The Importance Of Social Media In The Tourism Industry

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2.1: Social Media 2.1.1: Definition of social media: As belch and belch state, Social Media is a group of applications based on the internet and web 2.0 through which users can create and exchange information (Belch & Belch, 2015 as cited by Yang and Wang, 2015). Social media is also defined as user generated content that is created and shared in an interactive and dynamic atmosphere (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010, as cited in yang & wang, 2015). On the other hand, some authors like to use the term “Consumer generated media” instead of “social media”, through which consumers can share information about different brands, products and services with one another (Zheng and Gretzel, 2010 as cited by Oz, 2014). F-urthermore, Thomas (2010) added that …show more content…

It is undeniably obvious how social media has changed the way individuals plan for their trips, book the tickets, search for information about the destination, and more importantly, the way they share their travel stories with others (Buhalis, 2013 as cited by Chen, Nguyen, Klaus and Wu, 2015) Social media is used by different organizations to attract target customers and increase product purchase. Similarly, social media is used by destination marketing organizations to attract target tourists and boost tourism of specific destinations. Destinations are distinct geographic areas like countries and cities, they can also be defined as a collection for all the touristic products and services consumed by tourists (Buhalis 2000 as cited by Kavoura and Stavrianea, 2015). To promote destinations and build their unique touristic image, DMOs have started using social media as a destination marketing tool. It helps them have a better understanding of how tourists from around the world perceive this touristic destination and build marketing strategies on that basis (Neuhofer et al., 2012 as cited by Kavoura and Stavrianea, 2015) . Social media also help DMOs interact with the tourists and build and maintain online relationships with them which would attract them more to the destination and ensure their loyalty on the long term (Page, Buhalis and Hays,

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