According to a September 2009 Forrester Research report, Poor Content Could Cost Travel eBusiness Money, hotels are particularly vulnerable to losing money due to inadequate online content.
Travelers have had enough of the generic, poorly organized, and confusing written and visual content on travel sites.
“Just half of US online leisure hotel guests are satisfied with [...]

According to Forrester Research, 38% of US online hotel guests — 47.5 million people — avoid staying at hotels that they can afford because they don’t see photos, video, or written content that would make them feel comfortable. These guests are considered ‘content-sensitive’ travelers. They are “young, quality-focused travelers who take more trips and spend [...]

That’s why visual merchandising needs to be added to every hotelier’s online strategy.
A successful online strategy should be focused on both driving traffic to websites, but also converting it when they arrive. SEO, PPC and many Social Media activities are primarily focused on driving traffic and creating awareness online, while visual merchandising is what helps [...]

The purpose of this newsletter is to keep you informed about what’s going on in the travel industry and the latest online merchandising best practices for hotels. Enjoy!
Sincerely,
The VFM Leonardo Team
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Feature Video
The Role of OTAs in the Travel Planning Process
Travel shoppers use online travel agencies (OTAs) more for research and comparison than booking. Hotels that [...]

OneWed.com, the ultimate online source for the truth in wedding planning, is now part of the VNetwork™ – the largest online visual content distribution network for the global travel industry. VFM Leonardo hotel customers listed on OneWed will now be able to better merchandise their hotels with content (photos, virtual tours, videos and written descriptions) in VFM Leonardo’s embedded Multimedia Viewer to attract more wedding and honeymoon bookings.

In recent years, hoteliers have had to adjust their focus from offline to online marketing efforts, which means developing an online media strategy that works. In this video on VTV Channel, Edward Perry, Senior Director of E-Commerce at WORLDHOTELS, identifies the key components of an effective online media strategy:
-    A solid long-term business plan
-    A [...]

Best Western International, the WORLD’S LARGEST HOTEL CHAIN®, providing marketing, reservations and operational support to over 4,000* independently owned and operated member hotels in 80* countries and territories worldwide, has adopted VFM Leonardo’s VScape® Digital Asset Management System and named VFM Leonardo the preferred distributor of rich media for Best Western properties.
Best Western and VFM Leonardo have [...]

Luxe Worldwide Hotels, a premier representation company of over 200 independently owned and operated luxury hotels throughout the world, has selected VFM Leonardo to deliver images for member hotels to the VNetwork™ and named VFM Leonardo the exclusive distributor of rich media and provider of online visual merchandising tools for its member hotels.
Using VScape Enterprise, [...]

OneWed.com, the ultimate online resource for wedding planning and home of WeddingPreParty.com, announced today three new featured service provider partnerships (GigMasters.com, VFM Leonardo, Wedding by FlowerPetal) to provide engaged couples with a wealth of information, multimedia and purchasing convenience.
By partnering with us to become part of our VNetwork™, couples using OneWed will be able to view [...]

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is using the Premium edition of VFM Leonardo’s VBrochure Online Merchandising System to better merchandise its properties online with photos and rich media on thousands of electronic channels and websites in the VNetwork™.
Heiko Siebert, Vice President Distribution, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, states:
“The majority of hotel guests research numerous hotels on a [...]