Adopting E-Marketing Approaches to Strengthen the Competitive Edge of the Tourism Sector in Jordan

Jordan’s tourism industry has experienced a decline in competitiveness despite strong heritage assets, as a result of a misperceived destination image, uneven development of infrastructure, and inadequate strategic application of e-marketing in a digital-first travel market. This study examines how the adoption of e-marketing strategies promotes competitiveness based on destination image, market reach, and customer engagement. It further seeks to identify which of these practices is the most effective. This mixed-method study integrated a descriptive analytical survey of tourism Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) (N=81) and semi-structured interviews (n=9). The results show a positive high correlation between the frequency of mobile marketing and the opinion that e-marketing is more important than traditional marketing (rSP=.31, p=.005), Search Engine Optimisation (SEO and mobile marketing/giving the highest adoption and mean scores, and SEO as the highest across all measures of effectiveness. The recommendations of the study include focusing on SEO and mobile-first campaigns, specific cultural applications to specific segments, Key Performance Indicator KPI monitoring, and building capacity. Implications support digital policy and the competitiveness of SMEs.