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Tourism
Digital marketplace for tourism resilience in
resilience in the pandemic age: the pandemic
age
voices from budget hotel
customers
Miftachul Huda Received 5 October 2021
Revised 3 March 2022
Faculty of Human Sciences, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Accepted 11 April 2022
Tanjung Malim, Malaysia

Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to examine the initiative of low-price hotels, budget hotels, in Malaysia, to
restore the financial sustainability through empowering the digital marketplace strategy in the tourism
resilience sector. Giving an open accessibility to customers for achieving their venue with a low price and
have a friendly service comes from initiating the digital marketplace arrangement.
Design/methodology/approach – This study focuses on what is the importance of the digital
marketplace strategy for tourism resilience in the pandemic age and how is it important. The data come from
qualitative interview from one couple, husband and wife, regarding the budget hotel operation practice in the
city of Sri Iskandar, the Perak state of Malaysia.
Findings – The findings revealed the importance of initiating the strategy of digital marketplace in
enabling the customers’ personalised decision towards the tourism destination they prefer based on their
needs of low-cost and proper service. There are three main points, namely the importance of digital
marketplace for tourism market enhancement, readiness of digital marketplace for tourism market
enhancement and continued capacity to strategize digital marketplace for tourism market enhancement. The
initiative to commit with applying for the resilience for tourism sustainability in the pandemic age is
important to ensure they can take a small advantage continually with the frequent customers’ sustainability.
Originality/value – This paper is supposed to contribute in developing the resilience practice through
advancing the strategy of digital marketplace in raising the tourism sector, budget hotel operators. The main
occupation aims to empower resilience for tourism sustainability in the pandemic age, in order to recover the
market in online platform.
Keywords Organisation strategy, Tourism resilience sustainability, Pandemic age, Beliefs,
Practices and experiences, Malaysian budget hotel
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Since the last year, the pandemic has had a serious impact on aspects of the human society,
including education, business and economic and social activities; especially in the economic
sector, small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector of budget hotels might face difficulty in
enhancing the customer experience (Chhabra, 2021). The emerging challenge of global
pandemic has reformed the way of today’s world in unprecedented ways, the structural changes
and operational procedure amongst the various industries to have adapted to a new normal by
adopting the digital-based transaction pathway (Belhadi et al., 2021). At the same time, the
arrangement of running business amidst the fragile and volatile space should be properly International Journal of
Organizational Analysis
managed with remaining and maintaining the sustainable achievement through developing the © Emerald Publishing Limited
1934-8835
new insights on the way of the strategic markets to working with an effective operation. DOI 10.1108/IJOA-10-2021-2987
IJOA In addition to the organizational sector, attempts to strengthen resilience strategy through
digital market should have a sufficient knowledge expansion with an essential skill and
practice in enabling the various businesses to thrive and survive in the post-pandemic space
(Benjamin et al., 2020). On this view, the strategic line with the massive impact of this global
outbreak should bring along with the economic business’ main element namely, employees and
consumers. As a result, a new normal pathway is required for facilitating preferences followed
by behavioural attitudes in addressing such a drastic shift paradigm (Resta and Perossini,
2019). The continued practice with a well-arranged plan to achieve a dynamic atmosphere of
business ecosystems is required to do with having a substantive responsiveness to adapt to the
rapid shift paradigm in the economic sector for instance. It can be expanded through adapting
the consumer needs and demands by exploring new ways to transform the traditional models
into digital business and organisation models (Elia et al., 2021).
In this paper, the main focus will be given to the study of the customers’ insights through
their views and perspectives about the initiative of low-price hotels or budget hotels in
Malaysia, to restore financial sustainability through empowering the digital marketplace
strategy in the tourism resilience sector. The ultimate point of this perspective aims to
empower resilience sustainability in the pandemic age, in enabling to recover the market in
the online platform. This study focuses on initiating the strategy of digital marketplace in
enabling the customers’ personalised decision towards the tourism destination they refer
based on their needs of low-cost and proper service. The value of this paper is expected to
contribute in developing the resilience practice through empowering the strategy of digital
marketplace in enhancing the tourism sector, budget hotel operators.

Literature review
Towards digital marketplace
The emerging trends of digital space as the platform to expand the marketing have been
widely practiced in assisting the promotion about product and service. The significant role
to play on such progression is to help operational process in enabling the organizational
context to run their business practice (Lee and Trimi, 2021), education and learning sector
(Anshari et al., 2017) and also service (Akter et al., 2020). The digital environment space is an
ultimate platform for transmitting information from the sender to the receiver in an efficient
and effective manner (Skinner, 2021; Huda et al., 2022). Such this achievement plan is
arranged to give an insightful value in enhancing the management pathway amidst the
digital space in facilitating the market of products or service. The management pathway has
to bring in delivering the market in the extent of corporations established in connecting the
customers to enable internal communication and data sharing for employees (Tim et al.,
2021).
Through setting out the internet platforms, its emerging trends have been transmitted to
have a link amongst digital media such as social networks and also digital commerce
websites (Ghahramani et al., 2020). All these refer to assist having a sufficient link to various
users across digital online platform with borderless space. In this view, connecting with
other members on an anytime and anywhere basis should have a sufficient operation
system in order to organize the promotion practice through the digital marketplace (Anshari
et al., 2022). In terms of managing the digital marketplace practice, sufficient knowledge,
skills and practice in adapting, implementing and maintaining the transaction and operation
system in the online platform should be taken into reconsideration for ensuring efficient and
effective achievement as indicated in the Figure 1.
In this regard, the use of automation to lead to the algorithm transmission along with the
process of digital space is supposedly delivered an information required by the users
 Tourism
resilience in
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Figure 1.
Towards digital
marketplace

through adding the real-time-based interactions (Benjamin et al., 2020). In this view, the
practical manner to bring along with advancing the digital platforms aims at facilitating the
continued support among the global adopter with their variety of purposes. The digital
marketing is expanded to deliver information relevant to the huge number of global users in
terms of their demands and needs such as services and products (Sharma et al., 2021). Such a
sophisticated platform would enable the digital users, mainly customers, to have a sufficient
experience in adopting and adapting the digital platform. With such great chance in
facilitating the transaction to be more easily made with the detailed description, attempts to
adopt and adapt a sufficient information should be carefully engaged with an adequate
review in getting the detailed point of services and products, in that the intermediary
process would need to expanded further in fitting the need and demand (Goh, 2021). As
such, the extensive asymmetries with a well-arranged plan has to be incorporated in
delivering the transaction within the digital markets trends more efficiently.
In addition, the digital advancement associated with the technological trends is
widely arranged to set out customising the target orientation of market referring to the
customers’ needs and demands. The strategic attempts to advance the pathway of
digital marketing expansion are regulated to have a sufficient knowledge
understanding in promoting the relevant information to the customers (Woyo, 2021).
The well-arranged plan requires adapting the customers’ demands and needs in
facilitating the transaction process from the selection to the decision. As a result, the
customer management pathway through digital market expansion should be taken into
reconsideration in advancing the market target.

Tourism resilience through market expansion

The strategic arrangement to enhance the resilience is required a comprehensive means with
an ability to handle the hard situation through adopting the properly practical manner
managed to take a conducive situation (Lee and Trimi, 2021). To achieve this, the recovering
phase is supposedly engaged to provide a quick response to response the difficulties
arranged in springing back in finding out the proper solution pathway. In an attempt to
achieve a substantial recovery from the impact of the outbreak, tourism resilience could be
transformed to manage the disaster-negative feedback by shifting the market initiative on
IJOA digital platform (Sobaih et al., 2021). With digital marketing enhancement for instance,
strategic resilience should be taken into consideration to enable carrying out tourism
management to improve the customer experience about the service and product based the
need and demands.
In further, the strategic way on exploring the destinations based on need and demand
should be made with considering the proper means together with facing the various
challenges which might happen. Moreover, an adaptive practice should be properly
organized in advancing the digital market to facilitate the searching process for the place
destination (Fennell, 2021). In this view, the proper strategy should be managed with a
sufficient comprehension on deploying the digital market expansion about tourism. As a
result, the sufficient information has to be adopted in helping find and solve the challenging
issues on the tourism searching process due to the impact of the pandemic. Prior to this
consequence, the significant value on achieving the sustainable practice should come up
with advancing the professional and ethical empowerment on digital skills (Huda and
Hashim, 2022). The digital arrangement to continue the administration process is
substantively deployed to ensure assisting the organisation’s members in assessing and
mitigating risks on tourism. The strategic resilience requires a continued market expansion
through developing the plan and implementing the system of crisis arrangement in enabling
the management pathway to minimize the impact and achieve recovery (Akter et al., 2020;
Maseleno et al., 2019).
In addition, attempts to properly manage the crises along with referring exploration of
tourism resilience should bring the shift paradigm of solving the issues by promoting health
information-current update and travel advisory centre (Sheldon, 2021). It is important to
establish an effective pathway of crisis arrangement with developing the system and
emphasising the significance of solving skills amongst organisation members in particular
and customers loyalty in general. Through the integration of travel and tourism into the
national emergency structures and procedures, several societal issues such as
unemployment, poverty, isolation, mental health challenges and also less skills of digital
literacy should be addressed in a particular way to strengthen re-inventing the strategy and
initiative of tourism enhancement (Almunawar et al., 2021). In this regard, ethical leadership
requires the awareness of responsibility commitment underlying the process of decision
making towards responding to the tourism management urgency (Huda et al., 2021). The
potential value should be maintained in integrating the theory and practice of corporate
organisation arrangement.
Through this responsibility, the contribution is to create the value on continuing the
resilience of the way to handle the impactful point of outbreak result (Opute et al., 2020;
Huda et al., 2018a). As such, the outstanding value to expand organisational structure of
certain companies such as budget hotel is required to incorporate the demands relevant to
the customers’ experiences. In this view, the emphasis of getting pressure towards
responding to such challenges should do with organising the resilience in adapting the
proper advertisement on social media platform for instance (Almunawar and Anshari, 2021).
Such promotion practice could be advanced through adopting the social networking site
(SNS) together with following an adaptive ethics in enabling the responsible commitment to
apply for the goodness (Huda, 2022). As such, the continued practice on facilitating the
consumer preferences in determining and practicing should be properly adapted in taking a
beneficial value of promotion practice with a proper manner as addressed in the Figure 2.
The social value is achieved through advancing social media platform for instance in
helping disseminate the massive market practice by the companies in order to get well
arranged in meeting such condition.
 Tourism
resilience in
the pandemic
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Figure 2.
Tourism resilience
through market
expansion

The need for strategizing digital marketplace for tourism resilience during the pandemic
In response to the impact of the outbreak on the tourism challenges of marketing, the need to
expand the digital marketing has to bring along with strategizing the company’s efforts to
have sufficient information available online. This initiative refers to expand the
communication pathway in promoting the products and services market through digital
platform such as social media (Valeri, 2020). With digital marketing supporting the digital
commerce enhancement, the proper means as the strategy to expand the marketing
potentials of products and services could be continued with utilizing the digital marketplace.
Such this refers to assist the companies to have a sufficient gateway in facilitating the
customers to find out their information relevant to their demands and needs by introducing
the marketing of the products (George, 2021).
The strategic arrangement of digital marketplace should do with arranging the proper
means in issues and problems together with gaining the adaptive experiences of business
owners in fitting to the digital arrangement (see Figure 3). In this view, the strategy should

Figure 3.
The need for
strategizing digital
marketplace for
tourism resilience
during pandemic
IJOA be carried out with minimizing the operational costs of physical advertisement for instance.
As such, the appropriate content of information relevant to the customers could be
accurately managed in promoting their products and services (Zentner and Spremic, 2021).
With enhancing the digital marketplace, it is important to take a serious concern in
facilitating the company to begin with marketing its products and service in order to cover
the consumers’ experiences.
In line with obtaining the wider customers on digital online platform, the real-time
interaction could be continued directly with the consumers through chatting information
relevant (Arora and Sharma, 2020). Through the mutual line of needs and demands to
gaining the relationship between consumers and producers, the positive feedback to expand
the customers’ revenue could be generated into the digital platform in empowering the good
relations with consumers. In this view, the consumer loyalty should be maintained in a
proper manner by adapting the current update and trends of product and service provided
(Dominique-Ferreira et al., 2021). In referring to the loyal capacity amongst the customers,
the company’s marketing strategy with the digital platform in online basis could be
incorporated to expand the visibility of product and service like online brochures or posters.
Through paying an attention to take a digital advertisement to introduce the products
and service, the clear information provided on the certain space of marketing enhancement
should be widely managed and organised to fit into the customers’ experiences (Freeze,
2021). The digital marketplace of organising the open gateway of competitive tourism and
customer potentials of target is substantially required to expand utilizing digital marketing
to an early phase of customer relationship. With this digital platform, the borderless space
with timelessness could run the tourism potentials to incorporate the beneficial value of
online based advertisement. As a result, the tourism orientation could take a benefit in
allowing the gateway of expanding customer experience through utilizing an internet
platform to marketing potential target achievement.
In addition, both anytime and anywhere-based digital marketing arrangement requires a
sufficient capacity of relationship marketing in the sense that is addressed in emphasizing
the real-time and sustainable relationship companies and between consumers (Minoia and
Jokela, 2021). It is important to take note that having a sufficiently responsive
communication should be organised with the support of an effective marketing plan. Not
only such arrangement, the relevantly update information could also play a significant role
in maximizing the digital marketing strategy (Yetimog lu and Ugurlu, 2020). The strategic
arrangement of social media application could be enhanced in providing the information
detail related to the needs and demands together with the substantial guideline provided.
The important part to achieve this well-arranged plan on digital platform is the pathway to
open the gateway to advance the relevant information needed to the customers (Hjalager
et al., 2020).
In this regard, the continued commitment to organise developing the tourism expansion
to maintain the customer relationship should come up with peddling both services and
products followed by a real-time response in interacting with the consumers. Such this
attainment refers to advance current update application from enabling the detailed
information together with the relevant figure to achieve the attracting attention (Endo,
2020). Continued to the customer potentials, the strategic approach of digital online platform
in marketing expansion should be taken into reconsideration in enabling the customers to
engage actively in online basis, such as companies’ digital applications for customers’
response in a real-time-based procedure. Through strategising the unique characteristics of
the digital marketplace arrangement, its beneficial value could be transmitted into
expanding the customer experience with an effective promotion achievement target.
Methodology Tourism
Research design resilience in
This study is conducted with a qualitative approach through the particular method of data
collection, namely, interview as the primary data (see Figure 4). This is to ensure the
the pandemic
comprehensive and specific research finding reached in following the procedural research age
commitment processes (Creswell, 2018). Field notes and diaries are used to strengthen the
interview data. This study is categorised as a case study with the qualitative research
approach (Merriam and Tisdell, 2015). The focus is to examine the attempts on professional
digital teaching competences from teachers’ perspectives on the basis of three core elements.
These are the importance of digital marketplace for tourism market enhancement, readiness
of digital marketplace for tourism market enhancement and continued capacity to strategize
digital marketplace for tourism market. The data will be obtained from one particular
selected budget hotel in Sri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia. Moreover, this qualitative approach
will be selected to enable obtaining the richness of information and related data (Mills et al.,
2006).
In particular, the instrument for data collection will be provided in accordance with the
literature analysis. To obtain the particular result in the data coding, the research question
distributed will be analysed to obtain the extracted data supposed to interpret in fitting to
the objective of study (See Table 1). In this regard, the extracted interpretation from the
findings will be used to propose the development design related to the objective of the study,
as indicated in the following figure.

Figure 4.
Research design

Data collection
No. Objective Research question instrument Data analysis

1. To examine the importance of What is the importance Structured Thematic analysis

digital marketplace for tourism of digital marketplace interview with NVivo 12.0
market enhancement for tourism market
enhancement?
2. To assess the readiness of How is the readiness of Structured Thematic analysis
digital marketplace for tourism digital marketplace for interview with NVivo 12.0
market enhancement tourism market
enhancement?
3. To investigate the continued How is the continued Structured Thematic analysis Table 1.
capacity to strategize digital capacity to strategize interview with NVivo 12.0 Research objective
marketplace for tourism market digital marketplace for and research
tourism market? question
IJOA Participants
This paper aims to examine the initiative of low-price hotels, budget hotels, in Malaysia, to
restore the financial sustainability through empowering the digital marketplace strategy in
the tourism resilience sector. The data were obtained through qualitative interview of one
couple, a husband and wife, where the purposive sampling method was chosen (see
Figure 5). It is in the sense that indicates the participants involved in this study could
represent the population to be identified and all the individuals in the group are considered
as samples (Creswell, 2009; Richards and Morse, 2012) . This aims to let the researcher
conduct the fieldwork accurately in complying with the procedural etiquette. By following
the requirements to be fulfilled, the respondent groups representing the population are to be
identified and all the individuals in the group are considered as samples of selected
participants. To identify each participant, coding was performed, i.e. the first male
participant was referred to as “MP1”, or the first female participant referred to as “FP1”.

Data collection
Through the wording and sequencing of questions, the qualitative interview arrangements
with the schedules could be performed well in enabling to enhance the credibility and
reliability of research data (Guest et al., 2012). The interview session with all participants
began with making appointments to determine the date, time and place. With the narrative
approach from one participant, the natural setting for the attributes of qualitative research
which can be led comes to the listed respondents approached to encounter the issues during
the research process. This includes perceiving the behaviour inside the setting with
possessing face to face interaction basis with the respondent (Creswell and Creswell, 2017).
Through the flexibility with the focus on achieving detailed feelings, impressions and

Figure 5.
Qualitative design
based participant
selection for study
behaviour patterns of the respondents, the limitations of this type of design has included Tourism
indirect information filtered through the narrative views and session (Creswell, 2009; resilience in
Wuetherick, 2010). As a result, the accumulation of information refers to the key the pandemic
instruments spread through talking with respondents through the instruments.
age
Data analysis
Qualitative analysis in this study involved qualitative interview focusing on the related
discussion. All such data have been streamlined in the text and the final report. In this
study, the researcher analysed the data on a structured basis. Data analysis refers to the
several steps involved in identifying the resulting themes to understand the meaning and
context of the study (Creswell and Creswell, 2017). The system of data management is
designed through restructuring and understanding data and generating categories and was
chosen (see Figure 6).

Results
The importance of digital marketplace for tourism market enhancement
The strategic arrangement of digital marketplace has been one of the important pathways to
expand the market enhancement of tourism (see Figure 7). Attempts to give a continued
facilitation on the consumers’ relevant information are enhanced to provide them with the
service arranged by the budget hotel operator. The important pathway to manage digital
marketplace is being a standing point to expand market enhancement of tourism, as stated
by the following participant of customer:
For me, it is more easily to gain information needed when they provided the details of their
service on the online website like pagoda, booking or traveloka. So, the more information on
tourism in the particular website around will be likely more customers to book the friendly and
affordable hotel for the rest room. Because, as you know, my family and I are in far from the hotel
location, so for us it will help finding where the location is exactly. (MP1)
There is a consciousness of attempting to continue providing easily achieved information
about the details of the facilities of the budget hotel. It is more accurately related to engage a

Figure 6.
Process of qualitative
data analysis
IJOA

Figure 7.
The importance of
digital marketplace
for tourism market
enhancement

local stakeholder and authorities to empower the tourism industry around Seri Iskandar,
such as Cally Castle, to be more visible to the global audience. When this achieved in a
proper way, it would enable more visitors to more easily find affordable hotels for those with
low income, as stated by the following participant:
For us, when many places for tourism like cally castle in online platform with their details of
location, so it will be more helpful for us to look for the hotel affordable and friendly price to us
around that place. If this continued, then many others of outsiders of visitors might arrange their
next trip plan to come here again. (FP1)
The important asset of enabling the customers and visitors with having the knowledge
comprehension about relevant information detail in online platform should be taken into
consideration in empowering the sustainable commitment to arrange the tourism
enhancement. This is as stated by one of the other participants:
To me, the more visitors have a full information about vacation place in Seri Iskandar will be
more orders from those visitors to get an enough detail on the budget hotel with its lower price
and its quality (MP1).

Readiness of digital marketplace for tourism market enhancement

Subsequently, we discuss in detail the way to manage readiness of arranging digital
marketplace for tourism enhancement (see Figure 8). It is important to have a sufficient
preparation on providing an enough capacity to always ready with digital application in
facilitating them to give relevant information to the customers and visitors. This is as noted
by one participant:
Consumers like us can easily find out searching for anyplace around Seri Iskandar so, if such
information were on online website then it will be really helping us to look for affordable price of
hotel relevant to us. Also, when we tried to book a budget hotel online, sometimes its officer had
misunderstanding of our book through online application we have made a book. So, when they
are well prepared to their staffs, I think it will produce more loyal visitors to come. (FP1)
The important aspect on having readiness of digital marketplace could also come from the
way on providing relevant information on social media for instance, when searching for
 Tourism
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Figure 8.
Readiness of digital
marketplace for
tourism market
enhancement

through smartphone, about some features contained in this application in enabling the
visitors and consumers to look for information needed.
Having the tourism detail on social media for instance is also important for us at least to help
finding relevant information about tourism destination in Seri Iskandar Perak. As we know
together that social media is becoming a platform to focus on the users’ existence in facilitating
them on their search activities process. So, social media is also a digital online medium to help
strengthen operators and also users to share relevant information on tourism. (MP1)
In particular, the digital readiness in accelerating the digital marketplace is potentially
engaged with a friendly service by the organisation member as operators in enabling them
to get link into the Google map available with its features. This is marking process on the
digital innovation service with integrating the digital marketplace technology platform in
their operation as the following participant notes:
Usually when we searched for the destination, we used to do with Google map directly in our
smartphone. So, sometimes the information is not update. For example, when we look at the
online web that they open but arriving their place destination, it was closed. It is really hurt you
know. I think it would be better if its operation system can be managed by them properly so that
it will give more easily for outside visitors to adapt in the area also. For me, it is good also when
budget operators can manage their online website in helping us look for details about it. (FP1)

Continued capacity to strategize digital marketplace for tourism market enhancement

The strategy implementation of expanding the digital marketplace could be carried out on
the basis of need and demand amongst the customers and visitors, mainly outsiders (see
Figure 9). The continued capacity to manage the digital marketplace strategy is extensively
performed by approaching the combination of digital online and offline such as brochures. It
will help expand the visibility of budget hotel service with combining the style and forming
the brand familiarity to ultimately complementing the machine relationship with a touch
between people to increase customer engagement. This is as stated by one participant:
It is my usual practice when searching for the local tourism destination like in Seri iskandar here,
where we used always ensuring our internet stability is there so that it will be more easily for us
IJOA

Figure 9.
Continued capacity to
strategize digital
marketplace for
tourism market
enhancement

in finding out it. Sometimes we look for the budget hotel closer to our place destination because it
will really help us go somewhere for having dine and breakfast as well. (FP1)
In particular, attempts to strategize digital marketplace to enhance the tourism market have
to be carried out by expanding the branding system by the tourism operators. When they
reached their service and facilitation in online available, the more chances of customers will
will give more potentials of exploration together with experience to go on the tourism
destination place. This is as stated by one participant:
In budget hotel, they should provide a detailed information about its facilities so that customers
like us will have also chance to look at what they offer along with looking at the price as well. So, I
think it would be better if their facilities and price detail could be put on the familiar website
application. Because this is important for us to make sure our plan can go well with this detailed
information about it. (MP1)
In addition, the marketing strategy through digital platform requires a proactive mitigation
in forming the full service towards the facilities. The achievement of the digital marketing
here should come up with enabling all organisation members to have a superior leading
system in facing the barriers to come. With being more open in keeping up with the
increasing market turmoil, the placement of digital marketplace could engage with fuelling
customer interactions with the offered facilities. This is as stated by one participant.
Remember if we have chance to look for the hotel with low price like in budget hotel for example,
then don’t forget to see how its facilities might be. This I think can be looked at the portal
available or in their social media platform. It can make us more open mind in finding the proper
one based on our need during that time (FP1).

Analysis and discussion

The potential gateway to expand the tourism resilience for market expansion should have
sufficient capacity in managing the digital platform arrangement. The main focus on this
article is looking into significance, well-arranged plan and continued commitment of digital
marketplace for tourism market enhancement (Chen et al., 2021). To achieve marketing
expansion, the digital-based arrangement plays a vital role in incorporating the resilience
strategy. The sufficient capacity of digital arrangement should come up with shifting
pathway from live interaction to virtual engagement through the use of social network site
(SNS). Such particular distinctions of digital marketplace should be carefully engaged in Tourism
underlying the tool to equip the company in strengthening the competitive environment. resilience in
In addition, the strategic approach to have made a certain decision on obtaining both
products and services is valued with looking into their details properly. As such, the
the pandemic
potential value of seeing the trends should be appropriately adjusted with the customers' age
experience and needs (Capineri and Romano, 2021). It means that the consumers in using
online reputation management tools can monitor largely in the basis of commentary and
recommendations which users conduct. In getting the brands, products and services, the
way to potentially help convert and promptly engage in the pattern can prospect social
media marketing tools (Sharma et al., 2021). Towards the active conversations engaged with
consumers, offering value proposition to customers could be enhanced with the consistent
customer service excellence.
Further, the company attempts to boost their marketing through generating the
popularity of social media with greater website traffic to essentially enable in delivering to
varying customers with varying needs. For offering personalized solutions for customers, it
is necessary to use more sophisticated methods to understand the consumer’s wants and
needs (Benjamin et al., 2020). With the technological advancements always improving, big
data has been a useful platform for transforming the marketization in allowing the
consumers in ordering products and services. In this view, the need to have a sufficient
detail about product and service should bring a strategic attempt in expanding the
comprehension capacity on both descriptions. Moreover, the marketing strategy should be
engaged with considering the demands in order to briefly apply for the platform such as
digital space (Ghahramani et al., 2020). This aims to assist preparing the proper strategy in
identifying the current demands and needs based on the customers’ experience, in enabling
them to have the chance in making decision on it.
Moreover, analysing the product and market trends in improving the current marketing
methods would create the platform in attempting to collect and store data in the system,
which allows for in-depth analysis of information (Huang and Farboudi Jahromi, 2021). In
terms of an online-based transaction provided, the integrated system of digital marketplace
could address the particular attention in empowering the digital industrial revolution. In this
regard, the real-time arrangement to continue empowering the digital pathway of promoting
the services and products could enable the systematic plan to advance the marketing
strategy (Okafor et al., 2021). To comprehend the extent of digital pathway, the shifting
paradigm amongst the company operators is substantially an early phase to move forward
the industrial revolution of digital basis.
With the digital arrangement to expand the services and products, the digital marketing
systems through online platforms available such as traveloka, booking.com, pagoda and
other digital platforms should bring sufficient capacity and skills to adapt it into their
administration procedure. It is important to pay attention that the successful application on
tourism gateway should do with committing into the digital online and technology
advancements. In the attempts to expand getting well-prepared about the significance of
strategic plan, the continued commitment of digital marketplace for tourism market
enhancement could enable creating the various features on the range of getting order of
certain product like food in online and healthy life services (Almunawar et al., 2021).
In this view, the order process in online shopping pathway could be arranged from
timelessness and borderless space in that the customers could be reached fully from the
digital application provided. In this regard, the consumer potentials as the market target
towards the desired destinations mainly in Seri Iskandar, Perak state, Malaysia are
strategically expanded through continuing an online information available. This is to ensure
IJOA the consumer potentials could have a sufficient information prior to deciding their place
destination for tourism (Dominique-Ferreira et al., 2021). The important path of knowledge
through learning the area of tourism is also an advantage to gather not only for customers
but also budget hotel operators. The sufficient capacity of providing a real-time-based
transaction space could enable the wider users and customers in having a substantial
experience to explore the relevant information provided in the digital platform. As such, the
more information visible in online platform would lead to bring more potentials of tourism
target so that the digital initiative should be consistently arranged in a proper manner.

Implication and further direction

The attempts to look into the driving pathway of having a clear line in transmitting
information relevant to the consumers would enable an adoption sufficiency amongst the
organisation sector and business owners to get access in responding it in a proper manner
(Okafor et al., 2021). In this view, the large capacity of data could be provided through the
digital space in providing the relevant needs based on the information into the customers in
the sense that should have a sufficient awareness to adapt to the market trends. In order to
achieve such concise arrangement, there should be the sufficient articulation to adapt into
the core stage in improving the trading activities in a comprehensive pathway.
In line with having sufficient knowledge and practice on managing emergency planning,
the integrative pathway of tourism resilience should begin integrating the nature potentials
of local wisdom into national level. In further to expanding the international phase, the
support of governments and also agencies is initially an early stage to advance the potency
into possibilities for future tourism trend platform through digital arrangement (Dewi and
Ayuni, 2021). Through tourism-based running business, the organisation from inner path
should be assessed in ensuring the transmission of tourism resilience enhancement with
gaining digital tool accessibility. Developing competitive enhancement in addressing the
impact of the outbreak helps to expand the continued support of comprehending the certain
case to the stakeholder portion in decision-making (Dewi, 2020).
In terms of expanding tourism resilience, the strategy to develop tourism market is
substantially engaged to go forward the partnership on managing industrial relationship
and responsibility. The continued enhancement of practising and integrating resilience has
to bring along with the competitive arrangement as the core component of agenda (Pesonen,
2020). As such, the strategic attempts to empower knowledge comprehension on the way to
develop the tourism expansion of marketing are regulated to sustain the vulnerability
towards the disaster and outbreak. Thus, the commitment to prepare the strategy fitted with
an awareness of current demands towards the products and service should be reflected to
advance the innovation of competitive marketing practice in enabling to bring the
customers’ potentials. On this view, the corporate social responsibility engagement might be
valued with having a commitment to adapt and adopt the environment (Huda et al., 2018b).
In addition, the ultimate point refers to have a sufficient adaptation pathway to the
today’s conditions following up the positive feedback from the employees in advancing their
work performance. It is important to incorporate the businesses sector in adapting the new
space by taking advantage and at the same time preparing for unexpected challenges
together with uncertainties (Huang and Farboudi Jahromi, 2021). In this regard, the strategic
approach in meeting the increased demands in enabling the number of stakeholders should
be well-arranged in responding to such global challenges. It is the particular way of having
the replacement point as a strategy in running the operation procedure to advance the
market through digital arrangement (Salem et al., 2022). It is digital marketplace-well-
arranged procedure and technical skill in enabling the operation process mainly on Tourism
attracting the customers. resilience in
Further, the initiative of having resilience sustainability in the pandemic age with an
important recognizance should be taken into consideration in enabling to take a beneficial
the pandemic
value although small pieces, but frequent access and request by the customers so that the age
sustainability could be achieved. As a result, empowering the way on driving the technology
with the instruction and rules would potentially lead to enhance the comprehension, skills
and practices on managing the human practice (Huda, 2019). This is also including the
tourism expansion where the strategic approach with the creativity on digital skills should
be expanded further as the response towards pandemic. It is valuable as it plays a
significant role in advancing the knowledge on the way of handling difficulties amidst the
pandemic through sustainable resilience from the budget hotel point of view (Sheldon, 2021).
The strategy could be viewed into developing significance of digital market, followed by the
extent of strategic approach on digital market and continued with maintaining the solving
problem initiative when facing the crisis Kaczmarek et al. (2021). The open access in
enabling the customers to look for the service provided with best price and proper place
should be strategised in initiating the digital marketplace arrangement. As such, the
expertise on applying for the service expansion should be initiated with the proper manner
reflected into the strategy appropriate to the condition, mainly in the digital environment
space (Maseleno et al., 2019).
With the platform method to make a decision for strategy, it is necessary to inevitably
embrace an adaptation sufficiency in expanding the fast-move transmission of commercial
environment (Persson-Fischer and Liu, 2021). The digital space as an environment platform
for market expansion is potentially transmitted to have a sufficient identification to the
consumers’ needs and demands. In particular, the extent of digital marketplace arrangement
could be appropriately to adapt to the variable habits together with ordering preventive
anticipation in improving and satisfying the customers’ identification to lead to
the advancement of personalised experience (Hussain, 2021). With this regard, the strategic
attempts to facilitate their demands and needs through digital online platform for effective
and efficient process should be developed further in responding the growing users as the
market potentials.

Conclusion
In the attempts to respond the high demands on the product among the customers, the
widely active engagement with the digital technology tools could be deployed further in
taking a beneficial value through the marketization practice, as this might give chance to
allow the consumers in ordering the product and service. The way to respond the market
through customizing both demands and needs could be made in mapping the customer
pattern in giving the details and access to the product. It is mainly in the trade initiative,
where the scholarly concern is still lack in fulfilling this gap. As such, this study focuses on
three questions: what, is the importance of digital marketplace strategy for tourism
resilience in the pandemic age, why is it important and how. The data come from qualitative
interview from one couple, husband and wife, regarding the budget hotel operation practice
in the city of Sri Iskandar, the Perak state of Malaysia. The findings revealed the importance
of initiating the strategy of digital marketplace in enabling the customers’ personalised
decisions regarding the tourism destination they prefer based on their needs of low-cost and
proper service. There are three main points, namely the importance of digital marketplace
for tourism market enhancement, readiness of digital marketplace for tourism market
enhancement and continued capacity to strategise the digital marketplace for tourism
IJOA market enhancement. In the response to the pandemic, the initiative of having the resilience
strategy for tourism sustainability should be taken into consideration in ensuring the
beneficial value achievement through giving the best services and proper arrangement. All
these would lead to enhance the continuous customers services in achieving the
sustainability. This paper is supposed to contribute in giving an insightful value to advance
the strategy of the digital marketplace in enhancing the tourism sustainability, mainly
the budget hotel operators. The main point about the perspective in empowering the
resilience sustainability in the pandemic age could be deployed appropriately in enabling to
recover the digital market with an online platform.

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Further reading
Gjerald, O., Dagsland, Å.H.B. and Furunes, T. (2021), “20 Years of Nordic hospitality research: a review
and future research agenda”, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, Vol. 21 No. 1,
pp. 37-48.

Corresponding author
Miftachul Huda can be contacted at: halimelhuda@gmail.com

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