The impact of e-marketing on tourism growth: the case of Zambia
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Date
2019
Authors
Tembo, Norbert Jay Marbin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Tourism has been identified as one of the major socio and economic activity that has contributed to the development of national economies. The advancement of technology in doing business has changed the dynamics of tourism marketing. ICTs have changed the way tourism business is conducted. The use of different ICTs platforms such as E-marketing has impacted positively on the tourism industry. Tourism marketers are using E-marketing to market their products and services using modern technology. The aim of this paper therefore is to examine the impact of E-marketing on the growth of the Tourism sector in Zambia. Emarketing has been defined as the marketing of products and services using the internet. EMarketing therefore refers to the application of marketing principles and techniques via electronic media. The research adopted the survey to gathering data using the questionnaire and in-depth interview as instruments for data collection. The survey targeted population of
100 tour operators in Lusaka and Livingstone. The researcher managed to secure 80% of the responses from the 100 questionnaires given out. The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Scientists) was used to analyse the data. Measures of central tendency, Pearson Correlation, Multiple regression and Cronbach alpha were the tools that the research used. The research revealed that most tour operators use E-marketing tools in the marketing of tour products and services and that there has been a positive impact on the growth of their businesses because of applying E-marketing tools. Further the research revealed that there is a positive correlation relationship between E-marketing and Tourism Growth. However, the research
also revealed other constraining factors that the tourism industry in Zambia is suffering from,among these factors includes; policy inconsistency by the Government offices charged with the regulating of the Tourism industry in the Country, lack of proper marketing strategies of the tourism industry in Zambia. A comparison was mainly given in relation to the Zimbabwe Tourism industry which has seen tremendous growth over the years due to vigorous marketing strategies and Government prioritisation of the sector as a foreign exchange earner. In conclusion, the research revealed that E-marketing has become the modern marketing tool of tourism across the global. This therefore means that tourism operators or destination markers need to adopt E-marketing as a strategic tool in the marketing of tourism.
Key words: E-marketing, Social Media, E-business, E-commerce, Culture, Tourism,
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Thesis
Keywords
Tourist trade--Zambia , Tourist trade--Marketing--Zambia