Consider a Career in Online Hospitality Marketing

Author: stellarichard0 | Posted: 16.05.2012

As a professional in the travel industry, it is impossible not to notice the evolution that it is undergoing at this moment by integration of technology into its operations, communications and marketing functions. As a professional who wants to build a hospitality career, and believes that they have the required passion, zest and creativity to be a part of this dynamic industry, consider taking up the role as a online marketer in the hospitality industry.

Prospects in Online Hospitality Marketing

Often referred as the role of an e-commerce, e-business or web marketing professional, this segment is growing into a niche aspect of this industry. Even though it involves a lot of public relations management, revenue management and a little bit of IT, one must confuse these functions with each other. In simple terms, it is a dynamic balance between PR, Sales and traditional marketing, except that the platform used in this case is that of the World Wide Web.

Trends in Online Hospitality Marketing

A number of hotel chains around the world are now embracing the internet revolution to market their properties to a range of tech savvy travellers residing in all parts of the world. The integration of the World Wide Web into the hospitality sector has resulted in a tremendous growth for the business over the past few years. Especially in areas where the internet penetration among the population is as high as 50%, they have been able to see a definite rise in revenues by a good 10% on an annual basis. If the same statistics are confined to the top hotel brands of the world, the growth rate is as high as 20 – 30 %.

Channelling Your Marketing Spends

Hotels that have started channelling their marketing spends from physical media to online media are able to facilitate more books directly through website. Additionally, even if they are not in the position to provide online booking facilities, the information that they provide online has begun to play a crucially influencing factor for travellers to make their travel decisions.

Among the many benefits of shifting focus to catering to online customers is, the ability to create a new and sustainable revenue stream for your hospitality business, the power to influence guest booking behaviour, the definite benefit of cost and most importantly, the ability to respond quickly to customer queries. A number of early adopters and progressive hospitality business owners have experienced the value of hiring a full time internet marketing professional to handle this facet of engaging with online audiences and catering to their needs.

Internet Platforms to Consider

As a hotel or a member of the hospitality industry in general, there a number of platforms that one can resort to make one’s presence on the internet world. Online booking sites, hotel review websites, and social networking websites are a great way to get in touch with your target audience and communicate your promotions, offers, and even share photos, videos and other content.

As a marketing professional, you will be able to discover a range of innovative ways to appeal to your audience. For example, simply showing your presence on a wedding planning website can do wonders for your banquet, catering and destination wedding offerings. If you are up for the job, careers in hospitality marketing can open doors to a lot of innovation, learning and growth.

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