Project Paper

On
Use of Social Media Platform on Tourism Industry & It’s Impact on
Tourist Attraction: A study on Saint Martin’s Island

Supervised By,
Md. Moynul Hasan
Associate Professor
Department of Marketing
Comilla University

Submitted By,
Md. Ashraful Islam
ID: 11607005
Session: 2015-16
Department of Marketing
Comilla University

Date of Submission: 7th September 2020.

 Letter of Transmittal

07 September 2020

Md. Moynul Hasan

Associate Professor
Department of Marketing
Comilla University

Subject: Submission of the Project Paper.

Dear Sir,

With due respect, I would like to present this project paper which I prepared as a
requirement of my BBA program entitled as “Use of Social Media Platform on
Tourism Industry & It's Impact on Tourist Attraction: A Study on Saint Martin's
Island”

I am delighted to work under your guidance and supervision in my project. While I am in

the learning curve, this report has made it possible for me to gain useful insights that will
help me shape my future efforts.

I have tried my level best to complete this report with regard to the necessary
specifications. However, if any explanation is needed, I would be honored to do so.
Please accept this humble effort to put forward my research and findings on the subject.

Yours Sincerely,

______________________

Md. Ashraful Islam

ID: 11607005
Session: 2015-16
Department of Marketing
Comilla University

i
 Declaration of Student

I announce that the Project Paper on “Use of Social Media Platform on Tourism
Industry & It’s Impact on Tourist Attraction: A study on Saint Martin’s Island” is
prepared solely for the need for a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree and
embodies my own practical and individual research work prepared under the close
supervision of Md. Moynul Hasan, Associate Professor, Department of Marketing,
Comilla University.

I also confirm that the work referred to in this study is original and that no part or all of
the project paper has been submitted to any other university or institution for any degree
or award or other reason.

----------------------------------

Md. Ashraful Islam

ID: 11607005
Session: 2015-16
Department of Marketing
Comilla University

ii
 Declaration of Supervisor

This is to certify that this project paper on "Use of Social Media Platform on Tourism
Industry & It’s Impact on Tourist Attraction: A study on Saint Martin’s Island" was
carried out by Md. Ashraful Islam, ID: 11607005, Session: 205-16 as part of the Bachelor
of Business Administration (BBA) degree from the Department of Marketing, Faculty of
Business Studies, Comilla University. No part of the project paper has previously been
applied for any degree, certificate, title or recognition.

I hereby accept his project paper & wish him every success in completing his BBA
program.

………………………………

Md. Moynul Hasan

Supervisor & Associate Professor
Department of Marketing
Comilla University

iii
 Acknowledgement

At the very beginning, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Almighty for
giving me the strength and courage to complete the report within a given time.

I had to take the support and encouragement of some respected people to do my project,
who deserve my deepest gratitude.

I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Md. Moynul Hasan, Associate

Professor, Department of Marketing, Comilla University, for providing me with a strong
guidance over a number of consultations on my research. Thank you for your patience,
your inspiration, your passion and your tremendous knowledge. His encouragement has
helped me during my study and writing of this project paper. I could not have dreamed
that I would have had a better consultant and mentor for my report. I would also like to
extend my sincere gratitude to all those who have directly and indirectly guided me
through the writing of this project paper.

Md. Ashraful Islam

ID. 11607005
Session: 2015-16
Department of Marketing
Comilla University

iv
 Abstract

Social media has been a major part of brand relations in the modern world. Companies
are increasingly using different attractive photo or video materials to advertise a tourism
product or service in the social room, making it easier for visitors to decide where to
spend their holidays. Social media plays a major role in the tourism industry in today's
information society. Social media are recognized as an important source of information
which influences the travel choices of tourists. The goal of this research is to evaluate the
effects of social media tools on a tourism marketing and how social media adoption
intention, online communities, destination information, electronic word of mouth (E-
WOM) build tourist attraction via social media platform. In the section of study, a
questionnaire was prepared and extended to tourists who regularly use social media
applications in everyday life. The data were collected by survey method from 150
respondents via a standardized questionnaire with Likert scales of five points and
multiple items. Sampling process is used for convenience. Data were analyzed using
analyzes of the frequency, mean, standard deviation and regression. The largest of those
answering are students. Most people use Facebook as the form for social media & most
of them spend more than 4 hours on social media sites in a day. Most people today use
social media to prepare their journey, collect information quicker and easier. People
want to use social media to determine which destination they wish to go.  Electronic
word of mouth (E-WOM) has a major impact on tourists making travel decisions. Social
usage saves the tourism user time, energy & cost as people get the information, they need
with just a click on the social media & depend on the information. The tourism industry
will take more proactive action to attract tourists with the information they provide as
tourists search for information on the social media site when they need it. The results of
this investigation can be implemented in decision making by the tourism industry policy
makers and in their study by the next researchers. The researcher highly expects this
study to add value to the literature, as it uses a conceptual framework to describe the
factors associated with tourist attraction via social media platform. This analysis is
performed during the Covid-19 pandemic, so there is a lack of field level data and it is
not possible to cover the social media effect within the study for the tourism agencies.

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Key Words: Social media, Web2.0, Social Media Marketing, Tourism attraction, E-
WOM, Information Search, Adoption Intention.

Table of Contents

Contents
1.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................1

1.2 Research Question..................................................................................................3

2.1 Literature Review...........................................................................................................3

2.2 Research Gap..........................................................................................................9

2.3 Objective of the research......................................................................................10

2.4 Conceptual Framework and Research Hypotheses...............................................11

3. Research Methodology...................................................................................................13

3.1 Research Design...................................................................................................13

3.2 Sources of Data.....................................................................................................13

3.3 Questionnaire Design............................................................................................13

3.4 Sampling...............................................................................................................14

3.5 Data Collection.....................................................................................................14

3.6 Data Analysis........................................................................................................15

4. Data Analysis & Findings..............................................................................................16

4.1 Background Profile analysis.................................................................................16

4.2 Descriptive statistics analysis...............................................................................19

4.3 Regression Analysis..............................................................................................21

5. Discussion......................................................................................................................24

6. Recommendation, Implications & Conclusion.............................................................25

6.1 Recommendations.................................................................................................25

6.2 Limitation & Further research..............................................................................26

6.3 Implications & Conclusion...................................................................................26

APPENDIX........................................................................................................................28

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References..........................................................................................................................31

List of Figures

1. Proposed theoretical model for tourist attractiveness by social media platforms…11

List of Tables

Table-1 Cronbach’s Alpha ………………………………………………………….15

Table-2 Background profile of respondents ……………………………………… 15

Table-3 Descriptive statistics ………………………………………………………..18

Table-4 Predict the relationship between key factors & tourist attraction …..……....20

Table-5 Confirming the relationship model fitness (ANOVA Table) ………………20

Table-6 Factors influencing tourist attraction …………….…………………………21

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1.1 Introduction
Communication technology is evolving rapidly nowadays and changing ways of
communication between people. Many people have therefore begun using Internet and
Network resources. And one of the most notable advances was in the applications of
social media. With Web 2.0 proof, the internet has turned into the passive platform for
users to be an active platform. Currently, with Web 2.0 technology, knowledge
transferring on the internet has become simpler and quicker. Web 2.0 has created
innovations consisting of social media (Werthner & Klein, 1999; Buhalis & Law, 2008;
Brake & Safko, 2009). The emergence of Web 2.0 technology has made a major
contribution to the importance of social media in everyday activities (Zeng and Gerritsen,
2014). Social networking apps and tolls are specifically noteworthy in the way people
interact. Mobile technology and internet advances have made social media tolls more
available and these tolls have become part of the everyday activities and lives of people
(Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Social media is becoming increasingly relevant day by day
and it includes blogs, microblogs, social networking sites, reviews and virtual portals etc.
People have advantages from these social media sites and by socializing on these devices,
they provide pleasure (Boyd and Ellison, 2008; Gretzel et al. 2008). The definition of
social media was described in different ways. Social media is a broad concept that
describes blog and forum writings, photos, audio recordings, videos, links, profile pages
on social networking sites, and all the different material that forms many other social
networking sites (Eley & Tilley, 2009).

The influence of social media is creating drastic changes in corporate marketing

strategies. Websites, forums, social networking etc. Social media networks, such as
television and radio, have replaced traditional communication outlets (Siltala, M., 2009).
Companies carry out marketing campaigns in advance through social media which would
not be possible with conventional marketing channels as fast and effective as possible.
Such improvements provide the potential for cost-effective, personalized and
information-rich marketing campaigns (Kasavana et al., 2010). According to "The Art of
Listening to Non-Profit Social Media Toolkit" in 2013, there are multiple people using
Twitter and Facebook with more than 500 million users and over 1.11 billion,
respectively, and these figures are rising every second. In the tourism industry in
particular, social media plays an important role in gaining more participation from

1
consumers and growing their buying intention, as tourism goods have long relied
primarily on destination popularity, public sentiment, knowledge spread and positive
word-of - mouth ads. According to Michaela Stelznel in "Social Media Marketing
Research," 97 percent marketers indicated that they are interested in social media
marketing while doing their business and a substantial 92 percent of marketers said that
social media is important for their business.

Tourism growth has led to an increase in demand for different tourism sites, be they
hotels, food services or other tourism establishments. Effective operation of these
enterprises requires four main aspects: facilities, good service efficiency, friendly
employees and well-planned ads. This last aspect is an essential way to provide
information; companies need to keep an eye on consumer dynamics and make use of
efficient information distribution channels. That kind of place is an online space (ZRDA
Activity in Georgia, 2018).

Social networking is a way to get information disseminated and accessed easily.

Consumers and numerous companies also favor it, as it is a powerful weapon for them to
draw consumers and gain competitive advantage (Todua, 2017).

Apparently, more than 60 per cent of customers are online looking for similar items and
discovering them through various social networking sites. More social media users are
likely to read reviews of products and services online, and more than half of them on
these sites will also rate the products and services. Demographics shows that women,
unlike men, spend much of their time online, and are likely to tell others about the
products they bought. Sources of product knowledge, definition, and impressions
typically come from users of social media (NM Incite 2012). Most people find knowledge
about goods and services on social media sites according to Nielsen Global Connect
(2011).

There is a strong partnership between creativity and the tourism sector with the
information and communication technology innovations. The number of tourism
consumers who are on social media sites is growing (Miguens, J; Baggio, R and Costa, C,
2008). Consumers of tourism interact in social media networks and constitute the virtual
culture of tourism. Tourism consumers share their experiences on social media through
photographs taken during their journeys, and comment on their Facebook, Twitter, and
Trip Planner views, destinations, and tourism businesses, and so on. On the social media

2
site, tourism consumers show great care and interest in sharing information and
experience. This experience and awareness for most customers who make travel decisions
and want to enter various tourism facilities are among the deciding factors (Ye, L., Gu ve
Chen, 2011: 635; Litvin, S. W., Goldsmith, R. E. and Pan, B., 2008).

For tourism, social media is highly preferred by tourists; and tourists from all over the
world can engage in contact and discussion of travel information with the aid of the social
media platform at anytime and anywhere, thereby subtly shifting the actions and habits of
the tourism consumers. Social media provides tourism consumers with a two-way forum
for contact and interaction, so they can immediately share their tourism experience so
happiness, and other tourism consumers are likely to follow these comparisons and
influence their travel decisions (Qian Cao, Bin Yu* and Xiao-Xia Tian Tian).

1.2 Research Question

This research applied a set of direct questions to prior studies for performing the literature
review. Researchers therefore concentrate on the causes or characteristics that can impact
tourist attraction. Finally, to get a more detailed and recent image of the tourist attraction
phenomenon, through the potential presence of the tourism industry in social media. In
short, this thesis brings forth the following research questions:

RQ a. Can the social media platforms attract tourist toward the tourism destination?

RQ b. How others post on social media influence customer’s decision?

RQ c. Does the adoption intention of social media help the tourists to plan their trip
through online?

RQ d. What is the relation between tourist attraction & reliability of the information?

RQ e. How does social media save the time, money & energy of the customer?

2.1 Literature Review

Social media is a continuous medium of online communication that allows users to be
actively interested in analyzing and sharing their fascinating processes (Enukidze, 2014).
Any user of these platforms has the chance to alter and publish content at any time

3
(Sakshi, 2017). Komito and Bates define social media as online applications that ensure
Internet users communicate (Komito, L., and Bates, J., 2009). Anklam defines social
media as a collection of software tools and internet applications that make people connect
as personalized online tools (Anklam, P., 2009). Includes various images, videos, textual
and verbal feedback. Palmer defines social media as online applications that help to
connect, communicate and post feedback of all things (Palmer, A. & Koening, L.N.,
2009). Social networking has been described as the internet-based application category,
enabling user-developed content to be generated and updated based on the internet's
technical and ideological fundamentals (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The definition of
social media was described in different ways. Social media is a broad concept that
describes blog and forum writings, photos, audio recordings, videos, links, profile pages
on social networking sites, and all the different material that forms many other social
networking sites (Eley & Tilley, 2009). Social media has been described as a community
of internet-based applications, enabling user-developed content to be generated and
modified based on the internet's technical and ideological foundations (Kaplan &
Haenlein, 2010).

Social media were developed and created using Web 2.0 technologies (Saperstein &
Hastings, 2010; Wigmo, J., & Wikström, E., 2010). Web 2.0 definition emerged at a
conference between Tim O'Reilly and Media Live International Company (O’Reilly,
2005). The key difference between Web 2.0 and conventional web technology is the
content created by users and more cooperation. By transitioning from Web 1.0 passive
model to Web 2.0 interactive model, users were simultaneously the initiator and the
receiver of knowledge exchange (Hanna et al., 2011; Grabner-Krauter, 2009:505). Today,
social media is becoming increasingly relevant, and this impact is also affecting the
tourist attraction significantly (Guzel) & Gunce)

Social media marketing is the mechanism by which social networks are used to link
clients and agencies or customers. As suggested by Zainal, Harun, & Lily (2017), it helps
create brand awareness, the company is boosting sales. This marketing on social media
follows other procedures, such as:

● Post positive content on social media sites to encourage clients to participate

(Alamanda, 2019)

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● Seeing the followers and behaving in the way they foresee their contribution (Azam,
Alam & Hafeez, 2018)

● Promotion of fascinating information and deals on social media that a particular

organization is going to deliver (Yong & Hassan, 2019).

Social media are one of the most widely used sources of information when it comes to
tourism (Simms, 2012). Furthermore, the the adoption of smartphones and omnipresent
access to the mobile Internet has a profound effect on tourist knowledge search and
decision-making, playing an important role in the entire travel cycle (Amaro et al., 2016).
Abundant information posted on social media networks has a significant impact not only
on travel planning but also on final travel plans decision making (Fotis et al., 2011).

The value of the social networks and the information they produce has helped transform
the attitude of the customer to the services and products of tourism. Users upload and
distribute different kinds of data on the Site, such as the photographs posted on Flickr
providing space and time information (i.e. when and where tourists took a certain
picture). Such data leads to a shared knowledge about places visited and the habits of
people, details that could be very useful for local authorities, travel agencies and other
organizations. The online shared photos provide evidence of travel or holidays, and the
data generated and recorded have helped researchers develop and identify new methods
of observing and evaluating a place to understand the dynamics of tourism. Specifically,
data sharing has built a link between physical and digital worlds and has provided
opportunities to know the interests and actions of users (Bertacchini, Giglio, Gabriele,
Pantano, & Bilotta, 2018). Pictures posted on the web by users, especially visitors,
represent people's interests and favorite activities while on holiday. In reality, geo-tagged
pictures, which are available online, show where the user was and indicate the sequence
of locations visited if the user has uploaded more than one image (Mirkovic et al., 2011).
Recent Internet innovations in general and the prevalence of social media in particular are
transforming the public's attitudes and habits, including their decision-making
(Goldenberg et al., 2001).

There are many customers who see social networking sites as the most reliable source of
information due to the information given by people they know or at least have a passing
acquaintance with, and would trust in particular the people who are among their relatives

5
and friends. As well as attracting or detracting a person, online reviews often provide a
person with information so that they can imagine their destination (Manap & Adzharudin,
2013). The informant access content on social media as a daily activity, and when
accessing social media with content on tourism, the informant response to the contents by
looking at pictures, watching videos, or reading text. Such activities help the informants
to identify or recognize the need and desire for travel, and also specifically to travel to
certain destinations (Nindyta Aisyah Dwityas & Rizki Briandana; 2017).

Cox et al. (2009) 's research was the first to address the question of the role of social
media, which explored the role of user-generated content (UGC) sites in travel-planning
processes as opposed to other sources of information. This study found that social media
are used mostly after the destination has been selected, particularly for accommodation
information searches and where to go within the destination.

Research generally supports the argument that UGC (User Created Content) is considered
to be comparable to offline recommendations or word of mouth (Buttle, 1998) and
provides more authentic, up-to - date, enjoyable and reliable information (Fotis et al . ,
2011; Gretzel and Yoo, 2008; Liang et al., 2020; Yoo et al . , 2011; Zeng and Gerritsen,
2014). Cox et al. (2009), the next step after gathering information is the alternative
assessment step. This is where the informant analyses the information gathered from
different sources. In the information process assessment, the informant split between
UGC and non-UGC to get the nearest pictures of the tourist destination's actual
circumstances, as well as the items that would be consumed / used. Since the UGC may
be quite situational, however, and is quite closely linked to one's experience, travelers
need to gather more than one source of knowledge to determine (Nindyta Aisyah Dwityas
& Rizki Briandana; 2017). Tourists are now looking for and synthesizing knowledge
from a variety of platforms and sources to make a detailed travel product decision (Xiang
et al. 2015). Xiang and Gretzel’s research (2010) indicated the significant role of social
media in the online tourism domain as a pervasive and common source of information
when tourists are looking for information relevant to their destinations.

Song and Yoo (2016) have shown that social media play a crucial role during the pre-
purchasing process in the purchase decisions of visitors. The practical and monetary
advantages of using social media have been shown to have a beneficial impact on the
purchasing decisions of tourists in terms of willingness to buy, intention to buy and

6
decision taking. Moreover, most previous social media studies have focused attention on
some aspect of a travel portion, Such as restaurants (Jeong and Jang, 2011; Mkono, 2012;
Zhang et al., 2010), hotels (Lu et al., 2014; Sparks and Browning, 2011; Varkaris and
Neuhofer, 2017; Vermeulen and Seegers, 2009; Ye et al., 2009, 2011), and choice of
destination (Di Pietro et al., 2012; Tham et al., 2013). As noted by Xiang and Gretzel
(2010), searches of information on some travel components (e.g., nightlife events and
restaurants) are similar to social media than other components (e.g. attractions) are. Cox
et al. (2009) found that social media platforms are commonly used when searching for
information and assessing alternate phases of travel planning to assist in choices of
destination, accommodation and attraction. By comparison, these tools are seldom used to
find out about particular attractions during the ride. Similarly, Chen et al. (2015) reported
that customers tend to have specific preferences for seeking knowledge depending on the
related travel components as well as the stages of decision-making on holiday. Social
networking, in particular, has a greater role to play in the pre-stage decision-making
cycle. However, contradictory findings have been reported by Fotis et al. (2011), who
found that social media was primarily used for reflecting and exchanging travel
experiences during the post-trip stage.

Today, growing market understanding, quick exchange of knowledge and the opportunity
to review several comments in the globalizing world's virtual environment make it
possible for consumers to determine tourism destinations or establishments in a cheaper,
quicker and easier way. Many potential visitors use the internet to schedule their
journeys. Before deciding on the travel, they visit related social media sites because they
believe the virtual analysis is useful for their buying decision (Sarısık & Özbay, 2012). As
the social media platforms provide feedback and reviews, they influence the development
of the tourism establishment's trademark, provide efficiency in the communication and
marketing process of the products and services, and increase customer loyalty to the
trademark and the perceived (Wang & Hsieh, 2011).

The most significant aim to achieve through the use of social media for the tourism
establishments is to secure target masses for making reservations. The easiest and most
secure way for tourists to enter tourist resorts is by twitter. People use the internet to
quickly get details and make reservations for tourism establishments. This has a favorable
media impact on tourist satisfaction and the image of the brand. Since the tourist who
uses the internet will also be affected at the booking stage by comments on social media,

7
the brand image and reliability of the tourism establishment depends on these comments
(Guzel & Gunce, 2015).

Consumers search for tourism details before a journey, compare and check other travelers'
thoughts, compare and share views of other tourists, and then book hotels, museum
tickets and shows, according to research on the effect of social media on the travelers'
decision-making process. Potential tourist’s check-in during the trip to look up restaurant
and leisure statistics. They apply their analysis after traveling to the details other travelers
are going to search (Icarvision, 2016).

T. Hennig-Thurau, G. Walsh, K. P. Gwinner, & D. D. Gremler; describes electronic Word

of Mouth as: "Any positive or negative comment made by future, current or former
consumers about the product or business made accessible via the Internet to a multitude
of individuals and institutions." Chen et al. (2015) examined the role of electronic word-
of - mouth (E-WOM) in the decision-making phases of UK consumers ' online holiday
purchases: knowledge quest, assessment and purchase. Data analysis revealed variations
in the function and impact of the E-WOM in relation to three dimensions of E-WOM:
inspiration, source and material. Tourism consumers rely mainly on Internet word of
mouth of tourism commodities when planning and scheduling tourism, followed by
tourism commodity price information, travel guides (Cao Q, Yu B, Tian). Self-
identification will also contribute to intention to consume the items when reading the
travel stories (I. Tussyadiah, S. Park, and R. D. Fesenmaier; 2011).

People trust this forum, according to Hua et al. (2017), because they trust in the
comments, observations and opinions that other people give based on their observations.
The way the travelers used to study has changed, and it has brought about a huge shift in
the tourism industry’s marketing field through social media.

According to P. Tsang, M., S. A. Tse "E-WOM" has been found to play a very important
role on purchasing Decisions. In addition, this study found that positive E-WOM is linked
positively to purchasing intentions and has a greater impact on purchasing intentions than
advertising.' Negative E-WOM may have a major effect on a destination identity and can
destroy the company's reputation (Y. H. Huang, C. Basu, and M. K. Hsu; 2010). It is clear
that discourse on social media and social media influences the tourism tastes of the young
generation and has positive and negative impacts on the tourism industry. When making
tourism preferences, social media users who share their experiences were mainly

8
influenced by criticism. (Jets & Gunce). Pictures posted on the web by users, especially
visitors, represent people's interests and favorite activities while on holiday. In reality,
geo-tagged pictures, which are available online, show where the user was and indicate the
sequence of locations visited if the user has uploaded more than one image (Mirkovic et
al., 2011). Sharing is knowledge of all sorts, shared contact and exchange on the social
media platform; for example, users can share their subjective experience, feeling, and
quality of products and services (Kaplan AM, Haenlein M, 2010; Constantinides E,
Fountain SJ, 2008). Yong-BingJiao, JingGao and JianYang notice that the group that uses
social media also exhibits community characteristics; that is, they appear to focus on a
shared topic of interest and quickly create a circle that shares their own feelings and
knowledge.

Studies that use qualitative approaches have been applied to investigate the effect of
social media on the decision-making processes of visitors. The research focused mainly
on exploring the adoption and knowledge of tourists' online feedback collection (Filieri,
2016; Papathanassis, & Knolle, 2011). Varkaris and Neuhofer (2017) conducted a
qualitative in-depth question on the effect of social media on the decision-making process
of consumers in hotels, focusing in particular on the 'evaluation level' in which
knowledge search and selection occurs via social media. Ayeh et al. (2012) inductively
analyzed social media techniques that hospitality and tourism professionals have applied
to them. While the ability of social media to influence the decision-making process of
five-stage tourists (i.e. need attention, knowledge quest, assessment of alternatives,
purchasing decision, and post-purchase behavior) has been highlighted, the study does
little to explain the actual use of social media by the tourist and its impact on the
decision-making process.

2.2 Research Gap

Many researchers are researching and talking about online social media platforms,
consumers are approaching online information, social media adoption in tourism, E-
WOM, buying decisions individually and differently. Qian Cao Xiao, Bin Yu and -Xia
Tian Tian on their “The Effect of Social Media on Tourism Consumer Adoption Intention
(2017)” finds that perceived enjoyment and trust have a positive impact on the adoption
of social media by consumers and their intention to adopt them. Guzel, and Gunce (2015)

9
& Mai Ngoc Khuong and Tran Thi Huong (2016) on their research they find Social media
as an increasingly powerful medium that has a huge influence on the tourism industry.
Highlighting E-WOM & online community & addressing the positive & negative effects
of E-WOM through the report. Nindyta Aisyah Dwityas & Rizki Briandana (2017); Dr.
Rashad Yazdanifard & Lim Tzen Yee(2014) list social media as the primary source of
information at all stages of travel decision making and address the impact of this accurate
information quality & also told that social media saves the time & cost by giving the
information through one click. These factors have an impact on tourist attraction, and no
one work on tourism attraction collectively with this factor. So, a holistic view of these
factors will be presented in this study, which will allow us to establish the relationship of
the adoption intention, E-WOM, online community, time, cost & energy effectiveness &
the information effectiveness on the attraction of tourists.

2.3 Objective of the research

2.3.1 Broad Objective

Most people today use social media in their daily lives and also rely on information for
decision making. It affects the tourism industry, too. The aim of this research is to assess
the effects of social media tools on a tourism destination & investigate how potential
tourism consumers were influenced at the knowledge search stage and how others post
influence them & how they react after the trip on the basis of Saint Martin Island.

2.3.2 Specific Objective

 To find the factors that have the impact on tourist attraction,

 Find the relationship of information search, E-WOM, time constraint to create

attractiveness,

 Identify the most influencing factors that affect tourist attraction.

10
2.4 Conceptual Framework and Research Hypotheses
2.4.1 Proposed theoretical model

Adoption Intention

Electronic Word of
Mouth (E-WOM)
Purchase Decision
Online Community (Tourist attraction)

Time, cost & energy

effectiveness

Information
Effectiveness &
reliability of information

Figure 1 Proposed theoretical model for tourist attractiveness by social media platforms.

2.4.2 Research Hypotheses

1. Adoption intention of using social media to use it for the purpose of planning trip,
search information about the destination and the facilities of the hotels, travel agencies
can primarily influence the tourist decision. Adoption intention attract tourists to use
social media for their decision making regarding any tourist destination. Within this study
we will find how adoption intention of using social media influence tourist attraction.

11
H1. Adoption intention attract tourist to use social media platforms.

2. Consumers of tourism rely primarily on the electronic word of mouth for visitors when
preparing and organizing travel, followed by price details of tourism services, tour guides.
E-WOM played a very active part in procurement decisions. Strong E-WOM is favorably
related to buying intentions and more impacts than ads on purchase intentions. Negative
E-WOMs will have a huge impact which will kill the credibility of the business. It is
apparent that the social media debate has a positive or negative effect on the tourism
sector and affects the tourist attractiveness of a young generation. With this study we will
try to find out the impact of E-WOM on tourist attraction.

H2. E-WOM attract tourist to the destination.

3. The online group would draw visitors to the destination. People from various areas may
participate in an online social media network. Various people from various cultures
express their opinions on the culture, and may also have an effect on the tourist attraction.

H3. Online Community attract tourists to specific destination.

4. People use social media platforms to collect information and make reservation sitting
on home with a click. This reduce the cost of searching information and energy of a
person and most effectively save the time of an individual, which can have an impact on
tourist attraction. With the help of this study we will also analyze how time, cost &
energy constraints affect tourist attraction.

H4. Time, cost and energy effectiveness in gathering information attract tourists.

5. The importance and the knowledge created by social media contributed to change the
customer's attitude towards the tourism services and products. Such data contributes to
mutual knowledge of visiting locations and people's preferences, information that may be
really helpful to local councils, travel agents and other organizations. So the effective
information can attract people toward different tourism destinations.

12
H5. Information effectiveness and reliability of information attract tourists.

3. Research Methodology
3.1 Research Design
To accomplish this study, quantitative analysis approach was selected. The researchers
used the self-administrative questionnaire (closed-ended questionnaire) to gather the
information and construct a data that can be analyzed in statistical ways. So quantitative
analysis is said to be the most suitable approach for gathering data and drawing correct
conclusions for this study. Descriptive analysis is a tool used to identify and explain the
respondent's characteristics, such as gender, age and others (Zikmund et al., 2010). This
study used to explain the picture paint of the current situation and to offer a vivid
mentality of the different users and attitudes leading to the tourist attraction.

3.2 Sources of Data

3.2.1 Primary Source
For this analysis to be carried out, primary data was required. Primary data are data
that the researcher collected with the sole intention of solving the research issue
(Malhotra & Dash, 2014). The primary data sources for the research were surveys,
interviews, or experiments. To gather primary data, a well-structured, detailed
questionnaire was surveyed.

3.2.2 Secondary Data

The data already collected for reasons other than the issue at hand is called secondary
data (Malhotra & Dash, 2014). Secondary sources have been gathered from numerous
written records, such as journals, books, magazines, and websites.

3.3 Questionnaire Design

The research subject was evaluated several times before designing the questionnaire in
order to obtain the best framework for creating questions for the respondents. A systemic
query has been prepared which consists of 32 data collection questions. The questionnaire
was structured to get primary data from the survey and the interview in detail in English
language. Eleven questions relate to demographic variables such as gender, age,
occupation, qualification for education, monthly income, marital status, preferred social
media, social media use, interest in travel, travel partner & travel management. Numbers

13
of 21 questions are about factors that affect the attraction of tourists. Two types of
methods were used to formulate the questions, such as the Likert scale of five points
(where 1 = Strongly Disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Neutral 4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly Agree)
& MCQ. The questionnaire was reviewed several times to ensure that the respondents'
wording, structure, duration, clarification, sequence of questions, and scale range is
acceptable and understandable.

3.4 Sampling
A significant amount of time and effort was dedicated to choosing the right sampling
technique and sample size to get a likelihood sample.

3.4.1 Sampling Area

This research was carried out on consumers from Bangladesh who were expected to
travel on the island of Saint Martin. So, the study's sampling area could be assumed to be
Bangladesh.

3.4.2 Sampling Size

The analysis tried to collect large quantities of data to mitigate the error. This research
had therefore targeted 200 samples in order to get a response. But 150 respondents were
interviewed for certain unfortunate reasons. Students were a large portion of the
respondents led by employee and businessman.

3.4.3 Sampling Technique

The study used non-probability methodology, and through ease sampling, respondents
were chosen (Malhotra & Birks, 2007). We used convenience sampling to hold the social
gap for this pandemic situation. Sampling convenience is the researcher’s goal for the
person who has free time and convenience to fill out this questionnaire. This study to use
the method is also due to the fact that the researchers are expected to collect the data in a
short time. The researchers will therefore distribute the online questionnaire through
Google Form Link and post it to some group or website. That might encourage the
individual in their free time to fill in the opinion based on their attitudes to volunteer.
Through using this method, consumers can conveniently provide their information which
makes the process of collecting data more productive.

3.5 Data Collection

This analysis necessitated two data types: primary and secondary data. The primary
data were gathered from the respondents through a survey on a standardized

14
questionnaire. All participants were approached via email. For this pandemic situation,
primary data were obtained only through online self-administered questionnaire. Online
survey was used to assess the effect of social media on tourist attraction and this study has
many advantages. It has no geographical limits, confidentiality guarantee, and comfort for
both the respondents and the researcher, and is less expensive. The questionnaire was sent
specially to Facebook on social media. The connection to the online survey has been
active for over two weeks. From 30 July 2020 until 15 August 2020, the Questionnaire
was distributed to survey a selected sample of consumers. The questionnaire was planned
for those respondents who have social media links. The data from the survey is stored on
a safe server (Google Drive).

For this report, we collected secondary data by searching for electronic databases,
including Google Scholar, Elsevier Science Direct, Research Gate, Emerald insight, the
web and several leading journals (e.g., International Journal of Electronic Commerce,
Journal of Consumer Research, and Direct Marketing Journal & Journal of Business
Research). By reviewing the reference lists of the published articles, we have found
related articles. According to Zikmund et al. (2010), they claimed that if the previous
results were proven, it could save time and money and they only explicitly used the result
and the results.

3.6 Data Analysis

After collecting the data, the various methods were used. IBM SPSS 25 (Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences) was used to analyze frequency, factor analysis, mean,
and standard deviation. Using Multiple Linear Regression Analysis, all data collected
from the respondents are analyzed. For this we used the equation below-

Yi = β0 + β1Xi1 + β2Xi2 + β3Xi3 + β4Xi4 + β5Xi5 + ...... + βpXip + €

Where, Where

I = n Comments

Yi = Variable Dependence

Xi = Explaining Variable

β0 = Y-intercept (period constant)

βp = Coefficients of slope for each explanatory variable

15
€= error term (residuals) of the model.

IBM AMOS version 24 was used for structural equation modeling and for model fitness.
All builds had no reliability issues if the Cronbach's Alpha values exceeded the 0.700
criterion. Cronbach's Alpha is 0.776 for 21 elements of component, which indicates that
the survey instrument is accurate for consistent and random error free calculation of all
constructs.

Table-1: Cronbach’s Alpha

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
.776 21

4. Data Analysis & Findings

4.1 Background Profile analysis
Table-2: Background profile of respondents

Variable Frequency Percent

Gender Female 67 44.7
Male 82 54.7
Prefer not to say 1 .7
Age Group 15-25 136 90.7
26-35 14 9.3
Occupation Student 139 32.7
Employee 7 4.7
Businessman 2 1.3
Others 2 1.3
Marital Status Married 8 5.3
Unmarried 84 56.0
Single 58 38.7
Educational Undergraduate 112 74.7
Qualifications
Graduate 27 18.0

16
 Postgraduate 11 7.3
Income Level Below 10000 118 78.7
10000-20000 15 10.0
20000-30000 3 2.0
30000-40000 6 4.0
Above 40000 8 5.3

User of social Facebook 123 82.0

media
Instagram 14 9.3
Twitter 3 2.0
Whatsapp 4 2.7
LinkedIn 6 4.0
Usage period of 10-60 Minute 16 10.7
social media
More than 1 hour 25 16.7
More than 2 hours 36 24.0
More than 3 hours 23 15.3
More than 4 hours 50 33.3
Love travelling Yes 149 99.3
No 1 .7
Love to travel Family 32 21.3
with
Friends 99 66.0
Partner 12 8.0
Alone 7 4.7
Tour Planning Independent Trip 63 42.0
Arrangement
Package 9 6.0
Both 78 52.0

The descriptive analysis on respondents ' demographic profile is summarized in Table 1.

The majority of respondents are male, i.e. 82 (54.7%) and 67 are female (44.7%) and 1

17
would not like to tell the gender (.7%). It seems that respondents are mainly aged 15-25
years (90.7 per cent) in the age groups. The rest of the respondents are 26-35 years (9.3
per cent) in the age groups. Students were a significant portion of the respondents 139
persons (32.7%) followed by employee 7 persons (4.7%) and businessman 2 persons only
(1.3%) & remaining 1.3% of respondents are in other occupations. In terms of educational
level, 74.7% of respondents are undergraduates, 18% are graduates and 7.3% are
postgraduates. Most of them are unmarried that is 56%, 38.7% respondents are single &
rest 5.3% are married. It indicates that respondents are the majority in the income level
below 10,000 (78.7%) because most respondents are students, the second highest among
respondents is the income level of 10,000-20000 (10%), the third highest among
respondents is income above 40,000 (5.3%), the level of 30,000-40,000 respondents (4%)
and the minority is the income level of 20,000-30,000 (2%).

It reveals that 123 respondents; 82 percent of respondents prefer Facebook as a social

media sites, 14 respondents; 9.3 percent prefer Instagram, 6 respondents; 4 percent prefer
LinkedIn, 4 respondents; 2.7 percent prefer Whatsapp and 3 respondents; 2 percent prefer
Twitter to others. Most of the people in Bangladesh give time to Facebook. Among them
33.3% respondents spent more than 4hours a day on social media, 24% respondents spent
more than 2 hours, 16.7% use more than 1 hour, 15.3% spent more than 3 hour and only
10.7% use for one hour.

149 respondents (99.3 percent) love to travel of all the respondents and only.7 percent do
not love to travel. Of all the tour lovers of 150 respondents 99 respondents (66 percent)
love traveling with their friends, 32 respondents (21.3 percent) love traveling with their
families, 12 respondents (8 percent) love traveling alone with their spouses and remaining
7 respondents (4.7 percent).

4.2 Descriptive statistics analysis

Table-3: Descriptive statistics

18
Descriptive Statistics
N Mini Ma Mean Std.
mum xim Deviation
um
Social media marketing has an 150 3 5 4.53 .539
impact on tourist attraction.
Plan trip through social media 150 1 5 4.13 .730
Research about destination 150 3 35 4.63 2.566
Use social media as first reference 150 2 5 4.15 .702
Get reliable information 150 3 5 4.14 .635
Time, cost & energy effectiveness 150 3 5 4.40 .543
Purchase decision 150 3 5 4.31 .612
Positive attitude through social 150 2 5 4.05 .622
media marketing
Influenced by positive review of 150 3 5 4.22 .589
tourist destination
Share positive experiences on social 150 2 5 4.07 .686
media
Influenced by Positive review of 150 1 5 4.08 .710
travel agencies
Share positive experiences of travel 150 1 5 4.04 .713
agencies
Influenced by Positive review of 150 3 5 4.16 .592
hotels
Share positive experiences of hotels 150 2 5 4.01 .709
Influenced by Positive review of 150 3 5 4.25 .604
food & beverage
Share positive experience of food & 150 2 5 4.04 .633
beverage
E-WOM Influence 150 3 5 4.15 .552
Satisfied & recommend 150 3 5 4.17 .572
Not satisfied & recommend 150 1 5 4.11 .706
Share & exchange experiences 150 3 5 4.26 .524
Future search on social media for 150 2 5 4.43 .572
travelling
Valid N (list wise) 150

19
 Here in table-3 the mean value of social media impact is 4.53 so it can be said that
most of the respondents agree with the statement that social media has an impact of
tourist attraction. The minimum value of planning trip through social media is 1 &
maximum value is 5; the mean value is 4.13 it means most of the respondents plan their
trip through social media now. The mean value of research about destination is 4.63; so,
most of the people research about the tourist destination. Use social media as first
reference is also agreed by most of the people as the mean value is 4.15. The maximum
value of get reliable information is 5 and the mean value is 4.14. The mean value of time,
cost & energy effectiveness is 4.40 so it can be said that most of the people are agreed
that social media platform saves time, cost & energy. The mean value of purchase
decision is 4.31 and maximum value is 5. Most of the people influenced by the positive
review of tourist destination it can be found through the mean value that is 4.22. People
also influenced by the positive review of travel agencies, hotels & food & beverages as
the mean values are as follows 4.08, 4.16, 4.25. It can be found that most of the people
share their positive review of travel agencies, hotels & food & beverages on the social
media; form the following mean values 4.04, 4.01, 4.04. The maximum value of the
influence by E-WOM is 5 and the mean value is 4.15, so it can be said that most of the
people agreed that E-WOM influence the tourists. If the people are satisfied with trip they
recommend through social media (mean value 4.17). If they are not satisfied also then
share on social media (mean value 4.11). Most of the people are agreed that they will
share & exchange their experiences on social media platform (mean value 4.26) & in
future they will search information on through social media (mean value 4.43).

4.3 Regression Analysis

4.3.1 Predict the Relationship between Factors & tourist attraction through social
media
Table-4 Predict the relationship between key factors & tourist attraction

Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the
Estimate
1 .442a .196 .168 .492
a. Predictors: (Constant), Information effectiveness & reliability, Online Community,
Adoption Intention, Time & cost effectiveness, E-WOM

20
 Table-4 shows that the value of the coefficient of correlation, R= 0.442 indicates that
there is a moderate positive correlation between tourist attraction by intention to adopt,
knowledge reliability and quality, E-WOM, time , cost & energy efficiency & online
communities. However, due to the purpose of adoption, knowledge effectiveness &
reliability, time, cost & energy consumption, E-WOM & online communities, only 19.6
per cent (R-square values 0.196) difference in tourist attraction is accounted for.

4.3.2 Confirm the Relationship Model Fitness

Table-5 Confirming the relationship model fitness (ANOVA Table)

ANOVAa
Model Sum of df Mean Square F Sig.
Squares
1 Regression 8.477 5 1.695 7.004 .000b
Residual 34.856 144 .242
Total 43.333 149
a. Dependent Variable: Social media marketing has an impact on tourist attraction.
b. Predictors: (Constant), Information effectiveness & reliability, Online Community,
Adoption Intention, Time & cost effectiveness, E-WOM

Table-5 reveals that multiple regression analysis is performed to analyze the

relationship between factors (Information Effectiveness & Reliability, Online
Community, Adoption Intention, Time & Cost Effectiveness, E-WOM) & tourist
attraction through online social media platform. Five hypotheses are suggested, and
findings are described in Table 5. The created F-statistics (F = 7.004) is significant at a
level of 1 percent (Sig. F < 0.01) with 5 and 144 degrees of freedom, thus confirming the
fitness for model. The adjusted R2 is 0.168, connoting that the five factors can
significantly account for 16.8% variance in tourist attraction through the social media
platform.

4.3.3 Tourist attraction factors through social media platforms

Table-6 Factors influencing tourist attraction

Coefficientsa

21
 Model Unstandardized Standardized t Sig.
Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) 1.862 .501 3.714 .000
Adoption .153 .071 .178 2.161 .032
Intention
E-WOM .290 .130 .226 2.227 .028
Online Community -.027 .114 -.024 -.235 .814
Time, cost & .261 .083 .263 3.133 .002
energy
effectiveness
Information . . 2.2
effectiveness & 163 071 .190 88 .024
reliability
a. Dependent Variable: Social media marketing has an impact on tourist attraction.

Results of multiple regression analysis for H1 as present (Table 6) the adoption intention
as the important factor the positively and significantly affects the attraction of tourists (β1
= 0.178; t-value = 2.161; p < 0.05). It supports H1. And the intention of adoption
influences the attractiveness of travelers. This findings of the study revealed that adoption
intention of social media for taking decision of going any tourist destination influence the
tourist attraction significantly (Cao Q, Yu B, Tian XXT, 2017)

Next, information effectiveness & reliability positively & significantly affect tourist
attraction (β5 = .190; t-value = 2.288; p< 0.05). H5 is supported. People rely on the
information they get on the social media & use it for the further decision making. This
result of the analysis showed that people rely on the information getting from social
media and information effectiveness & reliability factor significantly influence the
tourists attracting them toward any destination or facilities of the destination or travel
agencies (Liu Xuerui, Mehraliyev Fuad, Liu Chun, S. Markus, 2019).

The findings in Table 6 verify the E-WOM is the effective factor positively &
remarkably affect tourist attraction (β2 = .226; t-value = 2.227; p< 0.05). H2 also
22
supports. Electronic Word of Mouth (others post or review on social media) attract
tourists positively & effectively. This result of the study revealed that peoples are
attracting toward different tourism spots and travel agencies through Electronic Word of
Mouth (E-WOM) (Mai Ngoc Khuong and Tran Thi Huong, 2016; Daniel Leung, Rob
Law, Hubert van Hoof, Dimitrios Buhalis, 2013)

Next, time, cost & energy effectiveness is the major factor that positively & significantly
affect tourist attraction (β4 = .263; t-value = 3.133; p< 0.05) which supports H4. Time,
cost & energy effectiveness relevantly attract tourists. With this result it is revealed that as
social media save the time, money and energy, it significantly influence the tourist
attraction (Dr. Rashad Yazdanifard & Lim Tzen Yee, 2014).

Subsequently, online community on social media platforms negatively & insignificantly

affects tourists (β3 = -.024; t-value = -.235; p > 0.05). H3 is not supported. Online
community have no effects on tourist attraction according to this study. This result of the
analysis revealed that online community is not significantly influence the tourist
attraction (Guzel Sahin, and Gunce Sengün, 2015).

From table-6 (Regression Analysis) H1 (Adoption intention attract tourist to use social
media platforms), H2 (E-WOM attract tourist to the destination), H4 (Time, cost and
energy effectiveness in gathering information attract tourists) & H5 (Information
effectiveness and reliability of information attract tourists) is accepted positively &
significantly. On the other side, H3 (Online Community attract tourists to specific
destination) is rejected.

5. Discussion
Through the survey it can be found that 82% people use Facebook as social media sites &
33.3 % people use it for more than four hours in a day. So, people invest lots of time in
social media. The widespread use of social media by young people is increasing, and this
situation has positive and negative effects on every sector, although it has the greatest
impact on the tourism sector. Most of the travel lover also use this social media to plan
their trip. A lot of people enjoy traveling for their leisure time, and most enjoy traveling
with their friends, and many loves traveling with their families, and some people love

23
traveling with or by themselves. Most of them depend on both the tour companies'
individual travel plans and packages which are appropriate for the destination.

The research paper is the first empirical study to quantitatively examine the positions
social media play through tourist attraction in the decision-making process. The outcome
of this study supported the proposal model to some degree, which not only proved the
relationship between variables but also figured out the important function of adoption
intention, E-WOM, time, cost & energy & the reliability of effective information
efficiency that attracts tourists to destinations via social media platforms.

Intention to adopt is one of the main factors impacting visitors. We can see that most
people use social media enthusiastically to schedule their trip and study the destinations
of tourists before they travel there. Maximum populations adopt these social media as the
first reference of their quest for tourist destination information. On the social media sites,
they share their experiences & knowledge.

Electronic Word of the Mouth (E-WOM) is one of the most important factors affecting
the tourist attraction. In social media sites the post about different tourist destinations
attracts one about that destination from one's friends & family member. The numerous
posts about travel experiences, travel agents, hotels, food & beverages also help one get a
better picture of the facilities & destinations as well. Effectively these ratings from others
& draw visitors significantly. These are the positive impacts of E-WOM; they have some
negative impacts as well; if someone post their negative experiences about the
destination, travel agencies, hotels, food & beverages; on social media, travelers can
cancel their trips, delay their trips to make changes; which may have a negative impact on
the tourism industry.

Time, cost & energy efficiency is one of the most important factors affecting tourist
attractions. As people get information online in just one click, it actually saves people's
time in the planning of the trip. If a person has to get information from travel agencies &
hotels after going to their office or hotel, it's not only time consuming, it's also costly &
energy loss. But with the help of social media, we can gather reliable information about
travel agencies, hotels and food & drinks, which saves money & energy.

People are getting information about the destination & the facilities available there on the
social media site. Since this is the age of social media people choose it as the first choice
to check for any information they need. From the social media platform people mainly get

24
information within their known persons like friends or family members. Tourists are
attracted by effective & reliable information.

6. Recommendation, Implications & Conclusion

6.1 Recommendations
Through the study the factors affecting the tourist attraction were found. Every factor
has some influences; it can be positive or negative impact. According to the study most of
the people use social media platforms to their daily activity. Social media also used for
planning the trip, searching information about the tourist destination and other facilities.

 The tourism agencies should make their appearance trustworthy to the consumers,
 The online community should share relevant & effective experiences about trips
& destinations through social media platforms,
 As the younger generation may share negative comments using photos and videos
on social media accounts, companies should address this dissatisfaction of the
guests and find the most effective solutions to prevent other people from
participating in this review.
 Tour agencies should make more promotions through social media platforms so
that people can rely on them,
 All pre-trip facilities should be on social media like proper & reliable information
about tourist destination through online catalogue of offers, hotels, food & dining.

6.2 Limitations & further research

The survey is carried out via social media platforms on the Saint Martin Island tourist
attraction. However, research is being carried out during the pandemic situation in Covid-
19, so we cannot collect data from the field level. The study was done under a time limit.
We have a very short time to do research. We obtained all the data from an online survey
which could restrict this study. This study could be influenced by the shortfall of field
level surveys. In the future, researchers in Saint Martin Island will be able to learn more
about the effect of social media networks on service providers and customers alike.

6.3 Implications & Conclusion

This investigation was conducted with the intention of identifying the factors that
have an impact on tourist attraction through the purchasing decision. Numerous factors

25
are important resources for attracting visitors to a tourist destination. The study shows the
relationship between social media factors; adoption goal, E-WOM, online community,
time, cost & energy efficiency & knowledge reliability effectiveness. Most people use
Facebook & Instagram as a social networking site and spend a lot of time on social
media. Many people today follow social media to schedule their holiday, who love to fly.
The usage of these social media sites often saves the time, resources and energy of the
visitors who draw the most people. People are influenced by their friends and family’s
online updates, which are posted on social media sites about destination travel
experiences, travel agents, hotels and food. While people still get all the credible
information on social media platforms, it's going to grow on a regular basis. But people
are increasingly using social media sites for planning their trips. As shown by the
research results, social media channels have an important influence on the decision-
making process of future visitors. Social media has had a major effect on the buying
decision, as a result of quantitative studies. Tourists correctly reviewing the tourist details
on social media first and then making travel decisions, both quantitative and qualitative
and secondary studies support this. In these generations, social networks such as
Facebook & Instagram are especially common, but relatives / friends have also had a
major impact on travel decisions.

The findings of this analysis have drawn various critical implications. The results of this
study offered useful insight into tourist attraction across social media channels.
Furthermore, these results will help policy makers and advertisers make more effort about
visitor destinations and the services they have on social media marketing. If they have
customer trust, the user can continue to depend on the platform for their support and
schedule the ride. St Martin's Island is now one of Bangladesh's best tourist destinations.
And a huge number of travelers want information online, especially before they go to
social networking sites. Many want to see the full St. Martin Island info on social media
platforms. If the Saint Martin service providers can take advantage of this, they will also
get a lot of bookings before people can get accurate information from social media sites
as well.

26
 APPENDIX
(Survey Questionnaire)

1. Gender: Male Female

2. Age : 16-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-55, above 55
3. Occupation: Student, Employee, Businessman, other
4. Marital status: Married, Unmarried, Single
5. Educational Level: HSC, Graduate, Postgraduate
6. Income level: 0 to 10k, 11k to 20k, 21k to 30k, 31k to 40k, Above 40k

27
I prefer most (among them)

 Facebook
 Instagram
 Twitter
 Whatsapp
 LinkedIn

I use social media for,

 10 to 60 min
 More than 1 hour
 More than 2 hours
 More than 3 hours
 More than 4 hours

I love travelling.

 Yes
 No

I love to travel with,

 Family
 Friends
 Alone
 Partner

I prefer,

 Independent trip arrangements

 Package
 Both

28
1 =Strongly Disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Neutral
4 = Agree5 = Strongly Agree
Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1. Social media marketing has the impact on tourist
attraction
2. I use social media to plan my trip,
3. I do research about the destination on social media before
visiting,
4. Social media is the first reference when I search for
tourist information,

5. I believe that I will get reliable information on social

media about the destination I’m planning to visit,
6. It can save me more time and energy by using social
media to get tourist information,
7. Proper information influence my purchase decision,
8. Social media marketing positively change my attitude,
9. I’m influenced by the positive review of tourist
destination in social media,

10. I share my positive experiences about the destination on

social media,

11. I’m influenced by the positive review of travel agencies in

social media,

12. I share my positive experiences about travel agencies on

social media,
13. I’m influenced by the positive review of hotels in social
media,
14. I share my positive experiences about hotels on social
media.
15. I’m influenced by the positive review of food & beverage
(dining facility) in social media,
16. I share my positive experiences about food & beverage
(dining facility) on social media,
17. Others post (E-WOM) on social media about any tourist
destination influence to plan a trip there,
18. If I’m satisfied with the destination where I go, I
recommend to the other social media users to go there,
19. If I’m not satisfied with the destination where I go, I

29
 recommend to the other social media users not to go there,
20. I will consider using social media to share and exchange
tourist experiences and information,
21. I will continue to use social media to search for tourist
information in the future,

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