The real problem however is that hoteliers and their supposed sales and marketing people in many cases are simply all at sea when it comes to SEO-even the basic concepts. They operate a business, pay out fortunes for printed material, useless trade shows but fail to see the bigger picture of what they could achieve IF they activly pursued even some of the ideas you mentioned.

I am blown away on a regular basis with actually how “ignorant” the vast majority of hoteliers are when it comes to marketing their product online.

I know I am getting asked all the time about the practicalities of blogging etc, and why they should do it and what could they write. Your practical suggestions here should give them a fantastic starting point.

I think there is a demand out there to run more of those “Blogging & Twitter for Hotels” Seminars for sure!

Never mind about being “blogger friendly” – the main reason I choose one hotel over another when I am travelling is whether or not they offer wifi access and how much it costs. I simply cannot afford to be without email for more than a few hours. If a hotel gives me free wifi (like Bewleys at Dublin airport) they will get my money and I’ll recommend them to all my friends or anyone else who happens to ask.
Wifi is a requirement for any business traveller. Forget about pleasing some “blogger elite”. On my last trip to Germany I stayed in a Ramada hotel. I won’t be going back. Why? No internet access in the room without paying a stupidly high rate (equivalent to nearly a month’s worth of DSL at home)

As for hotel owners jumping on people on twitter … if it’s done with a certain degree of finesse – fine, otherwise it’s just a form of spam

Michele

JohnFromTexas: “I’d love to visit Cork”

CorkHotel: Well, There are flights from X to Cork via london on offer for great price of $350 right now

JohnFromTexas: That sounds great.

CorkHotel: Also we have a great rate on our hotel for the next month, so think about it

JohnFromTexas: Thank you for that info.

CorkHotel: Here’s a twitpic with the view from one of our hotel windows.

JohnFromTexas: Wow that is amazing. I must RT that to my friends!

CorkHotel: And here’s a link to one of our blog posts detailing 5 great sites to visit while in cork that are less than 30 mins from our hotel. Included is a complimentary Sat Nav which will get you to the each location and back safely

JohnFromTexas: That is really great – maybe i could do the same for you if you ever decide to vist Texas.

CorkHotel: Hehe – now that would be cool

etc etc.

I think a hotel should train all staff on the basics of all of the above, make it part of their initial training. Then staff can share the load but ideally if a hotel were to do everything from the list then they’d need a part-time or full-time resource for this. They’d need to weigh the investment versus the money made. Sometimes an outside resource might work best.