Social Media Playing a Part in Changing Perception of Travellers

ngee ann polytechnic
SCHOOL OF BUSINESSS AND ACCOUNTANCY
(DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS STUDIES)
YEAR 2
Business Communication 2 Report
How does Social Media play a part in changing the perception of travellers and to what extent are its impacts on the Tourism Industry of a country?

Date of Submission: | 13 July 2012 | | | Name of Reader: | Ms. Sophia Ng | | Assistant Chief Executive (Marketing Group) | | Singapore Tourism Board | | | Name of Writers: | Schvelle Ong Xin Hui | | See Xie Yi Sarah | | Tan Ming Li | | Yip Yoke Fong | | Yuen Weng Leong |

1. Table of Contents 1. Table of Contents 2 2. Introduction 4 2.1 Background information 4 2.2 Purpose Statement 4 2.3 Scope 5
2.3.1 Sources of Social Media 5
2.3.2 Concerns for Social Media 5
2.3.3 Factors Affecting Travel 5
2.3.4 Credibility and Perception 5
2.3.5 Reasons for Posting on Social Media 6 2.4 Research Methodology 6
2.4.1 Primary Research 6
2.4.2 Secondary Research 6 2.5 Limitations of Research 7
2.5.1 Time Issue 7
2.5.2 Qualitative Method Limitations and Bias 7
2.5.3 Language Barrier 7 3. Findings and Analysis 7 3.1 Frequency of Travelling Overseas 7 3.2 Travel Reasons 8 3.3 Credibility and Usage of Social Media 8
3.3.1 Interview Question 9 3.4 Social Media and Perception 10
3.4.1 Personal Experiences 10 3.5 Usage of Social Media after Travel 10 3.6 Credibility of Unknown Sources 11 3.7 Reasons for Not Travelling to a Country 11 3.8 Social Media as a Whole 11 4. Recommendations 12 4.1 Tourism Social Networking Site 12 4.2 Tourist’s Budget 12 5. Conclusion 12 6. Executive Summary 13 Appendix 1 14 Appendix 2 18 Bibliography 26

2. Introduction
2.1 Background information
A common phrase goes around the internet that saying, ‘Facebook, the only book I read every day.’ It goes to say that social networks are being used by people all the time, every day. Such increased use of social networks has revolutionized the way in which people worldwide communicated which has led to a more globalized world.
According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), there is a general increase in tourism in terms of visitor arrivals around the world across all continents between the years 1991 to 2009. In year 2000 to 2009, there is an average annual growth of 2.6% in tourism around the world. (Singapore tourism board monitors all aspects of tourism mainly looking for areas of growth, appropriate resource allocation and long-term strategies that can improve Singapore’s overall tourist’s experience)
As both Social Media and tourism gain popularity, many people begin to utilize their social platforms such as blogs, microblogs, Youtube, Facebook to share their experiences when they travel to other countries. There are a few individuals, also known as travel bloggers who share their travel experiences whose influence extends to a large pool of audience.
As such, there is now an increased sharing in information shared through personal sources (e.g. Word of mouth) and public sources (e.g. Reviews done by neutral sources) as compared to information being shared through market-dominated sources (e.g. Advertisements done by service providers) which used to have the largest share in providing information to potential tourists. It is thus seen that the way people obtain information has changed completely over the years.
2.2 Purpose Statement
The purpose of this report is to explore how Social Media plays a part in changing the perception of travelers and to what extent are its impacts on the Tourism Industry of a country. The information can help a country’s Tourism Industry tackle issues related to the negative impacts Social Media might bring, so as to achieve a better perception among their potential tourists.
2.3 Scope
2.3.1 Sources of Social Media
With the rapid advancement of technology, Social Media has developed and travelers use them as a way to journalize and share their travel experiences on different sources of Social Media. There are many different sources of Social Media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, etc. Each traveler has their own personal favorite source to seek from and post information on. The report thus explores the sources of Social Media platforms where travelers can journalize and share travel experiences, including the different sources of Social Media people normally use to get their travel information and the sources travel bloggers prefer to blog on.
2.3.2 Concerns for Social Media
Social Media is a double-edged sword. It not only brings good benefits such as increased revenue through tourism for a country but bad benefits such as a country’s reputation being tarnished. It is also not easy to control the information that a traveler is posting. Realizing that this may be a huge issue, the report analyses the many reasons why Social Media can be a concern to a country’s tourism board and the possible actions that they can take.
2.3.3 Factors Affecting Travel
What makes a country appealing enough to travel to? Each and every person has their own viewpoint. Factors such as great scenery will promote travel, whereas factors such as low hygiene may steer travelers away. The report explores the factors that encourage or deter people from going to a country and their reasons for travelling.
2.3.4 Credibility and Perception
With the numerous numbers of people posting their traveling experience, some people may only trust known travel bloggers. Everyone thus develops a different level of credibility. Likewise, the credibility of Social Media in the eyes of viewers will determine the extent of how information on Social Media impacts the perception of viewers.
2.3.5 Reasons for Posting on Social Media
Everyone has their own reason to why they post their travel experience. Some may just want to provide tips to others; while others may be promoting or negatively affecting a country’s reputation. The report thus aims to find out why travel bloggers post on Social Media.
2.4 Research Methodology
This report would be conducted in both primary and secondary research. Primary research includes surveys and interviews. Secondary research includes external sources such as online blogs or articles.
2.4.1 Primary Research
A survey (refer to appendix 1) was conducted to find out how Social Media affects the perception of travelers hence affecting the Tourism Industry of a country. The target respondents for the survey are 100 travelers who use Social Media. Ten of the respondents would be further interviewed for further opinions and views. Having such interviews would provide further or more in-depth information on Social Media. The surveys comprise of multiple choice, scaling, checkbox and open ended questions. The target age group (15-40 years old) is chosen. People of this age group are more likely to use Social Media and have done research on a travel destination through Social Media. The survey was conducted in Singapore’s very own Changi Airport.
2.4.2 Secondary Research
The online journals and articles (refer to appendix) will provide comprehensive information readily for the research of human behavior and their intentions when using computers. It will also provide information about managing tourism in this age of an increasing use of Social Media. Thus, by tackling the information on Social Media, and through the wise usage of Social Media, countries can improve their country’s reputation and in the long run, their Tourism Industry.
2.5 Limitations of Research
2.5.1 Time Issue
As the survey and interviews would be conducted at the airport, some travelers may be rushing for time to check-in and board their flights. The survey and interview may be answered in a hurry thus leading to inaccurate results.
2.5.2 Qualitative Method Limitations and Bias
It can be difficult to analyze results through a qualitative method approach. This is due to the absence of a standardized instrument in the analyzing progress. Interviewees may not want to give out certain information which can lead to them lying about their answers to get the interview done. Therefore, it can lead to unreliable and inconsistent results.
2.5.3 Language Barrier
A language barrier was faced while conducting the interview. The surveyors are unable to approach foreign speaking tourist who are unable to communicate in English. It is important to get foreigners to answer the survey as they have their own personal view about Singapore.
3. Findings and Analysis
A total of 100 respondents took part in the survey (refer to Appendix 1) with the objective to find out how Social Media affects people’s perception of countries. The 100 respondents were sourced for at Singapore’s very own Changi Airport. 10 of which were interviewed further for additional research purposes.
The responses were then collated and analyzed in order to look for further opportunities and recommendations to improve the Social Media thus improving the Tourism Industry.
3.1 Frequency of Travelling Overseas
Most respondents travel 0 to 3 times a year, while the least travel 6 times or more.
This, in correspondent to the age groups interviewed, explains the major findings being in the 0 to 3 times a year range. Most teenagers and young adults do not have the budget that allows them to travel more than 3 times overseas. Likewise, their busy studying schedule does not allow them to travel all the time. However older respondents, age range being 50 and above, tend to travel more often. This may be because respondents who are age 50 and above are mostly retired and have the money and time to allow them to travel round the world.
(Refer to Appendix 1 Question 2 for the survey question and Appendix 2 Graph 2 for the demographic data.)
3.2 Travel Reasons
In general, the main reason people travel is to have a holiday which can be seen from Graph 3 in Appendix 2.
The purpose of a holiday is to get away from their hectic lives. Some may want to take time off to explore the world while some see holidaying overseas as a way to bond with their love ones. However, the one thing in common is that everybody who goes for a holiday wants to have a good time and therefore they make sure they do sufficient research before deciding on the destination country.
(Refer to Appendix 1 Question 3 for the survey question and Appendix 2 Graph 3 for the demographic data.)
3.3 Credibility and Usage of Social Media
63% of the respondents use Social Media as a tool of research to decide which country they should travel to. The top 3 sources of Social Media that travelers use is Youtube, Facebook and Blogger.
Based on the results, travelers who use Social Media seem to view social media as a reliable source as there is no obvious reason as to why Social Media should give false information. Hence 60% of the respondents decided that Social Media plays a part in affecting their perception of a particular country.
Respondents who are more budget conscious rely heavily on the Social Media sources for deciding on the country to visit. They would want to be certain that the country that they are about to visit is value for money; therefore they do extensive research before deciding to avoid wrong decisions.
(Refer to Appendix 1 Question 4 and 5 for the survey question and Appendix 2 Graph 4 and 5 for the demographic data.)
There are over 50% of the respondents who found that the Social edia is a reliable source of research information and 12% of the respondents who it unreliable. The remaining respondents found that the Social Media is neither a reliable nor unreliable source of information. This shows that there are still a significant amount of people that still refer to Social Media for overseas information as compared to a minority who thinks that Social Media information cannot be use a reference for overseas information.
This may be due to various reasons which will be discussed in 3.5.1 Interview Question.
(Refer to Appendix 1 Question 6 for the survey question and Appendix 2 Graph 6 for the demographic data.)
Therefore, if Social Media is used wisely, Social Media will become a more powerful tool for improving the Tourism Industry where there is a larger number of people making use of Social Media for research of travel destinations.
3.3.1 Interview Question
10 respondents were interviewed further on their views on how credible Social Media is. Respondents who slightly disagree that Social Media is reliable argued that Social Media is a very subjective information provider which tends to be biased. This may be due to travelers only making use of Social Media to post rants or negative comments. Likewise, people tend to only post their negative and positive experience and exaggerate them further.
Respondents who were neutral agreed that the research and experience of each travel, be it to the same destination or not, may vary.
Other respondents who agreed that social media is credible find that people’s opinions are honest and real. They also believe that there must have been substantial research done before information on a country is being posted.
3.4 Social Media and Perception
The results show that Social Media still affects the perception of the public to a large extend as around 85% of the public’s perception are still affected by the results obtain from research done on Social Media.
(Refer to Appendix 1 Question 7 for the survey question and Appendix 2 Graph 7 for the demographic data.)
3.4.1 Personal Experiences
10 respondents were interviewed on their personal experience with Social Media having influenced their perception thus encouraging or discouraging them to travel to a certain country.
Some answers were as follows:
“The civil issues of a country, for example Thailand, deters one to travel to a country as it 's not safe.”
“The knowledge of the culture of a country changes after researching on Social Media sources.”
“The social issues of a certain country can discourage a person to travel there. The social unrest and violence in Eygpt and Bali stirred up contemplations as to whether one should travel to the country or not.”
“Chancing upon raves and views of a particular location in a country encourages a person to travel to the country.”
3.5 Usage of Social Media after Travel
There are more than half of the respondents (63%) who post details of their overseas trip on the Social Media.
This shows that there still a reliant on Social Media for information sharing about overseas trip.
When asked why one would post information about their trip online, all 100% of people answered that they just wanted to share their trip experience online and 22% of that included that they also wanted to educate others about what to expect when travelling to that particular country. The trend had shown that of these people, the most common Social Media used for sharing such information would be Facebook followed by Twitter and then followed by blogs.
(Refer to Appendix 1 Question 8, 9 and 10 for the survey question and Appendix 2 Graph 8, 9 and 10 for the demographic data.)
3.6 Credibility of Unknown Sources
63% of the respondents do not trust unknown sources.
This may be due to uncertainty of the information in these sources. These sources do not provide a good enough reason for the travelers to trust them.
(Refer to Appendix 1 Question 11 for the survey question and Appendix 2 Graph 11 for the demographic data.)
3.7 Reasons for Not Travelling to a Country
From the survey, it is seen that 69 of the 100 respondents said that they do not choose to travel to a country because of high costs. This is followed by 61 saying that it is because of the lack of cleanliness and 41 agreeing that they were influenced by Social Media to not go to a country.
This could be due to the low budgets and bigger families that people have nowadays. Likewise, cleanliness is a very important issue. Being in a clean environment also helps to build an overall healthy and pleasant atmosphere.
(Refer to Appendix 1 Question 12 for the survey question and Appendix 2 Graph 12 for the demographic data.)
3.8 Social Media as a Whole
Of it all, 82% of respondents agreed that Social Media plays a part in affecting the perception of travelers which will affect the Tourism Industry. 88% of respondents agreed that the Tourism Industry can be improved through the wise use of Social Media.
4. Recommendations
4.1 Tourism Social Networking Site
A social networking site for both travel bloggers and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to interact can be created. Bloggers can post their travel experience together with pictures on this website. Their contact information will be left behind every time they make a post. This will allow STB to contact them to clarify or find out more about the situation and how improvements can be made.
The website will be managed by STB, therefore, if there is any baseless comments made, STB can always delete them. Helpful feedbacks from bloggers will not go unnoticed, they will be rewarded by food, shopping or accommodation vouchers. With this social networking site, STB benefits by using social media to spread the truth of Singapore as well as improving on its flaws.
4.2 Tourist’s Budget
As high cost is one of the more common reasons that deter tourists from visiting Singapore, STB should look into this factor. Cost and benefits comparison table of accommodations and airlines can be created to allow tourists to make informed decisions. The collated information will be a website by itself.
As advertising a service usually tends to increase the dollar value of the service, the information provided will benefit the budget conscious tourist. For example, if a traveler is travelling alone and is budget conscious, he can access this website to compare between the various budget hotels. With these facts and figures, travelers can be sure that information is reliable and that they can make their own choices.
5. Conclusion
Proven by the survey done, people are becoming increasingly reliant on Social Media for information and that they are easily influenced by it. This proves that Social Media is a powerful tool that is able to thwart the perception of the travelers and affect their final travel destination which may eventually impact a country’s tourism industry. While being a powerful tool, Social Media can be used in an appropriate way to boost a country’s tourism industry. In conclusion, Social Media does play a part in changing the perception of travelers and its impacts to tourism industry of a country are to a large extent.
6. Executive Summary
The rise of popularity in Social Media and travel has caused many people to make use of various Social Media platforms to share their experience after a trip overseas.
Overall, this report has covered the different sources of Social Media that most people make use of, the various reasons as to why travelers post details of their trip using Social Media and how Social Media may be a threat or a benefit to the Tourism Industry.
A total of 100 respondents were surveyed, the results then collated and analyzed. Every method of research has its own limitations. Time issue, qualitative limitations and bias and language barrier were the limitations faced while conducting the survey and interview.
Through the survey, it has been found out that people travel to take a break from their hectic lifestyles. Social Media has been used extensively during the research on deciding a travel destination. Though a majority of the respondents view Social Media as a credible and powerful research tool, a minority still relies on research resources other than Social Media. Social Media is powerful enough to change the perception of the potential travelers thus either encouraging or discouraging them to travel to the country. There has been an observed reliant on using Social Media to post their trip details. Most people do not trust research from unknown sources. On a whole, Social Media can change the perception of travelers and through the wise usage of Social Media, the Tourism Industry can be boosted and brought further.
There are two ways to further improve a country’s Tourism Industry through the use of Social Media. By creating a new Social Media networking website, it helps to bridge a closer relationship between STB and traveler bloggers. It also helps to encourage the usage of Social Media thus increasing the amount of people who rely on Social Media and in the long run, they will find it credible and place more trust in Social Media. By advertising better budget travel packages or destination, more people will be more interested in Social Media as well. They will also tend to use Social Media to do research on countries before deciding to travel.
Therefore, with the wise usage of Social Media, it is possible to change and improve the perception of travelers thus improving a country’s Tourism Industry.

Appendix 1
Survey on Social Media and Travelling
Hello, we are a group of Ngee Ann Polytechnic students currently doing a project on how Social Media affects the perception of travelers. This survey will only take about 1-3 minutes to complete. Thank you for taking your time to complete this survey! :D
* Required
Top of Form
Question 1: What is your age? * 15 to 19 years old 20 to 24 years old 25 to 29 years old 30 to 34 years old 35 years old and above

Question 2: How often do you travel overseas in a year? * 0 to 3 times 4 to 6 times 7 to 9 times 10 times or more

Question 3: What is your reason for travelling? *
You may tick more than one. School Holiday Work Visitation Other:

Question 4: Before deciding which country to travel to, do you use Social Media to do research on a country? * Yes No

Question 5: If your answer to question 4 is yes, what Social Media do you use?
You may tick more than one. Blogger Facebook MySpace Twitter Youtube Other:

Question 6: How reliable do you think your research done by using Social Media is? *
With 1 being not reliable at all and 5 being very reliable. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | | | | | | | | |

Question 7: To what extent do the results of the research affect your perception of countries? *
With 1 not affecting your impression at all and 5 greatly affecting your impression. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | | | | | | | | |

Question 8: Do you post details of your trip using any Social Media after your trip? * Yes No

Question 9: If your answer to Question 8 is yes, why so?
You may tick more than one. To share your trip experience To educate others on what to expect when travelling to a certain country Other:

Question 10: If your answer to Question 8 is yes, which Social Media do you use?
You may tick more than one. Blogger Facebook MySpace` Twitter Youtube Other:

Question 11: Do you trust travel information from unknown sources? *
Unknown sources may refer to random websites that usually not used. Yes No

Question 12: What might prevent you from going to a specific country? *
You may tick more than one. Lack of cleanliness Lack of hospitality from the locals in the country High costs of items in the country The Social Media or research I did changed my perception of going to the country Other:

Question 13: "Social Media has affected the perception of travelers thus affecting the Tourism Industry of a country." Do you agree? * Yes No
Question 14: Do you believe that through the wise usage of Social Media, a country can improve its reputation thus improving its Tourism Industry? * Yes No

Appendix 2
Graph 1
Graph 2
Graph 3

Graph 4

Graph 5

Graph 6

Graph 7

Graph 8

Graph 9

Graph 10

Graph 11

Graph 12

Graph 13

Graph 14

Bibliography 1. Zheng, X., & Ulrike, G. (2009, April 7). Role of social media in online travel information search. Tourist management, 31(12), 179–188. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0261517709000387 2. López, E.P., Gidumal, J.B., Tano, D.G., & Armas, R.D. (2010, June 10). Intentions to use social media in organizing and taking vacation trips. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 640–654. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0747563210001615 3. Lo, I.S., McKercher, B., Lo, A., Cheung, C., & Law, R. (2010, June 10). Tourism and online photography. Tourism Management, 32(4), 725–731. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0261517710001123 4. Kyung, H.Y., & Ulrike, G. (2010, June 8). Influence of personality on travel-related consumer-generated media creation. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 609–621. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0747563210001226 5. Tourism and Travel Distribution in a Changed World. (2010, September). Tourism and Travel Distribution in a Changed World. Research Findings, 2. Retrieved from http://www.itic.ie/fileadmin/docs/PRINT-V2-Tourism_and_Travel_Distribution_in_a_Changed_World_Sept_2010.pdf

Bibliography: 1. Zheng, X., & Ulrike, G. (2009, April 7). Role of social media in online travel information search. Tourist management, 31(12), 179–188. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0261517709000387 2. López, E.P., Gidumal, J.B., Tano, D.G., & Armas, R.D. (2010, June 10). Intentions to use social media in organizing and taking vacation trips. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 640–654. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0747563210001615 3. Lo, I.S., McKercher, B., Lo, A., Cheung, C., & Law, R. (2010, June 10). Tourism and online photography. Tourism Management, 32(4), 725–731. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0261517710001123 4. Kyung, H.Y., & Ulrike, G. (2010, June 8). Influence of personality on travel-related consumer-generated media creation. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 609–621. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/science/article/pii/S0747563210001226 5. Tourism and Travel Distribution in a Changed World. (2010, September). Tourism and Travel Distribution in a Changed World. Research Findings, 2. Retrieved from http://www.itic.ie/fileadmin/docs/PRINT-V2-Tourism_and_Travel_Distribution_in_a_Changed_World_Sept_2010.pdf