Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism

With the rapid development of technology, the world has moved online! For the tourism and hospitality industries, this has been a complete game-changer. With traditional methods of marketing becoming obsolete, hotel and tourism establishments have to turn towards online marketing methods.

So how does marketing for hospitality and tourism work in the new digital age, and how can you reap the most out of it? Read on to find out.

The Buyer’s Journey of a Tourist

Before we jump to the kinds of marketing tactics and which ones are better suited for your business, it would be helpful to understand the different stages of tourists’ decision-making process.

A buyer's journey in general consists of three stages – awareness, consideration and decision. In the case of tourism and hospitality, these can be modified to the following:

• The pre-travel stage: Wishing, Planning and Reserving
• During-travel stage: Experiencing
• Post-travel stage: Feedback and Sharing

It all starts with an idea that arises through the internet or social interactions and transforms into the motivation to travel. Studies suggest that over 75% of people these days make their travel bookings online! This is why a great website, blog and social media presence are uber important.

During their travel experience, tourists not only search for information around them (restaurants, museums, activities etc.) but also contribute through vlogs, social media posts and comments on travel forums.

In the post-travel stage, travelers discuss their experiences with friends, family and online. Businesses and destinations that leave a positive impact are often rewarded with good reviews that fuel the process of receiving more tourism.

Identifying and deploying the right marketing tactics for each stage of the tourist’s journey is the name of the game!

Tools for Marketing in Hospitality and Tourism

Online marketing strategies can align perfectly with the specific needs of the hospitality and tourism sectors. Here are some of the channels you can use for marketing your hospitality and tourism business:

Search Engine Optimization

Although Search Engine Optimization (commonly known as SEO) takes more time than other digital marketing tactics, it promises long-lasting results. SEO also complements other inorganic marketing methodologies and in combination with one of those, it creates a lethal combo for marketing in hospitality and tourism.

While there are on-page, off-page, local and other SEO functions, the primary goal of all SEO endeavors is to help rank the website on top of the search engine results page. With a website and SEO tactics, you could get quality traffic that converts into paying customers on auto-pilot.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads

Much like SEO, PPC is another way to attract more high-quality traffic to your website. While SEO is time-intensive, PPC relies on the premise of paid advertisements, making it quicker.

As the name suggests, the pay-per-click model requires you to pay for results as they show up. Whenever someone clicks your advertisement to go on your website, you pay a fee to the search engine. While the cost of these ads varies on factors such as the keywords you select and the competition in your business niche, it is a cost-effective method of marketing in hospitality and tourism.

Social Media Marketing

With billions of daily active users, social media channels rank amongst the top ways to reach potential customers. When people scroll through their feeds, they get to see attractive travel content that can eventually inspire them to visit these destinations.

To be successful on social media, you have to go above and beyond the average business’s routine of sharing a few posts a week. Attractive posts designed with creative thinking, appealing graphics and catchy copywriting can get you great results, especially when used in conjecture with other marketing efforts. Besides this free method, you can also run paid advertisements on all social media channels to target audiences with specific demographics, regions and interests.

Email Marketing

E-mail marketing for hospitality and tourism is a great way to generate a positive brand image and stay fresh in the minds of your audiences.

Once you built a sizeable email list of travel and hospitality enthusiasts, you can begin to deploy email marketing strategies that convert cold leads into consumers. While nurturing these leads can feel like a daunting task, it pays off in the long run.

Deciding on the right blend of digital marketing methods for your hospitality and tourism business can be daunting. Hit and trial methods can often result in monetary losses, both with failed online endeavors and seasonal perishability.

At Sutra Digital, we help travel businesses hit the bull’s eye with their online growth. Click here to get a free consultation with our travel marketing team and set your business for success!