WEB MARKETING FOR TOURISM

In the article, I will define and analyze the objectives that a hotel must pursue and what are the four areas of tourism marketing! Read until the end!

Very often, when we talk about Web Marketing, we risk alluding to a concept that is ill-defined and unclear to non-experts. For this reason, I decided to examine and illustrate the strategic choice of digital as a means for hotel facilities to:

1. Enhance and promote their tourism products by communicating their value;
2. Intercept potential customers online and drive them to purchase;
3. Create a lasting relationship with customers — loyalty;
4. Improve and enrich online reputation in the main review aggregators;
5. Increase revenue.

Digital Marketing

As P. Kotler et al. state:

“To survive and thrive in the new millennium, hoteliers will have to tune into the frequencies of a new set of rules and their businesses will have to adapt to a web-based form of management. The Internet is revolutionizing the way you build relationships with customers and suppliers, the way you create value for the customer, and the way you make a profit in the process.”

In other words, these days, tourists’ needs and behaviors are constantly changing due to the latest technology applications. Being aware of new platforms, strategies, and channels to communicate with the market is increasingly important. For a hotel, digital marketing should not be considered as a cost to be incurred, but as a set of activities to improve its business and the value transmitted to its customers. The main objectives for a hotel are:

1. Achieve full occupancy;
2. Increase revenue;
3. Build a relationship with customers to retain them.

From this point of view, applying the strategic levers of tourism digital marketing is the right way to increase online visibility, increase the potential number of customers, increase turnover, and through a customer care service, build customer loyalty. In particular, online reputation is becoming increasingly important and is considered a very strong element that can change and influence the opinion of millions of people, making the structure attractive or not in the eyes of the market and consumers. According to Armando Travagli, tourism consultant, there are four fundamental areas of web marketing for tourism: Presence, Visibility, Reputation, and Revenue Management.

Tourism marketing pyramid

These areas are not designed as separate blocks from each other but are closely related:

1. Presence is a concept that must be the basis for developing a web strategy. In fact, it refers to all those aspects related to online presence such as the structure’s website and blog.
2. Visibility, which integrates within it the various initiatives to increase the online media reach of the structure and reach more customers. It includes actions such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEM (Search Engine Marketing), advertising campaigns (Google Adwords), and Social Media Marketing.
3. Reputation refers to the Brand image, values, and principles associated online. Managing and monitoring online reviews is one of the steps that facilities most underestimate because they are not considered important to them.
4. Revenue management, which is not specifically part of digital marketing, but is a key technique for creating a dynamic pricing structure, increasing revenue, and reducing costs for the facility.

Thanks for reading this article and I hope you learned something new about this exciting world of tourism!

Stay tuned for more articles on Digital Marketing for the tourism and hospitality industry

Lorenzo S.