Mandarin Oriental Creates Original Content And Lets You Book Reservations With A New Online Magazine

Mandarin Oriental has launched Destination MO, an online magazine featuring local and cultural content from destination cities in which the hotel group has properties. The magazine, possessing an elegant and refined aesthetic — undoubtedly meant to match the that of the hotel’s properties — aims to offer past, current and prospective guests travel and lifestyle eye candy that will lure them back for a stay. To that end, the online magazine has incorporated reservations capabilities directly into the site, allowing for immediate, streamlined booking without having to direct viewers back to the hotel’s site in order to book.

The magazine is only in its first few days of existence, so content is still light. It also incorporates the brand’s live Twitter feed, a basic requirement these days, to feature live conversation relevant to the brand.

While this is a pretty straightforward example of a brand’s foray into related content publishing, we’re mostly curious to learn about their experience with the integrated reservations capability. Will the online magazine drive incremental bookings for the hotel group? Will it appeal primarily to existing, repeat customers, or inspire incremental, first-time guests? We hope to learn more about Mandarin Oriental’s experiences with the magazine.

Destination MO