Social Customer Relationship Management in the hospitality industry

Abstract

While research on the implementation of SCRM is trending in the manufacturing sector, there is scant research available on this phenomenon in the travel and tourism industry. The aim of this study is to examine how hotels could use social media tools for customer relationship management to increase business profitability. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to collect data from 20 senior managers in order to understand their perception on the social media marketing strategies used by respective hotels. Findings indicate that organisational culture readiness is an important factor to consider when implementing a social customer relationship management strategy. This study further explores the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of Trip Advisor and social networking sites. It contributes to marketing communication theory and from a practical perspective, it underscores how the co-creation of experiences on social media platforms can lead to business growth.