March 09 HeBS Article - 3rd Benchmark Survery Results

March 2009 Mastering Internet Marketing in 2009: Results of the 3rd Benchmark Survey on Hotel Internet Marketing | By the HeBS Team In the tough year that 2009 is turning out to be for hoteliers, it is crucial to know where every marketing dollar is being spent. When reevaluating marketing plans – as most of you have had to do this year - hoteliers also need to consider whether or not they should shift marketing dollars from offline to the more measurable online initiatives, what their peers are doing, and how they can evolve with the industry without wasting valuable dollars on unproven tactics. How are hoteliers budgeting for their Internet marketing this year? Are they focusing on Web 2.0/Social Media initiatives in this recession? What percentage of business should be coming from your website? In the 3rd Benchmark Survey on Hotel Internet Marketing Budget Planning and Best Practices in Hospitality, HeBS set out to answer these questions and identify trends in online marketing in hospitality. The purpose of the survey was to assess hoteliers’ 2009 Internet marketing priorities and strategies in order to compare with the responses received last year, and to provide the industry with insights on how internet marketing strategies for the hospitality industry are developing. H o s p i t a l i t y e B u s i n e s s S t r a t e g i e s , I n c . 1 4 E a s t 6 0 t h S t r e e t , S u i t e 4 0 0 N e w Y o r k , N Y 1 0 0 2 2 P h o n ...