Exploring how Kingdom of Saudi Arabia domestic tourist’s travel intentions are influenced by Government promotional communication contents in social media platforms: The perspective of KSA students in UK HEI’s

Abstract

This study attempts to comprehend the influence of social media promotional communications from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Government on the travel intentions of Saudi domestic tourists. Data was gathered to examine different types of communication content used in social media to promote domestic travel across different regions of Saudi Arabia through a survey given to 150 participants. The study also sought to determine the driving forces behind domestic travel, evaluate how the KSA Government's social media material on domestic travel was perceived, and offer suggestions for enhancing social media content strategies for promoting domestic tourism. The results showed that while about half of the participants were oblivious, a sizeable percentage of participants were aware of the KSA Government's promotion of domestic travel through social media. There were differing opinions on the success of the government's advertising material, with some strongly agreeing or agreeing while others disagreeing or disagreeing severely. The impact and use of written descriptions vs visual imagery in promoting domestic travel was another topic on which participants had varying opinions. A few of the study's drawbacks are its small sample size, constrained geographic reach, reliance on self-reported data, and absence of longitudinal analysis. The KSA government can use these findings to better target social media marketing activities, draw in domestic travellers, and take advantage of the various reasons and perceptions connected with domestic travel within Saudi Arabia.