Abstract
Tourism is a sector where information and communication are vital for its survival, whether through products, services, companies, or destinations. Constantly growing, social networks have become one of the latest technological trends and are increasingly influential. The number of users continues to grow, and they spend more and more time sharing and looking for information. This growth allowed the tourism industry to undergo many changes and, consequently, also the process in which the consumer is influenced and decides to choose their next tourist destination, namely, through the content, comments, and reviews made by other consumers on social networks. In addition, social networks have become a very useful advertising phenomenon in this sector, being an increasingly frequent tool and promotion channel. The main objective of this study is to analyze the influence of social networks on the choice and promotion of a tourist destination. To achieve the proposed objectives, a theoretical foundation was made in the areas of tourism, social networks, and digital marketing. In a second phase, a quantitative methodology was adopted, through a survey via an online questionnaire aimed at tourists who use social networks for this purpose. The results obtained allow us to conclude that social networks influence the way tourists choose their travel destination and that they like to know the opinion of people with similar tastes to their own. At the level of tourist organizations, tourists think that it is important that they improve their communication in terms of social networks as they consider it an effective means of promoting a destination. It is possible to see that the way knowledge and information are shared is constantly changing and evolving and that the digital world is full of possibilities and choices.
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Pereira, T., Costa, V., Malheiro, A. (2023). Influence of Social Networks on the Choice and Promotions of a Tourist Destination. In: Marques, J., Marques, R.P. (eds) Digital Transformation of the Hotel Industry. Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31682-1_10
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