DoubleTree by Hilton celebrates National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day today with the launch of a series of collectible cookies tins, social contest, and a global cookie takeover to share the brand’s signature sweet treat with travelers everywhere.
As part of DoubleTree by Hilton’s “Nice Travels” movement, a multichannel effort driving random acts of kindness to prove that “nice” is contagious, the hotel brand is offering its chocolate chip and walnut cookie to anyone who walks into one of the brands more than 460 hotels worldwide—with or without a reservation.
The celebration continues through a partnership with Amtrak, the nation’s intercity passenger rail provider, in an effort to bring the cookie beyond hotel doors and give travelers a chance to share the cookie with someone they care about.
The day’s activities are part of DoubleTree by Hilton’s ongoing efforts to stimulate more positive online chatter about travel, as the hotel brand’s Nice Travels Index reveals that only about 1/3 of the online travel conversation is favorable.
The brand marks its annual celebration of the holiday with the launch of the Traveler Tin Collection of seven cookie tins inspired by some of the most loved travel destinations around the world. Destinations commemorated by the Traveler Tin Collection include California, Chicago, Florida, New York, Texas, The Carolinas, and Canada, with additional international destinations to launch later this year. Travelers can purchase tins from the collection at participating DoubleTree by Hilton hotels and online at doubletreecookies.com; or win tins by participating in the brand’s Instagram Roulette Giveaway.
“At DoubleTree by Hilton, we’ve dedicated ourselves to spreading niceness every day, starting with the signature warm cookie welcome that each guest receives,” said Dianna Vaughan, senior vice president and global head, DoubleTree by Hilton and Curio – a Collection by Hilton. “The Traveler Tin Collection and our other National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day activities celebrate the cookie and offer travelers fun ways to share their experience with loved ones.”
To mark the launch of the Traveler Tin Collection, DoubleTree by Hilton is posting a video to Instagram showing images from each Traveler Tin destination. To win a tin full of cookies, or something even sweeter, fans can take a screenshot of their favorite destination from the video and DM it to @doubletree. The giveaway runs through Aug. 12, 2016.
Partnering with the Amtrak Guest Rewards team on National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, DoubleTree by Hilton will surprise people in two of Amtrak’s busiest stations: New York Penn Station and Chicago Union Station.
In the spirit of Nice Travels, the DoubleTree by Hilton team will hand out thousands of the brand’s signature chocolate chip cookies in pairs of two—encouraging passersby to keep one and share one with someone else. In each station, the first 25 people who mention “Nice Travels” to a DoubleTree team member will receive a full tin of cookies from the Traveler Tin Collection.
To intercept the online conversation about travel and give small acts of kindness the attention they deserve, DoubleTree by Hilton introduced in April the Nice Travels Index, a real-time social listening and measurement tool that tracks online sentiment towards travel and travel conversation. The Nice Travels Index revealed that in spite of a global affection for travel—with more than 620,000 Twitter users identifying as passionate travelers—just 36 percent of the online conversation about travel is positive.
To make a positive change and celebrate the things we love most about traveling, DoubleTree by Hilton has used the Nice Travels Index to identify, share and reward acts of niceness, contributing to a 5 percent decrease in negative conversation about travel online since the April launch of the index. The hotel brand will continue using the Nice Travels Index to engage with consumers in real-time through “surprise and delight” giveaways throughout the year.
