The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Tourism

Lebanon’s area is ranked 170th on the globe (CIA, 2014). It is smaller than the size of Connecticut, among the smallest states in in America. Moreover, Lebanon is one of the few democratic countries in the Middle East region. Regarding its economy, Lebanon is really a free market economy and has a very long tradition of laissez-faire economics. Along with its coastal location on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Lebanon is considered as the central ‘window’ of the center East to Europe, North Africa, and all of those other world. Because of this, its economy went through some very prosperous times and was even once called the ‘Paris’ of the center East prior to the nation’s 15 year-long bloody civil war which ended in 1990.

Also, although Lebanon is tiny, additionally it is one of the most diverse nations in the world. Christians, Muslims, Druze, and other minority sects are spread all around the small nation and even Lebanon’s political system is dependant on sectarian power sharing.

However, this diversity had played a pivotal role in the country’s problems. This diversity was a required condition of the country’s sectarian civil war and currently plays an important role in its political paralysis, although other factors (mainly foreign) are to blame as well. There’s currently no acting President and the country’s rival political parties keep bickering and preventing rather than facilitating the country’s development.

Furthermore, Lebanon’s proximity to Israel has made it a foreign policy/proxy battleground for foreign nations, each using Lebanon because of its own selfish ends.

The sad political realities of the united states have significantly hurt the country’s economy. Also, since Lebanon is a service-based economy, this specific sector has taken the biggest hit.

Tourism plays a significant role in the country’s economy. Based on the Lebanese Ministry of Economy & Trade (MOET), “Tourism is definitely among Lebanon’s leading economic sectors” (Economic Research Unit, 2010).

Furthermore, THE PLANET Travel & Tourism Council estimated that the travel & tourism sector in Lebanon contributed over $4 billion dollars in 2013 (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2014).

The travel & tourism sector composed about 10% of the economy in 2012 but that share dropped to 9% in 2013 (ibid, p. 14). That is due to the political situation in the united kingdom as well as some other factors. Moreover, the amount of tourist arrivals in the united kingdom kept decreasing from 2011 to 2013.

Since the tourism industry has been somewhat floundering in the past few years, the room for error becomes very small for businesses in this industry. The political & economic situations are squeezing tourist-related (TR) businesses in Lebanon. Which means that these businesses are forced to accomplish more to create up for increasing losses (or decreasing profits) sufficient reason for fewer resources. There is absolutely no telling when the political & economic situation in Lebanon will improve especially since the civil war in neighboring Syria shows no signs of abating.

There are Luxury Travel Experiences can adapt during these times such as for example implementing downsizing policies and reducing on marketing & advertising budgets. When economic recessions and a down economy affect businesses, the first what to get eliminated are often marketing budgets. But especially since TR businesses should do more marketing to create up for lost businesses, this may not be a good idea.

One solution to this issue is to benefit from Social Media Marketing strategies given that they cost little to no resources, perfect for the current economic situation in Lebanon. Social media allows TR businesses to overcome obstacles of limited budgets and decreased business.

Problem Statement

During the past few years, the positive effect of social media marketing on business has been extremely high (Kaplan et al., 2010; Stelzner, 2010; Treem & Leonardi, 2012, p. 143; Baker & Green, 2014).

Moreover, Facebook and Twitter fans of a specific brand are more likely to recommend and purchase from these brands than non-fans (Cruz & Mendelsohn, 2011). But, we won’t need to make sure of social media’s effect on business through research studies. For social media users, such as over 30% of the world, this fact is known. More and more businesses are inserting Social media tools into their marketing strategies and, in some cases, have even become an integral part of their overall business strategy.

Naturally, one would expect that Lebanese businesses would quickly adopt SOCIAL MEDIA as a key role within their overall marketing strategies but this is simply not the case. When it comes to the center East and especially Lebanon, the spot is far behind the West in social media marketing usage. Not only that, when it comes to businesses involved in the tourism industry, there is much room for growth. Little investment in technology is keeping tourist businesses away from maximizing marketing opportunities distributed by social media.

The Lebanese tourism industry is not taking advantage of social media marketing tactics even though the benefits of doing this are apparent. This presents a great problem especially since the economy is going through a very rough time.

Moreover, Lebanese TR businesses and businesses in Lebanon generally are not adopting social media marketing tools because they should. This presents a huge problem in the waste of resources together with significant missed opportunities as a more substantial target audience could be reached via social media enabling businesses that adopt social media tools gain a better chance of success and prosperity