Technology Strategies for the Hospitality Industry

The provided articles discuss various aspects of internationalization, technology resources, and alliances in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the hospitality industry. For instance, Yin et al.'s article explores the common key technology system for cloud manufacturing service platforms for SMEs. On the other hand, Jagoda et al.'s study highlights key issues in managing technology transfer projects from a Canadian SME's perspective. The articles also touch upon the role of social media and mobile technology in the hospitality industry, as well as their potential impact on customer preferences and behaviors. Moreover, the papers examine the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in hospitality management, highlighting the need for SMEs to adapt to these changes and leverage them effectively. Overall, the articles emphasize the significance of internationalization, technology resources, and alliances in enabling SMEs in the hospitality industry to remain competitive and innovative.

E-TOURISM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW...........................................................................................................3
CASE STUDY EVALUATION................................................................................................6
DISCUSSION............................................................................................................................8
NEW SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY.....................................................................................10
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
E-Tourism can be defined as using the several electronic means by the hospitality
industry to show their presence in the market. As the industries are becoming globalized so to
make connection with the individual all over the world different social media sources as well
as mobile technology are used by the organization for different purposes.
Case study
In this report, New Inn hotel has been selected which is the small and medium sized 3
star organization which is situated in London. This hotel has strong online presence in the
market and it is using the social media for promoting their products and services. But still due
to the increasing travel and tourism, the hotel is planning for expanding its services through
social media. Vast developments have been seen in the hospitality industry due to ICT. Now
the hotels are promoting their products by using different websites. Through information
communication technology they are communicating their presence through online means.
This report will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the social media and mobile
marketing on SME and reviews about this will be given by author in the form of literature
review. Discussion will be made about the technologies which are used by the New Inn
Hotel. Besides this, new objectives will be developed for New Inn hotel for developing the
new social media strategy.
LITERATURE REVIEW
ICT and hospitality
With the development in travel and tourism, the hospitality industry is changing
frequently according to the needs and requirements of the customers. There are many
different types of hotels which are established for the different purposes like boutique hotel,
extended stay hotel, select service hotel etc (Lee and et.al., 2012) . In the recent years, only it
has been seen that the customers are travelling more and due to this reason, the business of
the hospitality industry is increasing. Not only for the leisure activities, due to globalization
of the business, the individuals have become frequent travellers as they have to go abroad to
carry out their business activities. In this sense, the hotels are gaining advantage which is
helpful in increasing their profitability as well as productivity.

According to Yin and et.al., (2011), with the increasing competition in the market, it
has becoming significant for the hotels to differentiate their products and services from the
other rivalries so that the customers can visit the hotel again. One of the main tools for
differentiation is the social media and the mobile technology which is helping in enhancing
the activities of the organization (Jagoda and et.al., 2010). With the up-grdation of the
technology, the customers are becoming techno savvy which is forcing the hotel as well as
the hospitality industry to adopt the new and the innovative tool which can help in making the
function more advanced. According to the facts and figures it has been witnessed that due to
the increasing demand, around 9 million individuals were recruited in the hospitality industry.
This is the big achievement as it has been seen that the hotel industry needs employees to
carry out their functions.
According to Garín-Muñoz and Pérez-Amaral (2011), through giving their stories the
hotel can share their experience regarding their property and the staff which are working in
the hotel. Due to the changing thinking and perspective, the uses of the tools are also
changing significantly. By using the Web 2.0 the hotels are changing their motive of
marketing their services now they are merely using to interact with their guests. From the
facts, it has been witnessed that the social media platforms which are generally used in the
hotel industry are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram etc. this reason is that the
customers can be easily approached which will help the organization in communicating their
values to them.
Factors hindering SME in adopting ICT
According to Verma Stock and McCarthy (2012), there are some of the disadvantages
also which are required to be considered by the hotel to carry out their marketing activity on
the mobile phones. The excessive cost is incurred in carrying out the marketing from the
mobile phones. Proper setup is required by the hotel to effectively market their products and
services (Jagoda and et.al., 2010). Besides this, the data base of the customers is required to
be managed because with the help of their contact only the organization can send them the
messages. But on the other hand, it is cheaper than the social media marketing as fewer
amounts is spend on marketing the products on social media than mobile technology.
On the other hand, the main aspect is that in the service industry work of mouth is the
most important concept through which the good and the bad reviews are given to the
hospitality organization (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010). If the client gives the positive review of
the hotel on Facebook then it will help in attracting more customers. This is opposite in case
of the negative reviews. With the positive aspects there is some of the negative impact of the

social media sites. The main disadvantage is that that there is no control on the content which
is written by the respondents. As it is open for only, so if any bad review is given without any
evidence it hampers the reputation of the hotel. Besides this, there are also rivalry
organizations that can posts bad on the social media which will affect the goodwill of the
firm. Besides this, through the up-grdation of the technology the hotels are only focusing on
the social media for promotion they have forget the traditional marketing which is also
needed to carry out the business activity as well as operations.
New technology in hospitality SME
According to Mo Kwon and et.al., (2013), for competing in the industry, it has
required by small and medium sized organization to adopt the new technology which can
make their operations easier. In case of the New Inn hotel s they are one of the small and
medium sized hotels which have strong social presence in the market through various
methods. But with the new concept of E- hospitality it is needed by the hotel to use the ICT
application in the area. According to Wilken and Goggin eds., (2013), for the service
industry, the most important task is to effectively communicate with their customers so that
they can develop value in their minds. This can be done by adopting the information and
communication technology through which the hotel industry can effectively communicate the
services which they are providing to their customers. In case of the New Inn hotel s they are
using LinkedIn through which they can show their presence in the market. There are several
benefits which are attached to the ICT one of the main advantages is that it helps in
effectively marketing the function (Law, Buhalis and Cobanoglu, 2014) Through social
media the hotel can market their products and services. At many times, due to pictures as well
as the videos the consumers are lured to visit the place. This helps the hotel in attracting
customers towards their organization.
According to Gibson, (2016), ICT helps in managing the internal operations of the
hotels. For the hotels it has become important to manage the internal operations by using
different software. For example: in case of booking the rooms, the SME is required to have
their own website which can help the hotel to provide convenience to their guests. Due to the
busy life schedule, the individual are now convenient to book their rooms on the online sites.
In this case, ICT will help in managing the internal operations as well as the image of the
hotel are enhanced in the minds of the customers (Leung and et.al., 2013). They feel that it is
a good reputed hotel. This is the same case in the New Inn hotel because due to their own
presence the customers can easily visit their services and even due to their information on

online, they can attract the users to visit the place. As New Inn hotel has its branches all over
the world so for the hotel also PMS is the appropriate system which can help in managing the
back office work effectively.
Mobile technology and its use in hospitality
According to Wang and Wang, (2010), besides this the social media, mobile
technology has also taken the greater pace in promoting the services as well as attracting the
guests towards their services. Mobile technology is not only popular among the customers
but it is also useful for the hotel chains. For the customers, GPS is one of the technologies
which are used by the guests to find the location so that they can reach at the place on time.
On the other hand, besides this, Bluetooth, WI-Fi are also used by the guests. In case of the
New Inn hotel s they have the WI-Fi installed n the whole premises which are helpful for the
guests (Hays, Page and Buhalis, 2013). They provide these services free of cost, the reason is
that there are many guests who are required to perform the meetings as well as accomplish
the work.
According to Nyheim and Connolly (2011), not only the internet, SME is using
mobile technology as in the tourism industry there are several apps for the customers. For
example: Maps, travel organizer, travel guides etc. These hotels are registered on these
applications so at the time of need when the customer will search for the hotel, the name will
be flashed. This is one of the means of marketing their organization. Besides this, in the
earlier time, the advertisements were only carried out on the television but due to the mobile
technology, the hotels provide the message regarding the new offers as well as services
(Hudson and Thal, 2013). This makes the customers ware regarding the product. On the other
hand, after sale service is also one of the most important concepts in the service industry
because it is needed by the hotel industry to measure the satisfaction of their guests. In this
case, the hotel sends the feedback form or evaluation form through the emails to the
customers. This is also one of the techniques to make them happy.
According to Sigala, Christou and Gretzel eds., (2012), social media and the mobile
technology development has being used in the hospitality industry. But with the development
of the technology, it is required by all the hotels to use the social media and mobile
technology for attracting the customer and increasing their productivity in the market. In case
of the social media marketing it has been emerged as one of the most significant tool which
helps the hotels to tell the story about their history and the special things about their
organization. This tool is not merely used in making the people aware regarding the services

but it is basically made to build connection with their guests. In the present time, emotional
connection is required to retain the customers in the organization.
CASE STUDY EVALUATION
Social media used by Hotel New Inn
New Inn hotel case study has been taken for evaluating the developments of social
media and the mobile technology in the organization. As it is the medium sized organization
but it uses the social media to perform its operations as well as activities. The organization
has made their website in which they have talked about the services and the vision of the
hotel (Šerić, Gil-Saura and Ruiz-Molina, 2014). As discussed in earlier, the social media is
not the tool for promoting the services but it is the way through which the hotel can develop
the relation with the customers. Due to this reason, they have communicated the vision of the
hotel with their guests. These aspects have direct impact in increasing the goodwill of the
organization and building a positive image in the minds of the customers (Mobile Social
Media Marketing in Tourism, 2017). On the other hand, through the portfolio they have
given the idea for the services which they are giving to the customers. Through the website,
their aim is to make a particular place in the minds of the guests.
On the other hand, New Inn hotel has been using different social media sites like the
Facebook, LinkedIn etc. it is continuously promoting their products and services. On the
other hand, it is on the news because of the activities and the parties which are held in the
hotel. Besides this, they are always on this platform and the news because of their operations.
These promotions were carried out in the earlier times, but now there are new ways of using
the social marketing tool (Morrison, 2013). This is done by the New Inn hotel to make their
unique image among the customers. The hotel has included the Media Group Tronic in the
investment portfolio so that they can effectively carry out the services through this partner.
New Inn hotel also informs on the social media about the merger and the organization which
they have bought. Through this way, the hotel always remains in the talks of their guests. The
meeting were held by the Business Cloud in using the technology for improving the customer
services and to expand the business in other market (Sigala, Christou and Gretzel eds., 2012).
For this hotel, these social media has become a very short way through which they
can make connection with the individual. They are planning really high on technology so that
they can provide new experience to the individual. On the other hand, talking about the

Twitter, the New Inn hotel has around 1000 followers who are following the services and
hotel (Law, Buhalis and Cobanoglu, 2014). This means that they are active on the social
media and due to the popularity only they have made several followers.
On the other hand, the mobile technology is also adopted by the New Inn hotel for
enhancing the customer experience. They have used their mobile phones for giving the order
for dinner and switching lights of the rooms. This advanced technology is adopted by the
hotel which can give the customer a better experience in their hotel. Besides this, the mobile
technology is effectively used by the organization for taking the feedback from the customers
and stay connected with them (Mo Kwon, and et.al., 2013) The customer information is given
on the data base and from that information; the guests are given the offers regarding the
hotels which help the guests to know about the new services which are introduced by the
firm. From the facts and the figures it has been effectively said that there is a huge need for
the hospitality industry to adopt the latest technology in their organization so that they can
meet the expectations of the customers.
Facebook
Criteria 5 points
(Very good)
4 points
(Good)
3 points
(Average)
2 points (Poor) 1 point (Very
poor)
Profile
Cover photo
Branding
Facebook
URL
According to the overall total, the New Inn Hotel has been rated 3 out of 5 because it
has been noticed that the hotel word is missing which makes it difficult for the customer to
search. On the other hand, in case of facebook URL, the name is not visible which is not
effective at the time of searching.
Criteria 5 points
(Very good)
4 points
(Good)
3 points
(Average)
2 points (Poor) 1 point (Very
poor)
Profile
Cover photo
Branding
Twitter URL

According to the Twitter application it could be ranked at 3 only which is average.
This is because of the poor twitter URL and even the branding is not appropriately done.
Due to the increasing competition, if the hotels are not visible on the social media
sites then the guest can forget it as they have choices. But due to the awareness in the
technology, the developments in the social media and mobile technology are witnessed
(Leung and et.al., 2013). This hotel is not only visible on the social sites but they are various
tourism website which suggests the hotels to the customers. In that case, they are visible there
also. Like the trip advisor, booking .com, Expedia.co, Kayak.
In different sites their presence can be witnessed. On the other hand, they are always
on the news regarding their promotions, partnership or any other ways. This makes the guests
realize their presence in the site which is further help in increasing their profitability and

productivity. Search engine optimization is the main target for the New Inn hotel because
through seeing the number of time the names of the hotel the image are fit in the minds of the
customer which further help in maintaining a positive image (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010). In
this case, it is beneficial for the hotel because by searching the hotel, immediately the whole
information is given on the net. It is helpful for the guests because through this they do not
have to search more a waste time on it.
Besides social media and mobile technology there are different types of technologies
which are adopted by the New Inn hotel. The organization provides free Wi-Fi to the
customers so that they can do their activities without any hindrance (Hays, Page and Buhalis,
2013). It is important because in the hotel; several business meetings are held, at that time it
is required by the hotel to provide them. This is one of the advantages and even it is regarded
as the basic facility which is provided by the hotel for their customers.
On the other hand, PMS and other technological systems are used by the organization
to effectively manage their work. This software and the system are useful in carrying out the
activity in the short period of time. From this case study it has been witnessed that the there is
a huge development of social media and the mobile technologies in the hospitality sector.
This is due to the competition and increasing global presence in the world (Wang and Wang,
2010). The major use of social media for the hotel is that they stay connected with the people
all around the world in the single time. The information is reached by them effectively which
is helpful for the guests as well as hotel.
With the proper mobile application like destination apps, accommodation planner etc,
the hotel can effectively make their presence in the whole world. It is basically the expansion
strategy for gaining the huge market share. New Inn hotel is using different sources and
mobile application which is helpful for the firm in the long run (Nyheim and Connolly,
2011). Besides increasing profitability, it has become the necessity for the organization to
carry out their operations effectively. As the hotel is growing in the market and it is the small
and middle sized so at presents it is only using 2-3 social media but in future planning to
adopt different strategy which can help in expanding the share and increasing goodwill in the
hospitality industry.
DISCUSSION
From the above literature review and the case study about the New Inn hotel it is said
that without the social media and mobile technology it is not possible for the hotel industry to
survive in the market. For the SME it is essential because they are small and medium size

hospitality industry so it is important for their expansion and increasing their market share
(Morrison, 2013). The products and services which are sold in the market are homogenous
and even in the hospitality industry the individual can get easy substitute of their services. To
sustain their firm in the market it is required to adopt the social media and mobile technology.
Competitive advantage is one of the new concepts which have been recently emerged
in the hotel industry. Most of the hotels are focusing on creating the competitive advantage
through effectively marketing (Sigala, Christou and Gretzel eds., 2012). In case of the New
Inn hotel it is doing well in the field but still it is required to make the people know about it
so that the positive image can be created in their mind. As per the discussion social media
tools are used in various ways as well as for different purposes. This is the fact because it is
used for creating value of the hotel, promoting and make the customer aware, developing
competitive advantage, giving the convenience to the customers as well as organization etc
(Lee and et.al., 2012)
Mobile technology has become prominent in the market because now every individual
is using the Smartphone in which all the things are easily accessible. So due to this reason,
the hotels are providing the services on mobile so that the time of the customer is not wasted
and the function are properly carried out. Another motive for using the mobile technology is
that as the New Inn hotel is the service industry so if the services are of good quality and are
provided on time, then only the guest will prefer them (Verma, Stock and McCarthy, 2012).
To retain the guests in their hotel, they are providing the services on mobile application. In
this case, the customer will feel happy and always opt for this hotel. But in the broad concept,
the social media is not only for the promotion as this is notion which is changed by the
hospitality industry also. Due to this reason, the competition in adopting the technology is
also increasing and the hotels are using the mobile technology to carry out the hotel services.
Another development is witnessed in the SME is that technology has become the tool for
attracting the customers as this always influences and changes the perception of the guests.
The development in the social media and mobile technology is beneficial for the hotels
(Gibson, 2016)
NEW SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
Objectives:
 To develop its online presence through You Tube by the year 2018
 To make the marketing campaign on social site by the year 2019

 To develop mobile website for the guests by the year 2020
From the above, it can be evaluated that the social media strategy has become a
backbone for the hospitality industry. The reasons are diverse but it is important for the
organization to adopt the social media strategy. The new strategy which can be adopted by
the New Inn hotel is that they can make their account on the You Tube it is beneficial for the
hotel because the customers generally memorize the visual or the videos they sees At this
time, it is one of the most effective strategies which can attract the customers (Šerić, Gil-
Saura and Ruiz-Molina, 2014). The main reason for developing this strategy is that the hotel
is the SME and they can provide the view of the hotel as well as the services to them. This
will lure the customers to visit the hotel. This technology has to be implemented in the year
2018, it is necessary because as the technology is increasing rapidly so this process can be
outdated which will affect the services of the New Inn Hotel.
Another objective for developing the new social media strategy is that marketing
campaign has become a trend in the hospitality industry. Through proper song as well as the
marketing content, the organizations are attracting the customers (Lee and et.al., 2012) The
campaigns are in demand which helps the hotel in effectively promoting their services and
the products. This is one of the most difficult tasks because a huge amount of expense is
incurred in organizing the activity. A proper marketing step is carried out to execute it. As it
is the SME so it will be difficult to give huge amount on organizing the campaign but to
sustain in the market it is one of the effective ways. It is the eye catching way which is
remembered by the guests for the long period of time. On the other hand, another advantage
is that it can also help in developing the competitive advantage in the SME (Wilken and
Goggin eds., 2013). This will require time in developing the campaign so around 2 years will
be enough to make the marketing campaign.
New Inn hotel is using the mobile technology in the organization but it is generally
using it for promotion as well as identifying the feedback of the customers. But due to the
increasing mobile technology demand and the enhancing technology, a mobile application
can be created in the name of the hotel (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010). This is the effective way
through which the hotel can make the employee connected with them. There are several apps
for the tourism but by creating the own application the customer can directly contact the site
and further with the application can book the room and see the services. The mobile
application objective can be accomplished in the 2020 which will help the hotel to gain the
customer market share. These are some of the social media developments which can be
developed by the New Inn hotel to make the strong presence in the hospitality industry and

the customers. Through the development of social media and the mobile technology, the
organization is required to remain flexible in their strategies. To become successful, it is
advised that social media marketing should be done positively as there most of the individual
on the social networking sites which can increase their customer base.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that with the development of the hospitality
industry, the marketing has also increased to grab the large customer share. In case of the
New Inn hotel it is performing well on the social media platform as it has its presence on
Facebook, Twitter and besides this, it has its own websites. On the other hand, mobile
technology is used by the hotel for taking the feedback of the guests as well as connecting
with them by giving offers etc. it can be articulated that marketing has become one of the
important component for competition, due to this reason it is advisable for the hotel to make
the marketing campaign to attract the customers and develop the mobile technology website
for the convenience of the individual.

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Online
Mobile Social Media Marketing in Tourism. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-05182-6_5#page->1[Accessed on
7th April, 2017].