Facebook is best way for travel firms to interact with consumers, hotels ranked more trustworthy than OTAs in new report

Although OTAs ranked higher than hotels when it came to "influence of interaction on satisfaction with a brand" as well as "using/buying the brand", the hotel sector came on top when consumers were asked which organisations they trust. 

Facebook is by far the most productive social media network for travel firms, according to a new report.

BDRC Continental's Social Media Impact "Freemium Report" indicated that the social network generates almost four times the amount of travel-firm related interactions than Twitter.

It also made clear that while 98 per cent of those surveyed (1,007 consumers) use Facebook, 59 per cent said they have used it for travel and leisure interactions within the last six months. Meanwhile, just 16 per cent use Twitter to interact with travel and leisure businesses.

An extra 73 per cent said they use YouTube but just 11 per cent said they use it to interact with those same business. LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr were all ranked even lower, with just five per cent, four per cent, four per cent and two per cent using them for travel and leisure interaction respectively

Priceline CEO Darren Huston said during a conference call with Investors Business Daily: "I was quite skeptical, but I have to give Facebook a ton of credit. We're finally getting some good business out of Facebook.

"Most of it is re-marketing or re-messaging and we've now talked with senior management at Facebook about how do we get intent out of their network. And that's an area that both us and them are focused on. And to the degree to which we can crack the code on intent would make Facebook a real serious source of demand for us as a business."