Try a Kobo eReader in your Hotel Room

In What's the Buzz by Hannah Johnson

By Hannah Johnson

Kobo and Random House are spreading the word about e-reading to hotel guests. At 10 Fairmont Hotels locations in the USA and Canada, guests can use a Kobo eReader loaded with bestselling Random House titles by authors like Bret Easton Ellis, Sophie Kinsella and Alexander McCall Smith…all for free! Guests even get coupons off Random House titles in the Kobo store.

Of course, Kobo eReaders are only available to members of the Fairmont President’s Club or guests staying in exclusive Fairmont Gold rooms. However, these people are likely to be frequent travelers and might just be in the market for an e-reading device.

So which 10 hotels have Kobo eReaders? From the press release: “The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, The Fairmont Royal York, Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Fairmont Château Laurier, Fairmont Turnberry Isle, The Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston, and The Plaza, A Fairmont Managed Hotel.”

This is a great marketing tactic and a good way to get people interested in an e-reading device, particularly if they have not considered purchasing one before. Not all retail locations of Borders and Barnes & Noble carry their respective e-readers. For $150 (which is a decent price for a gadget these days), customers want to see and hold the device before deciding to buy one.

About the Author

Hannah Johnson

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Hannah Johnson is the publisher of international book industry magazine Publishing Perspectives, which provides daily information and news about book markets around the world. In addition to building partnerships with international cultural and trade organizations, she works with the Frankfurt Book Fair to organize and support a number of its overseas initiatives. Hannah has also worked as the managing editor for an online media company, The Hooch Life, focused on craft distillers and cocktail experts. Prior to that, she worked as a project manager for the Frankfurt Book Fair’s New York office, managing various business and marketing activities.