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The Impact of Social Media on Tourism

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DOI: 10.15308/sinteza-2014-758-761

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 SINTEZA 2014  E-Business in tourism and hospitality industry

Impact of Internet on Business activities

in Serbia and Worldwide
Uticaj Interneta na poslovanje u Srbiji i
svetu

doI: 10.15308/SInteZa-2014-758-761

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON TOURISM

Radmila Živković, Jelena Gajić, Ivana Brdar

Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract:
The tourism system mainly relies on information and communication technologies for
promotional activities, sales and when developing management relationships with custom-
ers. When a tourist is making the final decision on destination choice, the most important
information comes from online interpersonal influence - online word of mouth (eWOM).
Authors dealing with tourism market segmentation recognize the growing number of tour-
ists who use modern digital media. In accordance with their identified needs, advanced Key words:
technologies provide a new customized tourist offer. Contemporary tourists have been more social media,
than active since the emergence of the sophisticated Web 2.0 technology which strongly tourism,
influenced and transformed the travel decision making process. Many surveys results con- Web 2.0,
firm that - approximately 50% of people are likely to download travel applications while tourists,
searching for destinations before they actually leave for vacation. eWOM.

INTRODUCTION great importance to send the right messages through the

proper media channels [2].
The revolutionized meaning of information commu- From “the static web” and unidirectional flow of com-
nication technologies and Internet technologies refers munication until “the second phase” of Web 2.0 and bi-
to mobile communications which enable individuals to directional communication, new levels of relations have
move and generate, transmit and receive different kinds started up. The user may create, share, collaborate and
of information. As a result of this process, various models communicate. Therefore, Web 2.0 has an enormous im-
of communication emerged. With the help of information pact upon tourists’ behavior. According to the new in-
communication technology in the global environment, in- formation technology trends, consumers started being
dividuals may interact, move through space and time and more adaptive and flexible, and a new consumer profile
their necessary information accompany and help them to emerged - the digital users [3]. The new type of consumers
find the desirable product or services [1]. leads to new experiences. With new technologies being
The aim of this article is to present how and to what developed, the main interest of tourism subsequently lies
extent information and communication technologies have in exploring the potential of ICTs, and particularly social
affected tourism. We shall consider the tourism system networking, as strategic instruments for positive enhance-
and its participants (stakeholders and tourists) the essen- ment of tourism experiences [4].
tial area of study in attempt to explain this phenomenon. As a result of the Web 2.0 concept extension in the
Analyzing the network consisted of different digital com- tourism sector, there is another innovation called Travel
ponents can offer a different view for understanding dy- 2.0 which represents the new generation of travel web-
namic behavior of our digital users who can be converted sites. Its new technologies facilitate social collaboration
into tourists with assistance of social media. among travellers enabling tourists to share their experi-
ences with fellow travellers [5]. The credibility and trust-
CONTEMPORARY COMMUNICATIONS IN worthiness of Travel 2.0 applications are increasing and
TOURISM today`s tourists trust these travel applications more than
professional travel advice.
Companies in tourism try to combine varied market- The effective marketing communications do not lie in
ing techniques they used in the past and they analyze sev- what you say, but how you say it, considering the mar-
eral specific factors in the process of developing commu- keting channels and creativity of the message. The tra-
nication mix strategy (type of tourism market, traveler’s ditional approaches to communication put emphasis on
readiness to make purchase, destination development mass media techniques which are less effective in the en-
stage, and the brand’s market share and positioning). So- vironment where tourists have access to large amounts
phisticated target groups and modern ICT environment of information on destinations, arrangements, hotels, etc.
are a serious challenge for tourism industry and it is of Also, social networks have the most effective influence on
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 SINTEZA 2014  E-Business in tourism and hospitality industry

tourism when they rely on the effects of the Web 2.0 while
trying to deal with new tourists’ expectations. In support digital marketing Communication options
of such arguments: (a) The European Travel Monitor sug-
many companies sponsor on-line communi-
gests that six out of ten Europeans who went on a holiday
online ties whose members communicate through
trip during 2012 used the internet; (b) TripAdvisor, which Communi- postings, instant messaging and chat discus-
receives more than 60 million unique visitors each month ties sions about special interests related to the
(TripAdvisor, 2012)and more than 125 million reviews company’s products and brands.
and opinions on more than 3.1 million accommodation
Interstitials are advertisements, often
facilities, restaurants and attractions (TripAdvisor, 2013) with video or animation, that pop up be-
and (c) eMarketer (2013) found that around 163.5 mil- tween changes on a website, e.g., ads for
lion people in the US—more than two-thirds of internet Interstitials johnson&johnson’s tylenol headache re-
users—are social network users [6]. liever would pop up on brokers’ websites
There are many communication options where con- whenever the stock market fell by 100 points
or more.
sumers can search, interact and share information with
other users. There, in the table below, we can see some of Blogs are usually maintained by an individual
the interactive marketing communication options that are with regular entries of commentary, descrip-
now available. tions of events, or other material such as
Blogs
graphics or video. most good quality blogs
are interactive, allowing visitors to leave
Table 1. Digital Marketing Communication Options comments and even messages each other.

digital marketing Communication options email uses only a fraction of the cost of a ‘d-
e-mail
mail’, or direct mail campaign.
Companies must design web sites that em- Source: Hudson, S., Roth, M., Madden, J.T., (2012), Customer
body or express their purpose, history, prod- Communications Management in the New Digital Era, Center for
ucts and vision. the key challenge is to design
Marketing Studies, Darla Moore School of Business, University
Website a site that is attractive at first sight and in-
teresting enough to encourage repeat visits. of South Carolina, p.6.
dedicated websites for mobile devices are on
the increase. As more aspects of everyday life converge toward dig-
Companies are embracing social media be- ital, opportunities for tourist’s organizations to interact
cause of its potential for engagement and with tourists expand dramatically [7]. According to pro-
Social collaboration with consumers. Social media fessional opinion, social media are more reliable and their
Media advertising will yield relatively stronger re- content is wide and varied.
sults because of its ability to tightly target
audience based on social media activity.
SOCIAL MEDIA AS AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR
mobile phone marketing will become in-
mobile
creasingly important. Smart phone use in
TOURISM
marketing
particular is growing amongst travelers.
Social media is an important tool for the analysis of
With user-generated content sites such as tourists’ attitudes and this is confirmed by the increased
Internet-
You tube. my Space video and Google video,
Specific
consumers and advertisers can upload ads purchases and recommendations to other users. Building
Ads and successful service-based brand in tourism means that each
and videos to be shared virally by millions of
videos offer should be a unique value proposition based on the
people.
display ads are small, rectangular boxes con- customer experience.
taining text and perhaps a picture that com- Tourists need to know by means of reliable sources
display
Ads
panies pay to place on relevant web sites. how their experience is going to be like in order to reduce
the larger the audience, the more the place- uncertainty and create some expectations of what they are
ment costs. going to find at a destination [8].
a microsite is a limited area on the Web man- Due to the uncertainty of tourist services, a traveller
aged and paid for by an external advertiser/ should obtain the necessary information in order to make
microsites company. microsites are individual Web pag- the right decision concerning the travel. Modern tourists
es or cluster of pages that function as supple-
have more trust in other travellers’ opinions using social
ments to a primary site.
media rather than official marketing advices.
paid-search or pay-per-click ads represent As social media becomes increasingly expressive, con-
40% of all on-line ads. thirty-five percent of
all searches are reportedly for products or
sumers are able to increasingly influence other consum-
services. these arch terms serve as a proxy ers with their own opinions and experiences. Since social
Search ads for the consumer’s consumption interests media is low-cost and bias-free, it represents an advantage
and trigger relevant links to product or ser- for marketing communications [9]. According to the Fo-
vice offerings alongside search results from tis and in the academic literature there is a disagreement
Google, mSn and Yahoo! advertisers pay on the classification of the social media types according
only if people click on the links. to their level of social presence/media richness and the
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 SINTEZA 2014  E-Business in tourism and hospitality industry

level of self-presentation/self-disclosure. Six types of social from all over the world say they trust recommendations
media have been identified: social networking websites from friends, such as word-of-mouth, and only 48% of all
(i.e. Facebook, Linkedin), blogs, content communities the travelers who used social media to create travel plans,
(i.e.YouTube, Flickr, Scrib, Slideshare, Delicious), col- stuck with their original travel plans [13].
laborative projects (i.e. Wikipedia, Wikitravel), virtual Digital technologies have contributed to fundamental
social worlds (i.e.Second Life), and virtual game worlds changes in the tourism industry and determined a bet-
(i.e. World of Warcraft). However, there are other types of ter understanding of the decision making process of the
social media such as microblogs (i.e. Twitter), consumer travel, tourists’ behavior during vacation and post vaca-
review & rating websites (i.e. TripAdvisor, Epinions) and tion activities.
internet fora (i.e. ThornTree, Fodor’s Travel Talk) [10]. An online research with 4,600 respondents was con-
Evidently, the number of social media is changeable, ducted in October, 2012 across the US, Europe (EMEA)
but their most important role is to encourage users and and Asia Pacific (APAC), specifically with Internet and
travellers to post and share their travel experiences, com- social media users among travellers (who had traveled for
ments and opinions, by having them serve as a source of leisure purpose in the last 12 months or intended to do so
information for other users. in the next 12 months) [14].
Social media continues to impact communication ei- This interesting study collected the most important in-
ther positively or negatively depending on the subjects formation related to the impact of social media on tour-
under study and the type of communication (Steven M. ism. The study revealed that social media has a big influ-
Edwards) [11]. Social media requires all marketing activi- ence on travel decisions as 44% of respondents strongly
agreed that Internet reviews posted by travel bloggers
ties integration and uses persuasive advertising to provide
helped them about the initial decision of vacation desti-
a competitive product/service experience.
nations. This is followed by 37% online travel forums, 27%
The electronic word of mouth is important for market- Facebook, 24% Youtube/Vimeo, 22% Pinterest.
ers to understand this new platform for communication Nearly half of the respondents would have used social
and support customer relationship in the best way. The media to plan their vacation if free Wi-Fi had been avail-
electronic Word of Mouth can enhance visitor satisfac- able.
tion due to product or service improvement. At the same
From those who are “social active”, over 50% are likely
time, eWOM can solve problems and doubts during the
to download travel apps while planning their vacation be-
travel and it can help discover what tourists think and say
fore they go. During vacation, the most popular applica-
about their experience. However, the main benefit can be
tion is (by 15%) Google Maps (Figure 2). After that come
monitoring of the company’s reputation/image or even
city guides, local weather, restaurant finder apps and pub-
the analyses of the current competitive strategies [12].
lic transportation apps.
According to the eMarketer, (Fig.1) by the end of 2015,
174,9 million people in the USA will be social network users.
Fig.2. The most popular applications during vacation

Fig.1. US Social Network Users and Penetration, 2012-2017

Source: http://www.emarketer.com/
Source: Text100 Digital Index: Travel & Tourism study 2012,
Facebook in particular has a great influence over con- retrieved from www.text100.com
sumer choices globally, especially in the travel sector. The
research conducted in 2012 has shown that 76% of trav- The survey’s results (Figure 3) regarding top 5 things
ellers post vacation photos on a social network and 40% travellers are most likely to comment online have indi-
post activity/attraction reviews. Over 90% of consumers cated that travellers enjoy commenting on shopping, local
760
 SINTEZA 2014  E-Business in tourism and hospitality industry

cuisine, fine food, historical sites, museums and galleries, their tourists with multichannel integrated communica-
as well as amusement/theme parks. tions and encourage them to talk about and recommend
Fig.3. Top five things travalers are most likely to comment on good experiences. Engaging with travellers on real-time
Online social media has huge implications for the travel industry.
Today tourists encounter with the new digital technol-
ogy that can help them improve services and make their
online experiences more personalized and more relevant
- the Web 3.0. Beside many advantages of the next genera-
tion technology, probably, the big challenge for advanced
ICT in the future will be facing with privacy and informa-
tion reliability.

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