Social Media's Impact on Travel and Tourism: A Comprehensive Analysis

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This project analyzes social media's impact on travel and tourism.

RESEARCH PROJECT
(The influence of social media on
travel and tourism sector)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................2
1.1. Formulate and record possible research project outline specifications................................2
1.2. Identify the factors that contribute to the process of research project selection...................5
1.3. Undertake a critical review of key references......................................................................6
1.4. Produce a research project specification...............................................................................8
1.5. Provide an appropriate plan and procedures for the agreed research specification............10
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................11
2.1 Match resources efficiently to the research question or hypothesis....................................11
2.2 Undertake the proposed research investigation in accordance with the agreed specification
and procedures...........................................................................................................................12
2.3 Record and collate relevant data where appropriate............................................................13
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................15
3.1. Use appropriate ‘research evaluation techniques’. Which types of evaluation (formative or
summative) is more appropriate for your research? Why?........................................................15
3.2 Interpret and analyze the results in terms of the original research specification.................16
3.3 Make recommendations and justify areas for further consideration...................................22
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................23
4.1 Use an agreed format and appropriate media to present the outcomes of the research to an
audience.....................................................................................................................................23
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................25
References......................................................................................................................................26

Table 1: Research Plan (Gantt chart).............................................................................................10

Introduction
The current unit is discussing with the aim of developing an understanding of different
methodologies, techniques, approaches and tools used to conduct the research project; the
research topic is about identifying influence of technology, i.e. social media technology in the
travel and tourism sector. Various elements of the academic research that involves research
project proposal, research formulation, literature review, research methodologies, data collection
and analysis techniques, and research evaluation techniques will be presented and discussed for
generating an outcome of the research. Gantt chart will be presented for making proper
scheduling of the research activities and table and pie charts will be used to present and easily
analyse the collected data of the research topic.
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Task 1
1.1. Formulate and record possible research project outline specifications
Research Title: The research topic is, “The influence or impact of social media on travel and
tourism sector industries”.
Interest behind the topic of this research: This research topic is selected by me to analyse the
use of the social media platform by tourism sectors for promoting their holiday packages. The
selected topic will increase my knowledge about the significance of social media along with their
merits and demerits in the travel and tourism industries. The understanding and knowledge about
the use of new digital technology for tourism sector growth will be increased by selecting this
topic (Nambisan, 2017).
Introduction
The importance of social media for travel industries will be discussed in the current research.
With the topic, “Social media influence on the travel and tourism industry”, the positive and
negative impact of social media on tourism industries for marketing their products and services
will be discussed. The main purpose of tourism industries is to enhance the satisfaction of their
customers by providing good quality products to gain more profits. The research will discuss the
different approaches and methods for improving the marketing of the product because of the
increased competition. There is a replacement of traditional marketing methods by social media
by the tour operators to increase their sales. Further, the research will discuss the identification of
negative impacts by customer feedbacks taken from social media so that tour operators can make
improvements to build positive image among social media users (Xiang et.al, 2015).
Research background
The benefits of social media can be gained by both customers and travel industries. The travel
firms have increased the use of social media for promoting and marketing their products on an
online platform which can help in increasing their sales and awareness about their products. The
detailed information regarding the travel firms and their services can be posted on social media
which will solve their customer queries.
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Aim of research
The current research aim is to understand and analyse the negative and positive influence of
using social media in tourism sector industries to make appropriate decisions in future.
Objectives
Given below are the current research objectives:
 The objective is to analyse the preference of customers to improve decision making by
using social media in tourism sector (Denizci Guillet and Kucukusta, 2016).
 To identify the positive and negative impact on both customers and travel organisation
and their activities with the use of social media.
 To analyse accurate and detailed information about social media with the help of various
methods and techniques.
Hypothesis
The questions included in the research hypothesis are related to social media use and role, its
impacts on travel firms and the customer decision making of the organisation.
 What are the benefits and limitations of social media usage on travel and tourism
organisations and its business operations?
 How will social media help provide the necessary information by business firms to their
customers for effective utilisation?
 Do you think that the goodwill and image of travel firms can get negatively affected by
the feedbacks posted on social media after the experiences of their customers?
 What are the confidential data related issues the tourism firms will face because of the
excessive use of social media?
 If social media is not adopted and used by the travel sectors then what will be its impact
on their success and growth?
Rationale of research
The scope of the current research for travel organisation is much wider as the study will help in
analysing the influence of social media adoption on the business firm success and their customer
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decision-making process. The research will identify the improved communication between
customers and organisations with the use of blogs, holiday pictures and video posting to attract
more customers. This platform can help in increasing the sales and profits of travel firms. The
broader scope of this research can be seen as it can analyse the negative impacts on firms to
make further improvements (Azadnia et.al, 2015).
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1.2. Identify the factors that contribute to the process of research project selection
Given below are the factors that have a huge contribution in selecting the research project for
better understanding:
Research scope: There is a wider scope of this research because of the various factors supporting
the travel and tourism firms to adopt social media facilities in their organisations which can
benefit both the firm and their customers.
Resources used: To understand and analyse the accurate data and information of the current
research topic of social media adoption in travel firms, various resources like journals, related
books and online articles can be used. Along with this, questionnaires can help in identifying
customer’s changing needs.
Use of approaches: Identification of the issues and impacts related to social media and new
technology in firms can take place with the help of descriptive methods along with experimental
approaches used by the researchers.
Research viability: The time required for the research will be around 7 weeks. The resources
needed in the research are financial resources, human resources, etc. This will require an
approximate budget of $25000.
Research methodology: This part includes the data and accurate information collection with the
help of using effective tools, methods and techniques so that a proper conclusion along with the
research success can be achieved (Brannen, 2017).
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1.3. Undertake a critical review of key references
Social Media Power
According to Blau, (2017), social media is a powerful tool as it is influencing the personal and
professional lives of people in many ways. The communication of customers with travel
organisations has changed and become stronger and much easy. Marketing and promotional
activities of travel firms have replaced with internet and social media including Twitter,
Instagram and YouTube because of its increased popularity. As per Yin et.al, (2015), there are
various advantages of using social media in tourism sector like, profit enhancement, low
promotional costs, increase in business reputation and image, increased in sales of travel
organisations and improved customer relationships. Social media has the power to attract more
customers towards business as well.
Social Media Usage for Travel and Tourism Customers
According to Hur et.al, (2017), the customers who are looking for holiday tours seek direct
information using social media rather than waiting for acquaintance’s reviews and suggestions.
Customers can get reviews of those travellers who post pictures and videos on social media
platform about their experience which is also beneficial for the firms. Travel organisations can
get the advantage of free promotions of their tour packages which can attract more customers. In
addition to this, customers also use various blogs to get the necessary and detailed information
regarding travel destinations and other related data.
Negative Influence on Travel and tourism organisations
The negative impacts of social media on travel organisations can be related to hotel, resorts and
restaurants included in the tour packages which can affect the business profits. As per Dijkmans
et.al, (2015), customer dissatisfaction can arise as they use social media for collecting travel
package information. The reason behind this is information can be inaccurate and false posted by
the tourism firms on social media. This will result in getting negative feedbacks and reviews
from customers. The number of customers for selecting the organisation can be decreased, and
firms can face a huge loss because of the negative feedbacks which can also affect their business
reputation and brand image. According to Chung and Koo, (2015), the information needed to be
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posted on social sites by the organisations involves various complications which can result in
providing misleading and inaccurate information to customers. This can decrease their sales.
Positive Influence on Travel and tourism organisations
As per Bilgihan et.al, (2016), the use of social media is increasing in travel and tourism
organisations as it is benefiting the customers to gain more knowledge about the new and
uncovered destinations to be visited which can help in making better decisions. With this, their
purchasing power can get improved. Customers and travellers can also give positive reviews and
post positive comments about their experience at attractive destinations which can help the firm
to gain promotional benefits along with getting the attention of more customers. The positive
impact of social media can increase business reputation.
According to Barreda et.al, (2015), customer’s basic needs are served and fulfilled with social
media, which is increasingly used by many tourism sector brands. By using social media
platform, the firms can solve the queries and complaints of the customers more suitably and
easily without personal interactions. This can save the time of firms and the productivity and
profitability of the firm can also be enhanced. The business reputation in the market can be
maintained by social media use as a firm provides a quick response to complaints.
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1.4. Produce a research project specification
Type of Research: There are two types of research used for the appropriate and accurate findings
by the researchers which can be either quantitative research or qualitative research. The
qualitative research will be based on gathering the required information from online sources,
journals, articles and other related books. On the other hand, quantitative research can help the
researcher to collect information from various surveys and questionnaire later presented in excel
sheets, charts and graphs form for better understanding. For gathering statistical information, the
researchers can best use the quantitative research.
Methods of Data Collection: The reliable and up-to-date information for the research project for
social media use in travel firms are collected with the help of two methods. First is primary data
collection method which includes questionnaire distribution, surveys, interviews, schedules,
observations and sample for gathering information. The other one is the secondary data
collection method in which information and details about the project are collected through using
books, magazines, journals and newspapers. Among both the method s, primary data collection
method is more helpful for the project (Taylor et.al, 2015).
Methods of Data Analysis: After collecting the accurate data for the research, the analysis of
collected data takes place with the help of using effective methods of data analysis. For
conducting investigation size of samples are selected, after this, the use of interview and
questionnaire takes place which helps analyse the data. For gathering social media information
from the selected respondents, interview questions are asked through personal interactions. In
addition to this, respondents are informed to conduct online surveys. By using tables, graphs,
charts and other forms in the project report, primary research can take place (Schabenberger and
Gotway, 2017).
Technique of Sampling: The type of sampling techniques used in any project involves cluster
sampling, stratified sampling, simple random sampling, probability sampling and multi-stage
sampling. The current research is prepared by using simple random sampling involving 40
respondents. To identify the knowledge and understanding of social media influencing travel and
tourism firm to form variously selected respondents from the overall population on a random
basis, a sampling technique plays an important role.
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Consideration of Ethics: When the research project is conducted, the researchers are required to
follow various rules and ethics considering the values people involved. The interviewer should
not ask any question to the respondents which can hurt their sentiments, values and culture. They
are required to communicate in a polite, decent and friendly manner so that the respondents can
feel comfortable. Research should not include any biases along with maintaining the
confidentially and security of collected data (Thomas, 2017).
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