"Special Co-Host Stuart Butler with Fuel Travel gives us the 'rule of fours', La Quinta give a new/same take on rewards, Marriott makes a 'peace offering' to Starwood faithful and Expedia and Priceline again show us how to get it doneâ?? Hello everyone and welcome to Hospitality Digital Marketing the podcast, I am your host Loren gray and this is episode #145, we are airing Friday, March 3rd, 2017 where every week we spend around 20 minutes sharing the most interesting tools, news, and techniques being used in digital marketing for the hospitality industry. We also do a quick recap of our weekly Live Video show â??This Week in Hospitality Digital Marketingâ?? which also airs every Friday at 10:30 am Central US Time. SO let's get started; Co Hosts Stuart Butler from Fuel Travel Holly Zoba Tim Peters Edward StOnge Robert Cole crazy cool expedia site https://www.expedia.com/OMGB Trivagos new free hotel manager https://www.trivago.com/hotelmanager/ IBM Watson Content Hub Create, manage, and deliver engaging and relevant customer experiences with our cloud-based, cognitive-powered content management service. https://www.ibm.com/us-en/marketplace/cloud-cms-solution How augmented reality can supplement hotel mobile learning http://ehotelier.com/insights/2017/02/28/augmented-reality-can-supplement-hotel-mobile-learning The Independent Hotelâ??s Guide to Engaging and Retaining Guests http://blog.hebsdigital.com/the-independent-hotels-guide-to-engaging-and-retaining-guests Marriott Turns to Starwood Vet to Run All Three of Its Loyalty Programs https://skift.com/2017/03/01/marriott-turns-to-starwood-vet-to-run-all-three-of-its-loyalty-programs New York revises down 2017 forecast, blames Trump http://www.travelweekly.com/North-America-Travel/New-York-revises-down-2017-forecast-and-blames-Trump Q4 2016 earnings roundup http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/115898/Q4-2016-earnings-roundup La Quinta Launches Enhanced Loyalty Program http://lodgingmagazine.com/la-quinta-lauches-enhanced-loyalty-program/ Does your hotel financial statement pass the test? http://ehotelier.com/insights/2017/03/02/hotel-financial-statement-pass-test Skyscanner Enlists Finnair for Most Robust Airline Instant Booking Yet https://skift.com/2017/03/02/skyscanner-enlists-finnair-for-most-robust-airline-instant-booking-yet/ Political Threats Force U.S. Tourism Boards to Examine Their Roles https://skift.com/2017/03/02/political-threats-force-u-s-tourism-boards-to-examine-their-roles/ 1) Opening a hotel? Give all your distribution to online agencies https://www.tnooz.com/article/give-distribution-to-otas-focus-on-guest-experience/ The stupidest suggestion I have ever read. Weirdly, lots of support for the idea in the commentsâ?¦ 2) Priceline and Expedia 2016 Results Room Night Growth: Expedia +21% (+16% organic growth - excluding eLong, Orbitz & Homeaway) Priceline +28.7% Total Marketing Spend: Expedia $4.37 Billion Priceline $4.21 Billion Total $8.58 Billion We would also like to remind everyone about our content piece called, â??Mondayâ??s Marketing Minuteâ??. Inspired by all of the questions we get on the this podcast and on the live show that we either cannot get to or are repeats of topics or inspired from our conversations. We have found that so many industry professionals like yourself have questions that from time to time they donâ??t either have the resources available to get an answer or donâ??t trust the source of the possible answer. Now my co-hosts and I as we answer these questions are not trying to dole out free consulting, sometimes for brevity the best we can offer is a direction or a suggested authoritative resource to continue to answer your question with. Itâ??s meant to be help and brief. So I hope you check out the first installment from this past Monday at www.hospitalitydigitalmarketing.com/minute or bit.ly/hdmmin