| 1.2 Problem statement and Purpose of study
Tourism is a very important sector to Ghana's economy as emphasized by the Ministry of Tourism. It is the fastest-growing sector of the economy and it is expected to grow at an average rate of 4.1 per cent per annum over the next two decades. Furthermore, it is the fourth highest foreign exchange earner for Ghana - the country earned a total of US$1.3 billion in 2008 as confirmed by a former Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Azumah Mensah in an interview with Ghana News Agency. There are major linkages between the tourism sector and the hotel industry. Normally in all-inclusive package tours more than 80% of travelers’ fees go to the airlines, hotels and other services (Dogbevi, 2010).
According to Luigi Cabrini, Director, Sustainable Development of Tourism of the World Tourism Organization (WTO). Ghana is the third most important tourist destination in West Africa. The San Francisco-based Ethical Traveler listed Ghana as the 4th on its select list of 10 developing countries in 2010 that attract tourists based on ethical values and the country's peaceful and progressive democratic practice also makes the country a tourism destination of choice (Greenwald & Hoover, 2010).
All the positive signs in the tourism sector of the Ghanaian economy have a direct positive impact on the hotel sub-sector. All tourists who travel within the borders of Ghana spend money on one hotel facility or another. As Ghana continues to hold its place among the high ranked preferred destinations, hoteliers stand to benefit. Despite the goodwill that Ghana enjoys as a tourist destination, hoteliers need to market their facilities appropriately by taking advantage of the many technologies that exists – especially the internet. The internet is a major platform for enhancing business processes especially marketing activities.
In Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, which are major tourism destinations in the Arab region, the Internet is used mainly as a marketing tool, mostly for promotional activities by the SMEs (El Said & Hone, 2005).
As competition becomes fierce in the hospitality industry many hotels in Ghana are taking to the internet as a means to facilitate their businesses. However, little is known about the internet marketing strategies being pursued by these hotels.
Currently there is escalating demand for hotels that meet international standards especially in the emerging markets. Furthermore, there is urgent need for players in Ghana to adopt the use of the internet as a comprehensive marketing tool in order to survive ahead of the competition.
The use of ICT and the internet in the hotel industry can be considered a relevant innovation that helps increase the competitiveness of the firms because it facilitates the relationship with customers, through better and easier information flow that helps them evaluate and contract the services (Rohm et al., 2004).
In view of the above, the main problem of this study is; are hotels in Ghana taking full advantage of the opportunities the internet offers to market their facilities and services?
For the above problem, the main purpose of the study is to find out what internet marketing strategies are being pursued by hotels in Ghana.
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