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Air New Zealand’s Rico: Hot or Not?

Meet Rico.

Rico was born on a plane between two countries over the International Date Line on June 6th and June 7th of 1972. His mother and father were hippies and moved off the coast of Equador when Rico was only young and remained there for several years. In his later years, Rico went on to work at a travelling circus giving him the opportunity to see many places he’d never seen before. After tiring of the circus life, he tied himself to a small plane carrying coffee beans and landed in the USA, bright eyed and ready to begin his new life as the face of Air New Zealand.

Air New Zealand is at it again, this time with a new advertising campaign looking to be its most controversial yet – although in this instance, I’m not so sure being controversial is a bad thing. Rico made his debut in three commercials released last week to create awareness of the airlines new children’s storytime services and premium economy space seats on their 777-300 aircraft.

In two of the three commercials, Rico makes lewd, suggestive comments to fellow Air New Zealand passengers that strike up conversation with him. His thick Equadorian accent plays a part in the mispronunciation of words, in turn, giving them a double meaning: “All we need now is a nice Kiwi bitch (beach).”

In the second commercial titled “The Intimate Art of Touching”, Rico rips out one liners such as “You can lick the crack…” and “The screen is like a woman, and you must be gentle with her…put your finger here and touch her lightly…”

What’s even more impressive is that Rico has his own Facebook page. His interests are listed as “travelling to everywhere, meating the friend. Relapsing in nice place, writing the book and taking away photo.” Rico interacts with his 4,837 fans by engaging in wall conversations with them in a fun and flirtatious manner. Can we expect Rico to make a Twitter appearance? I definitely hope so.

Personally, I think these advertisements are a genius move by Air New Zealand. Yes, they are controversial, but being controversial isn’t necessarily a bad thing now, is it? Controversy generates interest and talk, whether it be via word of mouth, news or online communication platforms; all of which produce an increase in brand awareness and gain the attention and curiosity of the general public, or perhaps a whole new market that never previously considered Air New Zealand as their airline of choice.

Do you find Air New Zealand’s new advertising campaign offensive or funny? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

 

Social Networking Philanthropy

Where I’ve Been is one of the few Facebook applications that I’ve taken any interest to. It is a cleverly designed social networking  tool for the travel industry and keen Facebook travellers and currently boasts a community in excess of 9 million.

I must admit that until today, Where I’ve Been served me mainly as a visual passport; I could easily highlight all the cities and countries I’ve visited on a map to show off to my Facebook friends. Although I do enjoy making friends jealous each time I land another country to my growing collection, today I decided to pay the application some much needed attention and was pleasantly surprised.

Steering away from the regular Maps & Passport tab of my Where I’ve Been Facebook application, I ventured two tabs across to Trivia. Trivia presents to you a Question of the Day where you are able to test your travel knowledge with a daily trivia question (as well as previous days questions). A correct answer will score you $20 virtual bucks, an incorrect answer only $1; accumulate these bad boys and you’re on your way to becoming a virtual do-gooder.

You can work backwards to cash in for prior days’ questions that you may have missed out on – this helps build up your virtual bucks account. The questions are fun and challenging and if you get one wrong, you are given the correct answer for your own personal reference –  hey, this could be extremely handy for that next time you’re on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Earned anywhere between $100 – $10,000? Great – you’re ready to take the next step in helping such organisations as World Land Trust, Relief International, World Food Programme, Seva Mandir, and Creating Hope International. Simply click on the bucks tab and select which organisation you’d like to contribute to. If the Purchase button is orange, you have enough funds to buy the highlighted cause.

Today alone I saved 1 square foot of rainforest and fed a child in Mali.

How did you spend your Sunday?

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Saltimbanco to Hit Aussie Soil in 2011

If you’ve been following my blog for some time now, you’d be well aware that I spent July 2009 – July 2010 interning with Walt Disney World at Cirque du Soleil’s resident show, La Nouba.

I can still recall the way my eyes lit up while watching the show for the very first time. I was captivated; it was almost trance-like. La Nouba was a world where dreams became reality; a place that allowed me to escape to a land of  make-believe and fantasy, even if only for a short while. La Nouba was the first Cirque du Soleil show I had ever seen and since then, I have had the pleasure of adding Mystère, Zumanity and LOVE to my viewing collection.

From April of 2011, I look forward to revisiting this fantasy world once again. Hot on the heels of its European stint, Cirque du Soleil is bringing the Saltimbanco over for an Australian arena tour.

Saltimbanco explores the urban experience in all its myriad forms: the people who live there, their idiosyncrasies and likenesses, families and groups, the hustle and bustle of the street and the towering heights of skyscrapers. Between whirlwind and lull, prowess and poetry, Saltimbanco takes spectators on an allegorical and acrobatic journey into the heart of the city.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday October 18, 2010 at 9am. If you are a Cirque Club Member you are able to purchase pre-sale tickets from Thursday October 7 at 9am – Sunday October 17 at 11pm. If you would like the opportunity to pre-purchase tickets, it isn’t too late to sign up and become a Cirque Club Member – it’s free!

You don’t want to miss out!

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Tour Dates: Cirque du Soleil – Saltimbanco 2011

Perth: April 21 – May 9, Challenge Stadium
Adelaide: May 12 – May 22, Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Melbourne: May 25 – June 11, Rod Laver Arena
Hobart: June 15 – June 19, Derwent Entertainment Centre
Brisbane: July 8 – July 17, Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Newcastle: July 20 – July 24, Newcastle Entertainment Centre
Sydney: July 27 – August 14, Acer Arena
Wollongong: August 17 – August 21, WIN Entertainment Centre

More information: Ticketek

 

 

Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney’s Classic Fairy Tales

With the blockbuster Tim Burton Exhibition coming to a close this weekend at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) here in Melbourne, I was curious as to what came next. After a quick Google search I was beyond ecstatic to discover that as of November 18, 2010, the ACMI will host Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney’s Classic Fairy Tales. This major new exhibit will celebrate over 70 years of Disney animation and comes to us direct from the USA.

Conceived by John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, Disney/Pixar Animation Studios, as a cultural gift to the people of post-Katrina New Orleans and originally curated by Lella Smith, Creative Director, Disney Animation Research Library, the exhibition features over 600 original artworks, maquettes and animation cells from Disney’s much-loved adaptations of traditional European fairy tales.

Visitors will be able to go behind the scenes of the on-screen magic and explore the artworks and innovations that gave birth to the animated feature film. The exhibition includes early conceptual and creative artworks from legendary features including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Frog, and the yet to be released Tangled.

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Date: Thursday 18th November, 2010 – Tuesday 26th April, 2011
Time: 10:00am
Location: Australian Centre for the Moving Image – Federation Square
Further Information: www.acmi.net.au

A Who’s Who of Social Media

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A social media analysis amongst the Australian travel
industries top guns

Just like the great plague that swept through England in 1665, social media is swiftly taking over the world, only under more optimistic circumstances. With the rapid growth of this social media phenomenon, many companies within the Australian travel industry have realised that not embracing social media is a competitive disadvantage. The purpose of social media is clear; to generate interest and increase awareness, communicate and engage with your audience as well as extending your customer base and to drive traffic toward a company.

So, who has taken to utilising social media best amongst the Australian travel industries top guns? Let’s take a look, shall we…

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Contender 1: STA Travel Australia

STA Travel is a full service travel retailer boasting an impressive worldwide network of more than 450 branches, with more than 100 in Australia and New Zealand alone. They operate in more than 75 countries and their turnover exceeds USD $1.1 billion worldwide. STA Travel’s core purpose is to make travel affordable and attainable, particularly for students and people under 26.

Blog – While STA Travel Australia does not sport its own company blog, they do offer travellers the option to create their own travel blog via their website.

Twitter – @statravelAU have been on Twitter since December 19, 2008 with a total of 466 tweets with 6,517 followers and counting. They seem to tweet every other day, with no steady tweeting pattern. Their tweets contain relevant content inline with their theme however I feel they could be doing a lot more with their account in terms of promotion, communication and engaging with their followers.

YouTube – STA Travel Australia do have their own YouTube channel, however up until three weeks ago, it seems that it had not been given much attention for twelve months. The channel has a total of 1,013 upload views since its creation on November 17, 2008 and a total of eight subscribers; me being one of them.

Facebook – STA Travel do a much more impressive job engaging with their 4,735 Facebook fans, than they do, Twitter. Content is updated and communicated at a much more consistent rate and they respond frequently to all wall posts.

Flickr – STA Travel boasts quite an impressive Flickr photostream. There are organised albums for each continent containing many amazing and beautiful images as well as an album for the world traveller intern (USA) and a company album.

Linkedin – Unable to locate a company group page, only a company profile page.

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Contender 2: QANTAS

Qantas is the world’s second oldest airline. Founded in the Queensland outback in 1920, it is Australia’s largest domestic and international airline and is recognised as one of the world’s leading long distance carriers. The Qantas Group today employs approximately 35,000 people and offers services across a network spanning 173 destinations in 42 countries through Australia, Asia and the Pacific, the Americas, Europe and Africa. For the full year ended 30 June 2009, Qantas reported a profit before tax of $181 million; an 87 per cent decrease on the full year to 30 June 2008.

Blog – Qantas’ Travel Blog – Insider tips for the discerning traveller is an excellent source of travel information for the, well, discerning traveller. The blog is updated at frequent intervals and the information provided is current. Blog contributors include the Travel Insider team, writers from Qantas The Australian Way, Qantas Cabin Crew and Qantas ambassadors. The diverse mix of writers ensures an array of opinions, views and stories are covered.

Twitter – Handling themselves on Twitter is something Qantas does particularly well. Qantas sports four separate Twitter accounts, each serving a separate purpose.

1) @qftravelinsider: Created on January 13, 2009 with 5,369 followers and 1,940 tweets, Qantas use this account to share inspirational travel tips. Tweets occur every other day.

2) @QantasUSA: Formed on March 22, 2009, this account is used to update customers in the US. With 3,729 followers and 460 tweets, it seems Qantas use this account mainly to respond to their followers’ praises or concerns to attain that ‘consumer engagement’ part of social media.

3) @QantasVacations: With a start up date of April 24, 2009, this account promotes both airfare and vacation deals from Qantas. Unlike the previous two accounts, this one reaches out to 580 followers with only 222 tweets to date.

4) @Qantas_careers: The newest of Qantas’ Twitter accounts from March 30, 2010. This account is strictly used to promote job openings with Qantas in Australia and abroad with good hashtag use to generate #jobs interest.

YouTube – Qantas boasts an extremely impressive YouTube channel. It is updated frequently and offers an insight into the world of Qantas. The channel has a total of 875,034 upload views since its creation on February 14, 2006 and a total of 2,025 subscribers.

Facebook – Similar to that of STA Travel, Qantas do a remarkable job engaging with their 24,257 Facebook fans. Content is updated every few days and discussion amongst fans on their wall posts is high.

Flickr – The Qantas Travel Insider has a Flickr photostream with well organised albums presenting images from various countries as well as Qantas The Australian Way magazine covers.

Linkedin – If you have an existing Linkedin account and you’re signed into it, Qantas have both a group for current and former employees to share stories and keep in touch and another jobs group that has been established to source resources directly by internal Qantas staff. While I cannot offer input on these two groups as I am not a member, it is impressive that Qantas is also joining the Linkedin phenomenon.

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Contender 3: Jetstar Airways

Jetstar Airways Pty Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Qantas Group, with its Australian low fare operations first commencing in May 2004. Jetstar is Australia’s low fares carrier and fare leader now operating to 19 Australian domestic destinations and an existing 11 short and long haul overseas destinations. Initially operating domestic services to 14 destinations along the Australian east coast, Jetstar has since grown to be almost four times its size and within the next five years, it is expected to be ten times its current size.

Blog – Although not technically a blog, Jetstar’s blog like-layout of their Jetstar magazine is pretty darn close. It offers great content on destinations and activities in cities that Jetstar flies to. Its user-friendly design makes it easy to navigate and there is the inclusion of the Editorial’s Blog with raves and rants from the magazines editorial team.

Twitter – Unlike their owners Qantas, @JetstarAirways only has one Twitter account which they put to excellent use. Since January 21, 2009, they have managed to gain 10,272 followers within 663 tweets. Jetstar tweet on an almost daily basis not only to promote their airfare and vacation deals and competitions, but also to address any questions or concerns their followers are having with the airline and then go that one bit further by arranging for their customer care team to solve the problem via phone.

YouTube – Jetstar possess’ a rather bright, snazzy YouTube channel that was created on January 7, 2007. It currently has 108 subscribers with 239, 332 upload views. The videos, which are uploaded regularly, perfectly encapsulate Jetstar’s corporate culture.

Facebook – This one was a bit surprising and disappointing. Jetstar Australia’s Facebook page only offers a description of the company and then a related posts section which is an automatically generated feed that picks up on anyone else’s posts on Facebook that make mention to Jetstar. There is no way of open communication between Jetstar and their Facebook fans. Kinda a let down. Jetstar, if you accept my application into your Corporate Graduate Program for 2011, I promise to fix this for you.  You have my word. Let the blogosphere be my witness(es).

Flickr – Jetstar does not have its own official Flickr photostream.

Linkedin – Unable to locate a company group page, only a company profile page.

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Contender 4: Virgin Blue

Virgin Blue took off on 31 August 2000 with two aircraft, one route and 200 team members who shared a clear goal to revolutionise air travel in Australia. Not only did the airline halve the cost of airfares, it also re-introduced genuine Guest service to the flying public along with a strong commitment to being the best in the business. Since its launch Virgin Blue has evolved from a start-up entrepreneurial business to become Australia’s leading major airline for service, on-time performance and value for money, as well as being one of the world’s most profitable airline Groups incorporating Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue (Aus), Pacific Blue (NZ), Polynesian Blue and V Australia.

Blog – Currently no blog for Virgin Blue itself (only V Australia), however, Dean from the Virgin Blue Social Media Team kindly noted to “watch this space” when commenting on a previous blog post.

Twitter – @VirginBlue make Twitter look easy. Having acquired an interest in Twitter earlier than most Australian companies on July 11, 2008, they have a following of 17,433 with 2,503 tweets. They tweet on a daily basis and although they do promote deals, their Twitter feed looks like it is used mainly as a form of responsive engagement between the airline and its followers.

YouTube – Born on May 17, 2009, Virgin Blue’s YouTube channel has upload views of 84,179. Their video content is entertaining, exciting and portrays a positive vibe and corporate culture within the Virgin Blue team.

Facebook – Virgin Blue does Facebook quite well projecting a positive image and updates to their 20,353 Facebook fans. Content is updated every few days and discussion amongst fans on their wall posts is high. The clever use of Facebook fans only sales generated to grab awesome fares is a great way to maintain and satisfy Facebook fans.

Flickr – Virgin Blue does not have its own official Flickr photostream, however, V Australia does.

Linkedin – Unable to locate a company group page, only a company profile page.

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Contender 5: Contiki Holidays

Discovered by a young New Zealander in the Spring of 1962, Contiki Holidays is now a worldwide leader in vacations for 18-35 year-olds. For over 40 years, Contiki Holidays has been taking travellers around the world and offering them an unforgettable travel experience. Their tours have been individually created to include a mix of sightseeing, free time, culture, socialising and adventure. Regardless of your destination or travelling style, Contiki is committed to providing an amazing trip at an affordable price.

Blog – Contiki sports its company blog via WordPress. It includes a heap of great destination and activity information for anyone going or thinking about going on Contiki. New blog posts are contributed every few weeks and the blog is easy to navigate.

Twitter – @contikiaus was introduced to Twitter on Nov 18, 2008 and has since gained 2,248 followers and tweeted a total of 1,106 times. They tweet every other day to promote Contiki specials and deals and to encourage Twitter conversation and interaction amongst travel lovers, Contiki virgins and the not-so-Contiki virgins (no puns intended… maybe).

YouTube – Contiki have had their own YouTube channel since June 24, 2008 with 140 subscribers and 59, 365 upload views. On occasion, Contiki uploaded videos to showcase what their holidays are all about, with the latest upload dating back 6 months ago.

Facebook – One of the more impressive Facebook pages out of the ones included in this analysis. With this one, Contiki’s 15,699 Facebook fans have access to post directly to the page wall to inquire amongst other fans to see if anyone is participating in the same tour as them or to share their Contiki adventure with others. Content is updated almost daily and Contiki do a great job responding to their fans queries.

Flickr – Contiki possess’ a swanky Flickr photostream neatly organised into city and country albums. The images included are beautiful and truly represent the scenery, landmarks, parties and fun that Contiki encompass.

Linkedin – If you have an existing Linkedin account and you’re signed into it, Contiki has a group for new travellers and alumni. Although there isn’t much discussion going on within the group, it is currently made up of 34 members.

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Contender 6: Flight Centre

Flight Centre is Australasia’s best known travel agency group and now boasts more than 2000 shops and businesses in 11 countries. The company, through its retail and corporate brands, provides a complete travel service for leisure and business travellers in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Hong Kong, India, China, Singapore and Dubai. Internationally, the company employs about 8,000 consultants and support staff.

Blog – No company blog.

Twitter – @flightcentreAU jumped on the Twitter bandwagon on March 16, 2009 and have since command the attention of 1,854 through 201 tweets. They tweet sparingly; with maybe one or two tweets every couple of weeks. The content of many of their tweets would get a better response on Facebook. They don’t seem to have quite embraced Twitters full potential as yet.

YouTube – Unfortunately I don’t think Flight Centre Australia has its own YouTube channel. Upon searching, I was only able to find Flight Centre New Zealand and Flight Centre Canada‘s channel. Shame.

Facebook – As mentioned above, their tweets do receive a better response on Flight Centre’s Facebook page. With 2,393 fans, Flight Centre does a great job posting content that generates interesting conversation amongst their followers and themselves. They’ve also made good use of the photo album feature posting beautiful images from right around the world.

Flickr – Flight Centre has a wonderful Flicker photostream neatly organised into country albums showing off some spectacular photo work.

Linkedin – If you have an existing Linkedin account and you are signed in you can join the Flight Centre group along with the other 63 members. Like Qantas, I am unable to offer input for this group as I am not a member. Again, impressive that they’ve utilised this social media platform over a blog or YouTube channel.

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Contender 7: Tiger Airways

Tiger Airways Australia, is an ultra-low cost airline which commenced services in the Australian domestic airline market on 23 November 2007. It is a subsidiary of Tiger Airways Holdings, a Singapore-based company, which is owned partially by Singapore Airlines. The airline is based in Melbourne, Victoria, with its main base at Melbourne Airport.

Blog – No company blog.

Twitter – @tigerairwaysaus has not touched its Twitter account since July 13, 2010. Sadly, Tiger’s Twitter presence died a slow and painful death (of 299 tweets since July 16, 2009) boarding a direct flight out to Twitter heaven leaving all 2,419 of its followers abandon and helpless.

YouTube – Like Flight Centre, there is no YouTube channel for Tiger Airways Australia, only Singapore.

Facebook – Tiger Airways Facebook page is primarily Singaporean based, however, it does include deals for Australian fans too, so for this instance, I will let it pass. Tiger does a reasonable job updating its Facebook page with current content; deals, promotions etc. Their posts generate lots of interaction and discussion amongst their 52,775 fans.

Flickr – Tiger Airlines does not have an official Flickr photostream.

Linkedin – Unable to locate a company group page, only a company profile page.

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Contender 8: Intrepid Travel

Intrepid was started in 1989 with a passion to get travellers off the beaten track in Asia. Inrepid wanted to share some of the special places they knew and introduce their travellers to different cultures and ways of life. Intrepid’s core purpose is to enrich peoples lives by creating unique, interactive travel experiences.They provide fun, affordable and sustainable travel adventures that are beneficial to local communities.

Blog – Intrepid posts several blog posts weekly full on enriching content directly relating to their product, beliefs and target audience. Their blog is visually appealing and easy to navigate.

Twitter – Tweeting since July 30, 2008 @Intrepid_Travel has tweeted 1,197 times, reaching out to 4,514 Twitter followers. Intrepid runs promotions and competitions to engage with its target audience and keep them enthralled multiple times on a daily basis.

YouTube – Intrepid’s YouTube channel was born on October 22, 2007 and has since attract 99,105 upload views. Their videos are funky and fresh and new contributions are made to the channel regularly.

Facebook – Like Contiki, Intrepid’s 6,191 Facebook fans have access to post directly to the page wall to inquire amongst other fans to see if anyone is participating in the same tour as them or to share their Intrepid adventure and photos with others. Intrepid encourage discussion amongst its fans and also has a beautiful photo gallery showcasing the many destinations they travel to.

Flickr – Intrepid Travel does not have an official Flickr photostream.

Linkedin – If you have an existing Linkedin account and you are signed in you can join the Intrepid Travel Alumni group to connect with fellow Intrepidites pase, present and future. The group currently consist of 30 members.

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< Drum roll please >

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After carefully analysing the use of six different social media platforms amongst nine top shot companies within the Australian travel industry, the results can be viewed in a hierarchy of highest score to lowest. Contiki Holidays comes out on top for best utilisation of a diverse range of social media tools to interact and reach their audience, followed closely by Qantas and Intrepid Travel. Tiger Airways takes the wooden spoon; I suggest maybe using it to stir up and implement a fresh, new approach to the way your company exploits social media.

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*All stats and figures were correct at time of publishing

Can Social Media Act as a Double-edged Sword?

How the positives of social media can generate negativity for the Australian Travel & Tourism Industry.

If the Australian travel and tourism industry wants to leave a global mark, it must embrace the use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to adopt and harness a strong digital strategy says Tourism Australia’s executive chairman, Rick Allert.

“As more of the world continues to embrace the Internet in new and diverse ways, this is an obvious medium we need to fully utilise to convey the depth and breadth of Australia’s travel and tourism experience,” Mr Allert claims.

While recognising the Australian travel and tourism industries need to jump on the social media bandwagon, Mr Allert advised that a reliance on social networking sites could prove consequential for travel and tourism operators, with negative word-of-mouth posing a threat for a country’s image.

Poor Mr Allert failed epically at practicing what he preached. In March of 2010, Tourism Australia launched a $150 million advertising campaign to replace their previous ill-fated ‘Where the bloody hell are you?’ campaign. Using the new slogan, ‘There’s nothing like Australia’, they invited Australians to submit their favourite photos and taglines of the country to capture that authentic, every-day Australian touch.

Within hours of launching the new site, the online campaign was hijacked by satire blog nothinglikeaustralia.net.

Tourism Australia made the terrible mistake of forgetting to register variations of their websites URL. While having claimed the .com address, this left a window of opportunity for virtually anybody to register nothinglikeaustralia.net. Mr Allert must still be kicking himself.

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On November 23^rd 2007, low-cost carrier, Tiger Airways Australia commenced domestic flight services throughout Australia. On June 7^th, 2008 Tiger took a walk on the wild side by embracing the use of social-networking giant, Twitter @tigerairways. While Twitter has proven to be a powerful  communication device for other Australian airline companies like @VirginBlue and @JetstarAirways, Tiger Airways lacked what these two companies were able to grasp hold of.

The second half of 2008 saw Tiger embrace Twitter a total of five times. 2009 brought on a slight  improvement with a whooping 29 tweets <insert sarcasm here>; one of them even promising follower’s innovation and excitement; kind of ironic, don’t you think? Perhaps this earth-shattering promise of excitement was the increase of their tweets, six-fold, on previous years results?

Sadly, in 2010, Tiger Airways’ Twitter account died a slow and painful death (of only five tweets) with a direct flight out to Twitter heaven.

A big mistake made by companies is the abandoning of accounts. Tiger Airways has ignored the benefits that Twitter can encompass for them and rather than shutting off its Twitter account completely, it has decided to portray a negative company image for its 2,954 followers via account abandonment.

Dear neglected @tigerairways Twitter followers, here’s an idea.

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Virgin Blue and V Australia have done an outstanding job appealing to customers via their Facebook pages with 20,000+ and 15,000+ ‘likes’ respectively. They’ve also gone that extra mile in mastering communicative channels via Twitter and corporate blogging. Despite these social networking measures, any given corporate message may be easily counteracted by dissatisfied customer blogs and blog posts, especially those that rank highly on Google.

A simple Google search of ‘Virgin Blue Blog’ reveals the top ranking result to be a blog post from a disgruntled Virgin Blue customer; it even ranks above the V Australia Blog itself. Although having been posted way back in March of 2006, this particular blog post still generates interest amongst other dissatisfied Virgin Blue customers, with comments still being posted to it as recent as September of 2010.

This example is not specific to Virgin Blue and V Australia but is just one of the many cases used to illustrate the permanency of the Internet and the power of social media.

Adding Value & Brand Loyalty by Embracing Social Media

Why the Australian travel & hospitality industry should become tech-savvy.

Having taken an immediate interest in social media from the very beginning, while Interning abroad in the USA last year, I was extremely surprised to observe just how much the Australian travel and hospitality industry were lacking when compared to the US in terms of social media. While witnessing first hand how US companies such as Southwest Airlines had embraced social media to generate interest within their company, I was silently hoping that Australia would echo such sentiments; sooner rather than later.

Fifteen months later and I’m back on Aussie soil and glad to see that the Australian travel and hospitality industry (well, part of it, at least) has finally come to its senses and is taking a walk on the tech-savvy side.

For those companies still lacking or refusing to get with the times, here is the link between using social media to attract brand loyalty and add corporate value to your company:

1. Discounts and Deal Offers

While the economy is on a mend, it is still not in tip-top shape. The average middle-class individual or family is budget conscious and constantly on the look out for travel discounts and deals; why spend more if you can get the same flight or hotel at a discount rate through a different travel agent, website or airline? While it pays to do your research, Twitter is breaking down the research phase by tweeting an immediate answer directly to your Twitter feed.

Having embraced the power of Twitter, Jetstar @JetstarAirways are a great example of this. Every Friday Jetstar tweets its Friday Fare Frenzy deals with a link back to its website for all of its 10,236 followers to see. Many of these fares are so cheap it is no doubt that many of Jetstar’s followers purchase on impulse either for a spontaneous weekend getaway or a planned vacation. Not only does Jetstar promote its Friday Fare Frenzy but also tweets other fantastic travel deals and arranges phone contact for customers that are experiencing difficulties or are unsatisfied with the service they have received.

Like Jetstar, STA Travel Australia @statravelAU is also a lover of all things Twitter. STA Travel promotes discount airfares and any travel tours they have on sale as well as running Twitter prize give aways for their 6,482 followers.

I can’t understand why travel and hospitality companies, or any company for that matter, wouldn’t want to embrace the communication powers that Twitter embodies; in essence, it is free advertising.

2. Communication of Catastrophic Events

With the ever-lingering concern of terrorism and natural disasters in the back of people’s minds while travelling, the ability of travel companies to deal with catastrophe and unplanned tragedy quickly and efficiently while still showing sympathy and concern to those involved is vital to their success.

On January 16, 2009 at 7:36am US EST, Janis Krums @jkrums tweeted these words accompanied by this photo he snapped on his cell phone:

Twitter user, Janis Krums was on a ferry used to rescue stranded passengers after the miracle landing of  US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River. His tweet was the first to make headlines; before any official media or news outlet was able to pick up on it. In fact, Twitter broke the news of the incident around 15 minutes before the mainstream media alerted viewers and readers to the crash.

As Twitter user @hrhmedia pointed out , the FlightStats information website was showing the downed flight as 26 minutes late, but still “en route” to its destination of Charlotte in North Carolina. And while Twitter’s trends page, which identifies the hot keywords used in tweets, was flagging up terms such as “US Airways”, “Hudson”, “plane” and “crash”, Google’s similar trending service showed no signs of those keywords an hour and more after the incident occurred.

While not being able to find any supporting evidence that US Airways @USAirways had their Twitter account back when this incident occured, it would have, on their part, been in line to tweet about the incident and that no lives were lost to reassure the families and friends of those on board. Another great and recent US Airways Twitter example can be viewed below:

3. Generate Customer Loyalty and Engagement

While the first real challenge for travel and hospitality companies is actually joining social media communities and developing a taste for how they work, the key goal of staking a claim in the social media world is to build a base of dedicated followers who will keep coming back.

Most travel and hospitality organisations are looking for more than just a transaction. They’re after loyalty; a long term engagement between the company, brand and the customer.

The key to achieving this is by the use of deals offered exclusively through social media channels.

Airtran Airways introduced Facebook Friday Fares giving its Facebook fans unique deals as well as the AirTran U Creeper game which gives its Facebook fans the opportunity to win a round-trip flight with the airline.

United Airlines @UnitedAirlines has cleverly combined a tweet and a fare to introduce twares. These are fare specials offered exlusively through Twitter. With a following of 116,638 and growing daily, it’s no wonder so many Twitter users are following United. Exclusive deals like this one keep the customer coming back again and again.

4. Real-time Monitoring

Airlines are able to notify all followers via Twitter of any cancelled or delayed flights as they happen. This may save you a few hours of sitting around at the airport or driving to the airport to pick someone up only to wait around for hours and spend countless dollars on rip off parking fares because of a delayed flight.

Newcomer, The Honey Bar @theHONEYBAR is a purpose built hospitality venue in the South Melbourne precinct. They have taken an immense interest in Twitter to communicate to their rapidly growing list of 506 followers. The Honey Bar has even suggest it will go above and beyond to satisfy its customers…

@deltachris tweeted The Honey Bar informing them that he had past by earlier in the night but didn’t have the time to stop in. The Honey Bar tweet back informing Chris that…

Twitter has made it possible to be in the know as it happens. Imagine how satisfied one would be if they could tweet in their meal in advance to their favourite restaurant and not have to sit around and wait for it to be cooked.

Later this month, The Honey Bar will play host to the @socialmelb Tweetup (Twitter meet up); another intelligent way of generating interest and followers amongst the Melbourne scene.

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So what are you waiting for? Embrace your inner tech-geek and reap the benefits of social media today.

Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Location: Melbourne, Australia

I have been back in Australia for three weeks. Within this three week period I have applied for 23 jobs; all degree related. From these 23 applications I submit, I received responses back from zero; Z-E-R-O. Nada. Not even a courtesy email saying thank you, but no thank you. Who knew a simple email could be so difficult?

I’m still trying to figure out if I’m not approaching the whole CV and cover letter thing correctly or if I just plain out suck.

I kinda really want a degree-relevant job; like, now. Please?

The Australian Race of Amazingness

Location: Melbourne, Australia

The other day I felt the need to do something spontaneous; something that would get my adrenaline pumping. I had an appetite for adventure and wanted to experience something thrilling; like nothing I’ve ever done before. So I did. Yep. Call me crazy, but I, along with an ex-coworker, applied for The Amazing Race Australia.

Since this is the first Australian season of the reality TV program, I’m ready to sacrifice my first born child when assuming thousands upon thousand of people have applied. Realistically, I’m not expecting anything to come of this, especially since I can’t even manage to receive a response back from a regular employer while job hunting, let alone a global-phenomenon reality game show. If they ever happened to call back I may just shit my pants. How lovely that would be. I wonder if that’s the sort of warm response they’re after. Fingers crossed.

I’d love to watch me frolicking around the world on TV. I think you would too.

Operation Lose America’s Gain

Location: Melbourne, Australia

It came as no surprise that after living in the USA for 14 months, I came back to Australia weighing more than when I left. It wasn’t a hard gain; late breaks at work led to late dinners; we’d eat out a couple of times per week; we’d drink at our local on Wednesday and Saturday nights  after work as well as pre-gaming and drinking when we’d hit the clubs on either Sunday or Tuesday nights.

It’s not exactly the best feeling in the world when your favourite old pair of jeans can’t zip or button up anymore. And no, it’s not exactly something I’m proud of, but hey, it’s life and I lived those 14 months to the best of my ability and enjoyed every second of it; no regrets.

I’ve never been that skinny girl nor will I ever be that skinny girl. I can however, do myself a favour and attempt to lose the weight I gained while in the USA, plus some. This will begin tomorrow.

Today I signed up at my local gym. I’ve worked out there before, many a time, and once I get myself into routine, I actually enjoy going there quite a bit. They had a deal going on; purchase three months membership for $349 and receive three months free. Six months should be ample time to reach my goals, or at least I hope.