Luxury traveler x social media 2014 iltm americas 2014(3)

THE LUXURY TRAVELLER & SOCIAL MEDIA 2014 - THE AMERICAS ILTM
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THE LUXURY TRAVELLER
& SOCIAL MEDIA 2014: THE AMERICAS

THE LUXURY TRAVELLER & SOCIAL MEDIA 2014 - THE AMERICAS BRAND KARMA
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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.
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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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“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 THINGS
In 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 TIME
Social 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
AFFLUENCE
Mobile 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.
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 PREFERENCES
Since 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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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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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.

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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.
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)

ILTM
THE LUXURY TRAVELLER & SOCIAL MEDIA 2014 - THE AMERICAS
THE LUXURY TRAVELLER & SOCIAL MEDIA 2014
BRAND KARMA
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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
ONLINE REVIEWS & SOCIAL MEDIA BY GEOGRAPHY

ILTM THE LUXURY TRAVELLER & SOCIAL MEDIA 2014 - THE AMERICAS
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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 AMERICA LATIN 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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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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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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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

28 29
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.

THE LUXURY TRAVELLER & SOCIAL MEDIA 2014 - THE AMERICAS
BRAND KARMA
30
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

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