The Use of Social Customer Relationship Management for Optimising Business Performance in the Hotel Industryin Mauritius

While social media marketing and more particularly social commerce, are trending topics in the hospitality industry worldwide, it is worth noting that there is a dearth in literature available on social media practices in small island development states. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to examine how hotels in Mauritius are using different social media platforms as a source of competitive advantage to attract and retain customers. A case study approach was used and 7 GMs from 5 major local hotel chains have been interviewed in order to understand the perception of hospitality leaders on the use of social media tools for customer relationship management. The sample population only consisted of GMs from 3 star, 4 star and 5 star hotel properties and in-depth interviews were used in order to gain data sets that were used to develop this empirical paper. The findings of this research indicate that the current business model of hotels and the management style of the GM, are key factors influencing the strategic use of social media platforms.