Social Media Communication in Hospitality: The Case of Parisian Hotels

Social media are a driver of fundamental business changes, as their innovative nature allows for interactive communication between customers and businesses. This communication is particularly important for hotels and tourism firms, because many consumers prepare their travel online and search information from a variety of sources, including social media. In this study, we realized twenty semi-structured exploratory interviews with hospitality experts and marketing, communication and social media professionals in France. The purpose of the study was to understand the expert’s point of view on social media communication strategies, adopted or that could be adopted by French hotels (in Paris region), especially in terms of customer engagement. We also present theoretical and managerial implications of the study, its limitations and future research ideas.