Travel industry has plenty of messaging methods
Ian Stalker
It seems there’s no shortage of ways for the travel industry to get the word out about what it offers those interested in seeing our great wide world.
Travel Courier has found numerous examples of industry messaging that are far from being run of the mill.
Here are some of them:
Lessner Gomez
Cuba Tourist Board
Does legendary British heavy metal musician Ozzy Osbourne have a following in a country synonymous the world over with such Latin musical expressions as salsa?
Well, those who have viewed the Havana episode of his Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour travel show may well wonder if that’s the case.
Osbourne and his son Jack were riding in a car in the Cuban capital at night when a passing cab driver yelled, “Hey Ozzy — No More Tears,” with No More Tears the name of one of Osbourne’s albums.
Osbourne clearly enjoyed Havana, which didn’t surprise Lessner Gomez, director of the Cuba Tourist Board’s Toronto office.
“It makes total sense that famous musicians go to Havana since Cuban music is very popular around the world. Not only is Cuba the birthplace of universally popular rhythms, such as the danzon, the son, the bolero, the mambo, the cha-cha-cha and more, also, Cuban music creativity is constantly enriched and it keeps evolving and Cuban musicians keep experimenting with the addition of new instruments, voices and sounds, creating a wide range of expression in ‘alternative music,’ which seeks new forms that will continue to influence and inspiring musicians everywhere,” Gomez says.
Havana has long attracted musicians and artists, with the city sometimes dubbed ‘the Paris of the Americas’ because of its thriving cultural scene. “These days it seems that no one can resist the allure of Havana,” says Gomez, noting Beyonce and Jay Z, Rihanna, The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry, Madonna and Kanye West are among famous musicians who have been hosted by the city.
Meanwhile, Osbourne’s Havana visit had him spend time in the Beatles-themed club Submarino Amarillo (Yellow Submarine), where a local guitarist played a song that was part of the repertoire of Osbourne and his late colleague Randy Rhoads.
The acoustic guitar performance clearly moved Osbourne, who told show viewers that Rhoads “would have loved it.”
Bedside Reading
Select hotels
Bedside Reading® is continuing to accommodate bookworms during these days of coronavirus.
The amenity, which places bestselling books by bedsides in luxury and boutique hotels, has a new program, BEDSIDE READING on the download, created in response to COVID-19 and providing what is described as “a clean, green and touchless book and podcast program, delivering the same quality of books it has always delivered to hotels and their guests.”
Acqualina Resort & Residences, Conrad New York Downtown, The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows, W, The Pierre, A Taj Hotel, New York, The Meritage Collection (including The Meritage Resort and Spa, Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, Paséa Hotel & Spa, Ko’a Kea Hotel & Resort, Vista Collina Resort), The Dream Inn, The Jacquard and Morrison House will be some of the first hotels to offer the program to guests. The company plans to launch the program in Europe in the next two months.
BEDSIDE READING on the download will offer six to eight curated downloadable complimentary digital eBooks and audiobooks as gifts to hotel guests – provided to them before they arrive, while on property and for their return home. A 24/7 podcast library from Bedside Reading’s Authors that Thrive collection, will also be available.
Each partner hotel will be provided with a personalized web page. A new classics division will also be launched, and physical books will still be an option for those who wish to provide a hardback or paperback edition.
The first collection of books will be in hotels through October and includes The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel (Fiction); Never Say Goodbye by Kim Sakwa (Fiction); Just Feel by Mallika Chopra (Children’s Book); The Changemaker by Deke Copenhaver (Business/Memoir); Challenge Everything by Scott Cullather and Kristina McCoobery (Business/Events); LiveTrue by Ora Nadrich (Wellness); Never Sit If You Can Dance by Jo Giese (Memoir); Fille Perdue by Charles D’Amico (thriller) the first audiobook in the program.
“We are proud to launch BEDSIDE READING on the download,” said Jane Ubell-Meyer, founder of Bedside Reading. “We wanted to provide a safe and touchless way to continue to share the many wonderful authors to our hotels’ guests. Downloadable books as a virtual amenity for the hospitality industry was the answer –shared globally and across many platforms, and provided complimentary to travelers. We are excited to still provide a novel amenity to our hotels and their guests.”
The program provides a way for hotels and other related hospitality entities to stay in touch with their guests through every step of the booking and visit process. The digital books can be sent as a gift before travelers arrive as well as when they check in and when they return home. Hotels will be provided with a customized landing page where guests can select any, or all of the monthly book offerings. The guests have access to the program on the hotel room’s televisions and tablets. The book selection changes monthly.
In addition, guests can easily access the books anywhere via customized and scannable Links/QR codes.
Opportunities for meeting and incentive planners are available for conference attendees, loyalty programs, as well as author programs, literary experiences and curated hotel libraries.
Meanwhile, book lovers can also armchair travel and find a wide variety of books and podcasts at https://www.bedsidereading.com/
Aubrey Schmidt
Goway
Aubrey Schmidt is clearly the sort of guy who’s happy to sing the praises of those in the travel industry.
And so the Goway employee, who has had a long career in travel, and his nephew put together a musical tribute to an industry that is now struggling but which Schmidt is totally confident will rebound.
