Impact of digital marketing on consumer hotel booking intentions in Phuket hotels

Abstract

The hotel industry is an industry highly dependent on tourism. The pandemic outbreak has had a huge impact on the global economy, and the tourism industry has also been affected. As the largest tourist area in southern Thailand, Phuket, Thailand has made outstanding contributions to Thailand's GDP and employment rate. Due to the pandemic, many hotels in Phuket closed due to a lack of income resulting from the lack of tourists over the past three years, and there has also been a shift in consumer behavior from offline to online activities. This has resulted in a surge in the number of Internet users, many of whom accessed the Internet using smartphones. In addition to using social media to share life and meet friends, more and more people are using search engines to obtain information, and they account for more than half of Internet traffic. Digital marketing is crucial in the hospitality industry, as it leverages technology to enhance brand strength, attract new users, analyze loyal customers and foster relationships with potential customers. More and more consumers use digital channels for researching products and making purchasing decisions. In Thailand's tourism industry, the government also saw the potential of digital media. In order to help the tourism industry recover, it proposed digital tourism and collaborated with businesses. This paper uses quantitative research methods and questionnaires to investigate the impact of social media, search engines, and online travel agencies on hotel booking intentions in Phuket. Results show that these factors have a significant impact, and recommendations are made for Phuket hotels to focus on high-quality and efficient social media marketing strategies to attract more users.