Intangible Experiences Assignment

Abstract

Meeting the growing demand of tourists for memorable experiences is a primary goal and a serious challenge for Dubai (Dubai Tourism, 2021). The city has utilised social media in tourism marketing and management successfully. For instance, during the #BeMyGuest campaign on YouTube, featuring Bollywood superstar, Shah Rukh Khan, Dubai used a unique and highly personalised storytelling approach to marketing the city as a tourist destination brand (Dubai Tourism, 2021). While these efforts may be considered a successful shift of the city to the customer-oriented approach to tourism marketing and management, not all companies could harness the tremendous branding potential. One recent study shows that word of mouth remains the primary approach of small and medium hotels to advertise their business and attract more clients (Ahmad & Saber, 2015). Apparently, they rely on personal investments to keep their companies afloat. They cannot afford such risky ventures as social media campaigns (Ahmad & Saber, 2015). Thus, the unaffordability of social media marketing may become a serious barrier to successfully utilising social network sites for marketing purposes.