The Impact of social media on tourists’ visiting intentions –a contextual inquiry in to the Maldivian tourism industry

Abstract

Social media seem to play an imperative part of peoples’ lives around the world. As such,social network has caught attention of organizations, communities and individuals through their ability to facilitate the collaboration of virtual communities and to provide a productive environment for mutual sharing and interaction. The adoption of social media for tourism industry is on the rise.

Given the economic significance of tourism in the Maldives and usage proliferation of social media in such a wide capacity, there is ample reason for the research inquires made regarding social media and tourism industry from user-based paradigms and dynamics..

The aim of this study is to understand the impact of social media on tourists visiting intentions to Maldives. This paper entails to cover the significance of information on social media related to the tourism industry in Maldives and also tourists’ intention to use social media to promote Maldives.

Data was collected through 350 survey questionnaires, which was analyzed and tested further using SPSS for descriptive and regression analyses. In light of generally positive findings, cost-efficient yet effective recommendations were proposed.