Estudio del social media marketing en el sector hotelero

Abstract

This thesis aims to study the use and usefulness of social media marketing in the hotel industry. Three research objectives are defined, articulating the results we wish to achieve at the end of this thesis. Three complementary research methods are used to comply with the objectives—one for each thesis objective. The first objective is to “determine the importance and opportunities of social networks for achieving objectives in the hotel industry from hotel managers’ perspective”. To this end we use qualitative analysis by conducting interviews with hotels’ social media managers. The second objective is to “understand and analyse the current situation of social media use by hotels in the province of Cádiz”, for which we carried out a descriptive analysis using data from hotel industry social media. Finally, the third objective is to “study the usefulness or benefits that hotel social media offer guests”. A quantitative analysis was performed to this end based on a survey addressing hotel or hotel chain social media fans. The scope of research is social media marketing in the hotel industry. Innovation activities are very present both in tourism and the hotel industry. Worth highlighting is the technological development and emergence of the Internet as major advances—globally important sectors that are guaranteed to endure over time. Thus, the emergence of internet and e-commerce has transformed the way tourists plan, book and enjoy their experiences, thus opening up great marketing opportunities. These possibilities have been enhanced even further with the emergence of social media, which allows creating, editing and sharing content and will allow companies to interact with users more directly and interactively. In this scenario, there is a need to study these new marketing strategies in the hotel industry. Worth noting are the following results for each research objective obtained from empirical analysis. First, social media managers interviewed highlight the importance of social media in the hotel industry to engage and interact with users, so they consider it essential to set specific goals for this platform and carry out the corresponding strategies depending on the social media outlets in question. The major advantages are: hotel visibility, ease of access to information, interaction and excellent communication with the hotel. Second, Facebook and Twitter stand out as the main social networks in the hotel industry in the province of Cádiz. Facebook especially enjoys widespread use, allowing greater engagement or interaction of the user with the hotel and thus boosting its image and reputation. Despite being used by few hotels, the positive response of users to Instagram stands out. Thirdly, it has been contrasted that a better social networking experience for the hotel results in a boost to the advantages perceived by the user, and some of these benefits are also going to affect the user’s engagement.