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1. Introduction & Definition of Research Aim The most popular distribution channel in the UK’s hospitality for 2018 is the direct

online booking, as 35% of hotel clients are reserving their stay within their hotel via

venue’s website and app (Mintel, 2018).

Furthermore, London is one of the most visited cities in the world and preferred tourist

destination, as in 2018 the UK’s capital had 20.72 million international arrivals

(Statista, 2018).

By using existing theories and data, this study will discover the digital marketing effect

on the decision-making process of the potential customers at the luxury hotels in

London through identifying the development of the capital’s tourism sector, defining

what luxury hospitality is, determine which are the key players in this market and

recognise their current digital marketing strategies.

2. Research Question and Objectives The Research Question:

“What is the effect of digital marketing on the potential customer’s

decisionmaking process towards London-based luxury hotels?”

The Research Objectives:

• Objective One: To identify the development of the London tourism sector

• Objective Two: To determine the current digital marketing strategies

(Social Media, Website, SEO, E-mail marketing, Online advertisement,

Virtual Reality, etc.) through defining the market leaders of the luxury

hotels based in London, UK

• Objective Three: To understand how the current trends of digital

marketing are affecting buyer’s decision

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3. Literature Review The development of London tourism sector Based on data from 2018 found in Statista, London is the leading city destination in

Europe, by having 20.72 million international arrivals. The website states that from

these 20.72 million arrivals 9.52 are on holiday, 4.88 are visiting friends and relative

and 3.52 are on a business trip. Moreover, a 2019 research from Statista presents that

for the past 10 years the inbound business trips to London increased with 0.41million,

however, the visits are decreasing since the peak in 2015 (App. 1). The 2017 report of

London & Partners, the official promotional agency of Mayor of London, mentions the

key drivers of visitor’s satisfaction (events, culture, shopping, transport,

accommodation, food, visitor information) and references that 79% of the tourists are

happy with their stay in the capital (App. 2). Additionally, compared to past years, the

Transport for London is improving, as they launched contactless payments

successfully, and one second of all tube and rail payments were made using

contactless cards or mobile devices (TfL, 2019). Also, the capital of the UK is hosting

36 major events in the period of 2013 till 2020 (App. 3). Just for the first three years of

this period, the events impacted extremely to the economic growth of the city as

London earned from cultural and sport event more than £2 billion (Statista, 2016).

Luxury hospitality and main market leaders in London, UK There can be found various of definitions of luxury in hospitality, as the Joint Managing

Director of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Paul Kerr, states that nowadays the hotel

luxury can only be expressed by the client’s experience and expectation. In addition

to that, Joanne Watkins, the PR Director Europe of Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, says

that the customer’s perception of luxury is changing and for a lot of people it can be

described as space and privacy. Generally, luxury is considered as a mix of an

extraordinary design and facilities which customers cannot experience in their homes

(PwC, 2007). London is one of the cities with the highest occupancies rates in Europe

and 12% of the hotel sector in the city is owned by five-star luxury accommodations

(London & Partners, 2016). Based on the hotel expert Fiona Duncan, the best luxury

hotels in London are The Savoy, The Ritz London, The Connaught, Mandarin Oriental

(Hyde Park), The Lanesborough, Claridge’s, The Goring.

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Current Digital Marketing tools in hospitality and their effectiveness The article of Boston Hospitality Review states that the key digital marketing tools used

by hospitality nowadays are the Online Review Sites, Social Media, etc (Lanz, 2016).

The author of the article explains that the Online Review sites such as TripAdvisor and

Yelp are vital for the hotels, as the client’s review have the potential to be brand

advocates. Furthermore, 68% of the UK responders said that they find the online

reviews more important rather than other type of information in their buying decision

process (Statista, 2015). Lanz mentions that social media marketing could be an

efficient and cost-effective way of interacting with current and potential clients. In order

to achieve the success in the social platforms it must be used existing information to

generate specific, targeted content based on the wanted audience and the purpose of

the channel. Additionally, the effectiveness of social media advertising targeting in

2019 is vast as 79.7% of the customers made a purchase (Statista, 2019). An article

in Forbes suggests that one of the most efficient ways in of hotel social media activity

is video since 66% of tourist are watching travel-related videos before reserving their

journey (Maxwell, 2017).

4. Methodology

The methodology of this research paper is based on secondary data, investigation

method which could provide contextual and comparative information. Nevertheless,

the secondary data could have been collected for other purpose, its access could be

costly and difficult, and its quality cannot be controlled (Saunders, 2019). The

secondary desk research will start with finding information about the development of

the tourism in London. Then the discussion will continue determine the luxury

hospitality and identifying the key market leaders in the London luxury hotel industry

based on another desk research. Afterwards, with the founded data an investigation

connected to these leaders current digital marketing strategies is going to be made.

Moreover, for answering the research question, primary research would not be

needed, as there are various sources that identify the research aim.

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5. Timescale

*SDR= Secondary Data Research

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6. Value of research Currently, digital marketing is one of the biggest trends and there are various studies

which are analysing it. Furthermore, hospitality, significant part of tourism, and sector’s

buyer behaviour are an important theme investigated by academics and professionals.

However, there are not still enough studies about how this new trend is impacting on

the luxury hospitality in London, one of the biggest tourist destinations. This research

impacts the London luxury hotels understand their potential customers behaviour in

the purchase phase through identifying the effect of hotel’s digital marketing strategies

on clients.

7. References

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Duncan, F. (2018). The best luxury hotels in London. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/unitedkingdom/england/lo ndon/articles/top-10-the-best-luxury-hotels-in-london/ [Accessed 2 Nov. 2019].

Lanz (2016). Hotel E-Commerce: Navigating the Complex Hospitality Digital Marketing Landscape. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Vol.4(1).

London & Partners. (2016). London Hotel Development Monitor Uncovering Hotel Opportunities. [online] Available at: https://files.londonandpartners.com/l- andp/assets/hotel_development_monitor_may_2016.pdf [Accessed 2 Nov. 2019].

London & Partners. (2017). A tourism vision for London. [online] Available at: https://files.londonandpartners.com/l- andp/assets/london_tourism_vision_aug_2017.pdf [Accessed 24 Oct. 2019].

London & Partners. (2017). THE IMPACT OF EVENT TOURISM ON LONDON’S ECONOMY. [online] Available at: http://files.londonandpartners.com/l- andp/assets/event_tourism_report_web_2016.pdf [Accessed 1 Nov. 2019].

Maxwell (2017). Council Post: Simplifying Digital Marketing For Hotels. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/06/01/simplifying- digitalmarketing-for-hotels/#7f6215557b42 [Accessed 3 Nov. 2019].

Mintel. (2018). Hotels - UK - November 2018. [online] Available at: https://academic.mintel.com/display/928720/ [Accessed 1 Nov. 2019].

PwC. (2007). Hospitality Directions Europe Edition. [online] Available at: https://pwc.blogs.com/files/european-luxury-hotels---sept-2007.pdf [Accessed 2 Nov. 2019].

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2019). Research methods for business students. 8th ed. Harlow: Pitman Publishing, 338-376.

Statista. (2015). Importance of online reviews in relation to other sources of information in the buying decision process in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015, by sector. [online] Available at: https://www- statistacom.ezproxy.westminster.ac.uk/statistics/489738/uk-online-reviews-in- relationto-other-sources-in-buying-decision-process/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2019].

Statista. (2017). Economic impact of major cultural and sporting events in London from 2013 to 2016 (in million GBP). [online] Available at: https://www- statistacom.ezproxy.westminster.ac.uk/statistics/692011/uk-london-major- eventseconomic-impact/ [Accessed 2 Nov. 2019].

Statista. (2018). Tourism in London. [online] Available at: https://www- statistacom.ezproxy.westminster.ac.uk/study/22502/overseas-tourism-in-london- in-theunited-kingdom-uk-statista-dossier/ [Accessed 23 Oct. 2019].

Statista. (2019). Number of inbound business visits to London from 2005 to 2018 (in millions). [online] Available at: https://www-statista-

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com.ezproxy.westminster.ac.uk/statistics/473732/business-visits-london-uk/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2019].

Statista. (2019). Online or social media advertising targeting effectiveness as of January 2019. [online] Available at: https://www- statistacom.ezproxy.westminster.ac.uk/study/12393/social-networks-statista- dossier/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2019].

8. Appendices App. 1: Number of inbound business visits to London (2005/ 2018)

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App. 2: Proportion of visitors satisfied with various aspects of their London experience

App. 3: London-supported major events in London

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