Assessing the Impact of Social Media on Tourism Destination Selection

Abstract

This research adopts both quantitative and qualitative research methods to provide a holistic understanding of the subject matter: the impact of social media on tourism destination choices. The qualitative part employs interviews and focus groups with travel agencies to explore their experiences and reasoning of social media strategies and their impact on the choices made by travellers. The first phase of this study seeks to identify the self-generated factors that relate to travelers’ uses of social media for tourism. At the same time, the quantitative phase collects data from a large population via questionnaires, targeting features like the frequency and length of social media usage, preferred networks, kinds of content shared, and perceived effects of social media on travel plans. In this way, combining the results of the two lines of research enables the study to present a complex picture of how, through the lens of social media, travelers define their perceptions and make their decisions. The insights attained in Table 6 provide rich implications for destination marketers, tourism stakeholders, and policymakers who seek to harness social media for better Tourism Destination Promotion & Management in the Digital World.