Welcome to McCue’s Friday Five! Each week, we’ll bring you the latest and greatest from the marketing, tourism and wine industries. This week we cover the integration of Marriott and Facebook Messenger, Facebook Stories ads, eco-friendly traveling, influencer marketing and pop-ups.

1. Marriott introduces a Facebook Messenger integration that quickly provides tour and activity recommendations to users

Image via Skift

Along with its recently launched Marriott Moments marketplace, which offers more than 110,000 experiences in more than 1,000 destinations worldwide, Marriott introduces a Facebook messenger integration, expert recommendations and even more specialized categories. The Facebook Messenger integration allows Facebook users to chat with Marriott Rewards or Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) to quickly get recommendations by giving an address or sharing their current location. Users will also be able sort and filter activities and tours by location, price, reviews, popularity and more through Facebook Messenger.

Have you considered offering real-time recommendations to people visiting your destination? What are some ways, aside from Facebook, to accomplish this?

2. Facebook Stories grows to 150 million users and now aims to monetize audience with ad sales

Image via Marketing Dive

According to Marketing Dive, Facebook Stories has grown to 150 million users within the last 14 months and Facebook plans to monetize the audience with ad sales. Advertisers will be able to transfer their Instagram story ads to Facebook ads or can reformat their Facebook News Feed ads automatically with matching border colors and text at the bottom.

Are you using Snapchat or Instagram stories to create ads? If so, how do you plan to utilize Facebook Stories as well?

3. How the tourism industry can encourage consumers to travel sustainably

Image via Plush Beds

According to a new study from the University of Sydney, tourism accounts for about 10% percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions. The writer asserts that an environmentally-friendly mindset is not as integrated with hospitality and tourism employees as it could be, and if the tourism industry made more of a concentrated effort to encourage guests to be more aware of their behaviors like reusing a towel if it’s only been used once, millions of gallons of water can be conserved. It’s a small step toward a greater change!

How does your destination encourage sustainable travel?

4. Influencers are changing the affiliate marketing game. Swipe up to learn more!

Image via Social Media Week

The convenience of shopping via social media is rising in popularity as consumers are swiping up on Instagram Stories from their favorite influencers. Social Media Week states that Influencer marketing takes on the traditional role of affiliate marketing by relying on referral promotion to drive traffic and sales and introduces the strategy to new, social-first and content-driven audiences. Working with influencers allows brands to include transparency and guaranteed exposure while adding a stronger connection with consumers and the ability to strengthen brand affinity.

Has your destination implemented influencer marketing into your digital campaign? What kind of influencers would bring the most value to your brand?

5. Hotels are experimenting with pop-ups to attract new audiences around the world

Image via Skift

Pop-ups are literally popping up everywhere. Although these are mostly showing up in retail spaces, hotels are picking up on this trend by developing temporary accommodation spaces and also by acting as hosts for pop-up businesses. For example, Marriott partnered with Coachella and created eight luxury safari-style tents for festival goers to do desert glamping in style.  According to Skift, not only do pop-ups generate revenue for the hotel, they create an immersive experience for guests and also allow the pop-up businesses to connect with new audiences.

What kind of pop-ups would you host at your hotel?

That’s all for this week! Scroll below to check out other Friday Five stories and subscribe to stay up-to-date. Now, time to enjoy the weekend!