FACTORS INFLUENCING TOURIST’S INTENTION TO SELECT A TOURISM DESTINATION BY USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Abstract

Today, there are tons of social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube that can help tourists to find and decide the best tourism destination for their vacations. Despite the growing interest in social media platforms, tourists have an issue with the credibility of social media. In the tourism context, past studies have proposed that social media can increase people's awareness of destination and information search. However, its relative influence on destination selection is still unclear. Because of this, the question of the credibility or reliability of internet travel and tourism information sources has remained arguable. The objective of this study is to examine the factors influencing tourist intention to select a tourism destination by using social media in Malaysia. This study focuses on two major factors of social media- social media information and social media word-of-mouth (WOM). The unit of analysis is individual and the sample population are experienced tourists aged 20 to 59 in Malaysia. Three hundred ninety (390) questionnaires were successfully collected through online platform. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 28.0. The findings revealed that all factors suggested have significant relationships with tourist travel intention from the experienced tourist point of view, providing a better understanding for tourists in Malaysia in using social media when planning a vacation. The existence of social media in marketing strategies made it possible for the industry to offer customers sufficient and essential information with knowledge for their choice of destinations.