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Out, traditional marketing and sales; in, Internet marketing and e-commerce

Manpower challenges, the changing competitive landscape and the consumer-driven experience economy are what’s keeping HSMAI Asia Pacific’s membership awake at night, according to a survey done by the sales and marketing association of hospitality professionals.

Human resource issues were cited by 45% of those surveyed as "most concerning"; 32% said the business climate was a worry while 34% cited Web 2.0 and social networking as a challenge in how to "engage customers and create meaningful global dialogues".

Up to a third of respondents in this survey, conducted in August, said Internet marketing and e-commerce was an area of opportunity.

The growth of the online marketplace, target marketing using eCRM and the potential for more one-to-one customer marketing and customized mobile phone advertising were some of the factors fuelling interest in this sector.

To the question of what was becoming obsolete, 48% cited traditional marketing and sales – this included face to face sales calls, printed brochures and direct mailers, below the line television and print campaigns.

Twenty four percent said untargeted marketing was also becoming obsolete – this included email marketing and mass broadcasting, traditional GDS and “vanilla” campaigns.

On what areas of online and Internet marketing they felt they needed most education in, they cited SEO and SEM, e-marketing and mobile advertising and revenue management and optimization.

To the question “what do you most want to know about”, the respondents said, customer insight and behaviour and brand management.