The role of social media in tourism: Do we choose the destination or does the destination choose us?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34630/tth.v1i5.6282Keywords:
Tourism, Social Media, Influence Marketing, Algorithm, Consumer Behavior, Travel TrendsAbstract
Nowadays, social media plays an increasingly essential role in everyday life, influencing not only communication, but also the way we consume information and make decisions, and tourism is no exception. For as long as there have been websites, blogs and articles about travel, they have influenced consumer choice by promoting all kinds of destinations, be it the most paradisiacal beach or the most enchanting Christmas market. However, with more and more information it's becoming increasingly difficult to make a conscious choice about which destination we want to visit, especially with the algorithms of social networks like Instagram and TikTok that are increasingly fine-tuning what we want to see and with this comes a fundamental question: are we really the ones who choose our next destination or does it choose us? To what extent do these platforms, through their extremely personalized algorithms, define our preferences and direct us to certain places?
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