Use and Influence of Social Media on Trip Planning: a quantitative study

Abstract

The expansion of the internet and the rise of digital media have transformed interpersonal communication and human and commercial relations. Social media are today popular tools to communicate, share and express personal opinions and they have increasingly become alternatives to traditional media in the process of trip planning and decisions, allowing almost real-time information update. This study aimed to measure the use and influence of social media during the tourism trip planning process and the level of trust that tourists attribute to these online tools, compared with other available sources of information. The applied methodology was developed by adapting a previous study conducted by Fotis, Buhalis, and Rossides, with descriptive and critical analyses of the results, and it is justified by the need to expand the observation to other markets in order to learn about the specificities of each group. This study used nonprobability sampling, mainly focused on residents of the city of Belo Horizonte, with voluntary online participation. The findings demonstrated the frequent use of social media in all stages of trip planning among respondents, with these tools being considered the most reliable sources of information, only behind official tourism websites and recommendations of relatives and friends.