Sometimes news about strikes and travel disruption can get a bit old when you work in a hotel. Lately in Greece they happen often. Do you become a bit nonchalant about it all? Should you?

Certainly not!

People who have booked a few days off are not looking forward to being stuck in an airport waiting for a flight home.

This is were your responsiveness as a hotelier and your good policy will have an opportunity to shine through. Assess the challenges that your clients face, analyse your business model and design a realistic policy that will keep your guests happy. This is especially important when a country is so much in the news for all the wrong reasons – like Greece is this summer. (more…)

Here are two separate e-cards for the festive season which we handled for two separate clients.

Shall we play spot the difference? (more…)

Working with a close relation is usually not advisable. We know. However in this case we are dealing with one big, all round amazing exception.

Meet Despoina a.k.a. Mama Despoina, our Sofia‘s mother and all around creator extraordinaire. (more…)

Here is a short video – in Greek – with Panos from Aegean Sky where he explains the value of being online.

We made this video as part of our “I want you… online” campaign. You will recall that the cheekily titled “I want you… online” encourages travellers to leave feedback to hotels regarding their digital needs using a little card we created.

Even though Greece boasts some lovely small and medium sized hotels, the vast majority is not online. Travellers cannot find them and they cannot book online.

Panos is a SoMaFusion client and he recognises the value of being online and understanding his guests’ needs. In this short video he explains that by creating a website, analysing booking trends and his guests feedback he has managed to turn things around.

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You remember our clients, newly elected Cllrs Saima Mahmud, Mark Rusling and Ahsan Khan at Hoe Street ward in Waltham Forest, London (we blogged about it).

We had been discussing their website header pic for some time and one of their constituents obliged them with taking a marvellous picture the other day. (more…)

So I’m having a catch up with a client today and we eventually come to the newsletter issue. They have progressed from the initial work we did for them and it’s time to keep in touch with their audience.

Normally I don’t support newsletters. However, each company is different and – crucially – the audience has different needs. So we analysed things a bit, I asked questions that needed to be asked and we decided on some next steps.

Newsletters are a tricky thing. I find that it pays to first think about what you want to achieve with them. Our client has genuine content and genuine updates that need to be sent out, which is why we think the newsletter is a good idea. (more…)

The Greek campaign is progressing and Theodora is doing her thing these days.

You will recall that we have started an outreach campaign aimed at Greek hoteliers. As part of that campaign Theodora is on the phones talking with small and medium hotel owners and managers up and down the country.

When we approached her to do the work she was a bit worried. “Is this about sales?“, she asked to which we most emphatically answered “No“!

The principles are simple. Introduce us, discuss, connect. The whole point of the campaign is outreach and engagement rather than sales.

| Introducing SoMaFusion |

We are a relatively new company and there is something intrinsically different about us when it comes to hospitality. Our hospitality services are specialised and offer the whole spectrum – from digital communications to pricing policy. Not something you find often.

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We are delighted to announce the next step of our Greek campaign.

Even though Greece boasts some lovely small and medium sized hotels, the vast majority is not online. Travellers cannot find them and they cannot book online.

Good hoteliers want to move forward but in most cases they are not certain that their customers consider things like a good website and an online booking facility as neccessities.

In the normal SoMaFusion spirit of working together we are launching an action today cheekily titled “I want you… online”

Travellers are encouraged to leave feedback to hotels regarding their digital needs using a little card we created.

The action is also on Facebook and interested parties can also use our banners if they want to. In case there are questions we also created a FAQ.

If you are a Greek language speaker we would love to see you around.

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The amazing feedback card and banners were designed by our favourite artist.

When you are involved in local politics, what is the balance you should be aiming for when communicating?

This is a discussion we have again and again with candidates and Councillors in Local Authorities.

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The Greek hospitality sector – indeed the hospitality sector in any country that faces such an unprecedented negative coverage – can and should make a difference. There is opportunity in adversity. In times of crisis, the companies that will continue to evolve and thrive are those that invest in strategy, in analysis, in personal communications and in essential services.

It is with great pleasure that we present the SoMaFusion white paper on Policy and Crisis Communications for the Hospitality Sector. It is available under a Creative Commons License both in English and in Greek.

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