Tourism Destination Marketing Using Facebook as a Promotional Tool
Shahnoor Rahman
Progress in Machines and Systems, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2020.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6025/pms/2020/9/1/9-13
Link: http://www.dline.info/pms/fulltext/v9n1/pmsv9n1_2.pdf
Abstract:
Facebook is a social network for connecting people with those around them â€“ friends, family, coworkers, or simply others with similar interests. Among the varied social media platforms, Facebook deserves a special mention with regard to promotion of a tourism destination. Facebook offers travel brands the ability to identify prospective travelers, communicate directly with users, engage with advocates and create branded experiences through advertisements and custom developed Facebook applications. Facebook will also serve as a consumer market research tool for destinations to gather
user insights, measure content engagement and crowd source ideas before bringing them to market. However, the biggest obstacle to promoting a destination on Facebook is budgeting and staffing. By sharing travel experiences on Facebook consumers are inspiring visitation through textual, photographic and video word-of-mouth recommendations.This article aims at highlighting how Facebook is used as a tool for promoting a tourism destination, strategies that can be effectively used, challenges and some success stories across the globe.