Hospitality Business Social Media: Strategy Evaluation & Development

This case study critically evaluates the use of social media and mobile technology in hospitality businesses, focusing on Apex Hotels Ltd. The report analyzes the company's current social media strategy across platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, highlighting strengths and weaknesses in engaging customers and leveraging IT for tourism. It emphasizes the importance of social media marketing for brand reputation, cost-effectiveness, customer loyalty, SEO rankings, and website traffic. The study also explores the relationship between IT and tourism, underscoring the need for businesses to adapt to digital trends for improved customer experience and operational efficiency. Ultimately, the report aims to develop a new, detailed social media strategy for Apex Hotels to enhance their competitive advantage in the market.

Digital technology in
the Visitor Economy

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................3
Literature review....................................................................................................................3
Case Study Evaluation (Findings)........................................................................................11
Discussion.............................................................................................................................12
New Social Media Strategy..................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES:.............................................................................................................................15
Books and Journals:..............................................................................................................15
Online ..................................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
In today's business environment, hospitality industry is performing very well in the
market. It has a wide scope as it includes many types of business such as accommodation,
tourism, food and lodging, etc. Tourism is becoming one of the most successful business and
their success is depending on promotional strategy (Buhalis, 2019). Every business in hospitality
is now using social media as it is one of the best strategies of promotion of their business in the
market. In current environment, every person is connecting with social media and that's why
hospitality industry is focusing on social media strategy. Social media is the method of
promoting goods and services by direct connection with the people. It is helpful for identifying
and analysing the demands of consumers. Social media is providing many details about the
consumers tastes and preference (Gretzel and et.al., 2020). With the help of their search history
hospitality organisations can easily analyse their behaviour. In this context, Apex Hotels Ltd. is
the family owned business that started in 1996 in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket. They are providing a
wide range of hospitality services to the consumers. They are aiming to provide a signature
welcome to the customers so that they enjoy their experience. This report will be critically
analyse the social media strategy of company along with the suggested strategy so that they can
take competitive advantage.
MAIN BODY
TASK
Literature review
Social Media
According to The Importance Of Social Media Marketing, 2020, Social media is defined
as the use of social media and networking in order to promote the goods and services of
organisations. It is one of the most important and useful method for organisation as it assist
organisation to engage with the customers in order to understand their tastes and preferences.
This is crucial for organisation to understand the tastes and preferences of customers so that they
can produce those type of goods and services. After understanding the current trend in market, it
is found that it becomes important for organisations as they should know about the platforms of
social media market ring and also able to apply in their organisation. Social media is a helpful

tool which needs to used by every organisations. In hospitality industry, it is identified that
companies are using social media platform in order to invite people for enjoying the services.
Social media is one of the best way of communicating directly with the customers as it
removes all the mediators and company is able to directly contact with the customers. There are
many organisations which performing very well due to their social media marketing
(Alghizzawi, Salloum and Habes, 2018). It becomes the most widely used method for a company
in which they are using as a marketing tool. The reason behind this is every person is now
connecting with the social media as it becomes in important part of our life. That's why many
organisations are using social media platform in order to analyse the behaviour of customers.
Today's business environment gets very complex as well as dynamic, due to this company needs
to focus on their marketing strategy in which a marketers should understand the demand of
customers. For that purpose, it becomes one of the best tool from which marketers are able to
collect important information about their customers that helps in making a marketing strategy.
Day by day the competition is increasing and it becomes tough for company that how they can
retain their customers in the market (Chatzigeorgiou and Christou, 2019). For that purpose,
social media helps to attach with their customers and due to this company always trying to post
campaigns that helpful for retaining customers.
Apex Hotel Ltd. is the hospitality organisation which are providing services to the
customers such as room accommodation, food, lodging, etc. Day by day the competition is
increasing and that's why Apex Hotel Ltd. is formulating a digital marketing strategy in which
they give importance to social media marketing (Liu, Zhang and Yao, 2021). More discussion
about their strategy is mentioned below.
Current strategy that used by Apex Hotel Ltd.
Company needs to understand that social media marketing is becoming most essential
strategy for organisation as every customers is connecting with social media platforms
(Assimakopoulos and et.al., 2017). There are many social media platforms are using by
organisation such as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. It is identified that Apex
hotels has seven city hotels in UK. They are marketing their brand with the help of social media
platform. They are doing this with the help of post information about their brand on social media
post. They are currently using Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

 Twitter: It is found that Apex Hotels are began their journey of social media marketing
from Match 2009. They are latter in this game as there are many big competitors which
have already set their space in social media marketing. After joining the Twitter, if is
analysed that Apex Hotels has increasingly used Twitter as they were analysed that it is
the best source of engaging with customers. They are not just targeting customers but
also targeting other business so that they can take competitive advantage in the
competitive market. It is found that due to the use of Twitter, day by day they realised
that Twitters offers as a feedback channel which provide positive as well as negative
comments (Micu and et.al., 2017). It becomes very helpful for organisation to analyse the
that they can easily get to know the areas of improvement and their strengths. At that
time, they realised that social media is very helpful in order to analyse the point of views
of their customers towards their organisation. They are able to know the lacking areas
which they can be improved with the help of an making a right strategy. So it also
becomes the feedback tool from which they will get to know the customers' behaviour
towards their services. During that time, they tried to identify that what market accepts or
rejects so that they can modify their business activities like that.
 Facebook: In the same year, they are began their presence on Facebook. It is found that
in UK, Facebook is the most widely used social media platform so that's why they join
Facebook also. Apex Hotels found that it is the good way for engaging with guests. It is
also found that Apex get 3500 likes on their brand profile. The main purpose of their
presence on Facebook are maintaining a relationship with guests, attracting customers
through referrals, to keep people engaged with the company operations, etc.
 Instagram: Apex hotels are also currently using Instagram as it also becomes an
important social media marketing tool (Stoychev, 2020). In these days, it is found that
people are liking to watch reels on Instagram and that's why company is trying to show
their business operations.
It is found that Apex Hotels Ltd. is using social media marketing in order to promote
their goods and services. This is necessary for an organisation to focus on the social media
marketing so that they can achieve their target market. It is the best source of success and
growth.
Importance of Social Media marketing

In today's complex market, it is necessary for every organisation that they should
understand the importance of social media marketing (The Importance of Social Media
Marketing in 2021). It provides many benefits to the organisation which are discussed in below
points:
Brand's Reputation
This is one of the best way to increase the reputation of organisation in the market. With
the help of social media marketing, an organisation is able to increase the awareness of their
brand in the market (Vinerean, 2017). They are posting their organisations' campaigns which
helps in promoting of their brand. It will leads in achievement of goals and objectives.
Cost-Effective
Social media marketing is one of the most cost effective method of promotion. This helps
in doing an advertising in the market. Generally it is found that advertising is very costly for
organisations but in case of social media marketing, it incurs low cost as compared to
advertising. This is very helpful in order to accomplish return on investment. It reduce cost and
save money of organisation from which they can easily accumulate for other investments.
Improves Brand Loyalty
It is very obvious that social media marketing is effective for customers as they can easily
find company because of organisation presence on social media platform. It helps in improving
customer loyalty and customer retention (Yao and et.al., 2019). The main objective of
organisation is to develop a loyal customer base. It is identifying that social media is not just
useful for introducing products and services but also used for promotional campaigns. Generally
customers considers social media as a channel from which they can get information and
communicate with organisations.
Engaging Customers
Customer engagement plays a crucial role in the success and growth of an organisation.
With more and more customer engagement leads to increase in sales of company. This can be
better understand with the help of an example. For example, Apex Hotels is using social media
platform in order to invite people. Their Twitter page plays a crucial role as it provide vital
information to the consumer from which they get to know the services of company. Customers
also give feedback and analyse other people feedbacks so that they can understand the quality
services of organisation. In addition to this, Apex Hotels post their customers' post on their social

media platform, which shows that they give importance to their customers. It is really helpful in
engaging customers which leads to customers satisfaction.
Enhances SEO Rankings
SEO ranking plays a crucial role for organisations as their customers can easily find the
company if they have a good rating. In this case, social media presence is an essential factor. It
enhances SEO rankings which can be easily improve with the help of strong brand reputation on
social media.
Increases Traffic
One of the important benefits from social media marketing is to increase the website
traffic. Companies are sharing their content on social media which allows customers to click on
website for more information (Iankova and et.al., 2019). This is necessary for an organisation
that they should post quality content on their social media platform so that they are able to
increase traffic on website which leads in increasing growth and success opportunities.
The relationship between IT and tourism
According to The Strategic Role of Information Technology in Tourism: The Case of
Global Distribution Systems, 2017, It is analysed from the last two decades that every individual
is connected with digital era and they are using web technologies for the purpose of
communication. It is found that due to increase in information technology and web technologies
people are come closer as they are connected easily. It turned world into smaller place and it also
opens the possibility of engagement and relationship. It is necessary for companies to understand
the importance of IT for organisations. With the use of internet and information technology,
organisations can easily reshape their businesses (Tüzünkan, 2017). In the case of hospitality and
tourism business, IT becomes a lifeblood. It is necessary for travel and tourist industry as people
get connected with them easily. This is crucial for connecting the travellers, suppliers and travel
industry.
According to How Information Technology Has Affected the Tourism and Hospitality
Industry, 2018, This is very necessary for every organisation that they need to use technology in
the company as it helps in reducing costs, improving customers experience and services, and
enhancing operational efficiency. It is not just helpful for organisation but also for customers as
both of them are able to take take benefits from improved reservations, guest services systems,
and communication (Kumar and Kumar, 2020). It replace expensive labour by technological

labour. A main objective of any organisation is to satisfy their customers by providing best
customers experience. In this case, technology is helpful for reducing and avoiding the customers
issues (Pisa, 2018). This is the reason that Apex Hotels are focusing on improving the usage of
information technology in the organisation so that they are able to provide best customer
experiences. This will assists in achievement of goals and objectives. They can easily find out
their target customers and make strategy in order to attract and retain in the company.
Hospitality and future potential developments
According to The Digital Future of the Tourism & Hospitality Industry, 2018, day by day
digitalisation is increasing which shows that use of information technologies is becoming the
need or necessity of organisation. It is identified that digital technological and innovation are
engines of development as it gives impact on every sector and field such as ICT, manufacturing,
and other service sectors (Lai and et.al., 2018). Every person has a life in which they involve
both online and offline spaces. It is similar with tourism industry, as it involve both online and
offline presence. Digital become more important as it is becomes the necessity of organisation.
Digitalisation provide peer-to-peer communication to tourism. Due to digital revolution,
international development trends are now opened the ways of various solutions such as cloud
based bookings. It has more additional trends which are mentioned below:
Health and Hygiene
This is very crucial for Apex Hotels Ltd. to provide healthy and hygienic food items to
their customers so that they cannot face any health issues. After pandemic, it becomes more
important for Apex Hotels to provide hygienic services as compare to before pandemic. Due to
COVID-19, every individual is in a threat of diseases as it is highly communicable which can
easily transfer from one person to another person. For that purpose, this becomes vital for every
hotel, restaurant, and other accommodation service organisation to provide safe and hygienic
services. This can be done with the help of taking care of all health and safety rules. It includes
providing hygienic food and sanitised rooms for accommodation purpose, etc. It becomes
important trend in today's environment as customer give a main focus on quality of products and
services.
Sustainability
It becomes very necessary to run a business successful in the market. Apex Hotels are
doing very well in sustainability as they are regularly perform CSR policy. They are committed

that they always being sustainable and responsible. That's why Apex Hotels have a extreme
passion about protecting and caring for environments and local communities. They know that it
is not just the responsibility but also a moral duty as they use natural resources which are the
important part of our society (Leung, Bai and Erdem, 2017). For that purpose, they are doing a
good efforts for employee well-being, charities, community, environment, etc. This is the current
trend from which customers get easily influence due to the activities of organisation. So it also
assists in attracting more and more customers.
Digitalisation
This is the another trend in which organisations are using digital tools and techniques for
their development. It is an important trend which need to discuss and analysed by organisation
that how they can take competitive advantage with the help of digitalisation. From the last
decade, it is analysed that hospitality industry has understanding the importance of digitalisation
and that's why every organisation under this industry gives a main focus on use of digital tools
and techniques (Buhalis and et.al., 2019). With the help of digital marketing, Apex Hotels are
able to engage more and more customers in their company. They also improve customer loyalty
and customer retention. It helps in analysing the behaviour of their customers by tracking their
researcher which assist them to satisfy their needs and wants. In comparison with traditional
marketing, it is identified that digitalisation is more effective and useful for organisation. But it
does not meaning that company should not use traditional marketing methods. They need to use
both methods in order to make their business successful. Digitalisation in tourism becomes very
important as now people are booked their accommodation services before going on vacations.
Steps for Using Social Media Marketing by hotels
According to, it is necessary for hotels that they should choose the right path or steps for
using social media marketing (Parvez and et.al., 2018). It helps an organisation to achieve their
target market. With following the right steps a organisation is able to accomplish their goals and
objectives. Some of the steps are mentioned below that should be followed by hospitality
industry:
Identify your goals
In today's business environment, every organisation has a social media presence but still
they are not able to attract customers towards their organisational products and services. The
reason behind this is lack of clear goals and objectives. This is necessary for an organisation that

they should clear the goals and objectives of social media marketing so that they can work
accordingly (Halawani, Soh and Muthaiyah, 2019). Three important goals of social media
marketing are increasing the brand awareness, sell products and services, and drive traffic of
company's website. Apex Hotels Ltd. should clear out the goals of their social media marketing
and after that they have to take further steps.
Choose the best platforms
After setting of goals and objectives an organisation need to choose the platform(s) in
order to make the social media presence. In 2021, there are number of social media platforms
available in the market such as Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. These are
the most widely used platforms by organisations and customers. Currently Apex Hotels Ltd. is
using all these social media platforms. These platforms are able to understand the audience's
demographics.
Create a schedule
It is necessary for an organisation to create a social media calender in which they need to
include all the content which will publish. It helps to encourage consistency which is very
effective for organisation as they can attract more and more customers. In addition to this, time is
very crucial for publishing content on social media. So hotels need to consider time for posting
their content on social media platform (Mothersbaugh and et.al., 2020). Creating a schedule
helps to remember organisations at what time they have to post their content.
Engage with audience
In this step, hotels need to engage with their customers as it assists in promote their brand
in the market. It is found that customers are using social media more than any other
communication tools. So the company has an opportunity to communicate directly with their
customers. This will leads to make the relationships better and create customer loyalty towards
organisation. Due to these activities, customer cannot attract toward other organisations as they
feel that they get importance from organisation. This can be done with the help of launching
programs which make sure the participation of customers.
Track the right metrics
This is the most important step for hotels as they need to track their progress which
assists them to analyse their position in the market. In this case, hotels need to use some

analytical tools or metrics such as clicks, reach and impressions, number of posts, etc. This will
assists in identifying their progress that they are going in a right direction.
Adapt, learn and grow
One thing that should be consider by hotels while they are doing social media marketing
is keep updated towards new trends. By tracking metrics, it helps in guiding that what they need
to adapt for their growth and success.
Case Study Evaluation (Findings)
From the above discussion, some following points found by Apex hotels which assists
them towards growth and success. All important findings are mentioned below:
 It is found that UK is the 10th biggest tourism destination which shows the success rate of
hospitality or tourism business. It is also found that tourism plays an important role in
contribution towards GDP. They also provide many opportunities which helps in
economic development such as employment. The reason behind the success and growth
of tourism sector is the contribution of hotels, restaurants, and other services which are
provided by organisations.
 Hospitality industry is found to be very dynamic and that's why it becomes crucial for
organisations under this sector to identify and analyse the market in order to run their
business (Prasad and Saigal, 2019). It comes in service sector and that's why customer
satisfaction plays a major role in the success and growth of hotels.
 There is an uncertain impact of Brexit on hospitality sector which is affecting the
investment environment of organisations. This gives an impact on hotels as they have to
take decision regarding investments.
 It is also found that digitalisation is increasing at a very high rate and that's why every
organisation under hospitality sector must use digital methods. In this case, the use social
media is increasing as all people are connected with the social media and that becomes an
opportunity for hotels to communicate directly with their customers. Due to
digitalisation, the communication between customers and organisation is become easier
as compare to before digitalisation period.
 Social media marketing is becoming the most common methodology which is easy to use
in the company. This is necessary for organisation to understand the importance of social
media marketing as it is the best marketing tool for companies (Arora and Sanni, 2019).

It provides many benefits to the company as well as customers. Organisation can easily
increase heir brand awareness in the market. Customers can easily found the company
with the use of social media marketing. Company can directly communicate with the
customers.
 It is also found from above discussion that company needs to sue all the steps of social
media marketing effectively as they can achieve their goals and objectives. Apex Hotels
Ltd. Is already use many social media platform but still it is necessary for them that they
should understand the right way of using social media platform.
Discussion
In toady's competitive world, it becomes important for organisations that they should us
social media marketing as it is very helpful for taking a competitive advantage. The main
purpose of social media marketing is to get contact wit customers directly. It is identified in other
advertising and promotional tools that a company is not able to directly connect with the
customers and because of that they are unable to understand customers tastes and preferences.
This will leads on product failure, marketing strategy failures, etc. as they are unable to match
with the needs and wants of customers (Adeola, Hinson and Evans, 2020). Apex Hotels Ltd. is
run their business in many cities of UK and they get success and growth due to the use of social
media as they are very effective in order to promote their services. Apex Hotels Ltd. identified
that customers are becoming very demanding and that's why every customers is like to analyse
the quality of services that provided by organisations. For example, if a person wants to go on a
vacation for three to four days. Then he/she try to check the online website of every hotel so that
they get select the best one in which they will be able to take best customer experiences. Due to
this, Apex hotels Ltd. is focusing on make their strong social media image which can be easily
found by customers. It is necessary for them to make their social media profile effective which is
able to attract customers in the company. That's why Apex Hotels Ltd. is using many social
media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. They get inspired due to big other
brand and market trends. With the help of understanding social media usage, company is able to
take many benefits such as improving brand image, increase customer loyalty, attract more and
more customers, engage with audience, etc. These are very necessary for the success and growth
of company. Due to market trends, it becomes the essential factor which need to consider in an
effective way.