Media and PR

Google Maps is the world's biggest funnel to destination-specific information, and it only makes sense to focus content on those users. Whether or not Zagat's distinctive ratings system and brand voice will continue to rise to the top remains to be seen.

For being the most outward facing industry of the planet, the CEOs of travel companies aren't very social, aside for the few exceptions at the top of this list.

Hell hath no fury like a travel agent scorned, but get real: Your market is a shrinking one. You can't put online travel and the mobile revolution back into the bottle. This battle was already fought and lost a decade ago.

It's difficult to determine if a strong Instagram presence really adds up to any significant impact on business or whether those traditional travel companies picking other social media battles are missing out. If anything, well-liked travel brands enjoy another point of contact with current and potential customers.

LP's new leadership has a lot of cleaning up to do from the BBC's heavy-handed approach to running the brand. While they do need to be able to reorganize as they see fit, keeping their best employees within the fold has been an issue so far.

You can debate whether Brand USA's strategy is the best way of promoting international visitations to the U.S. But, if the country is going to have a quasi-governmental tourism-marketing organization, it is tough for Brand USA to get on solid footing if it has to constantly look over its shoulder to figure out if it will get renewed funding life.

By no means comprehensive, but by all means insightful, the report is a brief summation of how digital trends are impacting the travel industry and how travel companies can keep ahead of the pack.

For hotels, Instagram videos are essentially 15 seconds of free advertising, so it makes sense for any company with social media know-how to get on top of this trend.