Abstract
This paper analyses the advantages of membership in a cluster in the effective use of digital marketing tools and in a general way, in the performance, especially for the small and medium firms in underdeveloped regions. For this purpose, a case method research was conducted in the tourism sector, specifically in the hotels in the La Guajira Department, Colombia, where there is a regional tourism cluster. The tourism sector especially depends on digital marketing and the proper use of available digital marketing tools play an essential role in the performance. To conduct the study, 40 hotels in La Guajira were analyzed, whether or not they were members in the cluster. The obtained data were assessed by means of fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to check the hypotheses. The results reveal the most effective combinations of digital marketing tools and the activities in which especially small and medium firms must engage in the cluster to obtain better results.
Highlights
Tourism is one of the most relevant activities for the development of regions and represents a major percentage of the wealth generated in the world [1]
Considering the importance of digital marketing in the tourism sector, essential issues which this study aims to answer are expressed in the form of the hypotheses below: Hypothesis 1 (H1)
20 hotel companies were analyzed registered in the tourism cluster of middle and upper Guajira and an additional 20 hotel companies were analyzed in the same department that do not belong to the cluster
Summary
Tourism is one of the most relevant activities for the development of regions and represents a major percentage of the wealth generated in the world [1]. Tourism requires the perfect combination of at least three major areas of activity [2]: accommodation, restaurants and transport. These three services are carried out by different actors that hinder the planning and marketing coordination. In these cases, the creation of regional clusters that foster the joint development of tourism destinations can be a successful tool [3,4]. Digital marketing is paramount in the success of tourism firms in particular and destinations in general [5,6]. Despite the importance in tourism of these two elements, clusters and digital marketing, there are not many studies about how membership in a cluster is a dynamic factor in the use of digital marketing and the same time, how much the synergy of the two elements help to develop a tourist region [7,8] especially if the sector is comprised by small firms with low economic strength, size and experience
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