THE ROLE OF DIGITAL MARKETING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HOTEL INDUSTRY ENTERPRISES IN MODERN CONDITIONS

Abstract

The essence and significance of digital marketing for developing hospitality enterprises in modern conditions have been considered. The advantages and disadvantages of digital marketing have been substantiated. It has been proven that the key advantage of digital marketing is its interactivity. It facilitates direct communication between hospitality stakeholders, including businesses and customers. Many obstacles to using digital marketing tools have been identified: unskilled labor, fear, bureaucracy, changing technologies, cybercrime, fraud, lack of management support, limited resources, etc. It has been substantiated that hotel advertising on the Internet is much more effective than other advertising methods. The essential features of a high-quality hotel website are summarized: the availability of the interface and content in several languages; high-quality and up-to-date photos of the hotel, and rooms; well-structured sections of the site; appropriate design; accessible and understandable online booking form; availability of online consultant and hotline; availability of real customer reviews on the hotel website. It has been argued that the main tools of digital marketing are: thematic reviews and community forums; articles and press releases; webinars, case studies, organization of events; popularization of digital tools for the implementation of critical social projects (Linked In, Twitter, and Facebook/Meta); social streaming tools (Tiktok live, Twitter, Facebook/Meta, YouTube, Instagram live, Linked In, Company website); blogs, media sites; social commerce reviews (Twitter, Facebook/Meta); mobile applications, blogs and forums of companies (sites, blogs, forums of companies, mobile applications); searching for information in social networks using Yahoo Bing, Google shopping, Google my business and Google text. It has been outlined that the use of digital marketing tools contributes to increasing the efficiency of hotel industry enterprises, as it affects the non-financial and financial aspects of hospitality enterprises, contributes to the satisfaction of customer requests, the formation of competitive advantages, cost optimization, and profit maximization.