Viral Marketing Impact on Tourism and Hospitality Industry

Despite there are many tourism and hospitality organizations, it might be confusing for tourists to choose one over others. Studying the impact of viral marketing on choosing tourism and hospitality organizations is vital. In Egypt, the development of tourism and hospitality industry is vital for economy development. tourism and hospitality organizations should invest in innovative methods for marketing their services. The development of web 2.0, 3.0 managed to have a great impact on the progress of viral marketing which is considered as a kind of online word-of-mouth and social networking. This paper is studying and assessing the benefit of viral marketing for tourism and hospitality organizations in Egypt. To achieve this aim, small and medium hotels and travel agencies will be investigated using qualitative approach. The results reveal the problems, advantages and disadvantages of tourism and hospitality organizations in applying viral marketing and its impact on tourists' behaviours. Therefore, this paper recommends some points related to using of viral marketing techniques which should be applied by tourism and hospitality organizations. Finally, a best practice model is presented to be used by academics and practitioners in the field of marketing tourism and hospitality services