MindShift Interactive - Social Media Report - Hotels in India

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Part II : Hotel Industry Analysis

• MindShift Interactive • Social Media Report 2012 • Impact of Social Media on Hospitality & Tourism •
• www.mindshiftinteractive.com • +91-9820071517 •

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Hotel Industry Analysis

Hospitality & Tourism Industry:
Airline
Online Travel Agencies
Hotels
Travel Review Websites

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Hotel Industry in India
A major contributor to the Tourism Industry are Hotels, growing rapidly by nearly 15% in 2010/11,
with growth in demand outpacing supply, and nationwide occupancy growing by 1.7% over that of
2009/10. The Hotel Industry has seen a growth of 187.22% in the past 10 years (2001 -11) and is
estimated to grow at the rate of 43.21%, five years from now (2011 - 2016), as stated by the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

India’s Hotel Industry has shown robust growth in the fiscal (2011-2012) till November,
notwithstanding the global and local economic slowdown, reporting continuous revenue-per-
available-room (RevPAR) growth and the hotel inventory is expected to add another 61,000 rooms in
the next 3 years. The market is estimated to reach US$ 30 billion by 2015.

To tap the growing opportunity, around 25 major international hotel companies like Accor, Marriott,
Claridges and Shangri-la are looking to enter India, either independently or in collaboration with
domestic partners.

The rise of Hotels coming up in India leads to their need to stand out and make a mark, thus leading
to a greater dependancy on social media, to increase outreach and maintain relationships.

MindShift Metrics conducted a study to identify and analyse the activities by the Top 5 players
within the Hotel industry who maintain an active presence on Social Media and rank high on the
MindShift Metrics ScoreCard©.


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Industry Snapshot
8% - Total Online Conversations

The 8 % conversations that were tracked through the hotels audited, most conversations were on:

a. Feedback associated with the services of the hotel, like food, customer service, ambience,
infrastructure of the hotel.

b. Queries related to Bookings & Reservations

c. Value for Money Comparison with other hotels

Facebook dominated the medium by usage of campaigns and content regarding the hotel. A need
for highlighting positive experiences and gratifying consumers, while also leveraging upon
restaurants in the hotel could be key to increase positive sentiments and conversations.


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MindShift Report Findings – Hotels on Social
Media
Club Mahindra (51%) had the maximum
number of conversations, followed by
ITC

Facebook, News, Twitter & Forums
were the most used platforms for
Online Conversations

Consumer Perception – Sentiment Analysis

Club Mahindra - Most talked
about brand, ranks highest in
each sentiment

ITC hotels - Least negative
comments

Taj Hotels - 2nd in most
positive conversations

TG Profiling - Gender Analysis

Males dominated 76% of the conversations
whereas Females share 24% of the Online
Conversations. This showcases the decision
making power of Men Vs Women whilst
making reservations & their voice on social
media being much higher within this segment.


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Top Brand Conversations


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Social Media Metrics
We tracked the Social Media presence of the top five socially active hotels in India, analyzing the
objective, activeness of the brand and the strategic approach chosen, with respect to campaigns,
platform integration and response management, resulting in a thorough Social Media Audit.

The MindShift Metrics Scorecard© shares insights on each brands Social Media presence, via pre-
defined and proven Metrics. The scores aligned to each metric provide for a sustained and insightful
digital outreach for brands which come from an understanding of the consumer and business.
Metrics defined for each platform take into consideration the qualitative (content, creative’s, etc)
and quantitative (fan numbers, outreach, interactions, etc) features of the platform.

The sum of all scores together aligns a Rank to the Brand thus leading us to the insights of which
brand dominates on social media and the reasons behind the same.

The table below displays the MindShift Rank for Hotels brands, highlighting that Club Mahindra leads
the social media space followed by Oberoi Hotels, ITC Hotels & Taj Hotels. The Pride Hotels is at the
bottom of the scorecard.

Hotels MindShift Metrics MindShift
Rank ScoreCard©

Club Mahindra 1 50

Oberoi Hotels 2 47.5

ITC Hotels 3 45

Taj Hotels 4 39.5

The Pride Hotels 5 36.5

For a detailed understanding of the Ranking process, please refer to our Research Design – MindShift Metrics Scorecard
Section.

MindShift Metrics Scorecard© and the Social Media Audit helps
you gain deeper insights on the following:

1. Platform Analysis
2. Strengths and Weakness of each brand on Social Media
3. Global Trend Analysis and Forecasting on the basis of the
same


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Club Mahindra - MindShift ScoreCard©

Rank - 1
Score – 50/100

Hotel Social
Brand Reach

Club
Mahindra 5 20 14 7 1 2 NA 1 NA

Club Mahindra is crowned as a leader in Social Media within the Hotel Industry with a MindShift
Score of 50. Consistency of campaignsis & social media optimization are key to success of the brand.

Facebook Insights - With over 63467 fans and an excellent engagement ratio (14%) Club
Mahindra leads the presence on Facebook

Content Mix – A mix of informative & innovative content like destination & cultural trivia,
information on local delicacies, Resort Information with usage of different Facebook features like
membership experiences via photos & videos, polls and interactive questions keeps their fans well
connected

Campaign Strategy – Offline integrated campaign, #TreeOfWishes during Christmas & a twitter
campaign, #holidayhaiku created a high engagement ratio for the brand.

Club Mahindra leads the Twitter presence with 7159 followers and effective engagement. With
consistent daily updates, campaigns and active response management, the brand optimises the use of
this platform

YouTube is another platform which is well explored by Club Mahindra with around 158 subscribers
and over 3,72,659 video views

YouTube Innovation – Frequent Videos (Average of 1 Video/3 Days) + Customer Experiences +
Campaign Videos = SUCCESSFUL PRESENCE


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Oberoi Hotels - MindShift Scorecard ®

Rank – 2
Score – 47.5/100

Hotel - Social
Brand Reach

Oberoi
Hotels 6 19 12.5 4 2 3 NA 1 NA

MindShift ScoreCard© ranking for Oberoi Hotels - 2nd most active on Social Media

Facebook Insights – Oberoi Hotels has over 10879 fans on Facebook with a low Engagement Ratio
of 3.5%

The Welcome Page of the Brand is impressive with a mix of Interesting Destinations +
Reservations + Special Offers + Twitter + Video Integration

Content Mix – Themes about hotel destinations and travel stay at various Oberoi Chains dominate
the conversations

Campaign strategy – Sharing Information and Assistance via Social Media remains the strategy of
the brand, though a campaign would surely boost their engagement

Twitter presence with 2750 fans. Hotel Information, addressing appreciative tweets, festive
wishes, career updates and response management are the key elements on Twitter but the need
for increased interactions is awaited.

YouTube channel with 26 subscribers and over 9577 views

Poor customization and usage of the videos available on the channel..

#MindShiftApproach – Consumer experience, hotel tours to be showcased along with appropriate
tagging and titling of the videos.


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ITC Hotels - MindShift Scorecard©

Rank - 3
Score – 45/100

Hotel - Social
Brand Reach

ITC
Hotels 7 16.5 11.5 5 1 2 1 1 NA

ITC Hotels rank third for their Social Media Presence by MindShift Metrics Scorecard ©

Facebook Insights – High number of fans (15402) but a low Engagement Ratio of 2%

FB is well integrated with Bookings Tab, Videos and Testimonials

Content Mix – Food/Cuisine, Associations (like Kolkata Literary Festival), and Discounts at various
Hotels, Trivia and Information

Campaign Strategy – Responsible Luxury as a brand positioning campaign is highlighted apart
from the usual updates

Twitter presence with 1622 followers and active response management.

Customized twitter contests are held on occasions like - #proudtobeindian, leading to Active
Engagement

YouTube Channel has 11 videos with over 2940 Views. Least Engaging Platform from ITC Hotels


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Taj Hotels - MindShift Scorecard©

Rank - 4
Score – 39.5/100

Hotel - Social
Brand Reach

Taj
Hotels 4 15 11.5 5 NA 4 NA NA NA

With a score of 39.5, Taj Hotels rank fourth in the Social Media Presence - MindShift Metrics
Scorecard ©

Facebook Insights – Lagging behind considerably with only 31290 fans and an Engagement Ratio
of 1.8%

Content Mix – Taj has integrated their Services at the Hotel with Social Media. Innovations and
Offerings at Hotels are highlighted via Social Media

Ex: Association with Jaipur Literary Festival, Party for Authors, Lunch/ Buffet Deals, etc..

Campaign Strategy – Campaigns like Mélange “Vote for Art” and “Marathon For A Cause” have
been integrated with Social Media

The Twitter presence of Taj Hotels is as @TajMahalMumbai with 2444 followers.

Twitter Strategy – Regional Twitter Accounts are maintained to address and respond in an
effective manner. Customized Twitter Contests and Quick Response Management are key elements
on Twitter

Youtube - With 10 uploads with over 89,000 Views, the content surely interests the customer

Though the brand needs to share more videos with Testimonials, Ads and Hotel Offerings to
increase its subscriber base and extend its Social Media Offerings


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Pride Hotels - MindShift Scorecard©

Rank - 5
Score – 36.5/100

Hotel - Social
Brand Reach

Pride
Hotels 5 15.5 9 4 2 1 NA NA NA

Pride Hotels rank 5th in the Social Media Presence ranking via MindShift Metrics Scorecard©

Facebook Insights – The Pride Hotels has a Facebook presence with over 23339 fans and an
Engagement Ratio of 1%. This is the lowest within the tracked presences.

Content Mix - Travel tips, brand updates, festival and food updates with little to engage upon.

Campaign updates – Informing fans about latest deals/ offerings is the current strategy. BIG
CAMPAIGNS are missing on Social Media

Twitter presence with 386 followers is Low.

Twitter Strategy – One/Two updates daily with Responses on Check Ins and queries. Low
Twitter Presence as compared to other hotels

YouTube presence requires attention as well, with 5643 views, 1 subscriber and 12 uploads.


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Social Media Content Analysis
A content mix below showcases the kind of content that makes it to each social media platform.

Platforms leveraged by Brands
Type of Updates Brands adopting these Content Strategies

Campaign updates
  

Destination
Information & Facts
  
Interactive questions
  
Addressing Consumer
Queries/complaints
  
Food Related updates
  
Festival Updates
  
Travel Tips
  
Travel Quotes
  
Brand
Promotion(Redirectin
  
g to website)
Brand updates,
photos & Videos
  
Sharing Member’s
Experiences
  


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The above showcases a similar pattern of content being used widely across the Hotel Industry.
Contextual content remains the core concentration amongst all. Platform-wise, Youtube seems to be
the platform that has not been vitalized to the fullest across the industry.

Platform Analysis
The below statistics help us understand the presence of the Top 3 Brands in the Hotel Industry, over
key Social Networks. The charts also highlight the number of conversations for each brand on Social
Media, reinforcing the upcoming MindShift Audit and Analysis.


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Top Three Destinations for Hotels

Taj Hotels were
preferred by most who
visited Mumbai,
followed by ITC Hotels,
whereas Club
Mahindra had its own
unique destinations.

Consumer Perception – Reviews

Taj Hotels was the most
positively talked about Hotel
among the Top 5, whereas
The Pride Hotel had the most
number of Negative Reviews


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Social Media Findings – MindShift
Metrics
Least Conversations on Social Media, from Brands & Consumers

Club Mahindra is making a keen effort
to scale across Social Media when
compared to the others.

Still Exploring! The Indian Hotel
Industry is still exploring Social Media.
However, 2012 will see most Hotels get
onto the bandwagon and capitalize on the
medium.

Most people talk about Hotels with respect
to:
1. Service
2. Infrastructure
3. Location
4. Food

Taj Hotel
is the most visited/reviewed

Forums are the preferred platform for online conversations


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Trend Forecasting
We look at trends on the basis of how social media is evolving as well as global trends that are
worthy of adopting towards a sustained social media outreach.

1. Active Engagement: Create instances for consumers to speak with you and ensure you
sustain them, at all times.

2. Online Reputation Management has become the need of the hour and as the world shifts
towards the digital space, ORM or Online Customer Service representatives will become a
need higher than the one’s available offline. From booking a hotel room to enquiring about
discounts available, digital will be the space for reputation and response management.

3. Informative rather than Promotional: Move away from hard-selling your hotel or the
restaurants in it. Talk about events, tend to queries and exchange information with prospect
consumers.

4. Aligned KPIs: Every platform delivers a specific purpose and every hotel makes use of each
of these social media tools as per their needs. We all expect an ROI out of social media, and
hence it is important to align KPIs such as engagement ratio, trends created, etc.

5. Location Based Intersection: Location-based services such as Foursquare and Facebook
Places have brought a new level of how people demonstrate that they want to be associated
with where they are, and that they are interested in communicating with people in the same
place. Internationally, Specials on Foursquare urge a user to check-in and describe his
experience in exchange for a discount or freebie. Brands are gradually adopting the same
technique in India and Hotels must capitalize on this space too in order to increase their
outreach and loyalists.

6. Social Business: Beyond Social Media Marketing, business units within the Hotel industry are
taking onto social media to leverage their customer care, recruitment drives, corporate
communication and even their CSR activities.

_______________


MindShift Interactive - Social Media Report - Hotels in India

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