The Purpose – The objective of the paper is to examine the implementation of advanced technology and promotional supports in hotel companies and to compare their performance in four- and five-star hotels. More specifically, ICT for external use are analysed, i.e. customer relationship management (CRM), communication with customers, promotional supports, and online order receptions. Design/Methodology/Approach – The empirical research took place in 38 upscale (26 four and 12 five-star) hotels located in Croatia, in the regions of Dalmatia, Istria, and Kvarner, and in the city of Zagreb. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered mainly during personal interviews with hotel and marketing managers. The SPSS software was used for data analysis. Findings – Findings reveal a relatively high implementation of technology solutions, reaching promotional supports the highest scores. Four-star hotels perform significantly better than fivestar hotels in most of the ICT items. Originality – The study provides insights into the external role of ICT for upscale hotels from the standpoint of customer relationship management (CRM), communication with customers, promotional supports, and online order receptions as tools for enhancing hotel promotion. These can be used as a valuable source of information between academics and can be additionally useful to marketing managers in hotels that intend to find as more as innovative ways for hotel promotion.

中文翻译：

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克罗地亚四星级和五星级酒店外部使用的ICT

目的–本文的目的是研究酒店公司中先进技术和促销支持的实施情况，并比较它们在四星级和五星级酒店中的表现。更具体地说，分析了外部使用的ICT，即客户关系管理（CRM），与客户的沟通，促销支持和在线订单接收。设计/方法/方法–实证研究在位于克罗地亚，达尔马提亚，伊斯特拉和克瓦内尔地区以及萨格勒布市的38家高档酒店（26家四星级和12家五星级）中进行。数据是通过结构化调查表收集的，该调查表主要在与酒店和市场经理进行个人访谈时进行管理。使用SPSS软件进行数据分析。调查结果–调查结果显示技术解决方案的实施相对较高，达到促销支持的最高分。在大多数ICT项目中，四星级酒店的绩效明显优于五星级酒店。独创性–该研究从客户关系管理（CRM），与客户的沟通，促销支持以及在线订单接收等方面深入了解了ICT在高档酒店中的外部作用，以此作为提高酒店促销的工具。这些可以用作学者之间有价值的信息来源，并且对于打算寻找更多新颖的酒店促销方式的酒店营销经理也很有用。独创性–该研究从客户关系管理（CRM），与客户的沟通，促销支持以及在线订单接收等方面深入了解了ICT在高档酒店中的外部作用，以此作为提高酒店促销的工具。这些可以用作学者之间有价值的信息来源，并且对于打算寻找更多新颖的酒店促销方式的酒店营销经理也很有用。独创性–该研究从客户关系管理（CRM），与客户的沟通，促销支持以及在线订单接收等方面深入了解了ICT在高档酒店中的外部作用，以此作为提高酒店促销的工具。这些可以用作学者之间有价值的信息来源，并且对于打算寻找更多新颖的酒店促销方式的酒店营销经理也很有用。