Starwood Expands Social Media Reach with Instagram Guest Galleries
Thursday, December 12, 2013
The owners of Starwood Vacation Ownership Resorts and hotel will now have the opportunity to view their own Instagram photos on all Starwood resort websites.
Yesterday, Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced that they plan to embrace the Instagram movement by allowing their guests to have photos featured on Starwood websites. New Starwood Instagram Guest Galleries will allow owners to tag their Starwood resort and geo-location in their shared photos for the chance to be features on the all Starwood resort websites. As guests are already sharing an average of 40,000 pictures per month, the company recognized a need to integrate Instagram into its social media plan.
Guests will also have the opportunity to view Starwood’s photos of their resort including available room upgrades and available amenities.
These galleries will allow guests to share their experiences and for potential timeshare owners to really experience the resorts. Pictures will be divided into brand-specific categories including: Fashion for W Hotels, Move Well for Westin, Unlock Art for Le Méridien, Family Traditions for St. Regis, and more.
With a passion for Starwood and photography, the Starwood team knows that their guests will be excited about this new venture.
Senior Vice President, Starwood Preferred Guest & Digital, Chris Holdren said, “A ‘picture is worth a thousand words’ and a picture shared is worth even more to our guests. Starwood’s mobile bookings are growing five times faster than the annual growth rate of the web channel 10 years ago. With an increasingly mobile, digital traveler we expect social sharing in places like our Instagram Guest Gallery pages will continue to change how our guest’s book travel and explore and interact with our hotels.”
Starwood is helping to advance the travel industry by adapting to new trends in social media. As one of the first timeshare developers to introduce Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare through the company, Starwood is constantly embracing new ways to connect to their owners.
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