University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing
Abstract
An increasing number of studies have been dedicated to the application of social media in the marketing of hospitality services and tourism destinations. However, there exists a lack of extant literature dedicated to exploring how social media can be used in the marketing of hospitality and tourism in rural destinations. In order to achieve the objectives of this paper, the methodology adopted, and samples used for the analysis of literature review composed of relevant papers published in hospitality and tourism journals on social media framework, social media marketing (SMM), rural hospitality and tourism (RHT) destinations. These existing literature works were reviewed, and content analysed. Findings indicate the roles of SMM in the pre-travelling, during-travelling, and post-travelling stages of the tourists’ travel planning activities. Eight social media tools were identified for the marketing of RHT destinations. Findings also show lack of internet infrastructure, dedicated mobile apps and website as challenges of adopting SMM in the promotion of RHT offerings by the destination’s management and marketing organisations. Managerial implications suggest that social media will play important roles in the repositioning of hospitality and tourism in rural areas now and in post COVID-19 pandemic and new normal era. Theoretical implications and direction for future research are discussed.
DOI
https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833035
Recommended Citation
Adeyinka-Ojo, S., & Abdullah, S. K. (2021). Social media marketing in rural hospitality and tourism destination research. In C. Cobanoglu, & V. Della Corte (Eds.), Advances in global services and retail management (pp. 1-17). USF M3 Publishing. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/9781955833035
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
