The possibilities of smarketing in accommodation business
Tran, Thu Ha (2019)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019112522515
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019112522515
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of the research was to explore the current state of the Sales and Marketing department in hotels in the era of digitalization while at the same time evaluating the possibilities of Smarketing in the accommodation business.
In the theoretical part of the study, the main purpose was to discover how hotels organize Sales and Marketing and the possibilities of Smarketing. Previous studies have indicated that despite the supporting environment of advanced technologies, the collaboration of Sales and Marketing has not been optimized. Empirical data for this study were collected from nine semi-structured interviews with different Sales and Marketing members from five different hotels. These interviews provided an overview of the current Sales and Marketing department of the chosen hotels as well as the professionals’ opinions towards the alignment of Sales and Marketing.
Consistent with earlier research, the study showed that certain problems are occurring within the Sales and Marketing department. Nonetheless, the results indicated that not everyone would welcome Smarketing. In short, Smarketing can be beneficial for the accommodation business, but further research and company cases are required to validate its impacts. The author also provided a guideline for Smarketing implementation at the end of the thesis. The thesis acts as a good foundation for the future study of Smarketing.
In the theoretical part of the study, the main purpose was to discover how hotels organize Sales and Marketing and the possibilities of Smarketing. Previous studies have indicated that despite the supporting environment of advanced technologies, the collaboration of Sales and Marketing has not been optimized. Empirical data for this study were collected from nine semi-structured interviews with different Sales and Marketing members from five different hotels. These interviews provided an overview of the current Sales and Marketing department of the chosen hotels as well as the professionals’ opinions towards the alignment of Sales and Marketing.
Consistent with earlier research, the study showed that certain problems are occurring within the Sales and Marketing department. Nonetheless, the results indicated that not everyone would welcome Smarketing. In short, Smarketing can be beneficial for the accommodation business, but further research and company cases are required to validate its impacts. The author also provided a guideline for Smarketing implementation at the end of the thesis. The thesis acts as a good foundation for the future study of Smarketing.