Hotelied offers cheaper hotels to those with more Twitter and Facebook followers
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Those with a strong social media presence may soon be able to get themselves perks and discounts on hotel stays.
New hotel-booking site Hotelied, with the strapline 'It pays to be you', is offering its members the chance to stay at high-end properties in New York, Miami, Portland, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv.
However, discounts are only for those who have a large number of friends and followers on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Hotelied.com currently has properties in New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Miami, in the US, and Tel Aviv, Israel
Be a 'tastemaker': Convert Facebook friends and Twitter followers into discounts and connections
These 'tastemakers', as the website describes those with an active online presence, will be offered customised concessions which are tailored to their social media profile.
It means that the more 'popular' a Hotelied member is online, the larger the corresponding discount will be offline.
Depending on how many followers they have on Twitter, members can save up to 50 per cent on hotel stays.
A night at the Metropolitan by COMO in Miami Beach, which is usually priced at $429 a night (£268), for example, is currently available for a discounted rate of $258 (£161) per night.
At SIXTY, Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York, rooms which are usually $454 (£284) a night are priced at $364 (£227) a night.
A night at the Metropolitan by COMO in Miami Beach (pictured), which is usually priced at $429 a night (£268), for example, is currently available for a discounted rate of $258 (£161) per night
Rooftop relaxation: The Chamberlain, West Hollywood is one of the properties listed on the website
Le Montrose Suite Hotel in West Hollywood currently has savings of up to 25% on Hotelied
And there's a 25 per cent saving at Le Montrose Suite Hotel in West Hollywood, bringing the room rate down to $178 (£111) a night from the previous $238 (£148).
Concessions at The Mark in Manhattan, New York however are considerably less. Room rates, which start at $710 (£444) a night, are marked down to $675 (£422) - a five per cent discount.
Zeev Sharon, a co-founder of the site, told fastcompany.com: 'Hotelied works similar to an online dating site that, as opposed to it being a one-sided marketplace, both parties basically create a profile that describes who they are.
'Both parties get to say what they're looking for on the other side and our system makes the ideal match.'
The website's principle works on the same lines as a traditional travel agents. The main difference however is how the information is gathered.
Members are asked to link in their social media sites – as well as any other hotel or airline reward benefits they have accrued – to Hotelied before they are given access to discounts
'It pays to be you': Those with an active online presence will be offered customised concessions which are tailored to their social media profile
Once a member links in their social media sites – as well as any other hotel or airline reward benefits they have accrued – to Hotelied, the site has unprecedented access to a vast bank of information.
This can range from how many travel photos a member posts on Facebook or Instagram, to how often they tweet about their experiences on Twitter.
LinkedIn is also a valuable tool in the collection of information; someone with a higher-paying job and more connections will be more inclined to book stays in the luxury properties on the site. And possibly be more inclined to 'talk' about the experience on their online networks.
Once the website is aware of a member's habits, likes and dislikes, the information is aggregated and then presented (anonymously) to member hotels in the States, who are then able to offer the traveller tailored discounts.
'Hotels don't just want customers who spend a lot today, they want someone who's likely to spend a lot in the future,' Mr Sharon told Bloomberg.
'Plus, they want someone who will influence their friends to stay there too.'
Put the internet to work for you.
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