THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS ON DOMESTIC TOURISM DECISIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Social media influencers are the most recent and most influential marketing tool. Many countries including Spain and Singapore have used influencer marketing to promote their tourist destinations and these efforts have proven to be successful in enhancing the destination’s image and attracting tourists. Recently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the largest country in the Gulf Cooperation Council and the consumer of social media in the region, has also launched several advertising campaigns using influencers to promote tourism in the country. Therefore, given the novelty of these promotional campaigns, the current study is the first to research influencers’ engagement in Saudi tourism, focusing on the perceived trust of influencers, their content quality and their impact on domestic tourism decision-making among social media users. The research was conducted using a questionnaire methodology to engage social media users in Saudi Arabia who are the target audience of the promotional campaigns undertaken by the Saudi Tourism Authority. A total of 248 completed surveys were returned and analysed. The findings reveal that almost all of the participants use Snapchat to follow influencers and 50.4% of the respondents were influenced by the influencers' content and made a domestic tourism decision based on their recommendations. Surprisingly, the respondents believe that influencers do not have the qualities that help to build trust and that the quality of their content is unsatisfactory, although it is up-to-date. The study is of significant importance because Saudi Arabia, like many countries, is trying to accelerate the recovery of its tourism sector after the Covid-19 pandemic. This sector offers considerable opportunities for the country as it strives to reduce its reliance on oil revenues. Therefore, this study provides a better understanding of how tourism authorities can utilise influencers to influence the travel decisions of social media users.