The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Tourism

Lebanon’s area is ranked 170th on the globe (CIA, 2014). It really is smaller than the size of Connecticut, one of many smallest states in in the us. Moreover, Lebanon is among the few democratic countries in the centre East region. Regarding its economy, Lebanon is really a free market economy and contains an extremely 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. Because of Luxury Travel Experiences , 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 just about the most diverse nations in the world. Christians, Muslims, Druze, along with other minority sects are spread all around the small nation and also Lebanon’s political system is dependant on sectarian power sharing.

However, this diversity had played a pivotal role in the nation’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 at fault as well. There is 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. In line with the Lebanese Ministry of Economy & Trade (MOET), “Tourism has long been 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 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 united kingdom as well as various other factors. Moreover, the amount of tourist arrivals in the united kingdom kept decreasing from 2011 to 2013.

Because the tourism industry has been somewhat floundering in the past 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. Which means that these businesses are forced to do more to make up for increasing losses (or decreasing profits) and with 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 many techniques Lebanese TR businesses can adapt of these times such as for example implementing downsizing policies and cutting back on marketing & advertising budgets. When economic recessions and a down economy affect businesses, the first things to get eliminated are usually marketing budgets. But especially since TR businesses should do more marketing to create up for lost businesses, it isn’t really a good idea.

One solution to this problem is to make the most of Social Media Marketing strategies since they cost little to no resources, perfect for the current economy in Lebanon. Social media allows TR businesses to overcome obstacles of limited budgets and decreased business.

Problem Statement

During the past couple of 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 particular brand are more likely to recommend and buy from these brands than non-fans (Cruz & Mendelsohn, 2011). But, we don’t need to make certain of social media’s impact on business through research studies. For social media users, such as over 30% of the planet, this fact is known. Increasingly more businesses are inserting Social Media marketing tools to their marketing strategies and, occasionally, have even become a fundamental element of their overall business strategy.

Naturally, one would expect that Lebanese businesses would quickly adopt Social Media Marketing as a key role within their overall marketing strategies but this is simply not the case. With regards to the center East and especially Lebanon, the spot is far behind the West in social media 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 from maximizing marketing opportunities given by social media.

The Lebanese tourism industry is not taking advantage of social media tactics even though the advantages 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 tools because they should. This presents a huge 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 tools gain a better potential for success and prosperity