Social Media Influence on Local Tourists’ Destination Choice: a case study of Riyadh City

Abstract

The research serves the purpose of investigating the influence of social media on local tourists' destination choices in Riyadh City. The purpose expanded to determine which social media platform is preferred. It has helped to identify social media advertising and marketing opportunities. The influence of social media content, barriers, and negative perceptions of Riyadh on social media has been explored to explore the phenomenon. It implies the research has considered different factors to investigate the influence of social media on local tourists' destination choices. Specifically, this research has chosen the case study method on Riyadh City to know how local tourists choose a destination to visit. It has employed the post-positivist approach and conducted quantitative analysis to reach findings. A sample size of 385 participants was part of this research, while the researcher also conducted a pilot study comprising 24 participants. Descriptive statistics has presented results through pie charts, bar charts, and graphical representation techniques of data. Cross-tabulation has provided results using variables and their relationships. The researcher has conducted a chi-square test to reach findings. It let this research test developed hypotheses. Findings revealed that domestic tourists have higher social media awareness, which makes social media platforms effective for spreading information about Riyadh City. Social media content should be interactive, using videos and live streaming to attract users' attention towards a phenomenon like tourism in Riyadh City. It implies that social media marketing is more effective and productive in getting desired results than other forms of marketing. Overwhelming social media awareness among visitors proved this platform effective for marketing tourism destinations. People use many social media platforms to gather information about tourism in Riyadh, including Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms. The research has recommended that tourist authorities in Riyadh invest in tourism and social media to mobilise domestic tourists. This effort can increase the trend of domestic tourism, which has great potential to grow and expand.