Skift Take
The joy of giving and receiving was appreciated by hotel brands and fans.
As the U.S. celebrated Thanksgiving and got in the mood for gift-giving, hotels shared content about donating time, money, and discounts.
The hotels below range from world-renowned hotel brands that have thousands of properties, including some on remote islands, to boutique hospitality groups with 30 properties in lesser populated cities. They cater to business travelers, wedding parties, foodies and escapists.
The top 10, below, are calculated using our Skift Score, which takes into account performance on an absolute basis, as well as relative to a company’s specific industry. Comparing metrics across companies and travel sectors provides an intelligent measure of real-time competitive edge.
| Hotel Brands November 2014 | Skift Score | Facebook Likes | Twitter Follows | Instagram Followers | Youtube Video Views |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyatt Hotels | 813 | 350,325 | 49,342 | 10,726 | 7,553,320 |
| Loews Hotels | 766 | 44,429 | 31,601 | 5,314 | 741,206 |
| Kimpton Hotels | 733 | 75,845 | 37,133 | 4,950 | 587,984 |
| Four Seasons Hotels | 723 | 276,810 | 151,898 | 69,374 | 3,003,486 |
| Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts | 713 | 1,150,113 | 17,915 | 9,629 | 820,495 |
| Hilton Hotels | 711 | 1,261,500 | 168,697 | 16,368 | 692,736 |
| Sandals Resorts | 687 | 573,758 | 109,525 | 31,633 | 4,224,955 |
| Marriott Internat’l | 675 | 228,367 | 346,948 | 22,920 | 331,788 |
| Mandarin Oriental | 656 | 157,231 | 83,645 | 6,587 | 359,973 |
| DoubleTree by Hilton | 653 | 269,348 | 70,937 | 3,267 | 9,895,379 |
Source: SkiftIQ
As a whole, hotel brands were slightly more engaged this month than last, with an average Skift Score of 713 in November, up from 706 in October.
For two consecutive months, Hyatt Hotels and Loews Hotels held first and second place, respectively. Mandarin Oriental holds its spot at 9th place.
But Kimpton has been working hard on being present and relevant to its community and has climbed the rungs steadily; 8th in September; 7th in October; and 3rd in November. Its content resonated with the puppy-loving and the LGBTQ-supporting community.
Hilton Hotels thanked participants for their user-generated content with an animation of a collection of images represented as a stack of Polaroids. On the other side of the world, Shangri-La Hotels’ images of its opulent properties were overshadowed by its flash sale.
Marriott Hotels’ pairing of inspirational quotes and calming photos is getting the most engagement with retweets and favorites. Second to that were links to its blogs that invited its followers to share their opinions on hotel lobby bars and learn more about technology with an infographic.
There is no doubt, that Marriott is giving its audience something good to read and share with others and it’s working in their favor.
Four Seasons took its Instagram community through a wellness journey with its #30DaysofEnergy campaign. The hotel posted one photo of yoga, meditation, and healthy eats. The chain blew past its peers with 70,000 Instagram followers, more than double the amount of the second most popular hotel brand, Sandals Resorts.
YouTube
Doubletree Hilton surpassed Hyatt Hotels in views last month, but with no new video uploads. As far as any video activity that points its audience to YouTube, there was not a single piece of content that linked back to the platform. The closest thing to watching a video was on Facebook; where Doubletree Hilton uploaded a piece about a trip with one of its brand ambassadors in Thailand. Doubletree knocked Fairmont Hotels out of the November standings.
The Daily Newsletter
Our daily coverage of the global travel industry. Written by editors and analysts from across Skift’s brands.
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Tags: four seasons, hilton, hotel brands, hotels, hyatt, kimpton, loews, mandarin oriental, marriott, Sandals Resorts, Shangri-La Hotels, skiftiq, social media
Photo credit: Kimpton's 4th annual pet photo contest. Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants / Facebook