The Impact of SOCIAL MEDIA on Tourism

Lebanon’s area is ranked 170th on the globe (CIA, 2014). It is smaller compared to the size of Connecticut, one of many smallest states in in America. Moreover, Lebanon is among the few democratic countries in the centre East region. Regarding Social Media Management services , Lebanon is really a free market economy and has a very long tradition of laissez-faire economics. In addition to its coastal location on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Lebanon is considered as the central ‘window’ of the Middle East to Europe, North Africa, and the rest of the world. For that reason, its economy has gone through some very prosperous times and was even once called the ‘Paris’ of the center 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 the globe. Christians, Muslims, Druze, and other minority sects are spread all around the small nation and even 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 necessary 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 for 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 particular sector has taken the largest hit.

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

Furthermore, The World 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 country as well as some other factors. Moreover, the quantity of tourist arrivals in the country kept decreasing from 2011 to 2013.

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

There are many ways that Lebanese TR businesses can adapt during these times such as for example implementing downsizing policies and cutting back on marketing & advertising budgets. When economic recessions and tough times affect businesses, the first things to get eliminated are usually marketing budgets. But especially since TR businesses should do more marketing to make 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 given that they cost little to no resources, perfect for the current economy 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 purchase from these brands than non-fans (Cruz & Mendelsohn, 2011). But, we won’t need to make sure of social media’s impact on business through clinical tests. For social media users, such as over 30% of the planet, this fact is known. More and more businesses are inserting Social Media marketing tools to their marketing strategies and, sometimes, 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 not the case. When it comes to the center East and especially Lebanon, the spot is far behind the West in social media usage. Not only that, with regards to businesses mixed up in tourism industry, there’s much room for growth. Little investment in technology is keeping tourist businesses from maximizing marketing opportunities distributed by social media.

The Lebanese tourism industry isn’t taking advantage of social media tactics even though the advantages of doing so are apparent. This presents a great problem especially since the economy is going by way of a very rough time.

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