A number of our hotel partners have asked us to put together a quick overview of Twitter to share with their Associates who may be interested in joining this online community.  Here are some helpful hints to guide you through an inauguration into Twitter.

Create an Account

• The first thing you will need to do is the obvious…sign up and Create an Account.  Use your hotel’s first and last as the “Full Name” then create a “User Name” that is related to your hotel’s name.  Hint – you only have 15 characters with which to accomplish this task so a little creativity may be in order for those of you who represent hotels and resorts with long names like Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort (http://www.twitter.com/HyattHillSAT this page by the way does not exist).  Our company has 20 characters so we ended up with this Twitter account http://www.twitter.com/GroupsIntl.

Login In

• At the Login Page use your Username, not your Full Name, and password to login in to your account (HyattHillSAT) then your password.

Settings

• Include your Settings information in the fields as provided but take a moment and be creative in your “One Line Bio” field.  Consider your location, your market, and your audience and then make a statement that is short and impactful (we are involved in meetings, events, and technology so we chose “We’re changing the meetings and events landscape…one day at a time” instead of something like “The world’s largest and most respected meeting and event procurement organization in the industry”.  HINT – since the object for being a member of the Twitter community is to reach out to your followers and prospective customers, DO NOT CHECK the “Protect my updates” at the bottom of the page.

Devices

• Click on the Device tab at the top of the page and enter your mobile telephone number beginning with “+” followed by “1″, followed by your “area code”, followed by your mobile telephone number if you wish to receive or send SMS (Short Message Service) text messages.

Notifications

• Notifications allow you to control how much information is pushed to you and how much info you decide to push back.  If you have set your mobile device to send and receive info then we recommend that you check all of the boxes, with the exception of the “email newsletter” option (unless you want to receive more newsletters), and “@ replies” choose show me “all replies”.  Hint – you can reconfigure these options should you find that you can not keep up with your “social responsibilities”.

Picture

• To Photo or Not to Photo…That is the question.  The idea behind Twitter is to create a bond and have regular conversations with your followers.  Using your personal photo instead of your hotel exterior or your brand logo is the easiest step towards making things more friendly and simply put, more human.  Whatever you do, don’t hide behind a Twitter-based icon.

Design

• There are two areas in the Design tab that allow you to change your background, the image that appears under your main page, and design colors, the colors that are related to your background, links, sidebar border, text, and sidebar.  Take some time to look at your competitive set and see what they have done with their site.  It should give you the impetus to create at least a background that is a bit more dynamic than what the templates offer.  There are services that you can use to help you along with that task if you decide to go that route.  Hint – conduct a Google query using “Twitter backgrounds” and you will have plenty of options at your disposal.

Tips &  Etiquette

• Take a “3C” approach towards Twitter…contribute, communicate, and connect.
• Followers – those that follow you.  Take a moment to click on your follower’s photo, read through their updates and make a decision to follow or not to follow.  You should only follow people who you trust, you think are interesting, or that you learn from. 
• Following – those that you follow.  When someone decides to follow you, thank them with a personalized message.  As suggested above, you may elect to follow whomever you choose so it’s up to you to click on and follow. 
• Twitter IS a social community NOT a popularity contest.
• You are limited to 140 characters when you tweet.  That’s either a blessing or a curse.
• Retweeting (RT) is a great way to spread good information quickly.
• Consider what you say.  You always represent whomever signs your paycheck!
• Salespeople love to sell.  Make sure that selling is not your only motivation for joining the community.
• Listen first, tweet second.
• Mix your tweets.  Show your “personal” side…ask questions…add humor…share links…bring something to the table. 
• Shorten URLs with TinyURL.
• Keep small conversations to yourself.  There is a good chance no one really is interested in your movie critique, unless you are a movie critic.
• Make use of other Twitter tools to make the most of Twitter.
• If you tweet more than once every 15 minutes you need to find a new job.

While the current economic climate has had an unprecedented impact on hotel room rates, hoteliers say the key to long-term cost savings for travel buyers is increased compliance to negotiated contracts.

Hotel industry executives Kelly Phillips of Hilton Hotels, Alice McQuade of InterContinental Hotels Group, Brad Frazier of Omni Hotels and Tom Griffiths of Worldhotels, talked about the economy and 2010 negotiations with travel buyers yesterday during a live chat with American Express Business Travel at its online community at www.BusinessTravelConneXion.com.

During the discussion led by Herve Sedky of American Express Business Travel, the hoteliers fielded questions on such topics as dynamic pricing, re-opening of negotiations during a down market, the RFP (request for proposal) process and meetings travel.  

The group agreed that in many instances hotel room rates have fallen to a point where any further decreases would impact amenities and services customers receive during their stays. “Driving compliance is important to all of us,” said Phillips of Hilton Hotels.  

Smith Travel Research projects a 9.8% year-over-year decline in revenue per available room (RevPAR) for 2009, and it expects a 1.5% increase in 2010.

Shares of lodging companies traded mixed on Friday as first-quarter results from major hotel companies beat expectations but swine flu curtailed some air travel.

This week, Wyndham Worldwide Corp., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc. and Choice Hotels International Inc. all reported better-than-expected first-quarter results as each company slashed costs to cope with declining revenue. Last week, Marriott International Inc. also topped Wall Street’s forecasts and said demand was showing some signs of stabilization.

Starwood estimated that swine flu may cost the company $4 million to $5 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the second quarter.

“There could be some offset as we have had calls at U.S. resorts from groups evaluating shifting from Mexico to the U.S.,” said Chief Financial Officer Vasant Prabhu during a conference call with investors. “While it’s hard to estimate the short term impact, we know that events like this have no long term impact on our business.”

Starwood shares lost $1.26, or 6 percent, to $19.60 in afternoon trading.

At Marriott International Inc.’s annual meeting on Friday, Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Marriott said his company has also lost some revenue in Mexico as a result of the swine flu.

Also Friday, Marriott declared a first-quarter stock dividend. Each Marriott shareholder will receive 0.00369 shares for each share of common stock they own. Cash will be paid out for fractional shares.

Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst C. Patrick Scholes said Marriott’s dividend may set a precedent for other lodging companies to make stock dividend payouts.

Marriott shares fell 96 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $22.60. Wyndham shares gained 46 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $12.14.

The now infamous “AIG effect”—the public outrage over corporate travel/leisure spending after U.S. insurer AIG last fall spent $443,000 at St. Regis Resort Monarch Beach, California, just days after accepting $85 billion in federal bailout funds—has resulted in the loss of $1 billion worth of corporate meetings or incentive trips in January and February alone, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

Get the full details from Hotels

For years, first-class travel has been a perk of hotshot executives, who enjoyed the best seats on the plane, the most extravagant hotels and the fanciest meals, all courtesy of virtually limitless expense accounts. But travel budgets are often the first to be cut in a downturn, and by the fourth quarter of 2008, many companies had seriously curtailed business travel, or implemented a freeze altogether.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers last September trigged the sharp drop. Then AIG spent more than $443,000 for a group of executives to stay at a St. Regis resort days after the company accepted an $85 billion federal bailout, turning corporate junkets—and business travel in general—into bywords for the excesses of the era. The “AIG effect,” as it is now called in the industry, has demonized corporate meetings and junkets, which used to represent a sizable chunk of annual occupancy at many U.S. resorts. According to Smith Travel Research (STR), the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy rate was down 11.6 percent this March over last, with revenue per available room down 20 percent—due in part to a decline in business travelers. According to the American Express Traveler Monitor, business-class travel from North America went from half of all international bookings in 2008 to 39 percent in the first quarter of 2009. Meanwhile, economy-class international air travel surged 13 percentage points to 56 percent of all travel in the first quarter of this year, versus a steady 43 percent in 2008.

Get the complete details from Newsweek

Major hotel companies, in response to the swine-flu crisis, are waiving cancellation fees for guests who had planned to stay at their hotels in Mexico.

Marriott International Inc. (MAR), Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. ( HOT), InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) and Global Hyatt Corp. all said they will waive cancellation fees for arrivals in Mexico.

Carolyn Hergert, an InterContinental Hotels spokeswoman, said the company will waive fees for guests in the U.S and Canada “on a case-by-case basis” and noted the company has seen a rise in cancellations at its Mexico properties.

Get the complete details from CNNMoney.com

Steve Wynn, chairman of Wynn Resorts Ltd., said he is interested in buying some of the casinos owned by MGM Mirage, which may sell assets as part of an effort to reduce debt.

Wynn is interested in the Bellagio, a resort he built before his previous company was purchased by MGM Mirage, as well as other Las Vegas properties, he said today in an interview.

Get the full details from Bloomberg.com

On the eve of early voting, advocates and opponents of a Dallas Convention Center hotel launched a final effort to convince residents of the merits – or lack thereof – of such a facility.

Here are the details from the Dallas Morning News

Meeting planner Gail Murphy heard about the travel warning to Mexico too late in the day on Monday to do anything about her plans to head to Cancun the following day.

“I’m in good health,” said Murphy, who is heading to the Eighth Annual Mexico Showcase and Travel Expo from her home in Shelburne, Vermont. “I’m a risk taker, so I’ll go anyway.”

In light of the swine flu, the U.S. State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plan to issue a warning against any non-essential travel to Mexico, said Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.  The move could potentially devastate an already struggling tourism industry in the country.

The country is the epicenter for the swine influenza virus outbreak. More than 100 deaths in Mexico are being investigated as possibly tied to the outbreak.

The World Health Organization said Monday that 73 cases of swine flu had been confirmed worldwide.

Get the full details from CNN

The travel industry is in crisis mode, hotels are reporting sharp drops in demand and global growth has “hit the pause button,” says the head of Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

So what better time to expand?

“We’re planting seeds for recovery. Today’s stay-cation is tomorrow’s pent-up demand,” Chief Executive Frits van Paasschen told Reuters in an interview on Thursday night.

While a full recovery could still be a ways off, hotel companies may have escaped the free-fall in travel of the past few months as demand appeared to be “reaching a plateau,” said van Paasschen.

The company’s strategy for staying afloat is to reach new consumers while demand is at the “bottom or the midst of the bottom” in hopes they will come to Starwood hotels when spending eventually picks up.

“We have an opportunity to expand our global footprint,” added van Paasschen, who spoke during a launch party of a new W Hotel in Hoboken, New Jersey.

The world’s No. 8 hotel group by rooms is expected to report first-quarter earnings next week, following reports from rivals Marriott, Wyndham Worldwide and Host Hotels & Resorts.

White Plains, New York-based Starwood has had to cut development projects as it grapples with a sharp decline in travel demand. In the fourth quarter, Starwood’s revenue per available room — an industry metric of profitability — fell 12.1 percent. Its peers also reported double-digit drops in RevPAR.

Last week, S&P cut Starwood’s credit rating to a “BB,” reflecting expectations for a steeper drop in RevPAR. ID:nWNA1876

Starwood decided not to pursue or continue the development of several projects, including two “significant” projects in Mexico and the Caribbean, according to the company’s annual regulatory filing in February.

More than half of the company’s hotels, which include the W, Sheraton and St. Regis, are outside of the United States.

But van Paasschen, who has been at the helm of Starwood since September 2007, sees signs of improvement. Earlier this month, the company said it was moving ahead with a $4 billion overhaul of its Sheraton brand. ID:nN13340287

He said the month-old Hoboken W Hotel was running near full occupancy.

The opening was celebrated with a glittering bash that featured W-shaped fireworks, a model in black spike heels lounging in an enlarged, rotating martini glass and a live concert from actor and musician Jamie Foxx. Also in attendance were celebrities including actress Shannen Doherty.

Van Paasschen declined to comment on the company’s ongoing lawsuit with Hilton Hotels Corp, which it charged with corporate espionage in a lawsuit filed earlier this month. ID:nN16293349

“These times are at least as bad as 9/11 without the prospect of immediate recovery,” he said. “It’s the worst time for the travel industry in our lifetime.