There are many travelers looking for hotels and places to stay on social web. Every day.
Take Twitter, for example:
Or this:
People are genuinely looking for help. Surprisingly though only few are getting it. According to nmodes data less than 12% of Twitter travel requests are being answered. The rest - lost opportunities for hotels and businesses in the hospitality industry.
And how big is this opportunity anyway?
nmodes Twitter data shows that every 15 min somebody expresses intent of going to, or visiting New York. Most of these travelers need a place to stay there.
Every 33 min - intent of traveling to London.
Every 54 min - intent of traveling to Paris.
We started Twitter recommendation service @nmodesHelps and were encouranged by the results. 72% of those that received our travel recommendations reacted by thanking us and expressing their gratitude. This reinforced our assumption that people seek travel advice on Twitter, accept it as an instant value, and are prepared to act upon it.
The hotels that are ready to move fast to monetize this opportunity will benefit the most.