The Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa Uses VBrochure to Market to Travel Shoppers throughout the Travel Shopping Journey.

VFM Leonardo has a long-standing relationship with Marriott International for management and distribution of hotel images to online channels. Many Marriott properties also subscribe to VFM Leonardo’s VBrochure Online Merchandising System to enhance their online listings with videos and virtual tours to make their property more compelling to travel shoppers. The Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa is one of them.

Lisa Matsuda, Marketing Communications Manager, eCommerce, is part of the team that manages online marketing and merchandising efforts for five Hawaii resorts, including the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa.

Matsuda said, “Marriott International has a partnership with VFM Leonardo and endorses the VBrochure program. After we saw the opportunity we realized it made sense to subscribe to this program for a few of our resorts. Waikoloa Marriott had already invested in the production of 360 virtual tours and a video, so they were a good candidate for VBrochure.”

The Waikoloa’s video was originally almost four minutes long. Realizing the short attention spans of online consumers today, they knew they had to do something to make it fit with what online travel shoppers want. So, they took the full length video and edited it into a short, concise video that showcases their beautiful resort in just 30 seconds… a good length according to online video best practices.

With the VBrochure program they are now able to feature rich media on traditional and non- traditional travel related web sites. “VBrochure made it easy for us to market the resort on the vast majority of web sites that travel shoppers use throughout their travel shopping journey,” said Matsuda.

Click here to launch the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa’s VPowered Multi-Media Viewer.

Like the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, other Marriott properties are also making their online listings more engaging with rich media. In fact, the number of Marriott hotels that added VBrochure to their online marketing strategies increased 120% in 2010.

“Our long-standing relationship with Marriott International is elevated by the adoption of visual merchandising best practices among Marriott properties. We look forward to continuing to help them provide online travel shoppers with the rich hotel shopping experiences they’re looking for,” said Paolo Boni, President and CEO of VFM Leonardo.