This summer, the new Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel announced the launch of their Facebook sharing initiative – a first for the global hotel industry. The innovative hotel and live music venue, which forms part of the Fiesta Hotel Group portfolio, first opened its doors in May and since July this year has offered hotel guests and visitors the option of wearing a slim RFID wristband, synchronised to their Facebook profile.
Throughout the hotel, Facebook pillars have been set up where guests can check in, take pictures or post a status, simply by swiping their wristband across a sensor. Swiping in different locations will post different messages directly onto the users Facebook wall, with messages such as “Front stage watching Sasha”, or ‘Hanging out at the Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel…Jealous?’
Irene Cano, Sales Director of Facebook Spain quotes; “We are absolutely delighted that Fiesta Hotel Group and more specifically the Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel has become the world’s first hotel to launch this Facebook initiative. Summer is a great time for people to be sharing their holiday experiences – when spirits are high, and the results so far have been phenomenal. At Facebook, we are constantly developing our services to find synergies between the virtual and real worlds and we are excited to be collaborating with the holiday experience for the first time.”
Once a guest swipes their band to post something on their wall, other Facebook users can click to see the content and will be redirected to a page where all content is accessible and links to the Ushuaïa website.
Niels Verhoeven, Creative Director of Dorst & Lesser, the Amsterdam based manufacturing company responsible for the technical execution adds; “After the success of the implementation of the Facebook pillars for Renault at the Dutch Autorai 2011, we were honoured to be asked to build the same Facebook fundamentals and take charge of the complete technical implementation for the Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel.”
The results for the first season have been impressive and in just over two months, Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel had achieved the following:
• Over 2000 registered users of the new RFID wristbands, of which approximately 90% became facebook ‘fans’ of Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel
• More than 6,000 pictures taken from the columns with a unique share range of approximately 600,000,
• More than 70,000 facebook “likes”
• A unique range in excess of 800,000 people on facebook
Alfonso Giménez, Marketing Director Europe of Fiesta Hotel Group concludes; “This new interactive experience is the first of its kind within the hotel industry and further cements Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel’s objective as setting the benchmark for innovation not only in Spain but also on a worldwide scale. As well as adding a new element of fun for our hotel guests, the facebook campaign also allows us to add value for our commercial partners and provides us with valuable data in terms of our customer profile.”
