The Klout 50 was launched in 2014 as the ultimate ranking of brands that are authentically connecting with their digital audience.
SAN FRANCISCO – Lithium Technologies announced its Klout 50: Summer Travel Edition, which identifies the top 25 airlines and 25 hotels around the world based on social engagement and expertise. These travel and hospitality leaders achieved the most influence among their followers for the way they connect and share experiences on social, and also for the expertise they deliver to make everyone’s vacations and business trips better.
The Klout 50 rankings are generated by each brand’s Klout Score, which tracks social engagement, sharing, and influence using proprietary algorithms. The Klout Score is determined by more than 400 signals from eight different networks, including Facebook, Twitter and Google+ as well as real-world data from Wikipedia. Additionally, Klout identifies experts in more than 10,000 topic areas by discerning the expertise of any prolife throughout the topic ontology.
For the airlines, Lithium used Skytrax‘s passenger favorites World Airline Awards Top 100 Airlines of 2014 to identify the Top 25 social media winners. Key findings include:
- British Airways ranks #1 on the Klout list for social influence (and #17 in the World’s Top Airline list) and is an expert in Europe, Hong Kong and Scotland
- Virgin America ranks #8 on Klout and made a huge jump up from #46 on the World’s Top Airline list
- Cathay Pacific Airways has expertise in “Food” – which shows that content needs to engage a follower or customer holistically, and not just through the lens of a CRM or revenue record
Klout 50: Summer Travel Edition (Top 25 Airlines)
|
1. British Airways |
90.27 |
|
2. Air Canada |
87.83 |
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3. easyJet |
86.24 |
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4. Virgin Atlantic |
86.18 |
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5. Malaysia Airlines |
86.02 |
|
6. Turkish Airlines |
86.00 |
|
7. Cathay Pacific Airways |
85.20 |
|
8. Virgin America |
85.15 |
|
9. Virgin Australia |
85.03 |
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10. WestJet |
83.39 |
|
11. KLM |
81.76 |
|
12. Qatar Airways |
80.86 |
|
13. Qantas Airways |
80.56 |
|
14. Garuda Indonesia |
80.44 |
|
15. Delta Air Lines |
80.12 |
|
16. Emirates |
78.39 |
|
17. Jetstar Asia |
76.93 |
|
18. TAM Airlines |
75.87 |
|
19. Avianca |
72.89 |
|
20. Etihad Airways |
72.38 |
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21. Lufthansa |
71.97 |
|
22. AirAsia |
71.57 |
|
23. AirAsiaX |
71.57 |
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24. Swiss |
70.45 |
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25. Air Astana |
70.45 |
For the hotels, Lithium analyzed Travel & Leisure’s World’s Best 2014 Top 100 Hotels and found that:
- Le Bristol Paris ranks #1 on Klout and #44 on Travel + Leisure’s list
- The Langham Chicago is #2 on the overall Klout list with identified expertise in “Weddings” and “Architecture”
- Four Seasons Hotel Prague ranks #4 on Klout and made a huge jump from #50 on Travel + Leisure’s list
- Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea is an expert in “Beer” and “Wine”
- In fact, six Four Season Hotels made the top 25 list which indicates the brand is socially savvy
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Klout 50: Summer Travel Edition (Top 25 Hotels) |
Klout Score |
|
1. Le Bristol, Paris |
65.38 |
|
2. The Langham, Chicago |
64.53 |
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3. Singita Kruger National Park, South Africa |
64.21 |
|
4. Four Seasons Hotel, Prague |
62.54 |
|
5. One&Only Palmilla, Los Cabos, Mexico |
62.05 |
|
6. Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea |
61.62 |
|
7. Ritz, Paris |
61.44 |
|
8. Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a Montage Resort, Bluffton, South Carolina |
61.29 |
|
9. Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India |
60.33 |
|
10. Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas |
60.11 |
|
11. Four Seasons Hotel, Mexico, D.F., Mexico City |
60.09 |
|
12. Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur, India |
59.95 |
|
13. Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa |
57.63 |
|
14. St. Regis Punta Mita Resort, Mexico |
57.48 |
|
15. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Hawaii, the Big Island |
56.90 |
|
16. Banyan Tree Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, Mexico |
55.85 |
|
17. Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, Thailand |
55.16 |
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18. The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, New York City |
54.85 |
|
19. Jade Mountain, St. Lucia |
54.54 |
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20. Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok |
54.51 |
|
21. Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club, Georgia |
54.46 |
|
22. Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong |
53.95 |
|
23. The Peninsula, Hong Kong |
52.78 |
|
24. Rosewood Mayakoba, Playa del Carmen, Mexico |
52.33 |
|
25. Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, Florence Italy |
52.16 |
Interestingly, the lowest Klout score among the top 25 airlines is higher than the highest score among the top 25 hotels. Lithium believes this is because airlines have been forced to deal with “social shaming” via Twitter and other social networks in very public ways-and have built social infrastructures to handle those service complaints. Additionally, the airlines are bigger companies than the individual hotel properties ranked in this Klout list, indicating the benefits of scale and unified social presence on digital networks.
“What these Klout Scores reveal – especially for those who ranked further down by the respective lists we analyzed, but higher on Klout- is that what they do on social really matters to their customers,” said Katy Keim, Chief Marketing Officer at Lithium. “You can be ranked and judged by a variety of factors within your industry, but your customers are online, they’re social and they’re paying attention to your presence there. These airlines and hotels should be very proud of their social media accomplishments and we’re proud to be able to recognize their reputation among consumers.”
The Klout 50 was launched in 2014 as the ultimate ranking of brands that are authentically connecting with their digital audience. These social elite brands are the most active on social media platforms and their audiences consistently share and interact with their digital content. The Klout 50 has covered overall Klout 50: Global brands and the Klout 50 Retail Edition. Klout enables both brands and consumers to identify experts in areas they are most passionate about.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
