Are rural accommodation enterprises efficiently present online?

Abstract

This study regards rural accommodation enterprises (RAE) and how much of their business is made online and what can be done to improve it. This work focus on 10 enterprises from the northeast of Portugal, since it is a more deprived and isolated region and far from the touristic centres. As such, these companies need to attract the visitors through their online presence. We analysed their use of ICT, if they had a digital marketing strategy and what could be done to improve their presence and their results through online marketing tools. It was possible to understand that the majority of the companies only have a minimal investment in online presence through the Booking platform and with their website. They do not work efficiently the social networks and they do not use, or know, most of the marketing online tools. As a result, even though the studied companies are willing to evolve digitally and to enhance their presence in a more efficient way, this is limited to the investment that is required since they all feel they cannot invest at the time. It is clear that for these companies and specially in these regions it is vital to bring European funds to help them evolve to the digital market in a knowledgeable and efficient way.