Digital marketing on thermal tourism: A research on thermal hotels

Objective: This research was carried out with the aim of examining the websites, social media and blogs of thermal enterprises that have health tourism authorization certificates in Turkey. Based on this purpose, it is aimed to ensure more effective use of digital marketing tools in the marketing of thermal tourism. Materials and Methods: The digital marketing criteria of 7 thermal hotels serving in health tourism between 3 January 2023 and 30 May 2023 were examined under 12 main headings and 87 items, based on the sources obtained from the literature on the subject, and analyzed according to the presence or absence of these elements with content analysis. Percentile values were created using the Microsoft Excel program regarding the existence of the criteria with using frequency analysis. Results: The main headings were examined in detail and the total performance percentage was calculated as 49%. Distribution of performance percentages under the main headings Sales Promotion Tools 29%, Features Related to Hotel Contact Information 71%, Distribution of Different Language Options 40%, Corporate Communications 45%, Direct Sales and Marketing Tools 50%, Hotel Social Media Links 36%, Online Hotel Promotional Tools 74%, Information About the Services Offered at the Hotel 67%, Additional Service Information 27%, Mobile Features 39%, Health Tourism Information 49%, Search Engine Optimization 29%. Conclusion: The highest performance percentages are online hotel promotion tools, hotel contact information and information about the services offered at the hotel. The percentage of performance related to thermal tourism is measured at the average value, and it is seen that half of the hotels provide information about health tourism.