Viral Marketing Strategies as a Tool for Promoting Egyptian Travel Agencies

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 PhD Researcher, Tourism Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Alexandria University

2 Professor, Tourism Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Alexandria University

3 Associate Professor, Tourism Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Alexandria University

Abstract

As a result of the ongoing developments in the field of information and communication technology, as well as the fierce global competition, many tourism companies have begun to search for all that is new and work on applying it in order to achieve their goals at the lowest possible cost, whether in the long or short term, many tourism companies have turned to modern marketing strategies such as viral marketing strategies, which are based on the effect of electronic word of mouth in carrying out marketing activities based on the Internet and attempting to deliver their advertising message to the largest possible segment. Therefore, we conducted research on a sample of category (A) Egyptian tourism companies. A number of conclusions were drawn from this research, the most significant of which is that viral marketing is crucial to the success of Egyptian tourism companies because, without this tactic, businesses cannot quickly and cheaply publish their goods and services online, preventing them from standing out from competitors. The study also provided a list of recommendations, the most crucial the necessity of utilizing viral marketing techniques and incorporating them into the marketing strategies of tourism businesses in order to ensure greater success and spread, as well as the necessity of considering the role of electronic publishing, particularly social networking sites as an effective means. as well as the roles of incentives and opinion leaders as an element of attraction and influence on clients of tourism companies.

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