Everyone’s a journalist now – So how do YOU deal with bloggers?

A dramatic change in the way hotels and restaurants promote themselves has been the massive growth of blogging. Just a few years ago nearly all reviews were written by journalists working for newspapers or magazines. Now anyone can be a journalist – and this causes problems as well as opportunities for the hospitality trade. How do you decide which bloggers are genuine? Are they just trying to get a free stay or meal? How many followers do they really have? Will they focus on your hotel or restaurant, or on the local area and its attractions? How many courtesy nights do they want? How many of them are there? What do you charge any friends who accompany them? Could you sell the room or table? What do you offer? What recourse do you have if they don’t publish anything or write a critical review? With print journalists you can take it up with the editor. That’s more difficult with bloggers. Many bloggers (or vloggers, who incorporate video) reach far more potential guests than conventional print media – and since they’re online they can reach a global audience. At Hotel PR we receive a request from a blogger or blogger every couple of days and can usually separate the sheep from the goats. If you’re approached, give us a call and we’ll guide you.

There are lessons for hoteliers in the problems experienced by the Prime Minister and Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. There’s crisis management for a start. How many hotel owners and GMs have a plan in place to cope with the media fall-out from an emergency or disaster? Very few. Of more day-to-day relevance is the crucial importance of human contact and empathy. Theresa May and the Council may well have tried their best to tackle the aftermath of the fire but they failed to show residents that they cared. Hotel managers and owners must interact with guests. It is not enough to sit behind a desk – or in the case of many owners, visit your property once or twice a year from your home in another country. You need to talk with them, find out their wants and needs, and above all let them know they’re the life blood of your business. And you should respond to online reviews, however critical, and not pretend they didn’t happen or that the writers are deluded.