Hospitality brands should embrace YouTube
10:10 Presentation: Evolving Consumer Trends & Travel Behaviour
For many people, going on vacation has become about far more than finding a hotel with the best facilities, rooms and amenities. Increasingly, travellers are prioritising authentic experiences and local encounters in the destination they visit and where they stay, as Cloud 7 CEO Marloes Knippenberg explained during a presentation at the inaugural Hotelier Express Summit. “Videos of sterile hotel lobbies and rooms are a thing of the past,” Knippenberg said. “It’s interesting seeing the newest trends in technology and then adapting that in spreading your brand message. YouTube videos that share a feeling score higher in views than boring standard shots of a hotel.” A good example of how this is being done? Hotelier Middle East earlier reported that the debut film released by Marriott’s Content Studio in March 2015, has received over 5.1 million views to date. Since its premiere, the studio has also unveiled French Kiss, which has been viewed more than 6.1 million times, and is currently in production on its third film in partnership with Renaissance Hotels, entitled Business Unusual.
Hotelier Middle East previously reported that after the success of the short films, Marriott were considering a full length feature film as well. However according to Knippenberg, in the hospitality industry “budget is usually a big constraint”. Previously, Marriott International vice president, global creative and content marketing David Beebe said to Hotelier Middle East that it is important for brands to engage in mediums that consumers are interacting with such as YouTube and social media platforms.
‘UAE has a stigma of uber luxury hotels’ says expert
11:15 Presentation: Designing Hotels for the Customer Experience
UAE needs to shed its stigma for uber luxury when it comes to hotel designs and architecture – VE Experts director of design and development Nigel Eckersall said the onus is on the designers to do so
Speaking at the Hotelier Express Summit, Eckersall said: “We [designers] are always up against the stigma that resides in the UAE of being uber luxury. And we always start swaying towards the upscale when we start designing mid-market brands. That is where we need to be brave if we are going to see growth in this sector.” He continued: “It is important to remember that we are not designing for the upscale luxury, we are here for the mid-market consumer.” He said that location continues to remain king. “One of the interesting things is the location of the property. You need to see where your plot is and what it will allow your hotel to be, this is a piece of information that helps in the design process.”
There are three location types in Dubai: waterfront, metropolitan and city, he says. “The biggest issue here is – and we face that as designers – is all brands think they need to have waterfront property. But, we are coming to the metropolitan era of hotels where we will be filling up the plots in areas such as JLT and Business Bay. We are also going to be refurbishing the old plots of the town in Karama, at the same time look at new districts all together such as Dubai South.” It is going to be an interesting few years as we all find our way together to create success for the customer,” said adds.
| Advertisement |
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
