Impact of Social Media & Blogging to Promotion of Dubai

as a Travel Destination
Introduction
Social media did not just change the definition and value of network communication, but it also created
a new digital marketing influence unmatched by any other business medium used today (Koul, 2012)
!rior to the evolution of social media, researchers and scientists rely on newsgrou"s and forums as
methods of "eer#"eer communication via the $nternet (%ambie, 200&, " 10') (ut social media has
broken the hierarchical and formal tone of newsgrou"s into a )collo*uial+ environment to change ideas
and thoughts using the $nternet infrastructure
,rom the bare com"onents of newsgrou"s, social media has evolved into blogging -lthough, there is
no standard or authoritative definition of blogging, it can be said that blogging is a )"owerful
communication medium that you can use to facilitate dialogue among grou"s of all kinds of subject
(.ardner, 200/)+ in a )journal style and dis"layed in a reverse chronological order (-sselin, 2000, "
'0)+ 1oreover, in today2s e3tended definition of blogging, it already covers social media networks
wherein ideas or thoughts are e3changed in a blogging manner, but in a micro#blogging form
-s said earlier, social media and blogging influenced the marketing effort and behavior of new
generation businesses 4here are only two roads that businesses can tread on $t is either they willingly
use social media in their marketing cam"aigns or they are forced to so because of the need to do it $n
fact, it is said that it is im"ossible for businesses to survive the 21
st
generation without joining the social
media trend, or the $nternet marketing as a whole (1ayar 5 6amsey, 2011)
4he im"act of social media and blogging is overwhelming and wide 7ot a single industry is left
untouched by the "ower of the new generation media, including tourism 4ourism, which largely relies
first, on the "erce"tion, and second, on the consum"tion of the "eo"le, is influenced by social media
and blogging, like never before you 4ravel agencies, tourism#based businesses, and even national
government agencies, utili8e this media to reach customers and boost sales
Research Question
9ith the increased attention on social media and blogging and their causative relation with marketing
behavior and direction, it is also necessary to review the im"act of such toward tourism marketing,
s"ecifically on the "romotion of :ubai as a travel destination 1ainly, it is essential to establish the
necessity of using social media and blogging with regards to this res"ect $s social media really
im"ortant to marketing :ubai as a to" ;-< and global travel destination=
Second, after establishing the im"ortance of social media and blogging, the *uestion leads to more
*ueries on the level of im"act or intensity of necessity of this media 9hat are the marketing
com"onents associated with this media making it a to" influence on the behavior of consumers= 4hird,
clear understanding of social media and blogging means com"rehending how the media can be utili8ed
to effectively result to its defined goals and objectives
- com"lete knowledge of these *uestions can give travel agencies and other tourism#based businesses
or organi8ations an overview of how their marketing cam"aign should be written and im"lemented $t
"rovides them an analysis to review their current a""roach to the industry, as a whole 7onetheless, it
also gives "ossible routes that can be taken by these concerned individuals with regards to the
achievement of their business goals and objectives
Research Context
(logging, which is the main stay of social media, reached its "o"ularity "eak and attention early 2000
-nd since then, it has evolved into different forms, though retaining the core "latform of blogging
Several researches have been conducted and s"onsored by national governments and tourism#based
businesses to understand the correlation of tourism marketing and social media, and also to get a clear
"ath on how use the media to "romote the industry
$n fact, there have been several em"irical studies conducted to clearly establish knowledge on this
im"ortant "art of $nternet marketing >owever, the confusion is still on, es"ecially on the s"ecific
re*uirements of social media and blogging on the "romotion of certain travel destinations ?uestions
like )how can a global network "romote a local destination+ and )how strong that im"act can be+ are
the guiding "osts of this study
$n the end, the ultimate goal of this study is to hel" travel agencies, national governments, and the
academe in getting a glim"se of the vast resource of social media and blogging with regards to
"romotion of travel destinations like :ubai
Literature Review
Social media is a very broad conce"t that defining it would be difficult and overly ina""ro"riate 9hy=
Social media is a large s"ectrum of features that include )customer reviews, business blogs (9ilson,
2010)+ and other information that are generated and created by users 4echnically, social media is a
network that allows users to share information without restriction from website administrators (ased
on this definition, blogging is a com"onent of social media ,or instance, in (loggercom, which is a
free blogging "latform of .oogle, you are allowed to "ost contents that just being end#users of contents
made by .oogle
6ecent $nternet technology and infrastructure develo"ments widened the coverage of social media
Social networking is an additional value to social media 6oughly, social networking can be a
)combination of forums, blogs, micro#blogs, "hoto#sharing, video#sharing, bookmark#sharing, online
"ublishingand any more traditional website structure that acce"ts "osts (ibid)+ ;sing this defnition,
social media already branched into more active forms of micro#blogging such as 4witter and ,acebook
6ight now, in just a click of button, you can already reach thousands of "eo"le through 4witter, or share
a delightful view of :ubai through $nstagram $ndeed, social media has e3"anded its s"here and
coverage that ignoring can mean disadvantage
Today's Consumer and Market Beavior
$n the "a"er, )Consumer Objectives and the Amount of Search in Electronic Travel and Tourism
Markets+ @orni (200A) discussed the e3change of information that allow )consumers to u"date their
market knowledge more e3tensively that is feasible in most conventional consumer markets+ via
$nternet infrastructure 4he study s"eaks on the different variation of searches with regards to the
tourism industry $n this "ers"ective, @orni discusses the im"ortance of understanding the $nternet
infrastructure to better understand the value and marketing com"onent of the tourism industry, and
"erha"s, the best direction that should be taken to ca"ture the online market
9hy= @nline buying of services and goods have increased in recent years $n fact, a 7ielsen study
reveals that more than 0/B of the world2s "o"ulation have made at least a single online "urchase
((lack, 2011, " 'A&) 4his means that the number of "eo"le that trust online market has increased from
a slim '/B "ercent in the "ast two years
-ccording to (ai, et al (200A), more "eo"le, s"ecifically college students, would book their way to
their to" travel destinations via the $nternet $n this new result, they found out that )college students are
not only s"ending more on s"ring break travel but also they are also researching through the "rocess
more via the $nternet+ ;nderstanding from this basic conce"t, it can be said that individuals who are
"lanning to travel during vacations or free time are more de"endent on the $nternet for information of
the "lace they want to go, and the "rocess of getting accommodation and booking to these destinations
-lthough, most of the studies are confined on the 9estern countries like the ;nited States, and such
results may only relate to foreign tourism im"act, but the rationale of these studies can also be a""lied
on local tourism -s a whole, the behavior of consumers have changed with regards to tourism because
the $nternet "rovides an avenue for individuals to see visuali8ation of the destination Standing on
traditional marketing conce"t, )to see is to believe+ is still an a3iom among consumers, whether virtual
or not
4he major "layer of online consumer behavior is trust and confidence -ccording to .ao (200/), )four
factors relate to trust in the virtual market"laceC "erceived market orientation, site *uality, technical
trustworthiness, and the e3tent of user2s 9eb e3"erience+ -nd recent develo"ment of the tourism
industry details the increasing number of "eo"le buying airline tickets, reserving hotel accommodation,
and buying souvenirs through the $nternet 4his means that the "erce"tion of consumers on the tourism
market has largely im"roved over the "ast few years 9ith such develo"ment, utili8ing the $nternet to
reach consumers is an essential "art of the marketing "itch that tourism#based businesses should
consider
Social Media !sed in Tourism "ationale # Dubai Perspective
9ith a "o"ulation of more than D million, one#third of which is using ,acebook to connect, interact,
with communicate with "eo"le inside the country and around the world 4he 7ational also re"orted a
E'' million income generated from e#commerce markets (ased on these re"orts, it is easy to construe
that the ;nited -rab <mirates has largely utili8ed online markets to boost the economy
4he main characteristics of blogging and social media is that )they enhance collaboration and sharing
of information online because they are built around software that allows individuals to communicate
and form communities using their com"uters (Smith, et al, 2012)+ 9ith more than one#third of the
"o"ulation utili8ing social media networks and online commerce, communicating with these
communities would be beneficial to the industry, as a whole
:ubai is one of the most "o"ular emirates of the entire country $n fact, :ubai is an im"ortant economic
and tourism region of ;-< 4he increased im"act of :ubai on the country made it an im"ortant "art of
the global environment $nfrastructures have been built in the region in an un"recedented manner F and
it is im"ossible to ignore these facts
-s the number of "eo"le visiting :ubai, and the increased "ercentage of $nternet infrastructure usage,
utili8ing blogging is an essential "art of marketing -s )"ortable la"to"s, digital cameras, mobile
"hones, and other devices, along with related social media "ractices like blogging, are redefining
(.ermann 5 1ol8, 2012)+ the value )technologies of visuali8ation+ that are )converging with
technologies of communication to "roduce new ways of seeing and staying in touch+ with consumers
,ollowing this rationale, it is easy to correlate the value of social media and blogging in "romoting
:ubai as a to" global and local destination
$n the same manner, the value and essence of social media is dee"ly anchored on the reach it can make
4witter accounts can send tweets to thousands of followers in just an instant click 4his means a tweet
can "romote a destination to "eo"le across the "lanet in a short time -nd as a mean of communication,
these social networks "rovide a better and easier way for consumers to send *ueries and resolve issues
with businesses
Intensity of Social Media Impact
7ow that we have clearly established the vitality of social media and blogging on "romoting :ubai as a
to" destination, it is necessary to illustrate the intensity of blogging and social media on the marketing
cam"aign (asically, we can understand the im"act of social media on the basis of (1) visuali8ation,
(2) reinforcement, and (') communication
4raditional tourism marketing relies on brochures that "rovide visuali8ation of travel destinations
6ecent develo"ments of technology and tourism still establishes the truth that )modern tourism is
de"endent on "hotogra"hic images that form the bulk of tourism brochures and other similar tools
((urns, et al, 2010)+ Gisual images that "romote tourism "roducts, citysca"e and landsca"es, and
other visual "laces are very im"ortant to the creation of social culture on consumers
4he im"act of blogging can be seen on how blogging "latform works Gisuali8ation in blogs "rovide
consumers the best knowledge of citysca"e and landsca"es, and other tourism "roducts - marketing
"itch that "rovides detailed "ictures a""eals to the visual emotion of a "erson, and eventually creates a
desire on the mind of the "erson :ubai is a beautiful "lace with grand landsca"es, however, not all
"eo"le get the "icture of a modern city in the middle of the 1iddle <ast desert 9ith the aid of
blogging, travelers can get a "icture of the city and can get the most of the "lace even without actually
going there yet
Second, the im"act of social media can be seen on how it connects a blog to another network ,or
instance, while a blog "rovides visuali8ation of :ubai, ,acebook reviews of various users can reinforce
the marketing value of the blog $n the same manner, social media networks such as 4witter can "rovide
the combination of te3t and visual links that will kee" the "ace of marketing %om"ared to traditional
marketing, the visuali8ation can serve as the "resentation of the "roduct, but sales don2t just ha""en
through "resentations $t is necessary for the sales"erson to discuss things and kee" the emotion high
4his strategy can be effectively done by social media networks
Hastly, it must be understood that these social networks are essential means to continue communication
with consumers, even after they have seen the visuali8ation -s social networks are e*ui""ed with
direct message (4witter), and "ersonal message (,acebook), and other messaging system, there is no
need for a traveler to get out of his or her mobile ,acebook account to communicate with hotels in
:ubai
4he value of social media relies largely on how well tourism#based businesses use it $ts im"ortance is
already established as a fact in online marketing, however, the realtime intensity and im"act (on
individual scale) is directly e*uated with the manner of using the "latform of resource
Why and Objectives
4his research aims to develo" a strong understanding on the correlative value and im"ortance of social
media and blogging to the "romotion and marketing of travel destinations like :ubai $t intends to
"rovide an overview on how well can :ubai reach other "eo"le across the "lanet, and not just local
tourists, via the $nternet infrastructure 4his "ro"osal seeks to e3"lore the rece"tion of social media and
blogging in marketing travel destinations
$n the same manner, this "ro"osal seeks to develo" a recommendation on how to use social media and
blogging in an effective manner -s stated above, the essential of social media and blogging is already
clear, across different industries and across different "arts of the world, however, its intensity and
im"act is largely de"endent on how the media is used
,or members of the academe, this "a"er intends to give them an overview on the tourism industry of
:ubai, as well as the environment of social media within the country ,or tourism#based businesses, the
study develo"s valuable information that they can use to get in touch with social media and blogging
resources, and how to use this media to gain marketing influence ,or the government, this research can
be a valuable tool to hel" stakeholders grow and mature in handling tourism#based issues Hastly, it is a
jum" start for bloggers who are looking for ways and methods to educate and foster social tourism
culture in the emirate, and the entire country
Research method
4his research will gather information necessary to establish facts of this study through various methods
such asC
I 6esearch ?uestionnaires 4his tool will be used to seek information from the sam"le with regards to
*uantitative data such as the number of "eo"le using social media networks, the number of individuals
using blogs to get a view of destinations, and many more
I :ocument -nalysis -s there have been various statistical surveys conducted in this subject, it is
necessary to get valuable information from this this resource
I $nterviews 4o get a clearer understanding on the emotion, "erce"tion, and other observable "ersonal
information, interviews will be conducted by the research on a certain sam"les
-s there are various information and data that should be gathered, the research will focus on both
*uantitative and *ualitative methods $n the same manner, limitations on resources restrict the
researcher to a certain level of sam"ling ,rom the large "o"ulation, sam"les will be taken randomly,
with res"ect to convenience
Research plan comments
$n the "rocess of conducting this research, there are certain limitations of the research that are of
im"ortance ,irst, it is necessary to understand that the research confidence is not affected by the
number of sam"les to be considered - certain level of statistical calculation is essentially taken into
account to ensure that readers of this research get a trusted, reliable, and de"endable information
Second, with regards to the research resources that will be used, the researcher has certain limitations
considered <thical considerations are ke"t in check to ensure that no right is being violated ,or
instance, "ersonal *uestions relating to what they buy from online stores or from tourism stores, the
research does not intend to e3"lore that
4hird, the research understands that the research must include a random sam"le of more value and
strength >owever, resource limitations sto" the researcher from e3"anding the sam"le to areas and
as"ects that may re*uire bigger cost
References/Bibliography
-sselin, K (2000) Blogging: The Remediation of Academic and Business Communications !ro?uest
(ai, (, etal, (200A) Online Travel lanning and COllege students: The Sringbreak e!erience"4he
>aworth !ress
(lack, H (2011) Business Statistics: #or Contemorar$ %ecision Making" John 9iley 5 Sons
(urns, @, etal (2010) Tourism and &isual Culture: Methods and Cases %-($
%ambie, S (200&) 'nternational Communications Strateg$: %eveloments in Cross(Cultural Kogan
!age !ublishers
.ao, K (200/) )eb S$stems %esign And Online Consumer Behavior $dea .rou" $nc ($.$)
.ardner, S (200/) (u88 1arketing with (logs ,or :ummies John 9iley and Sons
.ermann, J 5 1ol8, . (2012) Travel Connections: Tourism* Technolog$ and Togetherness in a
Mobile )orld 6outledge
1ayar, G 5 6amsey, . (2011) %igital 'mact: The T+o Secrets to Online Marketing Success John
9iley 5 Sons
@orni, - (200A) Consumer Objectives and the Amount of Search in Electronic Travel and Tourism
Markets" 4he >aworth !ress
Smith, H, etal (2012) The Cultural Moment in Tourism 6outledge
9ilson, S (2010) Social Media and Small Business Marketing Sell !hotos on $stock"hoto