“While social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are becoming huge, it is proving a major struggle for hotel companies to figure out how to profit from them,” said Ray Tinston, sales director, The Hotel Show (www.thehotelshow.com). “Social networking sites are still in their relative infancy and we don’t know how they are going to grow up. What we do know is that social networking is generating a large amount of buzz in hospitality marketing.”

In the United States, independent hotels are reporting revenue generating success by linking their websites and online booking services with social media such as Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and Facebook. According to San Francisco Hospitality Consulting company Hraba: “When you engage guests with social media it develops online customer advocates that impact how your hotel is perceived, drives referrals and can create a great deal of new business.”

But according to Tinston, simply having a high number of Facebook fans or a lot of people following you on Twitter isn’t very useful unless they actually click through and book. “The hospitality industry is a business and social media has to be judged by the direct results it brings to the business. While many are starting to run Facebook campaigns and Tweeting, where will all this be in a few years time? In addition, the best brands are not just taking part in any new social media network that comes along, but are also managing their own online community. While it may not grow as fast as a Facebook group, it could be building a more loyal and longer-lasting following.”