Exploring the usage of digital content marketing in hotels and travel agencies in Egypt

الملخص EN

Tourism establishments should provide the content that can answer all the consumers‟ queries in very attractive and creative ways.

The main purpose of this study is to explore the usage of digital content marketing in both hotels and travel agencies in Egypt as a mean of presenting its tourism services to consumers.

The questionnaire was used as a mean of collecting data from the sample of which included of marketing managers at (138) four and five-star hotels and (121) travel agencies located in Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and Cairo cities, as vital areas where the big presence of four and five-star hotels and travel agencies class A (Egypt hotels guide, 2016).

Two questionnaires were designed; the first one was used for the marketing managers of hotels and the other one for the marketing managers of travel agencies.

Each questionnaire was divided into a group of key variables that were measured on a five-dimensional Likert scale to determine the attitude of the respondents about the study variables.

The validity and reliability of the study tools were practically measured by presenting them to a group of industry experts and statistical experts, as well as they statistically measured by using Cronbach's Alpha coefficient, the Cochran's formula was used to determine the optimal sample size based on the pilot study results.

The results indicated that both travel agencies and hotels in Egypt have a high degree of the awareness of digital content marketing.

The overall assessment of using digital content marketing (DCM) in travel agencies and hotels was a successful and more effective marketing strategy.

The findings showed that there was a statistically significant correlation between each pair in the study dimensions.

There were significant differences between travel agencies and hotels in the dimensions of “awareness”, "the benefits", "challenges" and "the common tools of digital content marketing".

This study presented some useful recommendations for the hotels and travel agencies in Egypt to activate and benefit from the advantages of digital content marketing in offering tourism and hotel services.