Social Media as Information Sources and Their Influence on the Destination Image

Author(s):  
María Pilar Martínez-Ruiz ◽  
Isabel Llodrá-Riera ◽  
Ana Isabel Jiménez-Zarco

Tourists use social media to share their experiences and obtain information about travel and tourism destinations. Information shared by tourists is different than information published by destination marketing organizations (DMOs) in the sense that it does not include formal messages and photographs. Some researchers have proven that user-generated content (UGC) through social media exerts an influence on the perceived image of a tourist destination and the motivations for visiting it. Tourists and travelers tend to use a combination of official and unofficial information to make travel decisions. Nowadays, there are still plenty of opportunities to advance destination image research using social media. With these ideas in mind, this chapter aims to review different types of Web 2.0 platforms and discuss their influence on destination image formation and sustainability perception.

Author(s):  
Rizalniyani Abdul Razak ◽  
Nur Aliah Mansor

Social media-induced tourism happens when a traveller visits a destination/attraction after being exposed to certain social media content. A user-generated content (UGC) provider, such as a social media influencer, has been identified as the initial motivator in social media-induced tourism. Social media influencers generate persuasive messages for their followers and are typically sources of credibility. In destination marketing and tourism destination studies, the UGC of social media influencers is significantly related to the destination image, destination brand, tourist trust, and tourist expectations. Of particular interest for Instagram influencers, this chapter proposes a conceptual framework to describe the role of the Instagram influencer in inducing his/her followers to travel and suggests a guide for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Tipu Sultan ◽  
Farzana Sharmin ◽  
Alina Badulescu ◽  
Elena Stiubea ◽  
Ke Xue

There has been increasing interest in coastal tourism, sparking a debate on the responsible environmental behavior of travelers visiting sustainable destinations. To mitigate this issue, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and environmental activists are trying to develop strategic approaches (i.e., by using digital technologies) to enhance the sustainable behavior of travelers. Environmental responsiveness and its impact on sustainable destinations is gaining attention by companies, scholars, and institutions. However, the relevant literature has not addressed social media user-generated content regarding sustainable destinations. Sharing stakeholder knowledge, activities, and experience on social media could accomplish this goal. Hence, this paper aims to explore travelers′ responsible environmental behavior towards coastal tourism within the social media user-generated content paradigm. To measure the effect of user-generated content (UGC), i.e., cognitive triggers and affective triggers, on the responsible environmental behavior of travelers, a survey questionnaire was used to collect data (n = 506) from the world’s longest sandy sea beach, Cox’s Bazar, located in the Southern part of Bangladesh. The data were examined by structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed that cognitive and affective triggers of user-generated content influence travelers’ environmental concerns and attitudes, making a significant contribution to shaping responsible environmental behavior. Additionally, the findings show that environmental concerns and attitudes play a significant role in producing commitment towards a sustainable coastal tourism practice. This study contributes to the effectiveness of user-generated content for persuasive interactions with destination marketing organizations to develop sustainable tourism practices.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Gaffar ◽  
Benny Tjahjono ◽  
Taufik Abdullah ◽  
Vidi Sukmayadi

Purpose This paper aims to explore the influence of social media marketing on tourists’ intention to visit a botanical garden, which is one of the popular nature-based tourism destinations in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach This study sent questionnaires to 400 followers of the botanical garden’s Facebook account who responded to the initial calls for participation and declared that they have not visited the garden before. Analyses were conducted on 363 valid responses using the structural equation model. Findings The findings revealed several key determinants influencing the image of the botanical garden and its future value proposition, particularly in supporting the endeavour to shift from a mere recreational destination to a nature-based tourism destination offering educational experiences. Originality/value This paper offers a fresh look into the roles of social media marketing in increasing the intention to visit a tourism destination that is considerably affected by the destination image.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Devin Cahya Triansya ◽  
Beta Budisetyorini

 AbstractThe continuous rapidly growth of tourism sector with the tight competition in the field of tourismmakes not all tourist destinations in the world always experience an increase in the number of tourist visits each year. Banjarmasin City, dubbed the “Kota Seribu Sungai” or "City of Thousand Rivers" and is known as the Thousand Rivers tourist destination has experiencedfluctuate number of tourist arrivals and tend to decline. The fluctuate number of tourist arrivalssourced from tourist visiting decisions can be influenced by various factors, including tourism destination productsand image. This study aims to see the effects of tourism destination products consisting of physical products, people, packages, and programsalsothe image of tourism destinations consisting of cognitive image and affective image on tourists visiting decision to the city of Thousand River Banjarmasin. The data obtained were taken by questionnaire to 123 tourists by accidental sampling. The results of the research were analyzed using multiple linear regression with two equations, namely (I) The influence of tourism destination products on tourist visiting decision and (II) The impact of tourism destination image on tourist visiting decision. The resultsfound the positive influence of tourism destination products to thetourist visiting decision of 54.5% and the image of tourism destination on the tourist visiting decision of 53.4% and the rest of 45.5% and 46.6% influenced by other factors not examined. The results of the analysis also showed the effect of tourism destination products variable partially consisting of physical products, packages, and programs have an effect on the decision of tourists while people have no influence. As for the variable image of tourism destinations in partial consisting of cognitive image and affective image affect the decision of tourists visiting to Kota Seribu Sungai Banjarmasin. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Mufida Cahyani

The emergence of various kinds of social media applications does not only affect the way people communicate, but also penetrates into the realm of online mass media. Social media platforms that carry the concept of web 2.0 namely user generated content and network effects make it easy for a news to become viral in a short time, regardless of the validity and accuracy of the news. Web 2.0 itself is a direct application of the concept of Knowledge Management (KM) which emphasizes collaboration and user participation, but in a broader domain, it is slightly different from KM which emphasizes internal organizational participation. Hipwee as one of the social media-based online news sites applies both concepts to its content management. The purpose of this study was to analyze the extent of the application of KM in relation to Web 2.0. The method used to explore data through interviews with Hipwee managers and direct observation to the office location and also the Hipwee site. The results obtained are that the adaptation of the KM concept has not been applied to Web 2.0 on the Hipwee site, namely the concept of data mining, while the Web 2.0 concept has been applied to KM, namely unbounded collaboration, user generated content and network effects.


Author(s):  
Androniki Kavoura ◽  
Florin Nechita

The advent of new technologies has brought forth an incredible power to online users of social media who may act as active contributors and co-creators of the tourism communication and promotion of the areas that have visited, influencing in that way the online image that is created for an area, a region or a country. The user-generated content (UGC) that is created and uploaded, text and/or travel photos allows research to examine tourists' behavior. How can this be depicted with the use of photos taken from visitors for a rural area? The present chapter aims to (a) examine the destination image of Brasov County's (Romania) based on UGC created via photos uploaded on Facebook by a selected group of visitors in the area; (b) to examine the projected image and strategy in official Brasov County's websites and strategic documents and (c) to create a set of recommendations for the promotion of the Brasov County's rural area on the international tourism market.


2022 ◽  
pp. 230-246
Author(s):  
Maria Angeles Garcia-Haro ◽  
Maria Pilar Martinez-Ruiz ◽  
Ricardo Martinez-Cañas ◽  
Pablo Ruiz-Palomino

Social media have become key tools for promoting and spreading the image of a tourist destination. In particular, these communication channels are critical for heritage destinations looking to boost awareness and attract a greater number of visitors. However, the tourism marketing literature has devoted limited attention to how these destinations project their image on social media. In order to cover this gap, this chapter focuses on analyzing the image projected by a specific heritage destination—Cuenca, a World Heritage City—on Facebook and Instagram. To this end, the chapter analyzes the posts, comments, and hashtags that have been published on the different tourism pages about Cuenca. The results of the analysis underscore the growing importance of the image projected by destinations on social networks. That said, there is a need to deepen our knowledge about the communication potential of these channels.


Author(s):  
Tuğba Özbölük

The development of Web 2.0 tools has changed the ways that cities communicate and build their brands. A growing number of travelers are influenced by user generated content, presenting a number of challenges and opportunities for city branding. This chapter will focus on the use of Internet and social media as international marketing communications techniques for cities and destinations. The chapter offers insights to city branding practitioners on how online city branding is carried out and suggests that using social media is an appropriate strategy to promote cities because of its participative and interactive nature. However, it is also emphasized that city branding practitioners should evaluate social media as an opportunity to get closer to customer, instead of a mechanism to be controlled. Exploring implications for practitioners, the chapter can be regarded as an important contribution to an area which is still fairly new and unexplored. The chapter also contributes to the city branding literature by introducing the use of netnography in city branding research.


Author(s):  
Galit Margalit Ben-Israel

This article deals with citizen engagement and public participation being in crisis on the Israeli home front, in the era of Web 2.0. Since 2004, Web 2.0 characterizes changes that allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, blogs, wikis, YouTube, hosted services, applications, WhatsApp, etc. Since 2006, Israel is involved in asymmetric conflicts. The research defines the impact of Web 2.0 on public engagement in the Israeli home front. The case studies examined in the research are: 1) The 2006 Lebanon War (July-August 2006); 2) The Gaza War (27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January 2009); 3) Operation Pillar of Defense (November 2012); and 4) The 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 64-74
Author(s):  
Anastasios A. Economides ◽  
Antonia Kontaratou

Web 2.0 applications have been increasingly recognized as important information sources for consumers, including the domain of tourism. In the center of the travelers’ interest is the use of these applications in order to compare and choose hotels for their accommodation at various tourism destinations. It is important to investigate the issues related to the presence of the hotels on some of the most dominant tourism search engines and to the prices that they present. This paper compares the search engines and determines whether the cheapest and to the most complete one can be discovered. This paper focuses on analyzing the hotel prices presented on their official websites and on the following eight tourism search engines: Booking.com, Expedia.com, Hotelclub.com, Hotels.com, Orbitz.com, Priceline.com, Travelocity.com, and Venere.com. The data analysis, by the use of the descriptive statistics, showed that only 23% of the hotels examined are found at all the search engines. Furthermore, the price analysis showed that there are differences among the search engines. Although some search engines statistically give lower prices, there is not a single search engine that always gives the lowest price for every hotel.


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