Online Travel Agencies (OTA) Marketing Strategy: Lesson Learn From Hotel Business Performance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has ended despite the worldwide crisis that has affected the hospitality industry. Most of the hotel industry partnering with online travel agencies (OTAs) faced critical conditions. Although substantial research has examined the post-COVID-19 effects on the hospitality industry, little is known about the perspectives of OTA businesses within Indonesia's hotel sector during the crisis. Similarly limited is the empirical evaluation of OTA business practices in regard to marketing strategy plan. According to stakeholder theory, the organization's external challenges can be described by the macro-environmental component, which includes politics, economics, society, and technology (PEST). This study also examined how macroenvironmental concerns in the hotel sector affect the OTA industry. Using the marketing strategy model as a mediator, the effects of OTA business performances were investigated in detail. This study employed a quantitative research platform in which 150 hotel representatives in Indonesia were selected by simple random sampling and given questionnaires from 2021–2023. This study examined the probable consequences of the marketing mix model's mediating effect on the causal route linking PEST factors, namely politics, economics, society, and technology. For data analysis, Smart PLS3 was utilized. Political, economy, social, and technological factors were found to significantly influence OTA business performance, while economic factors showed negligible impact. Marketing strategies played a crucial mediating role, buffering the negative impacts of macroenvironmental challenges on OTA performance during the pandemic. For instance, targeted promotional efforts and flexible pricing strategies enabled OTAs and their hotel partners to sustain operations amid fluctuating demand. This study offers novel lesson learned based on the Indonesian hospitality industry through its numerous theoretical and empirical contributions. Prior to making a determination, the problem of OTA business continuity is explored, and various potential proposals for government laws and the hotel industry are identified.