Fabrice Burtin asked this question in a comment here on the blog:

The Internet in the hotel industry has been a revolution. No doubt about that. It has completely changed the way we find, discover and book hotels within 10 years.

However, how much the Internet has actually improved the bottom line in the industry? Have we seen an increase of occupancies? Average room rates? REV PAR? Gross Operating Profits? While the Internet and social media have revolutionized the way we promote hotels and sell rooms, are we spending less on sales road shows? Have we seen a decrease in sales departments payroll? Or have the savings simply been re-allocated to the newly created large e-commerce departments?
In other word, if technology has increased the efficiency and rationalize expenses, has it been only balanced by a dramatic increase of all sorts of new expenses?

Or have the buyers (guests) been the only big winners in a revolution that was initiated by the sellers (hotels)? Have the hotels lost out at their own game?

Guillaume and I discussed this in the most recent episode of This Week in Hotels:

For those of you that don’t have time to watch the video excerpt, our big points were:

The internet doesn’t improve overall occupancy

More people probably are not traveling now because the internet exists.

The web is just a platform for communications

Savvy hotels have more opportunities to listen to their guests, and provide better service.

The web probably does improve efficiency

You can share information easier than ever. You have instant access to nearly anything. Of course, you have to avoid distraction from this.

If you’re not in, you’re left behind

Other hotels will use new tech to gain market share and attract the guests you want to host.

As with any quickly changing field, if you’re not taking any action, you’re moving backwards.

It gives smaller, independent hotels an advantage

As a web publisher, you are on an equal playing field with the big guys. If you’re using all 3 components in the one-line social media success formula, you have a distinct advantage.

…

Fabrice is working on a white paper on this topic, and you can share your feedback with him on his blog.

I found one comment on his site especially interesting:

[The internet] has turned us into paranoid computer slaves! Both as hoteliers and as potential hotel guests. As hoteliers, we are constantly fussing about our reviews and worrying about overbookings by overlapping online booking systems… As potential hotel guests we are never sure if the website pictures are real and which review to trust… In short the opportunities are fantastic, but the psychological cost unbearable!

What are your thoughts? Does it even matter what we think – must we adapt or die? Or is there a better route?

In this week’s episode of This Week in Hotels, Guillaume and I discuss:

• The branding problem around the phrase “social media”
• What hotels should do with their mobile presence
• What defines a good mobile website
• Mobile booking behavior

This is our last episode on YouTube: next week we’re moving to ustream. Details to come on Twitter…

We fixed Guillaume’s audio from last week…now I just need to get the lighting right on my side!

We’re wondering about expanding this show’s format beyond 10 minutes to include longer discussions, and perhaps new types of material.

As always, we’d love to hear your feedback.

Now, smart bloggers and content publishers include keyword research in their writing. Little things like the words you choose for an article title or video make a difference in how many people will find it.

So how does keyword research work? This video shows how:

It helps to have a fresh set of eyes when engaging in concierge marketing, and Flickr can be a helpful tool for this.

• See what visitors are taking photos of
• See what type of photos got the most attention
• Identify the best photographers in your city (and work with them?)
• Locate out-of-the-way points of interest in your neighborhood
• Participate in discussions with photographers to determine the best places to take photos

Here’s the video demonstration:

The big idea: Business tends to squeeze out that no-ROI thing called humanity. When we share our intangibles – knowledge, network, and compassion – it creates a memorable experience for the people we interact with.

I’ll try for better lighting and camera positioning next time – I didn’t want to run through the whole review again this time

There are many cool things coming here soon, but defining WHY I’m doing all this was important for me to do. Once we know ‘why’ we exist, ‘what’ and ‘how’ will follow.

Why do you do what you do?

The videos featured “tourists” having bad experiences in Hong Kong, then  retreating to the hotel to recover.

Langham quickly responded by removing the videos and stopping the campaign. (Above video was republished by a blogger.) In a statement, the hotel said they were disappointed the satirical nature of the campaign was misunderstood.

Actor/marketing consultant Kay Ross distanced herself from the campaign, and gave her side of the story.

What do you think: was this just good fun, or did Langham cross the line here?

In my opinion, this campaign flopped due to lack of respect. How did they expect to attract more travelers to Hong Kong this way?

Elmer is right: don’t promote yourself at the expense of the city you’re located in.

Producing video is a tricky thing. That’s why many companies are hiring pros to do it. But the ability to produce and distribute video was never cheaper. If your hotel is interested in creating rich media fast and in an affordable way, there are some basic things you should know about cameras.

But, before we start, let’s put one thing straight:

No camera can save a bad script, horrible talent, or plain bad experience — some great things are done with cheap cameras (1938 Media for example), and some horrible pieces of moving pictures were done in huge budget (did anyone say “The day the earth stood still“?).

Equipment can make your life easier, make some things feasible, but that’s it. Nothing can replace talent and knowledge. in other words – IT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENS WITHIN THE CAMERA THAT IS IMPORTANT, IT IS WHAT HAPPENS IN FRONT OF IT.

Ok, with that out of the way, let’s get started:

Number 1 Consideration – Audio

Yes, it sounds strange but the most important thing in video is actually Audio. If your image is not that good but your audio is excellent, people would watch, or at least listen. However, you can be Gordon Willis and have amazing images, but bad audio will make people just close the browser.

So, when you are considering buying a camera, check if it has an audio jack. It doesn’t have to be a professional XLR input (three pins socket), it can be a plain 3.5 mm one. But without it you will have to count only on the external mic of the camera – which is usually awful. This is one of the reason that I am not a huge fan of Flip Mino, Xacti, Kodak Zi6 and so on. They are great for mom and pop videos, and maybe for very hot news coverage, but personally I won’t recommend them for other uses (unless you figure out a way to connect an external mike to it). A way to bypass this issue is by recording audio with a separate mike, and then sync it. If you have the equipment, time and patience – that’s great. But then it might be worthwhile just to buy a different camera.

High Definition (HD) vs. Standard Definition (SD)

True – in many cases the web is not exactly the best HD experience. But with Vimeo, HQ YouTube, and podcasts, more and more people see online originated HD videos on their computers. So if you buy a camera now – go HD. Which brings us to the next consideration

My choice – I’ve bought an HD camera, didn’t think twice.

Tape vs. Tapeless, HDV and AVCHD

Now we get to the juicy part, that is not an issue only for amateurs and semi-professional creators but for the whole industry. There are no clear rules here, but let’s start with explaining the differences between these methods:

Tape – an established, cheap to use media. You can buy a MiniDV tape in almost every electronics store, and the best thing about it — it is a great archive solution. Now, MiniDV tapes were originally created for SD format, but, there is an HD format called HDV that records an hour of HD on a MiniDV tape (the same as in SD format). So, if you go tape, you usually go HDV. The main pitfall of tape is the capturing process. When you will need to deliver the footage to your editing system, you’ll need to play the material from the camera to the system, a process called capture. This process takes the same amount of time as your footage length. Another pitfall with Tape based cameras is that they can’t be too small as they have a limitation — the tape size.

Tapeless – tapeless cameras are using different media for storing its footage — hard disk, flash memory, or DVD. These cameras allow you to connect your camera to your computer and drag and drop the images to your editing system. It saves a lot of time, as you don’t need to wait for the capturing process. However, the main issues with tapeless are:

1. There is no good archiving solution — remember when you lost all of your old MP3 in the latest HD crash? The same can happen to your footage — your videos are just files on an HD. This is an industry wide issue, not just for us, prosumer guys.

2. The format is very resource intensive (meaning, not so much fun to edit) — most HD based cameras are using a format called AVCHD. In short, this format is heavier on the processor, and requires a stronger machine. Mac users also know that many of the editing applications automatically convert the files from the camera to an Apple Intermediate Codec, a time consuming process as well. So all in all, I am not certain that the reduced capturing time worth the editing hassle later on.

3. If you are in a long trip, or have no way to offload your camera, you might be stuck with a great tapeless camera with no room for new footage. With tape based solution you just put in a new one—.

My decision - I’ve bought a tape based, HDV camera. BUT if you are not editing a lot, have a strong enough computer, offload your camera a lot, and not concerned with archiving your material — tapeless might be the answer for you.

Tripod and Monopod

Tripod, like audio, is the kind of thing that goes a long way in improving your production value (a cool way to say looking better). Make sure that whatever you do you get a camera that can be connected to a tripod. You might not buy one now, but you need to have the possibility to do so.

In the next post in this series I will review some of the popular cameras out there, up to $1,000.

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Kfir is owner of Pravda Media Group and consultant to organizations around the world. You can read more of his thoughts on his blog: Pravda on Media and Technology

Photo by ZaptheDingbat on Flickr

1) Hire a pro

The first is perhaps the most obvious – hiring a professional to shoot the video. Based on my research for a few clients, this typically costs somewhere between US$400 and US$2,500 and takes one day of on-site recording plus about a week of production time.

Advantages: Video quality, control over content
Disadvantages: Production time, expense

2) Shoot a video yourself

If you’re working on a low budget or perhaps just want that homemade feel, then consider shooting a video yourself. Technology has developed so that excellent video cameras can be purchased for under a few hundred dollars. Alternatively, you can rent a high quality one at very affordable rates.

Advantages: You control all aspects of the video (best time, place); you can re-record as needed
Disadvantages: Production quality depends on your recording skill

3) Crowdsource it from your guests

Launch an organized effort encouraging your guests to shoot video of their stay and your facility. Consider loaning them a video camera like the Flip Mino, and give them access to rooms as appropriate.

Advantages: Authentic video shot from a guests’ perspective, multiple videos provide multiple perspectives
Disadvantages: Less control over video content, time planning an organized campaign

4) 3rd-party video production

Sites like TVTrip will shoot a professional video for a moderate fee. They often subsidize production cost with an ongoing comission or flat fee relationship.

Advantages: Video quality, possibility for increased distribution on their website
Disadvantages: Production time, may lack control over video contents, ongoing commissions

The more content you have to work with, the better. You may eventually want to try all four of these video formats. For your beginning experiments with video marketing, you could start out with your own recording. Then you may want to increase quality with a professional production before opening up the creative process through crowdsourcing.