The Importance of the Mobile Application and Related Technologies in Tourism

Introduction

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In the modern day, today, technology and the internet have substantially revolutionized communication not only in the tourism and the hospitality industries but across almost every other industry. With the increase in the number of internet users, social media platforms, as well as mobile computing, have increasingly become common over the past decade. As an industry that requires and that deals with millions of customers, the tourism and hospitality industry proactively makes good use of the social media platforms alongside various technological advancements as the efficient vehicles to reach out to millions of their prospective and repeat customers (Minazzi, 2014). Additionally, the tourism and hospitality industry falls under the service sector, and for this reason, there is the need to make and keep constant communication with their guests and customers. Moreover, the proactive use of technology, computing, and social media regularly call for these industries to drastically change their marketing strategies since with the new interactive media it is easier to do away with the traditional practices of marketing and public relations.

Owing to the fact that the global industry information is the tourism sectors life-blood, technology, therefore, becomes fundamental to the ability of the industry to operate efficiently and competitively in the midst of various other service industries. In the same vein, being the technology that allows effective transmission of data, video and voice over a computer or any other wireless enabled devices, mobile computing has increasingly become a potential tool that has substantiated significant transformation in the tourism and the hospitality industry. This can be greatly attributed to the fact that with mobile computing, there has been a significant convergence of information technology and the internet and as a result, massive changes have been experienced in the tourism and hospitality industries.

The core intent of this study is to give insights into the importance of the application of mobile computing alongside social media platforms and related technologies to transform the operations and customer relations in the tourism and hospitality industries. Taking particular attention to the Hilton Worldwide Hotel Groups, one of the largest hotel companies across the globe, online presence and the utilization of technology are among the most crucial aspects of survival and success of the enterprises in the modern day today, dynamic business environment.

Literature Review

Social Media and the Hotel Industry

A study done by Nyoryung & Kannan (2014) substantiated that a positive relationship exists between the use of social media by business in the tourism and hospitality business and their customers. To a broader perspective, customers, especially those in the hotel industry are more likely to participate in product reviewing, online rating or even branding via the use of social media platforms. For this reason, a majority of the businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry have taken advantage of the social media platforms to the best of their advantages. Gao, Zhang & Guillet (2012) highlight that over the past couple of years, the overall business performance of the tourism and hotel businesses has been on the rise owing to the numerous advantages that the businesses have been able to attain from the use of social media. Some of these benefits are such as;

An increase in customer intimacy due to the availability of sufficient information about the business.

An increase in the brand and service recognition by potential clients.

Due to the growth in the web presence, businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry have increasingly improved their customer services.

Increase customer traffic

Like any other business within the hospitality industry, many hotels rely on good reviews as well as word of mouth from their loyal customers. With the advent of social media and its related technologies, the hotels and the hospitality industries typically have substantially invested in social media as their primary marketing tool. The use of social internet outlets has become common with travelers across the world consistently using these platforms to share, brag or even express both their good and bad experiences at different hotels (Backer, 2012). Regardless of the manner in which social media platforms are used, the leaders within the hotel and hospitality industries cannot ignore the great impact of this new internet phenomenon on their business. This may range from whether their customers online presence is intentional or inadvertently. For this reason, social media has become part and parcel as well as a significant driver of the hotel and accommodation industry. Ranging from offering great marketing strategies which are intended to attract potential clientele, to updating their guests on any new information, the hotel industry has diligently grown with its dependence on social media.

Kristen & Houston (2012) contend that social media platforms are as a result of the growth and the expansion of the User-Generated Content (UGC) which in the recent past, has gained much popularity as one of the most fundamental marketing strategies across all industries. Therefore, many companies in the hospitality industry, in this case, large hotel groups such as the Hilton Hotel Groups, take a particular position in their dependence on social media. For instance, while some of these hotels originate from one central brand, they are characterized by the nature of their business which means that they have numerous unique locations in the main cities across the globe. Precisely, many big hotel names that are part of larger chains have proactively created their very own social profiles.

A 2015 study done by scholars in the marketing and travels discipline substantiated that many of these hotels with large social media presences attract a greater number of clients over the world significantly, as compared to those without. This social presence was measured in terms of the hotels that used and had also created social profiles across platforms such as Titter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, among others. According to the results of this study, big hotel names such as Hilton Worldwide had a broad reach to their customers on social media. The hotels that were deemed to have the largest number of social profiles and an overall social media influence on their clients were found to mainly focus on platforms such as; Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube but also had other smaller but significant distributions across other networks (Marketing and Travels, Inc., 2015).

With regard to marketing and its related strategies, the use of the most renowned social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have predominantly evolved from the traditional peer to peer communication channel to platforms that allow effective interaction of business in the hotel and hospitality industry with their clients. Scholars such as Leung, Bai & Stahura (2013), substantiated that, regardless of the significant changes in communication methods, businesses such as hotels must make use of the fundamental principles of marketing and promotion so as to attract traffic and efficiently get their messages across to their targeted clients. Thus, the huge development of social media as a key marketing tool for the hotel industry has substantially converted the way hotels possibly interact with their potential or existing clients. Additionally, with social media, comes a new style of user generated content which is perceived by the online community as one of the most authentic and credible means. Thus, for many hotels, hospitality, and visitor attraction businesses, if they are not ranked among the top spots, it is clear for them that they are losing out, majorly to their competitors in the market.

Web 2.0 Social Networking Tools, Sites, and Technologies

Anderson (2007) contends that Web 2.0 tools and sites make up a more socially connected Web that allows secure communication and efficient interaction for people. Being the current state of online technology, web 2.0 social networking sites and tools are characterized by new and improved user interactivity more enhanced communication channels and more pervasive network connectivity. Generally, the media coverage of Web 2.0 focuses on those applications and services that are commonly used. Some of these applications are such as, social networks like Facebook and Twitter, blogs video sharing among others. There is, however, a clear distinction between the Web 2.0 tools and the general social communication media. This difference usually lies in the results of applying Web 2.0 technology in an online social environment (Kwok & Yu, 2012).

In his account, Anderson continues to argue that, although there have not been any significant technological breakthrough in the development of web 2.0 services; owing to their characteristic of being based on technologies and open standards which have been applicable since the development of Web 1; the latter has advanced leading to the progress that creates web 2.0 (Anderson, 2007). For the tourism and hospitality industry, the following are some of the most domineering Web 2.0 tools and which have significantly contributed to business benefits and among other, customer satisfaction.

These tools are such as;

Facebook and Twitter

Facebook is one of the most renowned Web 2.0 social networking tools. With respect to the creation of a relationship between communicating parties, Facebook acts as a platform that keeps and maintains communication and interactions (Hill, 2012). Twitter, on the other hand, is a microblogging platform that is based on a 140 character message. Nevertheless, in most case, Twitter is not considered a social network but is rather viewed as a communication tool.

Studies have continued to emphasize the great importance of the social interactive tools and technology in the tourism and the hospitality industries; with more preference to the hotel sector (Paton & McLaughlin, 2008). In the same vein, Tiedemann, et al. (2009) added that not all significant growth in the hotel and chains is always attributed to customer satisfaction. In their account, most hotel managers and administrations ought to focus less on the comfort of their rooms and premises and focus more exclusively on both the external and internal information sharing which are crucial aspects to ascertaining the customer feedback and needs. For this reason, social media and social networking tools come in handy in enabling the hotel businesses in achieving and offering high quality services to their customers. As a matter of fact, Ganesan & Zhai (2012) contend that Web 2.0 tools serve as the primary mechanisms that fundamentally solicit guest and customer opinions. This, in turn, is reflected by the amount of tra...