DIGITAL MARKETING IN THE VISITOR ECONOMY - 2025/6

Module Overview

This module introduces students to the key issues, strategies and practices of marketing in the digital environment of tourism, hospitality and events. With the rapid rise in the use of the Internet and new media technologies, there are a number of digital tools and technologies available to marketing managers. This module provides students with an understanding of the importance and the application of digital marketing in general and social media in particular. It is vital for tourism, hospitality and event enterprises to acknowledge that consumers are now co-marketers, co-designers, and co-producers of travel experiences and that it is essential to take advantage of consumers as a source of knowledge for innovations and experience design in order to be able to compete in an increasingly competitive and transparent environment. The module therefore deals with how firms can utilize digital marketing and related channels and communication modes to enhance networking, collaboration, and travelers' engagement with services provided by tourism, hospitality or event organizations.

Module provider

Surrey Hospitality & Tourism Management

Module Leader

STANGL Brigitte (Hosp & Tour)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

n/a

Module content

Digital marketing strategy development

Digital channels as information sources and impact on consumer behavior

Opportunities, challenges, and risks of digital marketing for the tourism supply side

Social media marketing and planning

Video marketing and consumer engagement

Digital marketing campaign strategies and risks

Search engine optimization and search engine marketing

Banner/display marketing Mobile marketing, SMS marketing and e-mail marketing

Digital marketing success measurement/monitoring and trends

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Assessment 1: Individual report (max 2000 words) Assessment 2: Individual report (max 2000 words)

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate that they gradually build up their knowledge and understanding of digital marketing in a tourism, hospitality, and event context.

Further, it is designed to allow students to evidence their achievement of the learning outcomes.

The assessment comprises a Marketing strategy evaluation to get an understanding of a chosen organization, and the development of a group presentation which will be a digital marketing plan including a digital marketing campaign.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of two parts:

• First assessment Marketing strategy evaluation (group, max 2000 words): As a group students will have to find a tourism, events, hospitality organization which uses multiple digital channels and examine this organization's digital marketing appearance, by analyzing which channels they use, their market strategy with regards to the 7Ps, and compare it with competitors. Based on the gained insights target persona/s need to be defined and marketing initiatives including SMART goals must be suggested for the next multi-channel social media campaign.


• Second assessment (Group presentation, 15 minutes): Building on the knowledge of the first assignment students will have to imagine they are consultants who develop a marketing campaign which they pitch in a final presentation to their chosen organization. In doing so students will have to develop an editorial plan, prepare actual posts for at least four different social media channels (including video, reel) and a potential budget for the suggested campaign. A separate handout explaining the details of the assignment will be posted on SurreyLearn.

Both assignments will be group works. The group work will give students the opportunity to show their capability to work in teams and to demonstrate communication skills, both of which are of particular importance in a marketing context.

Formative Assessment and Feedback:

Students receive feedback throughout the semester which will support them to complete the assessments. More specifically: Both assignments will be introduced in the first week of the term. Hints, explanations, and examples for both assignments will be provided in the various lecture sessions They will get input in terms of how to do the competitor analysis In some of the seminars, students will be introduced to social media platforms and how they can be useful for campaigns such as the one they have to create for the second assignment In other seminars students will learn how to use tools to for instance, create videos or posts for various social media channels Peers will provide feedback on the second assignment presentation There will be a coaching session allowing each group to get feedback on their project As part of the guided learning activity students are required to log on to the Hubspot Academy and do the tasks to get certificates there. The content, the exercises, and the tasks required within the academy will provide additional input for the assignment.

Summative feedback:

Once marking for the first assignment is completed, students will be able to access an online report which contains feedback and will allow them not only to understand how to improve similar future works but also provide ideas for how to continue with the second assignment. Fort the second assignment students will get some oral feedback right after the presentation Written feedback will be provided on SurreyLearn Students should be prepared to be assessed on topics from across the syllabus - irrespective of the mode of delivery e.g., whether the topic was covered by a formal lecture, seminar, directed reading, or any other method used.

Module aims

• Develop an understanding of the nature, role and importance of digital marketing in tourism, hospitality and events, drawing on a variety of theories and perspectives
• Prepare students to comprehend key aspects in terms of using and integrating new media technologies in a marketing context
• Plan future marketing strategies for tourism, hospitality, and event enterprises
• Make students aware of the changed consumer behavior because of digital media and the tools marketers can use to engage with potential and existing consumers
• Be aware of current and future challenges and opportunities tourism, hospitality and event organizations may face in terms of marketing in the digital environment
• Teach how to write a marketing plan, develop a new campaign, and to create posts for various social media channels

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The overall learning and teaching strategy for this module is to provide an understanding of the complexity of the online environment and to give insights about challenges and opportunities digital marketing and relevant tools bring. Guest speakers will complement theory taught and offer hands-on insights into tools/platforms and practical examples in terms of how theory is applied in a real-life context. The core delivery method involves a combination of a lecture and a seminar every week.

Lectures will provide insights into theories/models and how tourism, hospitality and event organizations apply those theories.

The main purpose of the seminars is to provide hands-on training in terms of how to use various digital marketing related platforms/apps/tools needed to develop and design professional digital marketing material. Supporting material such as guided reading will be provided on Surreylearn.

As this outline shows, the syllabus presented in the module document will be covered using a variety of teaching and learning methods.

Methods used may include academic lectures, lectures by industry guests, seminars, hands-on usage of tools/applications, and directed reading.

As such the module will contribute to students' development of skills relevant for employability, resourcefulness and resilience, and development of digital capabilities. 

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MAN2215

Other information

This module adopts the university curriculum framework which aims to develop learners with strong capabilities in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module contributes to the development of the following capabilities:

Development of skills relevant for employability: More specifically students will have to examine and evaluate the digital marketing strategy of an existing tourism organization. In doing so, students will have to use various marketing tools to analyze the organization and to compare it with competitors. As such students will be trained to apply learned theories to real life cases and how to use marketing tools to assess organizations in the light of theories as well as in comparison to competitors.

Resourcefulness and resilience: The assessment of this module is designed in a way that students must have academic/theoretical marketing knowledge, an understanding of how to apply various marketing tools, and apply theory to examine a real-life organization. Considering the formative feedback provided, students will experience this together, sharing experiences, providing support and empathy, and assisting each other. Throughout the term, students can draw upon and develop their own resourcefulness and problem solving and build their own confidence and self-efficacy during seminars while they are working on assigned tasks. They will also develop an appreciation of barriers and challenges people face because of working in a team as well as because of presenting and being assessed, and how these may be overcome, while developing an appreciation of their personal experiences, and the shared experiences of the collective cohort.

Development of digital capabilities: The topics covered each week are linked and embedded in the digital environment and recent developments. Digital aspects are at the core of this module as it is about learning how tourism, hospitality and event organizations successfully navigate through the competitive and transparent environment by acknowledging challenges and taking advantages of opportunities digital marketing and social media offer. In marketing it is essential to work in teams, as different roles/departments (e.g., customer support and marketing) must work hand-in-hand because together one will create better customer experiences, bring in more revenue, attract more loyal customers, and retain more engaged employees. Thus, collaborative tools such as WhatsApp, Teams and shared documents are essential to communicate with each other as well as the usage of digital sources in terms of finding evidence. Further, the preparation of professionally looking social media posts (e.g., videos, reels) for the second assignment will require students to use appropriate tools and methods. While the Services Marketing module at level 4 is more general, this module provides in-depth insides about the digital side and how organizations can use online channels to cater for customers' needs. The module is relevant for all fields, i.e., tourism, events, and hospitality.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.