The Role of Digital Marketing in Tourism Businesses: An Empirical Investigation in Greece

Abstract

For the tourism industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as an accelerator towards the 4th industrial revolution by creating new and innovative solutions, which have transformed management, finance, planning and opened new avenues for the introduction of innovative sales and marketing technologies. As the tourism industry in Greece faces significant challenges and opportunities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, additional needs have arisen for tourism businesses, as confirmed in this research, to adapt faster to digital operations and strengthen digital marketing through multi-channel distribution and use of digital assistants. This study aims to investigate the use of digital marketing tools by tourism companies as well as the overall satisfaction of the companies with its use and the areas of impact of digital marketing from the COVID-19 pandemic, and then to highlight all those features that stand out from those of their competitors, as well as the creation of an appropriate marketing strategy that will ensure the flow of new customers and increased revenue. To meet this purpose, an empirical survey was conducted in tourism companies in order to provide answers to research questions. As tourism businesses have not yet made sufficient use of digital media as a strategic marketing tool, this research is the basis for further research into the use of technology and digital tools to reach customers and create a more personalized experience for them.

Digital Marketing Strategies and Performance of Tour Operators Supply Chain in the Tourism Industry

“…Increased use of websites for smartphones and other mobile devices leads, to more frequent contact between the brands and consumers where interactions happen anytime, and anywhere (Kumar & Mittal, 2020). Velentza and Metaxas (2023) stated that the website should have a map with the location of the business and, a company profile on Google, compatible with all desktop and mobile devices. Creating a website with eye-catching designs, high-quality images, infographics, videos, act accommodation listings, travel guides, and informative content helps to attract visitors and keep their attention (Obednikovska et al, 2019).…”

“…This study used the theoretical and empirical literature review to develop a conceptual framework. The independent variable digital marketing was measured using indicators of online advertisement through the website, social media marketing, and creative content marketing to increase international tourist arrivals (Armutcu et al, 2023;Mkwizu, 2019;Nguyen & Yang, 2016;Velentza & Metaxas, 2023). The dependent variable performance was measured by profitability, an increase in sales, and ROA.…”

“…The findings in Figure 5.4 also revealed that paid advertising for web visibility has a moderate rating (x 2.8), suggesting that promoting the website by increasing its visibility in search engine results pages ( E P ) through paid advertising is not very high effective as some tour operators don't use this strategy. The use of AI driven predictive analytics to influence visitors' decision-making and personalized experiences is low ((x 0.5), implying that AI is not perceived by responded as one of the very effective elements of digital marketing strategies, which could be due to In the tourism market, the new digital environment and the use of social media show that tour operators must adopt new approaches and establish new marketing strategies such as integrating AI in digital marketing strategies (Efendioğlu, 2023;Khatri, 2021;Velentza & Metaxas, 2023) Figure 3: Applications of Marketing Strategies Tools by Tour Operators…”

“…Pabel and Prideaux, (2016) added that online reviews in virtual communities provide consumer and travel partners with a global platform with rich consumer content, price comparison tools, online reservations, and related services for destinations, and experience based on the scores of those who previously visited a particular destination. The performance of tour operators can be affected by destination marketing using various digital marketing tools to attract customers (Velentza & Metaxas, 2023;Zaidan, 2017). In addition, quality and user-friendly accessibility of online information influence tourists' level of satisfaction, and the digital marketing interaction channels positively affect their repeat visits (Armutcu et al, 2023).…”

An Empirical Analysis of Factors Motivating Unemployed Individuals to Engage in Digital Entrepreneurship in Oman: Focus on Technological Infrastructure

“…Digital entrepreneurship that uses digital media as a strategic marketing tool is the basis for the further expansion of the use of technology and digital tools to reach customers and create a more acceptable experience for them, which leads to the success of digital entrepreneurship [14,[17][18][19][20].…”