Three events changed the hotel industry forever, the recession of 2008, the advent of smart phones in 2007, and the use of social networking in promoting business. Recession saw a huge decline in the travellers and consumer spends, leading to several budget cuts by the big brands and reduction in manpower.

So is it just a better bargain game? Actually not so much .Travellers today expect that the loyalty they show towards a certain brand be respected and rewarded with a better class of service. Hotels are more researched online and reviews carry far more importance on traveller’s decision for booking a hotel. This has distinctly highlighted one of the less pursued aspects in the hotel industry – the quest for a satisfactory review.  The end of recession saw the return of the consumer, but this time more demanding of the - search, book and stay experience. This was not a surprise, considering all the smart phones and tablets floating around in the market .The travellers were technologically more aware, better researched and   forever in the quest of a bargain or better deal.

There are prominent signs all around us of a sea change .My clients in the travel business frequently talk about how they are trying to compensate for the decrease in profits from air ticket sales by offering a variety of services. That helps of course but more important is how one distributes these services in the fastest possible manner to the most distant markets. I feel the answer lies in one of the oldest practices of travel business - Affiliate networks

The travel industry is the one of the oldest social networks. Even before Facebook, LinkedIn and twitter became such a rage for promoting business, the travel fraternity, through its network of affiliates and alliances, was using the principles of social networking to share its offerings and to reach out to markets.