YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BUSINESS OF INFLUENCER MARKETING

News

Hotels are tiring of influencers begging for freebies

Hotels are tiring of influencers begging for freebies

Hotels have reportedly expressed exasperation with the growing number of influencers demanding free stays.

The Atlantic reports that an “onslaught of lesser-known [influencer] wannabes has left hotels scrambling to deal with a deluge of requests for all-expense-paid vacations in exchange for some social media posts”.

It quotes Kate Jones, a marketing and comms manager for 5-star Maldives resort Dusit Thani, as saying: “Everyone with a Facebook these days is an influencer. People say, ‘I want to come to the Maldives for 10 days and will do two posts on Instagram’, to like, 2,000 followers. It's people with 600 Facebook friends saying, ‘Hi, I'm an influencer, I want to stay in your hotel for seven days.’

“These people are expecting five to seven nights on average, all inclusive. Maldives is not a cheap destination. 10 different bikini pictures a day on the beach is great for the bikini company. But you can't even tell where it's taken. It could be anywhere in the Maldives.”

Room service

Some hotels have even instigated blanket bans for influencers of all kinds

Hospitality brand consultant Jack Bedwani added: “The net is so wide, and the term ‘influencer’ is so loose.

“You can sort the amateurs from the pros very quickly. The vast majority of cold-call approaches are really badly written. It sounds like when you're texting a friend inviting yourself over for dinner—it's that colloquial. They don't give reasons why anyone should invest in having them as a guest.”

None of which means that exposure from genuinely influential influencers is without worth. Indeed, many hotels will willingly work with established partners – the problem is that recognising those above the loudening noise is becoming ever more difficult.


Tags:
Contributor