The New Era of Digital Marketing and Hotel Industry: Leela Case Study

This project presents a comprehensive case study analyzing the impact of digital marketing on the hotel industry, with a specific focus on Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts. The research begins with an abstract outlining the use of digital marketing by businesses to advertise their products and services, followed by a review of secondary data from books, journals, and magazines, and primary data collected through questionnaires distributed to Leela Hotel employees. The study explores the role of digital marketing components like social media, SEO, and websites, and their effects on customer engagement and revenue generation. The project aims to evaluate the current level of digital marketing in the hotel industry, assess its positive and negative impacts on Leela, analyze its influence on customers, and recommend best practices. The research methodology includes a detailed overview of the research type, design, approach, philosophy, data collection, and analysis methods. The findings highlight the significant impact of digital marketing on revenue, online bookings, and customer experience, emphasizing the need for a strategic and integrated approach. The study also identifies challenges and provides recommendations for optimizing digital marketing efforts in the hotel sector, including the importance of relevant content and prudent use of social media.

The new era of digital marketing and its impact to hotel
industry. Case study: Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts.
Proposal

ABSTRACT
Digital marketing is widely used by the business firms in order to advertise their products
and services. For comprehending significance of digital marketing in context of companies,
dissertation on digital marketing is done. In respect to this, the research is carried out on hotel
Leela which is well known hotel. In order to prepare dissertation on digital marketing large
amount of secondary data is reviewed. In respect to this information was taken from books,
journals and magazines. After that, sample of 20 people is taken in the research. This sample of
20 respondents was taken from the hotel Leela workforce. In order to conduct primary research
questionnaire is distributed among the respondents. While preparing a questionnaire each and
every aspect of digital-marketing is covered. By distributing questionnaire data is collected and
same is analyzed by applying statistical tools. In research, it has been seen that digital marketing
is widely used by the firms and play active role in their success. It is also identified that firm
needs to focus on all components of digital marketing in order to marketing efforts successful.
Hence, firms must craft their digital-marketing strategy in proper manner.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................4
1.1 Overview..........................................................................................................................4
1.3 Rationale of research .......................................................................................................6
1.4 Significance of research ..................................................................................................7
CHAPTER -3...................................................................................................................................8
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................8
3.1 Research introduction and overview................................................................................8
3.2 Research type....................................................................................................................8
3.3 Research design ...............................................................................................................9
3.4 Research approach............................................................................................................9
3.5 Research philosophy ......................................................................................................10
3.6 Data collection methods.................................................................................................11
3.7 Data analysis...................................................................................................................11
3.8 Validity and reliability....................................................................................................11
3.9 Ethical consideration......................................................................................................12
3.10 Limitation of study.......................................................................................................12
CHAPTER 5..................................................................................................................................25
DISCUSSION................................................................................................................................25
CHAPTER 6..................................................................................................................................31
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION.............................................................................31
Questionnaire........................................................................................................................33
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................35
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................37
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview
Background of research
Digital marketing refers to the marketing of goods and services by making use of digital
channels of communication like social media etc. With passage of time firms are shifting
attention from traditional media to digital media. In the research an attempt is made to
understand digital marketing and its impact on the hotel industry. For this purpose Hotel Leela is
taken in the research. In respect to this an attempt is made to understand the level of digital
marketing currently done by the mentioned hotel. In respect to this, information about the use of
social media by the Hotel Leela is collected. On that basis positive and negative impact of digital
marketing towards hotel Leela is identified. There are numerous positive impacts of the use of
digital marketing to the firms. By making use of social media companies can reach to large
number of people with single effort. Moreover, by making use of social media they can craft
their own marketing strategy. In this regard companies using social media take a service of
analytic companies. By using that service companies comes to know about the points on which
their product is often discussed among the people. In the research social media is analyzed
deeply as a part of digital marketing and apart from this SEO, and websites are also discussed to
some extent. But sometimes it has been observed that people often talk on irrelevant issues
related to the product. Hence, firms need to differentiate information's on the basis of relevancy
and irrelevancy of information. If collected information will be irrelevant and marketing strategy
will be formed on the basis of that information then it will not work out. Hence, it is necessary
for hotels to use social media in prudent manner.
Background of Hotel Leela
Hotel Leela is one of the well known hotels of India. It brings changes in its
advertisement campaign and in this regard it shift from traditional marketing techniques to
digital marketing. In this regard, it lay down special emphasis on the use of social networking
sites. In order to give boost to the social media campaign Hotel Leela develop its own website. In
digital marketing there is a term which is commonly known as search engine optimization. This
is an important component of the digital marketing under which relevant key words are
mentioned on the company web page. When anyone type anything on the Google search then the

degree to which there are relevant words in the web page company website will be shown in the
top of the search page. Hotel Leela top management gives a due importance to this factor and it
put relevant keywords on its website. Due to this reason, its marketing campaign got a huge
success in the market. In its website there is a communication management system that help
hotel in preparing customer profile which can be used at later stage for effective marketing of the
hotel products. In order to sharpen digital marketing campaign hotel re-deigned its HTML web
site and it has impressive UX along with booking integration facility. This website also has a
user friendly navigation that makes it easy for the customer to visit hotel web site. This website
also has a good database management system which is used for effective targeting of audience.
To same traffic monitoring and interactive features as well as modules are added. This is
providing lots of support to the Hotel Leela in its digital marketing campaign. Apart from this,
Hotel Leela also launches an interactive community portal which is also named as 'Live the
Leela'. It is platform where prospective guest comes to know about the appearance of the hotel
and services it provide to its guests. Through this hotel communicate its services to the guests.
Hence, it can be said that hotel Leela do lots of things in order to make its digital marketing
campaign better. It can be said that level of digital marketing is very high in case of hotel Leela.
There are lots of positive impacts of digital marketing campaign on the Hotel Leela. After
starting digital marketing campaign a large big positive change is observed in case of hotel
Leela. Due to use of search engine optimization in proper manner Hotel Leela get a number one
position at the search engine web page. After using digital marketing revenue from online
reservation is increased by 300%. In later year this sort of revenue increased by 100%. Booking
from website also increases by 35% and this reflects that share of websites in the firm revenue
get increased by good percentage. In future it becomes main segment of revenue for the Hotel
Leela. Users experience at the hotel website also gets improved because there are good user
interface in the website and user can find any information easily on the website. Good response
is observed from the people side on the live in Leela facility that is available on the firm website.
Through this facility people comes to know about the amenities that are provided by the hotel in
the room. This helps hotel Leela in converting prospective customer in to real customer. The
other point where hotel Leela gets advantage of live the Leela is that customer traffic on its
website increased by 300%. This 300% increase in customer traffic lead to same percentage
increase in the firm revenue.
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Aim:
The aim of this research is to evaluate the level of digital marketing taking place in hotel industry
currently and its drive for successful communication with its customers.
Objective:
To evaluate the level of digital marketing currently taking place in hotel
To measure the positive and negative impact of the digital marketing towards Leela group hotel
and resorts
To analyze the impact that digital marketing is having on the hotels customer.
To recommend best practices used in other hotels to the Leela group hotel and resorts.
Research questions
What is the level up to which Hotel Leela is using digital marketing for advertisement of its
products?
What is the positive and negative impact of social media on hotel Leela?
To what extent digital marketing is affecting hotel customers?
1.3 Rationale of research
Today digital marketing is an important issue for the firms that want to shift from the
traditional marketing strategies to modern marketing strategies. There are lots of pros and cons
of the digital marketing and due to this reason it becomes necessary to make prudent use of all
components of the digital marketing. The main problem that companies face with the use of
social media is that they used to advertise same advertising message on all Medias whether it is
television and social media etc. Due to this reason people visiting companies’ pages on social
media do not get something different and there become no meaning of the digital marketing
campaign. Hence, it becomes necessary to bring changes in the advertisement campaign as much
as possible. The other main problem with use of digital marketing is that firms often assumes
that there are large number of people as their followers and these all are firm customers. This
assumption is wrong because it is not necessary that person who is follower of the firm always
purchase products. Many companies use this factor as a parameter to measure success of their
digital marketing campaign. But it is wrong approach and instead of this firm can use lead and
other things as a parameter to measure company success in its digital marketing campaign. Due
to this reason digital marketing is taken as an important issue in the research.

1.4 Significance of research
The main significance of the research is that from the results of the research firms will
comes to know about the extent to which digital marketing and its components positively or
negatively affects the business. They will also come to know about the issues that firms normally
faced in the use of social media and its impact of the firm marketing of products. The results of
the research will also help other researchers in conducting their researches in proper manner. The
results of the research will also help companies in making prudent use of social media and other
components of the digital marketing.
Structure of report Introduction- This research is carried out on digital marketing and in this section of the
report components of the digital marketing like social media and SEO are discussed in
detail. In this part digital marketing practices of the hotel Leela is also discussed in detail. Literature review- Literature review on digital marketing is done in order to understand
past scenario. On that basis evaluation of literature this research is carried out by the
researcher. Research methodology- In this part of report, techniques for data analysis is identified.
This section provides guidance regarding execution of the research project. Data analysis- In this section of the report, data collected in primary research is analyzed
by using various tools and techniques. Discussion- In this section of the report analyzed data is discussed in detail in order to get
an overview of the research results. Conclusion and Recommendations- This is last part of research and in this on the basis
of discussion conclusion is drawn. On the basis of conclusion finally recommendation is
given in the report.
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CHAPTER -3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research introduction and overview
The research is carried out on the digital marketing and its impact on the hotel industry.
In order to understand digital marketing in proper manner components of digital marketing are
analyzed which include social media and search engine optimization etc. Every attempt is made
to perform research in proper manner. For conducting a research large amount of data is
collected by the researcher. In this regard primary and secondary data is collected by the
researcher. Primary data refers to the data that is collected for the first time. Whereas secondary
data refers to the data that is already prepared by someone and get published on any newspaper
and magazine etc (Kumar and Phrommathed, 2005). Both sources of information are necessary
for collection of primary and secondary data. Hence, equal emphasis is given on all these sources
of information. Literature review in the report is done on the basis secondary data. In order to
conduct research in proper manner appropriate research design is selected for the research.
Research design help in determining techniques that a researcher must used in order to conduct a
research. In order to conduct a primary research questionnaire is distributed among the
respondents or sample units.
3.2 Research type
In order to conduct a research large amount of data is required. Research is an extensive
field and substantial amount of information is required to conduct a research. In order to conduct
research two type of research is done one is primary research and secondary research. For
conducting a primary research primary data is collected (Neuman, 2005). On other hand, for
conducting a secondary research secondary data is collected by the researcher. Primary data
refers to the data that is collected by the researcher and never published on any books, journal
and magazine etc. on the other hand, there is a secondary data that refers to the facts and figures
that are already collected by someone and get published on books and magazines. There is a
great importance of both primary and secondary data. This is because researcher conducts a
research on current scenario (Odom, 2005). Both past and present are correlated to each other.
Hence, it is necessary to understand past. For this it is necessary to conduct a secondary data. In
secondary data information about past is collected and a broad understanding about past get

developed in the researcher. By analyzing past information and current scenario researcher
determine the direction in which they need to carry out research. The second importance of
secondary research is that on the basis of past information and direction in which researcher
wants to carry out research questionnaire can be draft easily. On the other hand, primary research
is done in proper manner by analyzing current figures. Hence, it can be said that in this way
research is done in proper manner.
3.3 Research design
For commencing a research a starting point is needed from which research will be started
by the researcher required (Marczyk, DeMatteo. and Festinger, 2005). Some times researcher
selects a research topic on which he has limited knowledge and information. Whereas, some
timed they select a research topic on which they have vast knowledge. In such a situation it is
necessary to use an appropriate tool for gathering information. Selection of right tool help in
collecting data is short time period and in accurate manner. Hence, it is necessary to conduct
research in proper manner. Research design refers to the way in which information can be
gathered for the research. There are three types of research designs namely exploratory,
descriptive and casual research design. Exploratory research design refers to the research design
that is used when researcher does not have any information or knowledge of research topics.
Whereas, descriptive research design refers to the research design that is used by the researcher
when he already have an information on the research topic but he wants to know more on the
research topic (Whitten, 2007). There are different techniques that are employed in the
descriptive and exploratory research design. In this research literature review is already done and
due to this reason broad understanding about the research topic is conducted. Hence, descriptive
research design is used for the research.
3.4 Research approach
An approach refers to the way in which anything is done or specific thing is performed.
Hence, it is necessary to conduct research in proper manner. Due to use of inappropriate
approach research can be carried out on wrong manner and it become impossible to achieve an
organization objective (Peffers and et.al, 2007). Research approach reflects the way in which
current research will be performed. In the research, there are two approaches namely deductive
and inductive. Deductive approach is an approach. Inductive approach indicates research that is
conducting in ascending order. In respect to this at initial stage first of all observation is done. By
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doing so, primary data is collected by the researcher. After doing a research hypothesis is created
in order to create a new theory. Way of research can be changed as per research requirements.
Means that on all researches single research method cannot be used by the researchers
(Clandinin, 2006). On the basis of research, data collected will be qualitative or quantitative in
nature. After collection of data, facts are analyzed and pattern is identified. This means that the
direction in which variable going is analyzed. On identification of trend hypothesis is prepared
and same is tested by applying research techniques. In testing of hypothesis it is identified that
hypothesis is correct or not in actual world. If hypothesis is correct then on that basis theory is
prepared in inductive approach. On the other hand there is a deductive approach and under this
approach process is inverse. In the deductive approach there is a theory that is related to the
research topic is identified and is validity is tested by formulating a hypothesis (Mackey and
Gass, 2015). Hence, practical application of theory is tested in the deductive approach.
Thereafter, data is collected and same is analyzed by applying various statistical tools. By
applying tools and techniques hypothesis is confirmed by the researcher. In order to conduct a
research in proper manner researcher needs to choose an appropriate research approach for
performing a research. In the research deductive approach will be applied because here practical
impact of digital marketing on the firm is analyzed by the researcher.
3.5 Research philosophy
The research philosophy gives guidance to the researcher regarding collection of the
specific data for conducting a research. There are two types of philosophy namely interpretative
or positivism philosophy. Selection of the specific research philosophy depends on the type of
data that need to be collected for conducting research in proper manner (Taylor, Bogdan and
DeVault, 2015). It is necessary for one to choose correct research philosophy in order to select
proper method for data collection. Positivism philosophy is used when researcher collect
scientific data for conducting a research. In other words, it can be said that this philosophy is
used when scientific project is carried out by the researcher. In such kind of researches facts and
figures are calculated by using many types of techniques. Interpretative philosophy is a
philosophy in which data is collected from easily accessed sources of information like
newspapers, books and journals etc. This philosophy is use d in the research when on normal
topic information is collected. In other words, it can be said that this philosophy is used in the

research that are non technical in nature. In the present study positivism philosophy is used
because research statistical tools are used for data analysis which is scientific in nature.
3.6 Data collection methods
There are many sources of data collection. These sources are classified in to primary and
secondary sources of information. In the primary sources of information observation technique is
used for data collection. Under this technique there is an individual who is known as observer.
That person observes real life situations and observes as well as evaluates sample units behavior.
On the basis of observation he collects a data and analyzes same in order to arrive at the
particular result. Apart from observation, distribution of questionnaire is another method that is
used for data collection (Brink, Van der Walt and Van Rensburg, 2006). In this there is a form in
which questions are mentioned. These questionnaires are distributed among the sample units.
Data is collected from the respondents and coding of same is done. In this way data is collected
in proper manner. In case of secondary source of information there are many sources from which
data is collected. These sources are books, journals, magazines and websites. In today era lots of
literature are available on internet on a specific topic. On these literature's facts and figures as
well as information related to the specific topic are available on internet. By using same
secondary research is conducted in proper manner. Hence, researcher can use all relevant data
collection methods in the research.
3.7 Data analysis
Data analysis is an important section of the research because in this part data is analyzed.
For analysis of data statistical tools are applied in the research. By applying statistical tools
researcher will be able to conduct research in proper manner (Gomm, 2008). Collected data will
be analyzed properly and proper results will be come from the research. The main benefit of
using statistical tools will be that collected data will be analyzed from various angels. As a result,
data will be analyzed in a legitimate manner.
3.8 Validity and reliability
For conducting a research in proper manner one needs to consider lots of factors. In order
to do a research in proper manner it is necessary to consider these factors in proper manner. If
these factors will be considered then research will produce reliable results. Validity and
reliability of the collected data are an important aspect of a research. Researchers need to make
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sure that data collected by them is valid and reliable in nature. They can do same by collecting
data from reliable sources. Validity state that collected information must be authentic in nature.
In order to collect reliable data researcher can gather data from multiple sources. If same data is
collected from all sources then it will be reliable in nature. Some times on specific variable
different facts and information are available on sources of information. As a result, it becomes
difficult to select fact from any source of information (Gastand Ledford, 2009). If wrong
information is taken for the research then wrong results will come in existence. Hence, it is
necessary to select information that is found same on all sources of information. In order to get
reliable results researcher needs to make sure that collected data collected is reliable and
authentic in nature.
3.9 Ethical consideration
On research business ethics are applied because on the basis of the results of these
researches many decisions are taken by the people. While conducting a research one must
comply with all ethical issues. Researcher needs to make sure that data is collected from the
reliable sources and it is authentic in nature. If same will not be done then research will produce
false results. Hence, those who will take decisions on the basis of research results will take
wrong actions (Cooper, Hedges and Valentine, 2009. Thus, it is ethical responsibility of the
researcher to make sure that data collected is hundred percent authentic in nature. It is also
ethical responsibility of the researcher to make sure that data related to the respondents is safe
and not accessible to unknown people. In respect to this researcher must adopt some safety
measures that will ensure that no one other then researcher is able to get access to the secret data.
3.10 Limitation of study
Like every research this study also has some limitations and one of these is sample size.
In this study, a sample of twenty respondents is taken. Due to this there is a high probability of
collection of inaccurate data. If response from 100 people is taken and same from 20 people is
taken. Then there will be large difference in people response. Hence, there is a high possibility of
collection of inaccurate data. In order to remove this limitation of research reliable sample units
are taken for the research (Ketchen and Bergh, 2006). This ensures that data collected from the
respondents is highly reliable in nature. Use of limited resources is second main limitation of the
research. In research due to lack of money small sample units are taken. This also affects other
aspects of the research. Hence, it can be said that limited availability of resources is one of the