EVENT MARKETING IN THE HOTEL AND RESTAURANT BUSINESS: THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE FORMATION OF PROMOTION STRATEGIES

Abstract

The article is devoted to a fundamental rethinking of the theoretical foundations of forming marketing event promotion strategies in the hospitality industry, as under conditions of extreme environmental turbulence there is an urgent need for a critical revision of existing tools, which increasingly demonstrate inertia in the face of unprecedented security risks and wartime instability. The study focuses on the current situation as a “breaking point” between traditional digital communications and the emergence of fundamentally new models of interaction that respond to societal demands for security, meaning, and social solidarity. Based on the conducted periodization of the industry’s evolutionary development, the paper systematizes the stages of event marketing evolution, from instrumental approaches of the 1980s to modern digital and experience-based models. The nonlinear nature of this process is established, accompanied by the “layering” effect, where each subsequent stage integrates the tools of previous ones into more complex systems of interaction. The evolution of the industry is conceptualized as a continuum of qualitative transformations that determine the shift in its functional paradigm. It is proved that the current stage is characterized by a significant “compression” of time frames and the diffusion of inter-model transitions. The transition to perceiving a marketing event as a complex human-centered mechanism of strategic communication, replacing its former role as a purely utilitarian tool for sales stimulation, is substantiated. The paper emphasizes that an effective promotion strategy today is based not on linear information dissemination, but on the creation of points of emotional and social resonance. As a scientific response to these challenges, the author proposes a recuperative-resonant approach to the formation of promotion strategies. This concept involves the conversion of the destructive energy of crisis phenomena into a resource for sustainable development through the design of event activities capable of generating a stable emotional response, activating social synergy, and ensuring long-term consumer loyalty. The practical significance of the results lies in the possibility of implementing the proposed approach by hospitality enterprises to enhance their antifragility and build deeper relationships with customers in a volatile market environment.