As much as some of you might still wonder if a Twitter account is really a necessity, the travel industry is catching up quickly.

Just recently, Hyatt launched a new concept, a twitter-based "Virtual Concierge". Hyatt already provides round-the-clock service by phone and email, so it was just a matter of training the agents to type responses in 140 characters or less to allow communication with guests or future customers via the twitter account. As per Hotels Mag, the account is being staffed 24/7 by specially trained agents within the corporate customer service group who are available to assist with typical concierge fare like spa appointments, golf outings and dinner reservations. @HyattConcierge will also field assorted guest complaints and queries.

This is most definitely one of the most creative uses of Twitter by a hotel or hotel company — by far — but the critics quickly chip in with mixed feelings: On one hand, these questions are posted to the concierges pretty publicly. Also, how much help can you really be in 140 characters? But on the other hand, giving Twitter-ers the benefit of the doubt, one may assume that nobody will be posting "I'm staying at the Park Hyatt Philly on 5/24 alone. Restaurant recommendations?" And, based on this Tweet, it looks like they are utilizing direct messages to exchange contact info to answer questions more thoroughly via telephone. Is this the future of hotels on Twitter? We'll see — it's definitely cool and interactive, but it serves a totally different purpose than most other hotels' Twitter accounts which exist primarily to promote packages, promotions and news.

Not only hotels start following the vibe - Amadeus has successfully implemented blogs (with the latest being the Sell Faster blog) and Twitter to communicate with their travel agents and suppliers. Started in March 2009, the blog assists travel agents in taking better advantage of the hotel resources and tools available in the Amadeus GDS.

The Amadeus business development manager admits that this is still a test phase, to see whether travel agents respond to the blog, if they have time during the day to view it and which of the travel agency staff will be the most appropriate target. Amadeus also has a Twitter account at http://twitter.com/AmadeusHotel and the Twitter account is attracting "more attention than the blog."

If you have been asking yourself whether you should join the twitter crowd or not, then we hope that this blog could give you some inspirations - or at least eliminate the question whether to join or not. Follow us on twitter!

Written by Melanie Floor. Source of information: Hotel Chatter and Travel Weekly