Social Media Award for Anantara

Anantara Hotels Resorts and Spas Scoops 2014 Hotel Social Media Award

Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, through showcasing inspirational content, innovative new applications and highly effective campaigns, has won the “Best Brand Facebook Page” for www.facebook.com/anantara in the Social Hotel Awards 2014 by HOTELS magazine.

Now in its second year the Social Hotel Awards 2014 were judged by a panel of HOTELS editors and social media experts and attracted more than 250 entries from hotels and resorts from every continent. Anantara’s brand Facebook page won over the judges with a number of creative initiatives such as new applications that offered a streamlined reservation process straight from the page and a new hotel concierge service that offered a real time source of holiday information.

The addition of a hotel booking engine was added so that guests do not have to leave the page while making a resort reservation. The added function secured over USD $20,000 in direct bookings within the first month of installation. A Travel Concierge application was also added to the page which answers guest queries about any of Anantara’s properties worldwide. The application proved especially beneficial to travellers visiting Thailand in early 2014 who wished to enquire about the country’s political situation before they booked their holidays.

“Facebook has become an integral part of our overall business; it allows us as a brand to communicate with our guests unlike any other way that we have communicated before,” said Mark Thomson, Director of Public Relations and Communications for Minor Hotel Group, owners of Anantara. “The touch points that we’ve added to our Facebook page have now made the social medium experience a seamless 24 hours a day, seven days a week ‘one stop shop’ that provides guests with quality interaction and information that further builds a deeper relationship with our online community.”

Anantara has built a solid fan base by constantly engaging fans with interesting, informative and inspirational content from all of Anantara’s thirty-one properties worldwide. The personal, fun and aspirational approach to communicating the brand’s unique destinations and experiences has made Anantara’s Facebook page one of the biggest referrers for people to the main website www.anantara.com.

In 2013 a total of 34,750 fans that visited Anantara’s Facebook page or its apps went directly to anantara.com, and of those fans visiting the page, almost 80% were new visitors to the website. While as a direct result of the enhanced functionality and attractive features, the Anantara Facebook page is now consistently in the top five referrals to the brand’s main website, and in February 2014 both Facebook and Facebook mobile were in the top five referrers for the first time.

For the complete list of 2014 HOTELS Award winners visit www.hotelsmag.com and to become a fan of Anantara Hotels Resorts and Spas go to www.facebook.com/anantara and ‘like’ the page.