Impact of Facebook on Travel Planning: A Study of Firstchoice Ltd.

RESEARCH PROJECT
An Impact of Facebook on travel planning by travellers with reference to Firstchoice Ltd

Table of Contents
TASK 1 – RESEARCH PROPOSAL................................................................................................3
1.1 AND 1.4 RESEARCH FORMULATION AND SPECIFICATION..............................................3
RESEARCH TITLE................................................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................3
RESEARCH PROBLEM............................................................................................................4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS.........................................................................................................4
HYPOTHESIS......................................................................................................................... 4
AIM.......................................................................................................................................4
OBJECTIVES.......................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 RATIONALE FOR THE RESEARCH.....................................................................................5
1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................................5
1.4 METHODOLOGY FOR DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS...............................................8
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS...................................................................................................9
LIMITATIONS OF THE PRIMARY RESEARCH..........................................................................9
RESEARCH DESIGN..............................................................................................................10
1.5 ACTION PLAN................................................................................................................11
GANTT CHART.................................................................................................................... 11
STRATEGY........................................................................................................................... 11
TASK 2- WRITTEN REPORT......................................................................................................12
2.1 IMPLEMENTATION....................................................................................................... 12
2.2 DATA COLLECTION........................................................................................................13
2.3 DATA ANALYSIS............................................................................................................ 14
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................... 24
3.1 EVALUATION OF THE OUTCOME..................................................................................24
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3.2 FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS...........................................................................................25
APPLICATION OF RESEARCH...............................................................................................25
LIMITATION OF THE RESEARCH..........................................................................................25
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE RESEARCH...........................................................................25
FUTURE RESEARCH AREAS..................................................................................................26
TASK 4.................................................................................................................................... 27
4.1 POSTER PRESENTATION................................................................................................27
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 29
APPENDIX............................................................................................................................... 32
QUESTIONNAIRE.................................................................................................................32
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TASK 1 – RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1.1 AND 1.4 RESEARCH FORMULATION AND SPECIFICATION
RESEARCH TITLE
“An Impact of Facebook on travel planning by travellers with reference to Firstchoice Ltd.”
INTRODUCTION
It is observed in the recent years that the use of technology has increased in the business
field. The intense competition in the business has grown the necessity of the organizations
to adopt emerging technology that influences its operations and activities (Tuten and
Solomon, 2017). A fundamental shift is observed in the organization to carry out business
operation from the traditional way to use digital technology.
Travel and tourism industry is one of the popular industries that are positively influenced by
the emerging technology (Yeh and Ku, 2017). This has changed the way of travel planning by
more and more travellers. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and so on
is used by every individual in today’s world. Almost every individual has their profile on the
social media that is on Facebook (Meloni, et al. 2017).
Nowadays the travellers do not rely on the out-dated information available in guidebooks
compiled by experts instead they look for the information available on the social media such
as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and so on (Hernández-Méndez, et al. 2015). Facebook
is used by the organizations such as First choice Ltd to advertise by providing added value
experiences for travel with trips consideration enabling the target people.
The organization such as Firstchoice focuses on the travel-related activities of the individuals
on Facebook enabling them to promote travel related deals and offers in order to attract
them to book the tickets. The posts and updates of family members, friends, peers and
relatives and so on inspire the travellers to either plan or make changes in the holiday tours
(Kim, et al. 2015). Facebook is an online platform majorly used by the travellers to plan or
make changes in their holiday trips thereby giving opportunities to Firstchoice Ltd for better
customer engagement and increase customer satisfaction through its quality products
fulfilling the needs of travellers (Yilmaz, 2017).
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RESEARCH PROBLEM
The problem of this research is to ascertain the impact of Facebook on travel planning by
travellers with reference to Firstchoice Ltd.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is the reason for using Facebook for travel planning?
2. What is the link between Facebook usage and travel planning?
3. What is the impact of feedback and reviews of other travellers available on Facebook
for travel planning by travellers?
4. What is the level of satisfaction among the travellers for referring Facebook in travel
planning?
5. Is Facebook is trustworthy sources to access holiday related information?
HYPOTHESIS
The hypothesis for this research is:
1. Predominance use of Facebook in accessing the information related to travel
planning.
2. The trustworthiness of Facebook in accessing the holiday travel related information
available on Facebook.
3. The influence level of Facebook in planning holiday travel is higher.
AIM
The aim of this research is to ascertain the impact of Facebook on travel planning by
travellers with reference to Firstchoice Ltd.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this research are:
1. To identify the extent and reason for using Facebook for holiday planning by
travellers.
2. To determine the link between Facebook usage and travel planning.
3. To identify the impact of feedback and reviews of other travellers available on
Facebook for travel planning by travellers.
4. To ascertain the level of satisfaction among the travellers for referring Facebook for
travel planning.
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5. To determine the trustworthiness of Facebook in accessing the holiday-related
information for travel planning.
1.2 RATIONALE FOR THE RESEARCH
Social media such as Facebook is been widely used by the majority of the travellers to look
for the information related to holiday travel (Fotis, 2015). A lot of travellers use these social
media such as Facebook to provide their feedback and reviews on their visit to any location
which can be perceived by the travellers to make changes in their holiday plans related to
destination or accommodation (Han and Lee, 2015). As a result, it is observed that Facebook
has been increasingly used as an information source for travel planning by travellers. Hence
the research is carried out to analyse the role and use of Facebook for travel planning by
travellers with reference to Firstchoice Ltd.
1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW
It is essential for the organization to understand as well as capitalise on the trends of the
consumer’s behaviour to achieve and sustain business success (Xiang, et al. 2015). A study is
conducted by amalgamating the information collected from different sources regarding the
nature of use of the internet by travellers in America. It was found that the uses of the
internet have become prevalent among various travellers (Disztinger, et al. 2017). Online
travel agencies are continued to dominate in the travel planning but emergent information
sources and transaction channels such as social media are being used by a number of
travellers (Xiang, et al. 2015).
In support of this, Amaro, et al (2016) stated that the travel planning processes of the
travellers are highly impacted by the usage of social media. A cluster analysis was carried
out by identifying the different segments of the travellers regarding their utilisation of social
media in planning for travel purpose. It considered the cluster on the basis of demographic
and other travel related features (Sigala, 2015). It was a fund that it is essential for
marketers in travel organizations to understand the utilisation of social media and its
features by the travellers for adapting effective online marketing strategies.
According to Fotis, et al (2012), an empirical study was conducted with the aim to present a
inclusive view on the role as well as the influence of social media on the holiday travelling
process among the holiday travellers. It was found that experiences were shared by the
travellers after their holidays on the social media. It also represented the strong correlation
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between the changes made in travel plans and alleged influence level from the social media.
It was also revealed that the content that is feedback, reviews and comments generated on
the social media by the users are reflected to be more reliable than the information
available on official websites for tourism, mass media advertising and travel agents.
In addition to this, Xiang and Gretzel (2010) stated that the role of social media has been
progressively important as the sources of information for the travellers. The study was
conducted to explore on the extent of appearance of social media in the outcomes that is
travel-related searches of the search engine. It was indicated through the results that search
engines are directing the travellers to social media platforms making it a considerable part
of the results of searches. It also confirms that social media has cumulative significance in
the domain of online tourism (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010). The challenges faced by the
traditional providers in providing information related to travelling are also evident in this
research.
According to Fotis, et al. (2011), it is predicted that the influence of social media on the
holiday travel segment in the travel industry is tremendous. Authors conducted an excess of
studies focusing on the role along with the impact of social media on the decision making or
planning process of travelling by the travellers. It was revealed that social media is used by
the travellers after holidays in order to share their familiarity on the social media (Ayeh, et
al. 2013). It was also found that the social media influences the travellers to make changes
in their holiday plans before taking a final decision.
Furthermore, the role of social media is considered significant in many aspects of tourism
such as tourism promotion, decision-making behaviours and information search (Zeng and
Gerritsen, 2014). Social media has proved to be an excellent approach to market or promote
tourism related products. The different research publications were collected, reviewed and
analysed focusing on the social media suggesting in tourism that the utilization of social
media in tourism is in its early stage (Zeng and Gerritsen, 2014). A comprehensive study is to
be conducted to identify the influence as well as the influence of social media on all facets
of tourism industry thereby demonstrates the economic involvement of social media in the
tourism industry.
Also, Mariani, et al (2016) specified that Facebook is been employed by the destination
management organization of Italian region to promote as well as market their destinations.
An interview analysis was conducted that indicates that DMOs of Italian region that
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employed the Facebook varies in terms of tactics and strategy. It was found that the
Facebook engagement of DMOs was positively impacted due to moderate long posts
however high post frequency as well as early daily timing of the posts had adverse impacts
on the Facebook engagement (Mariani, et al. 2016).
In support of this, Jadhav, et al (2018) carried a survey thereby focusing on the Facebook
along with its impact on the travel behaviour of the residents of Singapore. It was observed
that the usage of social media resulted in a fundamental change in the leisure travel
behaviour of the residents of Singapore (Leung, et al. 2013). It was indicated from the
findings that it has a resilient impact on the behaviours of the residents with respect to the
itinerary planning, frequency of travel along with social sharing; it did not have an impact on
selecting a destination in travel planning.
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