Abstract
This study focuses on the digital marketing capabilities of tourism SMEs. The study addresses the question of how the use of ICT-based tools benefit the organisational capabilities of a company. By adopting marketing as a set-of-skills approach, the study provides new insights into the existing tourism literature on e-marketing. By uncovering the transformative nature of digital marketing capabilities, a review of the literature on e-marketing in tourism and digital marketing capabilities was conducted, as was a multiple case study of tourism SMEs. Initial findings indicate that the digital marketing capabilities of companies are transformed through ICT-based uptake. Four major capabilities were identified, each of which evolves as a result of using the tools. A key finding of the study is that the use of ICT-based tools transforms digital marketing capabilities from a set of abilities that enables tourism SMEs not only to float in a web-marketing stream, but also to lead such a stream.
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Meriläinen, K. (2017). From Floating to Leading: The Transformation of Digital Marketing Capabilities Through ICT Uptake in Tourism SMEs. In: Schegg, R., Stangl, B. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2017. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51168-9_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51168-9_7
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