KEY APPROACHES TO MANAGING THE INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX IN THE HOTEL BUSINESS

Abstract

Marketing communications in the hotel industry play a central role in demand generation, customer expectation management, and reducing uncertainty inherent in the intangible nature of hospitality services. Against the backdrop of post-pandemic recovery of international tourism and increasing digital dependence of demand, the relevance of an integrated communications approach has grown substantially. This study aims to systematize the key approaches to managing the integrated marketing communications (IMC) mix in hotel businesses and to justify a managerial model ensuring message consistency and economic efficiency in an omnichannel demand environment. The scientific contribution lies in addressing a gap in empirical literature on IMC within the hospitality industry. The practical significance consists in the applicability of the proposed managerial principles to hotels of various formats and scales. The study employs systemic and comparative analysis, content analysis of academic and industry sources, and secondary data analysis of distribution and digital channel reports. Results demonstrate that a system-integration approach to IMC management yields more stable market outcomes compared to channel-oriented management, particularly under conditions of high dependence on online travel agencies (OTAs) and metasearch platforms. A four-contour managerial model is proposed, comprising strategic, process, organizational, and control contours. The study contributes a typology of IMC management approaches and a justification of conditions for each approach's applicability. Practical recommendations focus on building an IMC governance model, transitioning to customer journey planning, and developing a comprehensive IMC metrics system.