Corporate travel managers shouldn’t be afraid of engaging with social media, delegates were told at the Association of Travel Executives (ACTE) 2011 Global Education Conference.
While hotels and airlines are using social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook more and more, some say travel managers have been slow to adopt them as communication tools.
Miriam Moscovici, director of strategic marketing and technology planning for BCD Travel, used the example of a negative comment about a hotel on a company's blog or social networking site.
For a travel manager, this is a “great opportunity” to engage with the traveller said Moscovici, as part of an expert panel discussion on the future of business travel at the Association of Corporate Travel Executives’ (ACTE) 2011 Global Education Conference.
Negative comments should not be removed or ignored, warns Moscovici, as this will damage the credibility of the programme – travel managers should instead be seen to engage with the travellers.
“I wouldn’t be afraid of that,” she said, as it represents relevant data – “use it, take it to quarterly reviews, work on it with suppliers.”
Travel managers can also use social media to engage with their travellers in more inventive ways, the panel concluded.
For example, using location-based software a traveller could be told where the nearest in-policy restaurant is at dinner time, and if there are any colleagues nearby.