The Impact of SOCIAL MEDIA on Tourism
Lebanon’s area is ranked 170th in the world (CIA, 2014). It is smaller compared to the size of Connecticut, one of many smallest states in in the us. Moreover, Lebanon is probably 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. In Personal Growth to its coastal location on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Lebanon is recognized as the central ‘window’ of the center East to Europe, North Africa, and the rest of the world. Because of this, its economy has gone through some very prosperous times and was even once called the ‘Paris’ of the Middle East before the nation’s 15 year-long bloody civil war which ended in 1990.
Also, although Lebanon is tiny, it is also probably the most diverse nations on earth. Christians, Muslims, Druze, and other minority sects are spread all over the small nation and also Lebanon’s political system is based 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 a significant 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 country have significantly hurt the country’s economy. Also, since Lebanon is really a service-based economy, this particular sector has taken the largest hit.
Tourism plays a significant role in the country’s economy. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Economy & Trade (MOET), “Tourism has long been 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 made up about 10% of the economy in 2012 but that share dropped to 9% in 2013 (ibid, p. 14). This is because of the political situation in the country as well as some other factors. Moreover, the number of tourist arrivals in the united kingdom kept decreasing from 2011 to 2013.
Because the tourism industry has been somewhat floundering before few years, the area for error becomes really small for businesses in this industry. The political & economic situations are squeezing tourist-related (TR) businesses in Lebanon. This means that these businesses are forced to do more to create up for increasing losses (or decreasing profits) sufficient reason for fewer resources. There is no telling once the political & economic situation in Lebanon will improve especially because the civil war in neighboring Syria shows no signs of abating.
There are many techniques Lebanese TR businesses can adapt of these times such as implementing downsizing policies and reducing on marketing & advertising budgets. When economic recessions and tough times 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 make the most of Social Media Marketing strategies since they cost little to no resources, ideal for the current economic situation in Lebanon. Social media marketing 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 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 particular brand are much more likely to recommend and buy from these brands than non-fans (Cruz & Mendelsohn, 2011). But, we don’t need to make sure of social media’s effect on business through clinical tests. For social media users, which include over 30% of the planet, this fact is known. A lot more businesses are inserting Social Media marketing 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 Marketing as a key role in their overall marketing strategies but this is simply not the case. When it comes to the center East and especially Lebanon, the region is far behind the West in social media marketing usage. Not only that, in terms of businesses involved in the tourism industry, there’s 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 isn’t taking advantage of social media 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 in general 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 can be reached via social media marketing enabling businesses that adopt social media marketing tools gain a better chance of success and prosperity