Digital Marketing Strategies and Practices in Hospitality Sector

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of digital marketing strategies employed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the hospitality industry, focusing on Maranton House Hotel and The Chester Hotel. It reviews relevant academic literature, compares the overall marketing functions and digital marketing practices of the selected firms, and offers recommendations for improvement. The analysis covers advertising, branding, social media marketing, and website optimization, highlighting the importance of digital tools and strategies in attracting and retaining customers in the competitive tourism and hospitality sector. The report emphasizes the use of social media, company websites, and other digital channels to enhance brand image, increase online bookings, and improve overall marketing performance. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study tools for students.

A Digital
Marketing
Strategy

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Review of the relevant academic literature pertaining to digital marketing in the tourism and
hospitality industries...............................................................................................................1
Comparative analysis of the overall marketing functions of the selected hospitality firms...3
Comparative analysis of digital marketing strategies and practices at the selected hospitality
business firms.........................................................................................................................5
Recommendations..................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Digital marketing refers to the action of completing marketing activities with the use of
internet and other digital technologies. Digital marketing has become an important element of the
overall marketing strategies of business firms because it provides the firm cost effective ways of
reaching international consumers. This report aims to understand the digital marketing landscape
in the hospitality industry by conducting critical analysis of two hospitality SME’s in context of
current digital marketing practices and strategies adopted at the organizations. The objective of
this report is to provide quality recommendations on the basis of comparative analysis.
Marketing is an important operation for the tourism and hospitality sector. This is because
attracting and retaining consumers in the highly competitive industry, establishments in this
sector have to adopt creative and unique marketing strategies. The digital marketing landscape in
case of the tourism and hospitality industry is consciously evolving because of high intensity of
co0mpetitive rivalry. Every type of enterprise in the tourism and hospitality industry utilizes
digital marketing practices and strategies to connect with consumers. This depicts that the usage
of digital marketing is commonplace is the tourism and hospitality industry because it supports
competitive progress of the firms.
The first SME hospitality firm selected for this report is Maranton House Hotel located in
Kensington London. This is family run small hospitality Boutique Hotel with garden square and
refurbished rooms. The facilities offered at the Maranton House Hotel include free high speed
internet, high chairs and metered parking. The second SME hospitality firms which will be
included in this report is The Chester Hotel which is situated near Victoria station. It is family
owned establishment which offers consumers hygienic accommodation services along with high
speed internet connection.
MAIN BODY
Review of the relevant academic literature pertaining to digital marketing in the tourism and
hospitality industries
According to the Tembi M. Tichaawa, 2021, tourism industry is one of the fastest
growing industry in this world the business in this industry is gaining advantage of advance and
modern technology. It is essential for the companies in tourism sector to focus on their current
trends and adopt strategies to meet their requirements. One of the major change which help
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tourism industry to grow well is digital technology where companies use digital ways to promote
their business and products to their customers. Digital tool like social media platforms such as
Instagram, Facebook and many others will help tourism industry to grow well because here
companies promote their products and services to aware their customers. Social media platforms
are having global reach which means if a hotel located in UK upload the pictures and
information about their hotel services on social media then customers at worldwide level can see
the information. On the others hand, face recognition digital technology will also help hotels to
analyse whether the customers who is arriving at hotel is their new customers or arrived earlier
too. This digital technology will further help the hotel to make their new customers more aware
about their served facilities and services. Hence, digital technology plays an important role in the
development of hospitality and tourism industry.
From the perspective of H.M. Moyeenudin, 2018, hospitality and tourism industry is one
of the most important industry which adopted best usage of digital technology in their companies
for growth. One of the biggest of use digital technology in tourism and hospitality industry is to
aware their customers through social media, advertising on google and many others. It also helps
hotels and resorts to communicate well with their customers and get to know their needs and
wants. With the help of e-mails and social media platforms customers can express their
experience while using any hospitality service. They also complaint on these platforms and
companies reply them and take actions to minimize their complaints. There are various kind of
ways by which a tourism customer can use digital technology like booking online tickets of
flights and hotels where they want to stay, collect information about the reviews and other
customer’s perception on particular hotel and many others. Comparing one tourism company's
services with another hotel's services is also done through digital technology like digital screens
and laptops.
Digital technology also used to analyse the customer’s perception and behaviour while
purchasing any hospitality services and facilities. For example, when customer's search for any
particular hotel through google and social media content then this will help hotels to get to know
that which platform is commonly used by customers to search about their hotel so that they will
advertise their products more on these platforms. Secondly, hotels also send their feedback form
to their customers through digital tools and ask them to fill and resend it to analyse which
particular service help them to satisfy more and which one is dissatisfying them. It is also seen
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that with the advanced software and new features to develop website, most of the hotels and
restaurants develop their official website in such a way which will look so attractive and
interesting for customers to go through to their websites and read the content to aware them self
about offered services.
There are various kind of digital tool which can be used to analyse traffic on website like
how many customers reached the website of a particular hotel and what source they used like
direct open the website through link or searching it on google. One of the example of such kind
of tools is SEMRush which is considered as one of the most effective tool to analyse the traffic.
This digital tool helps hotels to analyse how many new customers reach at their websites and the
performance of their competitors. Secondly, it also helps to analyse which keywords are used by
customers to search about particular services of their hotel. Hence, there are various kind of
digital tools to monitor the performance of particular hotel. Therefore, digital technology helps
tourism and hospitality industries to analyse customer’s behaviour as well to determine their
overall performance by monitoring well.
Comparative analysis of the overall marketing functions of the selected hospitality firms
The function of marketing activities in the hospitality sector is expansive because marketing
helps the hospitality firm differentiate itself from other competitors present in the highly
saturated industry (De Pelsmacker, Van Tilburg and Holthof, 2018). The overall functions of
marketing at Maranton House Hotel and hospitality Boutique Hotel are competitively analysed
below:
Advertising
This is the main and most recognized function of marketing because it is directly related
with the consumer. This function of marketing at hospitality firms is defined as the process of
bringing products, services or brands in the notice of the public eye specifically the target
consumer base in order to increase sale of the hospitality establishment (Kapoor and et. al., 2021)
(Lam and Law, 2019). In case of the first small and medium sized enterprise in the hospitality
industry Maranton House Hotel, this function is completed through digital marketing by using
digital media channels such as social media to advertise the brand name of the Hotel. The
positive impact of this marketing function at Maranton House Hotel is that it helps the company
create brand name in the London hospitality market in a cost effective manner. The negative
impact of using digital marketing for the advertisement function is that it reduces the viewership
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of the advertisement, This is because old age consumers who are not active on social media are
not able to see. Compared to this, The Chester Hotel utilizes official company website as a
platform for completing the adverting function of marketing. The company has created a multi-
lingual website which help the firm advertises its accommodation services to international as
well as domestic consumers. The positive impact of this function is that it increases the reach of
the company. The negative impact of this function on The Chester Hotel is that in order to
ensure that the consumer reach the website of the company, the firm has to engage in order
digital marketing practices.
Branding
In the current corporate environment building a suitable brand image is essential in order
to succeed in the hospitality industry. This is because branding helps attract loyal consumers and
create positive consumer perception the minds of the consumer which supports increase in
profitability of the company (Moro, Rita and Oliveira, 2018). Branding is defined as the process
of giving meaning to specific company by shaping consumer perception and developing a
specific image of the company in the public eye. Maranton House Hotel utilizes digital
marketing to create brand image of affordable boutique Hotel which is suitable for vacations.
The Hotel has emphasised on the official website that the building of the establishment has
classic Georgian architecture and provides historical ambiance to the consumer. There are also
pictures to evidence this claim on the website of the company. The positive impact of this type
of branding of the hospitality firm is that it will help the firm create historical perception in the
minds of the consumers and distinguish itself from other modern hotels to attract more
consumers (Myat, Sharkasi and Rajasekera, 2019). The negative impact of this marketing
function on the Maranton House Hotel is that while it helps the firm create a distinguished brand
image it also limits the consumer interested in staying at the hospitality firm. This is because
consumers who are seeking non-historical establishment for accommodation will avoid this
enterprise and this will give rival hospitality establishment advantage. In comparison to this the
approach of The Chester Hotel is heavily digitized. The firm has utilized this marketing function
to develop modern and affordable image of the hotel. In addition to this the focus of branding in
case of The Chester Hotel is not the building or physical atmosphere of the Hotel but the
lucrative position of the Hotel. The Chester Hotel is present on different social media sites such
as Instagram, Facebook, google Review, Pinterest and Twitter. These social media sites are
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utilized by The Chester Hotel to promote the lucrative location of the Hotel as it is located in
Westminster and crate brand image of affordable Hotel at one of the most visited areas of
London. The positive impact of this type of branding in case of The Chester Hotel is that it
helps the company showcase features of the establishment to large number of consumers and
influence them to consider the Hotel a suitable place for accommodation while visiting
Westminster. The negative impact of heavy usage of social media sites to promote the branding
of hospitality establishment is that fake negative reviews on social media platforms can be
planted and lead to consumer backlash (Pelet, Lick and Taieb, 2021). Social media backlash is
highs harmful for hospitality establishments and lead to decrease in overall sales of the company.
Comparative analysis of digital marketing strategies and practices at the selected hospitality
business firms
Different digital marketing and strategies are utilized by Hospitality firms to connect with
consumers on online channels and increase online bookings. Room bookings are the main source
of profitability of the company which means that digital marketing and consumers gained though
digital marketing efforts of the firm make important contribution to the overall profits gained by
the company. Comparative analysis of digital marketing strategies and practices used at The
Chester Hotel and Maranton House Hotel is completed below:
 Social media marketing: This digital marketing practice involves usage of social media
channels to interact with the consumes and direct them to making online bookings using
the company website.
In case of Maranton House Hotel, the company is not completely dependent on social
media for accomplishing digital marketing objectives and generating online leads. The company
is only present on Instagram as a part of its social media presence. The positive impact of this
treatment of social media marketing is that it matches with the specific branding of the Maranton
House Hotel. This is because the Maranton House Hotel is able to crate niche social media brad
image related to the historical and Georgian environmental aspects of the enterprise. This helps
the connect with the target audience who are interested in gaining accommodation at a Hotel
with Georgian and historical physical atmosphere. The negative impact of this type of limited
treatment of social media marketing is that the company is not able to enhance the brand
awareness of the company (Ramaj and Ukaj, 2017). This can significantly hurt the profitability
of the firm in holiday occasion.
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The utilization of social media marketing by The Chester Hotel is completely opposite.
This is because the company is present on every social media network. This includes the primary
social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. The company actively posts on
these social media channels to communicate with the consumers and make the consumers aware
of the offers and affordability provided by the Hotel in the posh area of Westminster, London.
The positive impact of such heavy usage of social media marketing by The Chester Hotel is that
it helps the firm interact with as nanny consumers as possible. This is beneficial for the firm as it
seeks to create a modern hotel brand image in the minds of the consumer and attract consumers
on the basis of its lucrative location. The heavy promotion using social media marketing helps
crate this brand perception and exploit the profitability opportunities provided by posh location
of the Hotel. The negative impact of this type of social media usage is that it introduces that
company to the that if cyber attacks ad cyber fraud. This type of attack on a small and medium
sized enterprise can cause huge damage to the reputation of already lesser known brand and can
also lead to complete closure of the establishment (Tsourgiannis and Valsamidis, 2019).
 Email marketing: This is a useful digital marketing practice for Hospitality firms as it
helps the company introduce the element of personalization in their marketing activities
and build strong relationship with consumers with the help of personalization. The
definition of email marketing is given as the act of spreading commercial messages and
information through mails. This is great way of sending personalized marketing messages
to individual consumers and influencing them to take positive action for the profit of the
company such as make a subscription or book a service (Wikhamn, Armbrecht and
Wikhamn, 2018).
In case of the Maranton House Hotels, the treatment given to this digital marketing practice is to
utile email marketing to contact with existing consumers and provide potential consumers a
channel for reaching the company. Maranton House Hotel has displayed its official email address
on the official website and social media page. The positive impact of such limited treatment
given to email marketing is that it helps the company reduce spending on email marketing an still
cultivate loyal consumer base through organic interaction. The negative impact of this type of
usage of email marketing is that it is not useful for aching continuous growth as it does not affect
lead generation.
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In opposition to the treatment of email marketing by Maranton House Hotels, The
Chester Hotel focuses on treatment email marketing as a way of reaching maximum number of
audience. This is done by sending emails on mass scale to different consumer segment in order
to gain positive response ad enhance sale of the company. The positive impact of this type of
email marketing is that the company is able to gain desired result in increase in online bookings
of the establishment by interacting with large number of consumers. The negative of this type of
treatment on email marketing is that it sending emails on massive scale can lead to commercial
emails being recorded as spam emails which lead to wastage of digital marketing efforts (Yang,
Min and Garza-Baker, 2019).
Recommendations
 The Chester Hotel and Maranton House Hotels need to invest in search engine
optimization. This is suitable digital marketing practices for small hospitality
organizations as it increases visibility of the firm on search engine pages.
 It is recommended that Maranton House Hotels invest in influencer marketing and
collaborate with influencers who post historical content to interact with audience
interested in historical buildings. This is because influencer marketing is able to affect
consumer perception and persuade them to take specific action.
 It is suggested for The Chester Hotel to increase digital security in order to gain
protection from digital fraud and cyber-attacks. This is justified recommendation as it
will increase security of the company and avoid frauds in digital marketing efforts of the
firm.
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CONCLUSION
From the above information it is concluded that digital technology plays an important role in
the development of hospitality and tourism industry because with the help of various digital tools
hotels and restaurants can analyse the behaviour of their customers, monitor the performance of
their employees and many others. Social media marketing is one of the most used digital
marketing which is used by hospitality industry. Hotels and restaurants upload the contents and
pictures of their hotels and available services on social media platforms such as Instagram,
Twitter and many others to aware customers at worldwide level because the reach of social
media of across the world. It is also concluded that hotels get to know about the experience of
their customers through digital tools because customers send them feedback and rate their ratings
as well as write comments. It is also concluded that digital technology also used to analyse the
performance of website of a hotel. SEMRush is one of the fastest growing digital tool to analyse
traffic on website and performance of competitors. It is also essential that hotels and restaurants
must compare their marketing functions and make changes in case any function did not help
them to aware and satisfy their targeted customers. Digital marketing strategies help a hospitality
and tourism company to grow well in their industry. It is essential for hotels and restaurants to
analyse their key trends in digitalization and make their hotels and their functioning more
familiar with digital technology to grow well. It is also essential for hotels and restaurants to
train their staff members well to operate digital tools so that they can minimize the mistakes and
become more familiar with available digital tools.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
De Pelsmacker, P., Van Tilburg, S. and Holthof, C., 2018. Digital marketing strategies, online
reviews and hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 72.
pp.47-55.
Kapoor and et. al., 2021. Effectiveness of Travel Social Media Influencers: A Case of Eco-
Friendly Hotels. Journal of Travel Research, p.00472875211019469.
Lam, C. and Law, R., 2019. Readiness of upscale and luxury-branded hotels for digital
transformation. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 79. pp.60-69.
Moro, S., Rita, P. and Oliveira, C., 2018. Factors influencing hotels’ online prices. Journal of
Hospitality Marketing & Management, 27(4). pp.443-464.
Myat, A. A., Sharkasi, N. and Rajasekera, J., 2019. Myanmar’s tourism: Sustainability of ICT to
support hotel sector for online booking and digital marketing. Benchmarking: An
International Journal.
Pelet, J. É., Lick, E. and Taieb, B., 2021. The internet of things in upscale hotels: its impact on
guests’ sensory experiences and behavior. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management.
Ramaj, B. and Ukaj, F., 2017. The Review of Theoretical Aspect of E-Marketing. International
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 11(4).
Tsourgiannis, L. and Valsamidis, S., 2019. Digital marketing in tourism: why Greek tourists use
digital marketing applications like Airbnb. International Journal of Culture, Tourism
and Hospitality Research.
Wikhamn, W., Armbrecht, J. and Wikhamn, B. R., 2018. Innovation in Swedish
hotels. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Yang, K., Min, J. H. and Garza-Baker, K., 2019. Post-stay email marketing implications for the
hotel industry: Role of email features, attitude, revisit intention and leisure involvement
level. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 25(4). pp.405-417.
Online
Digital marketing in hotel industry, 2018 [online]. available through
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325117493_Digital_marketing_in_hotel_in
dustry>
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Tourism Digital Marketing Tools and Views on Future Trends: A Systematic Review of
Literature, 2021 [online]. available through<
https://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_21_10_2_712-726.pdf>
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