Twitter

17 September 2009 by Daniel Thomas

Twitter first entered public consciousness as the platform used by celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross and Lily Allen to reveal their innermost thoughts/witter on about nothing much, but as the recession hit marketing budgets, hospitality operators have begun to realise its value as a free and effective way of promoting themselves.

Chefs, restaurants and hotel brands have all got involved, using the social media site to highlight new menus and offers as well as giving followers an insight into their day-to-day activity.

Many hotels have offered special room rates to Twitter followers, with the Hoxton hotel in London selling rooms for £1 and Crowne Plaza hotels promoting a room giveaway.

Daniel Rose-Bristow, owner of the Torridon hotel in Wester Ross, Scotland, which has developed an all-encompassing social media strategy including Twitter and Facebook, says: "Eventually I think it will replace our traditional marketing, as I can monitor this - what people look at, what they subscribe to, whether they book, what links they click.

"It's measurable and you can see the returns. It's an enormous time investment, but it seems to be worth it. It's what people want; it's how people are operating now."

On this page, we round up all the news, features and advice on the hospitality industry's use of Twitter and other social media, as well as a selection of those chefs and businesses who are on Twitter.