Impact of Social Media on Tourism Consumers

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the impact of social networks on the tourism industry. Objects and methods. The object of the research is social networks. They are considered as web platforms where people interact with each other, create their stories, share information and exchange ideas in a virtually connected community. The authors carried out a systematic analysis of the literature on marketing in the media, research on the value of photographs in tourism. The role of social networks in the promotion of hospitality and tourism services, including over-tourism and pandemic, has been studied. The authors evaluated statistical data on the number of Internet and social network users, how much time they spent on the network, the influence of networks on travel booking, and the cost of advertising in social networks. Results. This study aims to explore the theoretical and conceptual foundations of people attitudes towards tourism in the information age, fueled by the rise of social media. Tourism has played and continues to play an important role in the emergence and development of social media. A significant portion of social media content related to travel, and some platforms and applications focused exclusively on tourism. The authors studied a causal scheme that takes into account the direct and indirect influence of messages and photographs about a tourist destination in social networks on the attitude and behavior of consumers. The article discusses the influence of the image of a destination in social networks on a tourist’s choice and how the decision to travel depends on the target image of social network members. The contribution of social networks to overtourism and their potential to mitigate it has been explored. Additionally, during the COVID-19 period, the monthly audience of social media has doubled or tripled in most countries. Thus, the pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation. Social media platforms continue to expand and have a huge impact on travel, and in some cases define it.