The Social CRM in the Tourism industry

The Innova Institute Social Media research project has studied the current development of the Social CRM in three industries: tourism, media, and public sector. The data gathered offers a picture on the current adoption of social media for the CRM function in each of the industries. This blog entry is dedicated to discuss the results of the Tourism industry analysis.

 The tourism industry has been deeply involved in a transformation process driven by information technologies. From the disruptions produced on the distribution channels, as service providers used Internet to gain direct contact with customers, to the emergence of infomediaries that add value by managing data in a high information density industry. The introduction of Social Media in the industry has reinforced and ongoing process of technological transformation.

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The data collected in the research suggests that organizations in the tourism industry have started using social media for CRM functions that are directly exposed to the client; such as marketing for new products and services, customer service, sales support, and customer experience enhancement. Some exemplary cases show advanced uses of Social CRM, for example: La Fornal dels Ferrers offers a “Host 2.0” concept that uses social media to stay connected with the client during her stay in the hotel, and Vueling and Easyjet use social media to have open conversations with their clients to address customer service requests.

One of the main concerns of the representatives is the growing complexity of managing the data generated through their Social CRM initiatives, showing interest in applications to monitor, filter and manage their social media interactions.

We are looking forward your comments on your experience using Social Media tools for your CRM function, what challenges are you currently experiencing?