The Use of Data Driven Technologies in Tourism Marketing

Abstract

The ongoing advances in technology have brought significant improvements in the processing speed and storage of large volumes of data. Tech-savvy organisations have already started using big data with a goal to improve their decision making, agility and customer-centric approaches. Today, many tourism marketers are hyper-targeting consumers with real-time mobile ad campaigns to drive conversions. They use analytics to identify how exogenous variables, including the broader economy, competitive offerings and even the weather can affect their organisational performance. Similarly, the smaller enterprises are economically gathering and storing data from each and every customer transaction. They use analytics to customise their offerings and improve their customer engagement. Therefore, this chapter builds on the previous theoretical underpinnings on smart tourism. It clarifies how smart, disruptive technologies have led to endless opportunities for tourism and hospitality marketers to gain a competitive advantage. It explains how they are leveraging themselves by utilising contemporary marketing strategies and tactics that are customer-focused. The researcher examines the use of big data, analytics, programmatic advertising and blockchain technologies in the realms of tourism and hospitality.

Keywords: tourism, etourism, digital tourism, digital media, digital marketing, big data, analytics, blockchain, marketing

JEL Classification: M00, M1, M3, M10, M15, M30, M31, M37, Z3, Z30, Z33