E-Tourism Case Study Report

This report is a case study analyzing the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), specifically social media and mobile technology, on the Charlotte Street Hotel, a small-medium sized enterprise (SME) in London. The report begins with a literature review examining the influence of ICT on the hospitality industry, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges faced by SMEs in adopting new technologies. A detailed case study of the Charlotte Street Hotel follows, evaluating its social media presence on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, using a scoring system to assess the effectiveness of its strategy. The report then proposes a new social media strategy for the hotel, suggesting improvements to its online presence and engagement with customers. The discussion section compares the hotel's current practices with findings from the literature review, emphasizing the importance of mobile optimization and a comprehensive social media approach. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and reiterates the significance of ICT for SMEs in the hospitality sector, particularly in enhancing customer relationships and increasing profitability.

Emma Alexandra Circeag
E-Tourism
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Literature review..............................................................................................................................3
Case study........................................................................................................................................8
New social media strategy.............................................................................................................12
Discussion .....................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................16
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INTRODUCTION
E-tourism refer to the research, design, application of IT and implementation of E-
commerce solution in travel and tourism industry. It is an application of information and
communication technologies in both; tourism and hospitality sectors The present study is based
on Charlotte street hotel which is located in London (Charlotte street hotel, 2017). It is a small-
medium sized company which has 52 rooms and its features are like own cinema rooms, 24
room hour services, etc. Further, it has an online presence on social networking sites.
Information and communication technology (ICT) plays a great role in the development of
hospitality industry. Main purpose of study is to understand the way in which ICT influenced the
Charlotte street hotel which is operating its operates its business. ICT have a some positive
impact on Charlotte hotel that is it can company can easily communicate with its potential
customer and makes strong relation with them for, longer period Further, it also provides an
effective platform to engage in markets. In the present report, discussion is done on the
effectiveness of ICT on Charlotte hotel and the way in which business can use social media
marketing strategy for expanding its business online. There are many new and advanced
technologies which create opportunities and challenges for the firm. There is the new technology
which is having a great advantage to the hotel that is social media that provides the ability to
Charlotte hotel to see that from where their customer are coming, their interests as well as it is
the best way to target customers at a large scale. In the present report, a literature review has
been done on various topics related to ICT. Further, a case study is analyzed deeply so that major
issue can be assessed which SME is facing at the time of using ICT. Apart from that, discussion
and conclusion have been done on the basis of case study
LITERATURE REVIEW
ICT and hospitality focus on development
According to the Frew A. (2004) nowadays, there is many new technology which is
intangible and advances as compared to the previous generation technology. Further, websites
and smartphone apps are the new waves of technological advancement because it allows users to
directly visit the website of hotel and book tickets with online payment system. Further new
technology allow to book tickets in advance and cancel it though online website by sitting at
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home Charlotte hotel has its own website through which its customers can easily book the rooms.
On website, customers can easily see the price of different types of rooms such as luxury and
simple room. Along with this, they can also see various discount offers which is available on
firm’s websites. As per the views of Fesenmaier, Werthner and Wober (2006)ICT has a great
impact on the sale and profits of hotel. It makes easier for customers to book tickets online by
sitting at home. Information and communication technology is important and it impacts on
travelers, knowledge, behavior and their attitudes New technology is developed which easy for
company for operating its business online. A new application of company which can easily be
downloaded on mobile helps in getting notification of offers which hotel provides to its
customers. Along with this, new advanced technology helps the firm to easily get connected with
people in all over the world. Internet is the largest computer network in the world which supports
delivering information form one place to another Frew (2005) said that there is the massive
impact of internet on business process. Further, search engine optimization is the process of
editing content on websites for attracting more visitors. Social media sites and mobile application
which provide users with the possibility of content creation, liking and sharing. There are many
social networking sites which help company in increasing awareness of customers regarding
their services and products. There are many advantages of ICT on small business that is it serve
the small business in many ways by means of transaction. Internet is a marketplace which bring
buyer and seller together for conducting sales. Further it is the best communication medium,
which help in connecting with people easily and fact way for interacting with customer, other
business and suppliers. Through website company can easily take feedback from its customer
and also make improvement according to the changes. It reduce customer travel cost because
customer can easily use mobile phone and internet and websites and other ICT technology. There
are many small-medium enterprises who used online marketing for their accounting function.
ICT influencing SME and factor hindering SME from adopting ICT
According to the view Buhalis (2003) there are some factors which influence small
medium enterprises like online reservation system which have positive impacts of ICT. There
are many small-medium sized firms which provide online reservation facility to customers
through its official websites. In addition to this, online reservation capabilities provide cost
saving opportunity for business in the hospitality industry because it not need to hire employee
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and not need to pay them salary.. There are many SMEs who adopted different components of
ICT, that is, social media advertising, online booking, online customer services, etc (booking,
2017). Buhalis, D. (2003). argued that there are some hospitality companies which have
effectively included ICT for making its competitive advantage so ICT offers various
opportunities to SME' organization. The competition level among SMEs is high which also
influence the adoption of Financial condition of hotel. So, this high level of competition
promotes to use ICT based technologies for attracting customers and for increasing the efficiency
of its operations.
There are some barriers which hinder SMEs from adopting ICT like high cost of
investment. There are many new ICT technologies cost of which is high and so, small medium
sized companies cannot adopt the same (Rouse, 2017). There is the issue of lack of resources as
well which affect the inclination of a small hotel to adopt costly ICT. Along with this, risky
nature of investing in new technology promote small and medium hotel to wait until the
technology price move down before investing in it. Another factor is the size of hotel which can
become a barrier in adopting ICT. Further, there is lack of highly skilled employees which is also
a barrier in adopting new technology by company. Apart from that, there is lack of knowledge
among employees which become a major challenge in the adoption of ICT. As per view of
Wikipedia (2010) there are many difficulties which are faced by small business at the time of
using new technology. These difficulties are mainly related with structure of company and it
surrounding environment. Small business not have much knowledge of internet technology and
not much experience of this technology.
New technology for SME hospitality companies
According to the view of Susskind, Bonn and Dev (2003)there are many small-medium
size companies which can easily develop it business by adopting new technology. Mobile
technology is one of the best technology small business company can easily adopt for expanding
it business. On android phone new company application made which help the consumer in
booking an online ticket and for contacting to customer services for any inquiry. Along with this,
creating company websites is also the best way for the company in getting success. It is so on
hotel website customer can easily see images of hotel rooms and get full detailed information
related to product and services which are offering by a hotel to its customer. O’Reilly,
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(2005).explained that mobile technology had paid off in terms of better customer services and
product. Further, company can use social networking site so that people can get aware of their
products and services. Company can create Facebook page on which it can share information
and images related to its technology. On this page there are large number of customer visit who
are interested in visiting their hotel. This page can be shared by visitors with family and friends
so that they can also come to know about hotel services. In a reservation system company show
on its websites which room are reserved and which room are available for the consumer. It is
done through electronic distribution system which hold on availability and costing of all room.
Further ICT is linked with central reservation office and property management system used by
small hotel for providing room availability information and facilitate central room inventory
control. As per view of Barwise, Elberse and Hammond, (2006) there are many small-medium
hospitality company who are using database management system which is a software used by
firm for creating and managing database. It provides user a systematic way to create, manage
and update data. All the data can be easily stored in database management system securely and
safely which can be used in future for any purpose. Along with this information management
system is also used by firm for storing detailed information of its customer and employee.
Mobile technology and its influence to hospitality small-medium business
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According to the view of O’Reilly (2005) in mobile there are many features that are
WiFi, Bluetooth etc. this mobile computing allow people to use IT without being tied to single
location. There mobile marketing help in living in touch with different people on one time. The
advertiser at the time of sending message to target audience also look forward for their message.
Mobile technology are emerging and become a growth engine for the small and medium
enterprises. By adopting ,mobile strategy revenue of company increase tow times. There are
various function available on mobile which help small company in staying connected with them.
On mobile person can easily develop company website which help consumer in book the ticket
easily anytime from any place only there is required internet facility. It help to increase sale of
company and on mobile customer regularly get notification related to products and services
which firm is providing for specific period. SME which are leader in mobile adoption technology
are providing better flexibility for connecting with people. There are more then half of UK
population are using smartphone. SME can easily generate revenue from mobile apps. It help in
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improving services which are offering to customer. Along with this it allows customer to pay for
services through app without having go to the till. It help in creating new customer account and
for checking price and availability of services.
CASE STUDY
Charlotte street hotel is small-medium enterprises which is located in London. In this
hotel there are 52 rooms and only 240 employees. Its interior design to reflect a contemporary
London and it is rated for the best value in London. Further it has been welcoming booking.com
from 1 july 2012. Charlotte street hotel website is www.firmdalehotels.com. It also have online
presence on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. There are many new technology which is used by
Charlotte street hotel for increasing its sale and profit. There are many social networking sited
which company used to promoted its products and services and sale it online. There is a great
usage of Facebook and twitter because it serves a platform to the business social media plans.
Along with this Charlotte street hotel can create a Google+ business page which help in
maintaining active presences on Google+. There is a great power of visual social media because
evry firm brand needs its own visual story Facebook help Charlotte street hotel in reaching a
100 million users within a three years while Instagram take only 10 days for attracting 10 million
users. There are many users of this firm who are using online website for booking a tickets and
also for seeing the review of company Buhalis, (2004) . The most common use of social media is
to across all three business categories that is for rating on review, for inviting online comment.
Further it also use for two way communication with customer and clients. At a Charlotte street
hotel is responsible for the social media presence. The profile pictures on Facebook page of
company is the first thing which company see on Facebook. Image people see which is posted
on Facebook page and then comment on post. For positive comment company need to post
image of high quality. There are much hospitality company who are rely on good review and on
work of mouth from its royal customer. The use of social networking site nowadays become very
important for the business Buhalis and Zoge, (2007).. The Charlotte street hotel cannot ignore
the use of social networking site for promoting its services and products. There are some social
networking platform that are Twitter, Facebook and Instagram which is evolved strictly from
peer to peer communication channel which allow Charlotte street hotel to effectively engage
with its clients.
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Facebook evaluation
Profile
Cover photo 4/5 The cover picture of Charlotte street hotel is of high quality
and show its interior look (Facebook, 2017)
Facebook URL 5/5 The Facebook URL include Hotel name which make easier
for user to search this page. As company image is clearly
show on the facbook profile which can attract more customer
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Charlotte-Street-Hotel/
119362034776701
About section 3/5 There is so much information contain on its Facebook page
and full detail of hotel is provided which include address of
hotel contact number.
Twitter evaluation
Profile
Cover photo 2/5 There is no cover picture of Charlotte street hotel on profile
image (Twitter, 2016).
Twiiter URL 3/5 The Twitter URL include Hotel name which make easier for
user to search this page.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Firmdale_Hotels/status/
671311177797001216. On link of Twitter there is no name
of Charlotte hotel which make difficult for the customer to
search on twitter
About section 1/5 There is not much information contain related to Charlotte
hotel on twitter only few images with hashtag is uploaded
on twitter.
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Facebook cover page of Charlotte street hotel
Twitter cover page of Charlotte street hotel
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Use of Instagram by Charlotte street hotel
Instagram and hospitality industry is perfect pair because photos and videos posted on
Instagram is used for grabbing a attention of customer. There are many social networking
activity which is shifted to mobile devices and Instagram is among of them. This Instagram is
designed for the android mobile device because there are more then 90% user use mobile
nowadays. This Instagram is a combination of two powerful aspects of social media that is
sharing and imagery Gretzel and Fesenmaier, (2003). There are more than 10 million user of
Instagram so it is very effective for Charlotte street hotel for attracting a new customer. At
Instagram brand boost their property with images and videos to lure past guest back and
encourage potential guest. There are more then 30.8% brand on Instagram. Great photos grab
attention and inspire people to visit that hotel.
On the other hand twitter is cluttered and hard to heard while facebook shut out most organic
post. Among all social networking sites Instagram is best because it offer simple, without link
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and clean feed. There are more followers on Instagram as compared to Facebook and twitter.
Charlotte company can take photos and videos which capture attention and on the post it can
write some visual story which reflect overall brand story.
Furthermore if any customer want to book tickets for the Charlotte street hotel then it can easily
book tickets through booking.com and hotel.com. It shows that online presence of Charlotte
street hotel is very high.
NEW SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
Charlotte street hotel can use different social media strategy for creating an awareness of
brand in people. The organization can use Facebook for increasing a sale and for earning profit.
Facebook is appropriate and suitable platform for expanding business because on Facebook page
company can post videos and images and write about its hotel SITA (2006). Further it can share
with other and replied the comment which is marked by customer on post. So this platform is
best for Charlotte street hotel for adverting, creating awareness, increasing sale and profitability.
Charlotte street hotel can create a page on Facebook by uploading a attractive images of its hotel
which can easily grab attention of customer. Along with this Facebook also allow to establish
relationship with customers Marcussen (2009). It allows taking feedback from customer and
reply on their query. This social media also provide opportunity for establishing a hotel in
market. There are some social media objective for the hotels such as
 Facebook profile
 User generated content channels
 Twitter profile flicker photo profile
 You tube video channel.
Charlotte street hotel can use this channel without taking help from external and further
they can link channel with a websites. Company can make strong relation with its customer by
repying on their query and feedback. Further company can monitor the review being posted once
a day and it need to respond each and every comment which help in turning negative review to
positive Susskind, Bonn and Dev (2003).. Apart from that, crowd source some content which
provide a user to share it valuable moment which customer spend at their hotel. When any
customer share their post on Charlotte street hotel page then it creates a value of hotel and it
helps in retaining potential customer for longer period. Company can provide detailed
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