Incentives Being Given For Putting Down Smart Phones
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Travel Blogger
First we go forward, then we take a step back.
When smart phones became prevalent, hotels and resorts welcomed them like a big tip. After all, guests posting the “look where I am” photos on social media was great – and free – publicity. Why post pictures yourself when actual people are doing it for you?
Too much of a good thing, however, has become too much for some places. Resorts are now want people off their cell phones and are providing incentive to put them down for a few hours.
Wyndham Grand’s five resorts in the USA are offering free snacks and a chance to win a few free nights at by putting their phone in a locked pouch. The Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit (how’s that for a name!?) has a “Detox Concierge” who takes your phone and hands you board games. Its sister resort, the Grand Veles Riviera Maya, provides incentives such as free snorkeling trips if you turn your phone for a few hours; you must do four activities to get it back.
Miraval, a Hyatt resort in Arizona with others scheduled to open in Massachusetts and Texas, actually bands phone in most public areas.
Most places are not forcing you to give up your phone, mind you. They are just encouraging people to put it down for a few hours. Wyndham did a little research and found that the average guest twas checking their phone ever7 12 minutes. That’s 80 times a day.
How do you feel about this by the way? I’m not necessarily in favor of a place limiting my phone access and I certainly don’t like phones banned in public areas. Being a travel writer I’m a bit different than the regular paying guest because part of my work is posting photos and videos on social media.
But if they offer me a snorkeling or other activities in exchange for not using my phone for a while, I’m certainly going to jump on that offer. Heck, I don’t like to be glued to my phone. I can do that at home; when I’m traveling I want to enjoy the destination and I’ll get into it so much that sometimes I even forget I have a smart phone.
If I’m at an activity, a dinner, out in the bars, on an adventure or doing something else fun, I don’t like ot pull out the phone for an Instagram or Twitter post, to go live on FB or do a “story.” I want to enjoy the moment.
And that is what the hotels are attempting to get their guests to do because they figure while social media posts from them are fine, the old fashioned word of mouth when people return home is also a great marketing tool.
Cheers!
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