MH Students Facebook pages. A majority of them are students who are currently studying in
MAS has managed to generate great interest with its lunch hour sales on Facebook. “The idea for the lunch hour sale came from our Facebook fans. We are constantly engaging with them to get their feedback on what they would like to see. We are also planning other promotions according to ticket availability and seasonality,” Amin said.
A quick search on Twitter revealed that AirAsia has one of the most followers on its Twitter account with some 50,086 followers. The budget carrier had previously operated under AirAsiaDotCom on Twitter. However, last Friday it announced to its followers that it had managed to secure back its @AirAsia twitter handler.
AirAsia has 478,708 fans on its main Facebook site. On top of the country specific sites that AirAsia has on Facebook and Twitter, it has a dedicated AirAsia YouTube channel, AirAsia Blog: Just Plane Thoughts and Flickr account as its official gallery of AirAsia pictures.
Media specialists see social media as a great platform to get the online community involved, to motivate them to travel, get them to spread the word on which airline to use.
“Most of these airlines make use of Twitter to introduce new events, offer a limited number of air tickets at discounted prices, etc,” a media specialist said. She added that airlines were beginning to use social media productively. “Facebook is an excellent way to engage customers. And both MAS and AirAsia are doing it well.”
She said both carriers managed to encourage their customers to engage with one another. “They made it easy to access the airlines and build relationships. Potential customers can also ask questions and get help. If their customers are happy, it means returning customers to the carrier.”
She said it was good to note that AirAsia had managed to put links on its websites to generate interest on its Twitter and Facebook pages and vice-versa. “It (AirAsia) manages to interact well on Facebook. Every news item it posts seems to get feedbacks and there are heaps of praises from fans.”
Last month, US-based Delta Air Lines had introduced the Delta Ticket Window, a Facebook application that allows its fans to find, book and share flights via the “Book a Trip” tab on its Facebook Page. The carrier believes it can capitalise on a captive audience given that Facebook is the most trafficked website on its inflight WiFi service. It is a cutting edge offering for the airline which is unparallelled by other airlines.
Asked if MAS would start offering such service, Amin said its offerings would tie in closely with its digital strategy. “For example, we are revamping our MASTraveller portal as part of our strategy to inspire travel. In line with this, our Facebook and Twitter accounts will be promoting destinations and encouraging user-generated content.”
“We also have a social media feature on MHmobile. After a customer books his ticket on flymas.mobi, he will be able to share his itinerary on his own Facebook page, Tripit or Dopplr. This ensures that all his friends are aware of his travel plans, and he is also able to make other travel arrangements such as hotel bookings and car rentals via Tripit or Dopplr,” Amin said.
Amin said all its channels were focused on attracting consumers to its main website, www.malaysiaairlines.com. MAS employee bloggers also share their experiences on its official blog. The carrier has a team managing the Facebook pages and Twitter accounts beside traditional media and other digital initiatives such as the website, applications for our mobile site, flymas.mobi, mobile gadgets and others.
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