A world first, the Prestigious Star Awards 2012 honoured the digital intelligence of luxury venues, an event which attracted representatives from notable hotels such as The Langham, London, The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, and the Maybourne Hotel Group. The event was also live-streamed online using the Google+ “Hangouts On-Air” feature, enabling a global audience to take part.

The winners were announced as follows:

Best Venue Website: qualia, Hamilton Island
Best Venue Blog: Royal Albert Hall, London
Best Venue Facebook Page: The Carlyle, New York
Best Venue SEO: The Langham, London
Best Venue YouTube Channel: Sydney Opera House, Sydney
Best Venue Twitter Channel: The Roof Gardens, London
Best Venue Google+ Page: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Best Venue Mobile Offering: The Cadogan, London
Best Venue Social Media Campaign: The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne
Overall Digital Star: The Langham, London

The reason for focusing on digital at this year’s awards was to recognise the increasing role it plays in a venue brand’s growth. The figures speak for themselves, with over 404 million Europeans online in September alone and consumers spending 6.7 billion hours on social networks in October. The award categories highlighted the impact of social presence on search, which remains hugely important as over 95% of us only click on search results displayed on the first page. (Sources included: comScore)