Journal of Tourism & Hospitality
Open Access

Abstract

Determinants And Effects Of Applying Electronic Marketing In Alexandria Hotels: Current Status And Future Trends

Islam Salem, Osman Ahmed El-Said and Mohammad Nabil

Alexandria is an international tourist destination. Due to its limited natural attractions and growing regional competition, Alexandrian hotels? operators need to adopt and implement creative marketing tools. This study explores the current and future adoption and role of electronic marketing (E-marketing) strategies and e-distribution channels in Alexandrian hotels. Despite the exponential growth of E-marketing, little is still known about its application and effectiveness in Alexandrian hotels. This exploratory study aims to fill in this gap. Field study revealed that most e-marketing procedures have not been applied, application of Awareness/General-Policy-related procedures helps better apply procedures in other phases, and that 5-star hotels apply E-marketing partially better than 4-star hotels. Further managers? opinions and thoughts have been sought, concerning the overall context and perceived barriers of applying E-marketing, both current and future aspects. Finally, best E-marketing practices are identified, and a simplified strategy for developing an effective E-marketing mix is proposed