On Transparency and Travel

I came across this when I was on Twitter this morning and it piqued my interest for two reasons.

One: It is a blog by a social media PR class.

Two: They wrote about travel and public relations in a completely transparent way.

I admire bloggers who can transcend honesty and be completely transparent. It gives the information being presented that much more credibility. So what’s the difference between honesty and transparency?

According to Chris Freedland, “’Honesty’ means I choose the topic, and speak honestly about it. . . ‘Transparency’ involves honesty, but the two words aren’t synonymous. Transparency is more than pervasive honesty; it’s open and honest about everything.”

At the end of January, LastMinuteTravel.com, a discount travel site, launched a campaign—The World for $1. Visitors who accessed the site within an undisclosed 15-minute period could select and book rooms at 15,000 hotels around the world for $1 per night. The campaign also included several interactive elements, including a viral video series on YouTube.

Shortly after the campaign launched, the company ran into a series of problems. Customers became frustrated because terms of service agreements were constantly changing, e-mail correspondence was not timely and hotels had limited availability (just to name a few). These problems were not dealt with in a transparent, timely manner. As a result, the company received negative buzz from major media outlets. Was this promotional campaign over-ambitious? Or was it just not dealt with in a transparent way by the company?

LastMinuteTravel.com attempted to remedy the situation by using social media tactics. They launched a last-minute blog, Facebook page and Twitter account. To date, they have written just a few short posts on the blog attempting to rectify the situation. In one, the company writes: “The purpose of this sale is to introduce people to the website – and the stand-out rates, availability, service and technology. Instead of simply refreshing, get to know the site a little better.”

From a PR perspective, LastMinuteTravel.com did not deal with this situation in a timely or transparent way. Even though the company has several social media outlets in place to deal with the mishaps, it has failed to communicate to its clients in a transparent way. Perhaps this will teach LastMinuteTravel.com a lesson in transparency.