Quantitative-Study Sample

PROPOSED STRATEGIC SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PLAN FOR TOURISM
PROMOTION IN CALAPAN CITY, ORIENTAL MINDORO
A Thesis
Presented to the Faculty of the College of Business
Management
MINDORO STATE UNIVERSITY
Calapan City
Masipit, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro
In Partial Fulfilment
of the Requirements for the Degree
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT
By
ROWELA C. ASILO
July 2021
1
APPROVAL SHEET
This thesis entitled “PROPOSED STRATEGIC SOCIAL MEDIA

MARKETING PLAN FOR TOURISM PROMOTION IN CALAPAN CITY,
ORIENTAL MINDORO” prepared and submitted by ROWELA C. ASILO
has been successfully presented and recommended for approval
by the Advisory Committee in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree, Bachelor of Science in Tourism
Management.
FRANIE M. AFABLE, DBM-HM

Adviser
Date
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
ENYA MARIE D. APOSTOL, Ph.D. JOHNNALEA H. MARTINEZ

Chairperson Major Critic
Date Date
AUDITTE V. SOL MARIANE LEE B. LINESES

Member Member
Date Date
Approved and accepted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree Bachelor of Science in Tourism
Management
FRANIE M. AFABLE, DBM-HM

Dean of College of Business Management
Date
ii2
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to gather information regarding

the level of awareness on social media marketing and extent
of manifestation on social media marketing strategies in
promoting tourists’ destinations through social media
marketing that served as basis for the proposed strategic
social media marketing plan for tourism promotion in Calapan
City, Oriental Mindoro. The descriptive method was used in
the study. The study involved tourism site’s owners/operators
from the various tourist destinations in Calapan City,
Oriental Mindoro which were chosen using purposive sampling.
A researcher-made survey questionnaire was used to gather
data. Statistical tools such as frequency distribution,
percentage method, weighted mean, four-point rating scale and
Pearson’s r correlation were also used in the study in
interpreting quantitative data. Tables were presented and
analysed in order to arrive at meaningful conclusions and
recommendations. It is concluded that tourism site’s
owners/operators in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro level of
awareness on social media marketing is moderate and, thus,
requires further knowledge building. It is also concluded
that tourism site’s owners/operators in Calapan City,
Oriental Mindoro are not utilizing email marketing as a
strategy to promote their tourist’s destination. Likewise,
tourism site’s owners/operators are not employing cross-
channel campaigns as well as social media influencers in
promoting tourists’ destinations.
Keywords: Social Media Marketing Strategies, Tourists’

Destinations, Social Media Marketing, Strategic Social Media
Marketing Plan, Tourism Promotion
iii
3
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The researcher wants to show her warmest gratitude and
deepest appreciation to the following persons for their
support, encouragement and assistance to successfully
accomplish this study:
First and foremost, to the Almighty GOD, Who blessed her
with a strong heart, potential, and healthy body in
accomplishing this study.
Dr. Franie M. Afable, Dean of College of Business
Management, for his dedication and kindness from the
preparation of the study up to the finalization of the study.
To the members of the panel, for their willingness to
help, for their critical reviewing of my study, and for their
worthwhile and highly helpful suggestions for the improvement
of the study.
Warm gratitude is also extended to her loving husband
and children for giving support in her entire journey and for
being her inspiration in completing this study.
R.C.A.
iv
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
TITLE PAGE i
APPROVAL SHEET ii
ABSTRACT iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS v
LIST OF TABLES vii
LIST OF FIGURE viii
CHAPTER I RESEARCH PROBLEM

Introduction 9
Statement of the Problem 24
Scope, Delimitation, and Limitation of the 25
Study
Significance of the Study 26
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework 26
Definition of Terms 27
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
Related Literature 28
Related Studies 59
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design 72
Respondents of the Study 72
Research Instruments 73
v
5
Data Gathering Procedure 74
Statistical Treatment of Data 75
CHAPTER IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Socio-Demographic Profile of the Tourism 77
Site’s Owners/Operators
Level of Awareness on Social Media 77
Marketing
Extent of Manifestation of Social Media 78
Marketing Strategies
Proposed Strategic Social Media Marketing 96
Plan for Tourism Promotion
CHAPTER V SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of Findings 130
Findings 130
Conclusions 132
Recommendations 133
REFERENCES 135
APPENDICES
A. Letter to the Respondents 144
B. Survey Questionnaire 145
CURRICULUM VITAE 148
vi
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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE TITLE PAGE

NO.
1 Four-point Likert Scale in interpreting the 76
Level of Awareness on Social Media Marketing
2 Four-point Likert Scale in interpreting the 77
Extent of Manifestation of Social Media
3 Age 78
4 Sex 79
5 Educational Attainment 81
6 Social Media Platforms 82
7 Online Campaigns and Promotions 84
8 Tourists’ Engagement 86
9 Content Marketing 87
10 Online Communications 88
11 Brand Advocates 89
12 Cross-Channel Campaigns 90
13 Proposed Strategic Social Media Marketing 91
Plan for Tourism Promotion
vii
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LIST OF FIGURE
FIGURE TITLE PAGE

1 Research Framework 23
viii
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Chapter 1
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
Introduction
Tourism industry is one of the topmost competitive
fields of service sector which necessitates effective
management of financial, natural and human resources existing
in any state. It is, therefore, important for developing
tourism industry in any state to provide relevant
infrastructure, intensify customer satisfaction, and improve
service quality. The soul of a successful tourism industry is
a well-managed marketing as it provides sufficient value to
gain valuable stakeholders and long-term loyal customers.
There are different types of tools in marketing, which aims
to attain customer satisfaction and loyalty. Social media is
a crucial tool for success in business today. People these
days are talking about anything using social media, hence,
tourism industry should establish good relations directly to
the customers through the use of social media.
Without a question, social media today is used for
leisure as well as for business purposes. Facebook, Twitter
and YouTube are the main websites which has swayed every small
businesses and huge firms. Similarly, it has bought its
9
influence on tourism sector in such a way where people share
their experiences and reviews about a tourist destination
they have visited and the information available on the social
media sites helps folks to make prospective choice. Social
media helps in making decision easier and make a better choice
as to which place to travel. Indeed, this podium has set a
great contribution in providing some good and not so good
feedbacks and contributions.
A recent research showed that more than half of the
people change their decisions and plans after investigating
through research on several social portals. It helps the
person to virtually see the destination online and their
reviews helps in making a better decision. The information is
available in many forms like blogs, tagging, videos, reviews
and many more medium. The tourism industry has also embraced
social media as their way of advertising or marketing as it
has bought great revenue and outcome as the information
available on social media helps in lessening the doubts and
providing more relevant and real information (Samson, 2017).
People tend to have a general distrust for ads these
days. Social media allows you to bypass that feeling and jump
straight to the point of being a trusted resource for
adventure and excitement or rest and relaxation. Social media
10
is a vital marketing channel for businesses of all sizes. The
common question a few years ago, “why should our business use
social media?” is now being replaced with, “how can our
business grow with social media marketing?” Social media and
tourism marketing don’t have to feel like advertising.
Instead, social media allows people to share written
testaments to your brand’s most amazing qualities, share
pictures and videos of their experiences, and capture the
heart and imaginations of their networks unlike any
advertisement ever could.
Ultimately, social media has made a huge impact on the
tourism industry. Consumers engage with social networking
sites to research trips, make informed decisions about their
travels and share their personal experiences of a particular
hotel, restaurant or airline. Likewise, social media tools
are changing the way people communicate. Advances in mobile
technology have made social media more accessible, allowing
to become a part of people’s daily lives and routines. It is
a very broad term and no universal definition among scholars
and researchers exists. A commonly accepted definition of
social media seems to be difficult particularly due to the
existence of other concepts that came along with social media,
i.e. Web 2.0 or User Generated Content. Being closely related
11
but not exactly synonymous a distinction between all these
new concepts and terms often seems to be difficult, to the
extent of being used interchangeably (Morgado et.al 2011).
The impact and usage of social media marketing
strategies are very crucial for satisfying tourist demand
in the global world. The creation and accessibility of
internet space has radically changed tourist’s motivation to
plan and book trips with different destination. Companies
grow their confidence and familiarity with the social web to
receive all successful information from researching travel
on websites or social networks. To access new information
technology now is very easy and this has radically
altered the way in which information is created and
disseminated. Accordingly, marketers have possibility to use
social media to encourage and embolden interaction of
customers to facilitate developing awareness of tourists in
through the country.
Furthermore, in recent year’s new communication methods,
known as Web 2.0 applications or new social media started to
collect information and achieve great success in
communicating with the consumer. Several aspects are involved
how the social media applications turn out to be immensely
popular among various consumers, such as the evolution of the
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Internet that became a very imperative source for information
search and an essential tool to keep contact with others,
over e-mails or using messengers than it was many years ago
(Noone et al., 2011).
Blackshaw (2016) defines social media as the internet-
based applications that carry consumer generated content that
is relevant to the past experiences or any source or online
information issues. The consumers create these themselves,
based on the 2012 International Conference on Business and
Management their experience with products and services, and
share it among themselves aiming at educating about the
products and services. Individuals and groups create and
exchange content and engage in person-to-person
conversations. They appear in many forms including blogs and
micro blogs, forums and message boards, social networks,
wikis, virtual worlds, social bookmarking, tagging and news,
writing communities, digital storytelling and scrap booking,
and data, content, image and video sharing, podcast portals,
and collective intelligence. There are tons of eminent sites
such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Netflix, Twitter, YouTube,
Flickr, Instagram among others.
The tourism and hospitality industry is not an exception
and therefore a growing number of hotel professionals and
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researchers have acknowledged the importance of Web 2.0 for
the sector and potential benefits that it provides. Promoting
a destination is quite a difficult task. Its challenge and
difficulties derive from the multi-attributed nature of the
destination and from the different demand of travelers on the
other hand. It has been debated among marketers that a diverse
approach is essential while promoting a destination for the
different segments of a varied market not only regarding the
content of the message but also the communication channels as
well.
On one hand, Philippines was reported to have 76
million Filipinos social media users and that’s a monstrous 71
percent of the whole population of the country. The data also
pronounces that Filipinos devote an average of four (4)
hours each day on various social media platforms. While it is
not secretive that the internet service in the country is far
from being quick and excellent, Filipinos are still devoted
of taking things in social media. There’s no rebuffing or
denying in the fact that Filipinos are socially active. In
addition, social interactions are a basic part of Filipinos’
daily lives and it is not at all surprising that it is
extended into social media handles. Filipinos also use the
internet as a go-to place to get breaking news and to keep up
14
with the current events. It also plays an important role in
encouraging social involvement by the people as it has been
used as a platform to present and promote advocacies. Facebook
continues to dominate the rankings in the Philippines with 75
million monthly active users (Pascual, 2019).
Meanwhile, the island of Oriental Mindoro is located
just a few hours from the capital of the Philippines, Manila.
The island of Mindoro is a prevalent tourist destination for
many city dwellers seeking the sun, sea, and sand. The mango
fruit-shaped island is divided into two provinces: Oriental
Mindoro and Occidental Mindoro. Travel Authentic Philippines
offers a variety of Mindoro tours. Contrarily, Oriental
Mindoro tourism industry still lacks the demand of social
media skills despite the intense and powerful popularity of
social media. Knowing that about 2.45 billion population is
using Facebook, with millions also using social media
platforms like Instagram and Twitter, and 1 billion users on
YouTube, it’s obvious that ignoring social media skills will
lead to lost opportunities for Oriental Mindoro’s tourism
revenue. This makes social media marketing skills critically
important.
In addition, Oriental Mindoro is popular for its
beautiful beaches and it is also well-known for excellent
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diving spots only a few hours away from Manila. Found in the
province is world-known dive sites that are ideal for
observing marine life, and outstanding for macro photography.
It is the Heart of Asia. It is an earthly paradise with a
variety of picturesque landscape, pristine water and exotic
wildlife. It is one of the most prospective potential tourist
destinations because of its aesthetic value in the Tourism
industry today.
People also come in Oriental Mindoro for the great
outdoors featuring rivers, lakes, and gorgeous mountains.
Diving has become a popular activity given that the island’s
proximity to one of the richest diving spots in the country.
It is indeed an excellent place to visit not only by locals
but most especially by foreign tourists. It has inherent
characteristics that give it a personality of its own. Despite
of the wonderful sceneries and recreational activities
offered in Oriental Mindoro, still, there are several tourism
site’s owners/operators cannot sustain their operations due
to inability of running a tourism business and lack of
knowledge and expertise in the field specifically in terms of
social media marketing. Among the topmost visited tourists’
spots in Oriental Mindoro are Sabang Beach, Talipanan Beach,
Aninuan Beach, Big La Laguna, Haligi Beach and White Beach in
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Puerto Galera, Tukuran Falls in San Teodoro, Mt. Halcon in
Baco, Alibatan Island and Buyayao Island in Bulalacao
(TouristSpotsFinder, 2021).
Further, Calapan is one of two cities in the MIMAROPA
region, the other being Puerto Princesa in Palawan. Calapan
serves as the region's administrative center. It is also the
center of commerce, industry, transport, communication,
religious activities and education in the entire province of
Oriental Mindoro. Calapan, officially the City of Calapan
(Tagalog: Lungsod ng Calapan), is a 3rd class component city
and capital of the province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines.
According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 145,786
people. The city serves as the gateway to the Oriental Mindoro
province. Hence, being the gateway of the province, Calapan
City meet hundreds of visitors and tourists each day and the
vast majority of these visitors and tourists are social media
users who log on to the network daily for an average of
roughly four hours.
Evidently, social media is becoming integral to many
organizations as a tool for customers’ service management,
marketing, interacting with employees, etc. However, recent
research shows that organizations are still struggling to find
an effective way to strategically manage social media and
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engage with various stakeholders. With this, there is a need
to scrutinize the issue in depth and gravity. Thus, this paper
is set to assess the tourism owners/operators’ socio-
demographic profile, their level of awareness on social media
marketing, the extent of manifestation of social media
marketing strategies, and the problems encountered by tourism
site’ owners/operators in promoting tourism industry through
social media marketing. It is within this context that this
paper has been conceptualized with the hope that after the
critical assessment of the different aspects of tourism and
social media, appropriate social media marketing strategies
could be identified and implemented by the owners/operators.
Based from the results and findings, the output of this
study would serve as a strategic social media marketing plan
for tourism promotion in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.
Conceptual Framework
McLuhan's Media Theory by McLuhan (2015), Rumour
Transmission Theory of Buckner’s (2015), Social Exchange
Theory of Emerson (2016) and Social Media Marketing Theory of
Chaffey (2012) served as the foundations of this study.
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Primarily, this research is anchored with the McLuhan's
Media Theory by McLuhan (2015) as the author denoted that
"the media is the message". He argued that the media itself,
rather the actual content of the media, will transform people
and society. The actual messages people are communicating
won't be any different on the new media; the interactivity
and frequency of new communication pattern will change our
behavior forever.
Relatively, the media's effects on society are much
greater than the content of the media. He separates media
into "cool" media and "hot" media. The former one requires a
viewer to exert much effort and participation in
understanding the content, such as television, seminars, or
cartoons; the latter refers to those media that enhance one
sense, so the viewers do not need to exert much effort, such
as films, radio, and photography (McLuhan, 2015). By using
McLuhan's arguments, social media will transform the users
not due to the content it contains, but due to the mode of
communication it entails. For example, Twitter is only a
micro-blogging service with a limitation of 140 characters.
Theoretically one can perform all the functions of Twitter
through a blog service. However, it is exactly its limiting
factor which made Twitter more nimble and real-time. Many
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breaking news stories were spread out on Twitter, such as
China's Sichuan earthquake and Mumbai's terrorist attack in
2008 (Parr, 2009). As business managers and consumers, one
needs to realize the changing behaviour due to the usage of
new social media services and adopt an attitude of acceptance
toward those technologies and behaviour.
Social media is becoming more crucial to hospitality and
tourism businesses, due to the intangibility and experiential
nature of tourism products and the lowered technological
barrier for average travellers to contribute information
online. Different from the one-way communication in most mass
media channels, social media represents two-way communication
between consumers. Social media revived more ancient types of
decision-making prevalent before the emergence of mass media,
when the exchange of opinions between one’s families,
relatives, friends, and neighbours was the basis for product
purchase decisions.
As the digital version of word-of-mouth, social media
represents the materialization, storage, and retrieval of
word-of-mouth content online. However, the large-scale,
anonymous, ephemeral nature of the Internet induces new ways
of capturing, analyzing, interpreting, and managing social
media content. Some traditional theories, such as social
20
exchange theory, social penetration theory, and social
network theory, could be valid paradigms for studying and
explaining how people form networks, express their opinions,
and pass information to each other.
Further, Buckner’s (2015) theory on Rumour Transmission
indicates the accuracy and speed of rumour passing were
affected by the structure of the network and the mental sets
of individual actors in the network. This chapter will focus
on the review of relevant theories, the construction of an
integrated meta-framework, and, more importantly, the
implication on hospitality and tourism marketing research and
the principles of marketing hospitality and tourism
businesses through social media.
This study is likewise anchored on the Social Exchange
Theory of Emerson (2016). Given that all social media are
dependent on users providing content, an understanding of the
motives of why individuals participate appears fundamental.
Social exchange theory was originated from sociology studies
exploring exchange between individuals or small groups. The
theory mainly uses cost-benefit framework and comparison of
alternatives to explain how human beings communicate with
each other, how they form relationships and bonds, and how
communities are formed through communication exchanges
21
(Homans, 2018). The theory states that individuals engage in
behaviours they find rewarding and avoid behaviours that have
too high a cost. In other words, all social behaviour is based
on each actor’s subjective assessment of the cost-benefit of
contributing to a social exchange. They communicate or
exchange with each other contingent on reciprocal actions
from the other communicating party. The mutual reinforcement
could be analyzed through a microeconomic framework, though
many times the rewards are not monetary but social, such as
opportunity, prestige, conformity, or acceptance.
The theory was arguably best summarized by Homans (2018)
when he wrote: “Social behaviour is an exchange of goods,
material goods but also non-material ones, such as the symbols
of approval or prestige. Persons that give much to others try
to get much from them, and persons that get much from others
are under pressure to give much to them. This process of
influence tends to work out at equilibrium to a balance in
the exchanges. For a person in an exchange, what he gives may
be a cost to him, just as what he gets may be a reward, and
his behaviour changes less as the difference of the two,
profit, tends to a maximum.” Hence, the reasons why people
engage in a social exchange have been posited as a) an
expected gain in reputation and influence on others; b) an
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anticipated reciprocity on the part of others; c) altruism;
and d) direct reward. Given that participation in the social
media is not compensated, the first three reasons appear to
have particular relevance to why people participate in social
media.
Travel blogs and social media sites have long recognized
that there are far more people consuming information than
generating. On YouTube, for example, though subscribers have
uploaded over 2 billion videos and audio tracks to the social
media site since its founding in 2005, the same site is
accessed by more than 10 million unique daily visitors
indicating there are far more viewers than contributors. The
Global Web Index (2009), which tracks this phenomena,
suggests that users of social media can be segmented into
four main groups. They are: (1) watchers (79.8% of the US
social media users), who consume content only to help with
their decision making; (2) sharers (61.2%), who upload and
forward information to others in order to help others and
demonstrate knowledge; (3) commenters (36.2%), who both
review and rate products and comment on those who do in an
effort to participate and contribute; and (4) producers
(24.2%), who create their own content in an effort to express
their identity and recognition. Framed in a social exchange
23
theory, watchers take but do not reciprocate from the exchange
suggesting they consider the cost of posting or commenting
too high, or fear of offering their opinion or raising their
profile.
Finally, this study is anchored on the Social Media
Marketing Theory of Chaffey (2012). The theory emphasized
that social media marketing theory is a framework that is
helpful in planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating
social campaigns with information sharing as its major
objective. It uses creativity rather than depending on public
service announcements unlike the traditional media. In here,
the information is packaged and distributed following a plan
so that the maximum sharing outcome is possible.
In tourism industry, Social Media Marketing Theory can
offer techniques for market segmentation. Although,
sometimes, social media marketing is not effective, still, it
change behaviour patterns of consumers because they are
provided awareness. Likewise, the message in social media
marketing is creative and interesting. In that way, a tourist
destination can be promoted without forgetting it easily. The
message of a tourist site could be reinforced repeatedly and
the message can be taken as credible by the target tourists.
Chaffey (2012) highlighted that monitoring and facilitating
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tourists’ interaction through social media could encourage
positive engagement.
There are two types of social media marketing. The first
one is operational social media marketing which aims to change
behaviour and the second one is strategic social media
marketing which is used to form new policies and development
strategies (Bajracharya, 2018). Certainly, a strategic social
media marketing plan is an essential section in forming and
developing strategies for tourism promotion in Oriental
Mindoro.
All of the theories provide the precepts necessary in
identifying the variables of the study. This study aims to
develop a strategic social media marketing plan which may
help in promoting tourists destinations in Oriental Mindoro.
This conceptual constructs are illustrated in Figure 1.
Contained in Box 1 is the socio-demographic profile of the
tourism site’s owners/operators in terms of age, sex, and
educational attainment. Contained in Box 2 is the level of
awareness of the tourism site’s owners/operators on social
media marketing in terms of social media platforms, online
campaigns and promotions and tourists’ engagement. Contained
in Box 3 is the extent of manifestation of social media
marketing strategies in terms of marketing strategies,
25
content marketing, online communications, and brand
advocates.
A directional arrow that points from the first box to
the second box determine the relationship between the tourism
site’s owners/operators’ demographic profile and level of
awareness on social media marketing. Meanwhile, directional
arrow that points from the first box to the third box
determine the relationship between the tourism site’s
owners/operators’ demographic profile and extent of
manifestation of social media marketing strategies. Finally,
a directional arrow that points from the second box to the
third box determine the relationship between tourism site’s
owners/operators’ level of awareness on social media
marketing and extent of manifestation of social media
marketing strategies. Based on the findings, a strategic
social media marketing plan is proposed.
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Conceptual Framework
Socio- Level of Extent of

Demographic Awareness on Manifestation of
Profile Social Media Social Media
 Age Marketing Marketing
 Sex  Social Strategies
REL REL
 Education media  Content
al platforms Marketing
Attainmen  Online  Online
t campaigns Communicati
and ons
promotions  Brand
 Tourists’ Advocates
Engagement  Cross-
channel
Campaigns
Proposed Strategic Social Media Marketing Plan For Tourism

Promotion in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro
Figure 1.
Research Framework
27
Statement of the Problem
This study aimed to propose a strategic social media
marketing plan for tourism promotion in Calapan City,
Oriental Mindoro.
Specifically, this sought answers to the following:
1. What is the socio-demographic profile of the tourism
site’s owners/operators in terms of:
1.1 Age;
1.2 Sex; and
1.3 Educational Attainment?
2. As assessed by tourism site’s owners/operators, what
is their level of awareness on social media marketing in terms
of:
2.1 social media platforms;
2.2 online campaigns and promotions; and
2.3 tourists’ engagement?
3. What is the extent of manifestation of the following
social media marketing strategies:
3.1 Content Marketing;
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3.2 Online Communications;
3.3 Brand Advocates; and
3.4 Cross-channel Campaigns?
4. Is there a significant relationship between the tourism
awareness on social media marketing?
site’s owners/operators’ demographic profile and extent of
manifestation of social media marketing strategies?
site’s owners/operators’ level of awareness on social media
marketing strategies?
7. Based on the analysis, what strategic social media
Oriental Mindoro may be proposed?
Hypothesis of the Study
1. There is no significant relationship between the
tourism site’s owners/operators’ demographic profile and
level of awareness on social media marketing?
29
tourism site’s owners/operators’ demographic profile and
extent of manifestation of social media marketing strategies?
tourism site’s owners/operators’ level of awareness on social
media marketing and extent of manifestation of social media
Scope, Delimitation, and Limitation
This study evolved on creating a strategic social media
Oriental Mindoro. Taking the views of the tourism site’s
owners/operators which are residing from the different
barangays in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, the researcher
determines the socio-demographic profile of the tourism
site’s owners/operators in terms of age, sex and educational
attainment and further investigated the tourism site’s
owners/operators level of awareness on social media marketing
in terms of social media platforms, online campaigns and
promotions, and tourists’ engagement. The researcher likewise
identified the extent of manifestation of the tourism site’s
owners/operators in incorporating social media marketing
30
strategies in terms of content marketing, online
communications, brand advocates, and cross-channel campaigns.
It is important to note that this study is limited to
the specific dimensions set by the contents of the
questionnaire and adequate disclosures from the interviews.
As views by the tourism site’s owners/operators in promoting
tourist’s destinations through social media marketing were
determined based from the assessments of the tourism site’s
owners/operators from the different barangays in Oriental
Mindoro, understanding of each statement could vary. This is
along with the fact that they have wavering exposures and
lengths of affiliation to the area understudy.
Significance of the Study
This study is perceived to give meaningful benefits to
the following:
Local Economy in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. This
study will serve as a guide in strengthening the local economy
in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro as it will categorize and
scrutinize the problems that tourism site’s owners/operators
encountered in promoting tourism industry through social
media marketing. The result of this study could be utilized
31
in organizing and developing strategies on how to promote
local products and services of a particular tourist’s
destination in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.
Local Government Units in Oriental Mindoro. They would
be guided by the variables, literature, and findings
presented in this study in the conduct of their crime
prevention initiatives. This study gives importance to the
role of research in designing a strategic social media
Oriental Mindoro.
Tourism Site’s Owners/Operators. They would be given
significant information on the right way to attract potential
tourists and strategies on how to market a particular tourist
destination online where millions of people are usually
roaming around. With this study, they would know how to merge
social media and tourism marketing which will lead to
excellent results for any tourism business. In addition, once
tourism site’s owners/operators are aware of the possible
benefits of social media for their tourism business, they
could use these ways through which they can increase their
brand awareness.
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Community. They would be benefited from this study in
the long run. The study could provide them an enthusiastic
advantage of job opportunities that tourism entrepreneurs
would need in their tourism business. Similarly, local
tourist’s destinations could attract several travellers and
tourists that would mean further popularity of the local
community.
Future Researchers. This study would be a source of
literature to future researchers who are into similar topics
of investigation. All pertinent data gathered by the
researcher will help them deepen their analysis and
interpretation of similar variables.
Definition of Terms
The following terms are defined to facilitate a clear
understanding of the contents of this study.
Age. This refers to the time of life or length of
existence of an individual (Merriam Webster Dictionary).
Social media platforms. This refers to web-based and
mobile-based Internet Application that allows the creation,
access and exchange of user-generated content.
33
Online campaigns and promotions. This refers to online
marketing effort put forward by any tourism company to drive
engagement, conversions, traffic, and revenue for their
tourism business.
Tourists’ engagement. This refers to the relationship of
tourists on a particular tourism business/company. It
involves tourist’s loyalty, tourist’s awareness, and
tourist’s satisfaction towards a tourism business/company.
Content marketing. This refers to a type of marketing
used in the tourism industry that involves the creation and
sharing of online material such as videos, blogs, and social
media posts that is intended to stimulate interest in its
products, services, and offerings.
Online communications. This refers to the ways in which
tourists can communicate with each other over a computer
network, such as the Internet. These ways include messenger,
chat rooms, and e-mail among others.
Brand advocates. This refers to a customer or employee
of a tourism business who proactively shares about the
offerings, products, and services of a tourist’s destination
via social media platforms, email, or through content without
any incentive other than their love for the brand.
34
Cross-channel campaigns. This refers to a strategic,
customer-focused digital marketing technique used by
marketers globally to provide their customers with a
consistent experience when interacting with their brand
across multiple digital channels.
Educational attainment. This refers to the highest level
of education that an individual has completed.
Tourism site’s owners/operators. This refers to
individuals (owners, employees, or operators) who operate and
run a particular tourist destination in Calapan City,
Oriental Mindoro.
Sex. This refers to the gender (man or woman) of
individuals involve in this study.
35
Chapter 2
Review of Related Literature and Studies
This chapter discusses the relevant review of related
literature and studies both local and foreign from local and
foreign sources. This chapter is sub divided into four
sections: Social Media vs. Traditional Media, Impact of
Social Media on Tourism, Tourism in Calapan City, Oriental
Mindoro, and Development of Strategic Social Media Marketing
Plan. This also includes the synthesis of all the materials
cited.
Social Media vs. Traditional Media. Dellarocas (2013)
denoted that due to the explosive volume of social media and
its increasing influence, hospitality and tourism enterprises
are searching for ways to make sense of this media and manage
it to their advantage. Place the phenomena into an appropriate
theoretical context that better describes the complex and
dynamic relationships inherent in social media will help
enhance our understanding of it. Social media has revived
more ancient types of decision-making prevalent before the
emergence of mass media, when the exchange of opinions between
one’s families, relatives, friends, and neighbours was the
basis for product purchase.
36
Technology has taken over the daily lives of humanity.
People can access more information than ever before in this
information age (digital age), which is defined by the
widespread use of the Internet and information technology
(IT). People can also access information at faster speeds
than in the past. The invention of the World Wide Web was a
major catalyst in the world's technological transition.
After the emergence of the most promising technological
invention, Apple's Apple 1 and Microsoft's personal computer,
which served as a giant leap in technology's innovation, home
computers had been a common thing for average American
households in the 1990s. By that time, less than three million
people had been recorded as internet users, despite the
difficulty of obtaining the Internet. Not so long after,
businesses eventually began to create web pages on which they
could market to consumers as time went on. The use of various
email and forum platforms to communicate became increasingly
popular among consumers, and the number of internet users
rapidly expanded. By 2002, there were 631 million people who
used the Internet regularly. By 2015, the number of Internet
users has surpassed the 3-billion barrier for the first time.
The popularity of the Internet increased, as did the average
37
Internet speed, allowing individuals more access to news,
media, and forms of communication than they had previously
been able to do. Individuals now can search the World wide
web on a portable desktop computer at any time, thanks to the
introduction of the smartphone. Businesses saw this as an
opportunity. They invested in their digital presence as the
Internet became more accessible and handier for their
customers. They used their digital presence for different
business purposes, such as advertisements (Biscontini, 2020).
The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), created by Davis
(1989) and experts such as Surendran (2012), explains why
people are more likely to embrace or modify an information
system or process. This model also revealed a number of
behavioral goals that humans are aware of, which worked as
their "driving force" in creating and expressing a specific
attitude toward certain subjective and behavioral norms in
their surroundings. The ability of a person to adapt to
anything is also controlled by three (3) factors that are
thought to cover the individual's ability to adapt. These
variables are based on normative, behavioral, and control
beliefs that must be met over time. In the context of the
Technology Acceptance Model, Davis (1989) stated that two
38
fundamental aspects impact a person's acceptable behavior
(TAM). These components are, in particular, technology and
information systems. Two such traits have been discovered:
(1) perceived usefulness and (2) perceived ease of usage. The
theory held by a user that using a technological system can
help them improve their quality of life or job performance is
referred to as perceived usefulness.
On the other side, the ease of use is the degree to which
the user expects to utilize a new technical application
without too much effort. Further, Davis also added that the
primary goal of technology acceptance is to effectively
explore the different factors that help in increasing the
influence of the adoption and diffusion of various forms of
new technologies throughout a particular social system or
industry. In addition, the different factors which include
usefulness, ease of use, and how much other factors can be
able to influence the usage of these new forms of
technologies, and in the case nowadays, the use of various
social media platforms that are seen to be an effective and
convenient way of targeting the potential and existing
customers and being able to satisfy their needs and also their
preferences – rather than turning the other way around.
39
Dellarrocas likewise highlighted that in contrast with
the one-way model of communication in most mass media, social
media represents two-way communication between consumers and
the materialization of the communication content. As the
digital version of word-of-mouth, social media represents the
solidification, storage, and retrieval of the word-of-mouth
content online. However, the large-scale, anonymous,
ephemeral nature of the Internet induces new ways of
capturing, analysing, interpreting, and managing social media
content. In-depth theoretical and behavioural understanding
of this content might be crucial for making sense of this
media.
Customer service is another essential aspect of the
tourism industry that has changed with social media. Now
brands and businesses can reach their customers directly
through social media. When people are unsatisfied with a
tourism service, they can call the companies to account for
that. Thus, solving the problems of the customers in the
kindest ways will lead to a better reputation for a company.
Social sharing might be the most significant factor that
affected the tourism industry. Social media enables
especially young people to share the most significant
40
memories from their travels with a vast audience. Tourism
companies should know that this is a more powerful way of
attracting new travelers than simple advertisements and
encourage people to share their real experiences online
(Digital Travel Summit, 2021).
Sleight (2015) asserted that one of the things most
businesses particularly tourism businesses struggle with when
strategizing their business is determining what marketing
tactics will work for them. Every business has different
opinions on what is successful and what isn’t. With all of
the options we have available to us today, narrowing down
these tactics can be frustrating, confusing and difficult to
navigate. Some businesses can be quick to dismiss traditional
media ideas, such as radio and TV ads, claiming they have a
less effective, slower reach than new media. Other businesses
may not see the benefit in new media, like search engine
marketing (SEM), social media and blogging. They may feel
their business model doesn’t fit new media, or their consumers
may not be internet-savvy, making it harder to reach them at
a personal level.
Sleight likewise explained that the Traditional
Media can be described as TV, radio, direct mail, billboards,
41
etc. It is a “push” strategy, meaning the message is being
output by the business. It is a one-way, direct message that
can be costly, yet instantly impactful. Traditional media is
gauged by short-term results. Meanwhile, New Media can be
described as social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube),
search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization
(SEO), blogs, etc. It is a “pull” strategy, meaning it is
conversational between consumer and business. It is
interactive and inexpensive to campaign, and it can yield
measurable progress. New media is gauged by long-term
results.
WebFX (2021) emphasized in their article that as
marketing continues to evolve, new methods — typically
referred to as “new media” — have emerged. These methods are
mostly said to deliver better results than other tactics —
known as “traditional media” or even “old media”. It further
discussed that traditional media allows businesses to target
a broad target audience through billboards, print
advertising, television commercials, and more. In comparison,
new media allows companies to target a narrow target audience
through social media, paid online ads, and search results.
Price-wise, traditional media tends to cost more than new
42
media due to its broad targeting and advertising channels.
Consumers have also become less receptive to traditional
media now that they are able to tune it out. Commercials can
be skipped, radio stations can be changed, mail can be thrown
away, and banner ads can be blocked. This means that marketing
methods are often ignored or even seen as ineffective.
Shah (2020) expounded the thought that new media
encompasses internet-based forms of advertising such as
banner ads, social media, and apps. This form of media can be
highly targeted, even allowing businesses to reach consumers
as they enter their store, for example, using cell phone push
notifications. New media can best be described as digital
channels that have gained popularity in the advertising space
in the last decade or so. As more and more consumers rely on
their cell phones for everything, new media has become an
increasingly effective way to advertise. Spending in the new
media industry continues to grow, with experts estimating
businesses will spend $172 billion on digital advertising by
2021.
Difference Between (2021) explained in their article
that social media is now mainstream media, but it is difficult
to define it accurately because there are exceptions to every
43
definition. It differentiates itself by being interactive –
a two-way communication. Social media includes websites that
are available for social networking. Social media is all about
engagement whereas traditional media is about reach. Social
media requires actual interaction and response. For that, you
need to create eye-catching, compelling content which is
unavoidably engaging. Social media is a great platform to
engage with your audience and thereby marketing your product
or spreading your message out loud. The aim of social media
is to start conversation by getting involved. Likewise,
social media involves targeted two-way communication which
means the message can be addressed to targeted audience or
individual users. Thus, the marketers need to understand
their target audience and the message is tailored to each
individual. Any user can start communication on any topic and
anybody can participate. Social media is one of the most
effective ways to build your brand and drive sales traffic.
Kumar et al., (2020) highlighted on their study that the
rules for traditional marketing have changed with the
appearance of the Internet and the social networks. There are
currently many tourism destinations that use the social
networks as promotion channels, a phenomenon known as social
44
marketing. Nowadays, millions of people worldwide rely on the
Internet for working, learning, socializing, entertainment,
leisure and shopping. With the increase in the number of
internet users the use of social media like face book, twitter
has grown over the past decade. And the usage has
progressively grown from individuals to businesses. Many
organizations today proactively use social media as a vehicle
to reach out to millions of prospective and repeat customers.
Businesses in the service industry, such as tourism, that
engage in constant communication with tourists are
drastically changing their marketing strategies by choosing
this new age interactive media over traditional practices of
marketing and public relations.
Impact of Social Media on Tourism. As in any other
industry, Big Three of the social media -Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram have been the leader in the tourism industry as
well. Even though these channels have their own audience,
travel is among the most shared topics on all of them.
Facebook is an excellent platform to catch users among various
social groups. Facebook’s Recommendations feature enables
people to share their experiences. It can be used effectively
for travelling purposes, to reach information about what
45
users are telling about your travel business. Thanks to its
emphasis on visual material, Instagram is one of the most
effective social media channels. It is a great platform for
tourism businesses to engage with their current and future
customers. Using Instagram will help you attract people,
especially the millennials, as they form a group that is
highly active on Instagram. You should follow the travel
hashtags and create your own to maximize the popularity of
your posts.
While Instagram takes over your visual material, Twitter
is your voice. This platform allows you to talk about short
travel tips and promos. Even though Twitter can be used for
photos and videos of your brand, its actual strength is being
especially useful for providing customer service. If you want
to join in conversations, you need to have an active Twitter
account. Other than the Big Three, there are various platforms
that you can use to get in contact with different groups of
travellers. For example, LinkedIn is significant for B2B.
Business travellers share information on Linkedin groups
about many topics, including business trips. If you want to
reach business travellers, you use LinkedIn to reach them
depending on the locations in which you provide service.
46
Widely used by generation Z, Snapchat is another platform
that is important for your tourism marketing strategyif you
are targeting young customers. It is a rapidly growing social
media channel on which you can share what is happening at the
moment. You can share gripping snaps about your tourism
business to catch attention (Digital Travel Summit, 2021).
Social media is becoming more crucial to hospitality and
tourism enterprises. On one hand, hospitality and tourism
industries offer intangible and experiential products.
Visitors must rely on the information delivered to them,
either online or offline, to identify and evaluate the product
alternatives. User reviews and comments are experiential in
nature and highly trustable. On the other hand, the
development of Internet technologies has lowered the barrier
for contributing information online. Almost anyone with
Internet access could easily blog, tweet, review, comment,
and update his or her Facebook status. These communication
tools have led to an explosion of social media content. In
September, 2010 Facebook was ranked as the number one website
online which can reach 39.2% of the Internet population;
YouTube was ranked number two with 31.8% (Google, 2010).
47
More importantly, the traffic of those websites
continues to increase, dwarfing the most popular mass media
sites, while consistently increasing their amount of daily
unique visitors (Pan B., & Crotts J., 2012). Social media has
left its impact on all the sectors and it is majorly used as
a source of communication and to gather information rather
than meeting in a person. Social media is one that is used
for leisure as well as for the business purpose. Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube are major websites which has influenced
each and every sector. It has bought its effect on tourism
sector too in a way where people share their experiences and
reviews and the information available on the social media
sites helps us to make our prospective choice. Social media
helps in making decision easier and make a better choice as
to which place to travel. The social media has given a great
contribution to provide some good and not so good feedbacks
and contributions.
Samson (2017) revealed on his recent research that more
than half of the people change their decisions and plans after
researching on various social portals. It helps the
individually to virtually see the destination online and
their reviews helps in making a better decision. The
48
information is available in many forms like blogs, tagging,
videos, reviews and many more medium. The tourism industry
has also adopted social media as their way of advertising or
marketing as it has bought great revenue and outcome as the
information available on social media helps in decreasing the
uncertainties and providing more relevant and real
information.
Mangan (2015) further discussed how people tend to have
a general distrust for advertisements these days. Social
media allows you to bypass that feeling and jump straight to
the point of being a trusted resource for adventure and
excitement or rest and relaxation. Social media is a vital
marketing channel for businesses of all sizes. The common
question a few years ago, “why should our business use social
media?” is now being replaced with, “how can our business
grow with social media marketing?” Social media and tourism
marketing don’t have to feel like advertising. Instead,
social media allows people to share written testaments to
your brand’s most amazing qualities, share pictures and
videos of their experiences, and capture the heart and
imaginations of their networks unlike any advertisement ever
could.
49
Mangold & Faulds (2019) denoted that social media has
made a huge impact on the tourism industry. Consumers engage
with social networking sites to research trips, make informed
decisions about their travels and share their personal
experiences of a particular hotel, restaurant or airline.
Likewise, social media tools are changing the way people
communicate. Advances in mobile technology have made social
media more accessible, allowing to become a part of people’s
daily lives and routines.
Morgado et.al (2011) supposed that social media is a
very broad term and no universal definition among scholars
and researchers exists. A commonly accepted definition of
social media seems to be difficult particularly due to the
existence of other concepts that came along with social media,
i.e. Web2.0 or User Generated Content. Being closely related
but not exactly synonymous a distinction between all these
new concepts and terms often seems to be difficult, to the
extent of being used interchangeably.
Arsal et al., (2018) argued that the recent year’s new
communication methods, also known as Web 2.0 applications or
new social media, began to gather information and have
achieved great success in communicating with the consumer.
50
Several factors facilitated that the social media
applications became enormously popular among many consumers,
such as the evolution of the Internet that became a very
important source for information search and an essential tool
to keep contact with others, through e-mails or using
messengers than it was decades ago (Noone et. al, 2011).
Blackshaw (2016) describes social media as the internet-
based applications that carry consumer generated content that
is relevant to the past experiences or any source or online
information issues. The consumers create these themselves,
based on the 2012 International Conference on Business and
Management their experience with products and services, and
share it among themselves aiming at educating about the
products and services.
Individuals and groups create and exchange content and
engage in person-to-person conversations. They appear in many
forms including blogs and micro blogs, forums and message
boards, social networks, wikis, virtual worlds, social
bookmarking, tagging and news, writing communities, digital
storytelling and scrap booking, and data, content, image and
video sharing, podcast portals, and collective intelligence.
There are lots of well-known sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn,
51
My Space, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Instagram and many others
(Cox et. al., 2019).
The tourism and hospitality industry is not an exception
and hence a growing number of hotel professionals and
researchers have acknowledged the importance of Web 2.0 for
the sector and potential benefits that it provides, (Gretzel
et al., 2010). Evidently, social media is becoming integral
to many organizations as a tool for marketing, customers’
service management, interacting with employees, etc. However,
recent research shows that organizations are still struggling
to find an effective way to strategically manage social media
and engage with various stakeholders. As a result, there is a
need to investigate the issue in depth. Therefore, in this
paper, we develop a comprehensive conceptual model for
organizations to engage with stakeholders and strategically
managing social media (Johnson et al., 2018).
Promoting a destination is not an easy task. Its
challenge and difficulties derive from the multi-attributed
nature of the destination on the one hand and from a non-
homogeneous demand of travelers on the other hand. It has
been argued among marketers that a different approach is
required while promoting a destination for the different
52
segments of a heterogeneous market not only regarding the
content of the message but also the communication channels as
well (Schegg et al., 2008).
Withiam (2011) revealed that social media presents a
golden opportunity for the hospitality industry to make
greater contact with its customers, with an ultimate goal of
developing a partnership for brand growth and development.
Underlying that opportunity is the twin dangers that
hospitality operators will mishandle their social media
connections or that customer (and the media themselves) will
move on, leaving the industry behind. So, just as hotels and
some restaurants have built their websites, they now have to
make sure that their site is optimized for search engines,
have mobile apps, and, more to the point, keep customers
involved in a conversation about the operation. Although many
hotel chains have embraced mobile apps, Facebook, and other
channels, others are hardly represented at all in the social
media firmament.
For today’s generation, its mere part of their life to
be social media savvy, most of us spend lot of time every day
on different social media sites like Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, pin interest, etc. use of web has extended its way
53
to a deeper path that is not just for emailing or for
searching a particular thing but a way of staying update and
interacting through chats, video sharing or through image
sharing or updating some the status and many more. Social
media has become a major part in our lives as we see that out
of five persons every second person is using social media to
share their happiness or achievements through the use of
different social media portals.
On the other hand if we will see it from the company’s
perspective it has been a great source of creating awareness
among the customers about their brand and products. It is a
way through which the companies create an image in their
prospective customers and through which they interact with
them and try to know their views in order to improve their
services. Social media is a greatest source of entertainment
and leisure too. It has spread its wings in each and every
aspects thus, it’s playing multiple roles in everyone’s life
not in a way of communicating only but also in other aspects.
The rise in the social media users are increasing rapidly due
to the availability of the smart phones and the network. Being
a social media user what we see is what we believe in, so
whatever information or the new product we see and it
54
stimulate us to try that. This is the case with the products
to so the companies are finding ways to reach maximum
customers through the social media.
The way travellers conduct their trip research has
changed. Not only do they do almost all of their planning
online, they often turn to social media to ask
questions. While not necessarily specific to travel,
Facebook’s Recommendations feature allows users to ask for
advice from their peers. Users are gathering feedback from
their networks on everything from hotels to travel gear to
the destinations themselves. Countless travelers are
deliberately turning to social media for help planning their
trips, but social media is also a massive source of
inspiration for would-be travellers without a destination.
One of the least talked about—but most important—ways in
which social media has changed tourism marketing is in the
ability to provide superior customer service. Social media
allows brands to field questions, comments, and concerns in
a single place, for as many hours of the day as they see fit,
and showcase their professionalism at the same time.
Directing your customers or potential customers toward a
Facebook page, for example, gives you the opportunity to
55
provide instant support via Comments or Messenger when issues
arise. One of the additional benefits is that you can field
these issues out in the open and develop a reputation of
quality service and professionalism with both current and
potential customers.
Gretzel et al., (2017) found that online reviews and
rating websites, increase travellers confidence during
decision making. Travellers read reviews through various
stages of travel planning-pre, during and post trip. Majority
of existing studies attempt to describe the role of social
media, focusing on either a specific social media or the
impact of social media on a particular stage of the travel.
Tourism in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. Calapan is
one of two cities in the MIMAROPA region, the other being
Puerto Princesa in Palawan. Calapan serves as the region's
administrative center. It is also the center of commerce,
industry, transport, communication, religious activities and
education in the entire province of Oriental Mindoro. The
city's economy is dependent on agriculture and fishing.
However, a growing industry in machinery and tourism has
contributed well to the city's annual income making it one of
56
the fastest growing new cities in the country for the last 10
years.
Since 1998, the city has experienced rapid development.
The establishment of a special development area, particularly
an eco-zone for light industries located at the Urban
Development Area (Lumangbayan and Guinobatan), has been
promoted and now serves as growth area which generates
employment and spurs economic opportunities. Such industries
focus on agro-industrial based activities such as food
processing, handicraft making, furniture making and other
related activities. Calapan plays a major role in the
Philippine economy as one of the major food suppliers in the
country. The city is also a major exporter of rice supplying
to Metro Manila and major parts of Luzon making it both an
agriculturally-progressive and urbanized city. The five major
crops are rice, citrus, banana, rambutan and lanzones. The
top five industries in Calapan are trading, tourism,
services, marine and aquatic, and food processing. Calapan
serves as the province's industrial hub. It plays a pivotal
role in the economic development of the province and its
adjacent areas.
57
The island of Oriental Mindoro is located just a few
hours from the capital of the Philippines, Manila. The island
of Mindoro is a prevalent tourist destination for many city
dwellers seeking the sun, sea, and sand. The mango fruit-
shaped island is divided into two provinces: Oriental Mindoro
and Occidental Mindoro. Travel Authentic Philippines offers
a variety of Mindoro tours. Contrarily, Oriental Mindoro
tourism industry still lacks the demand of social media
skills despite the intense and powerful popularity of social
media. Knowing that about 2.45 billion population is using
Facebook, with millions also using social media platforms
like Instagram and Twitter, and 1 billion users on YouTube,
it’s obvious that ignoring social media skills will lead to
lost opportunities for Oriental Mindoro’s tourism revenue.
This makes social media marketing skills critically
important.
In addition, Oriental Mindoro is popular for its
beautiful beaches and it is also well-known for excellent
diving spots only a few hours away from Manila. Found in the
province is world-known dive sites that are ideal for
observing marine life, and outstanding for macro photography.
It is the Heart of Asia. It is an earthly paradise with a
58
variety of picturesque landscape, pristine water and exotic
wildlife. It is one of the most prospective potential tourist
destinations because of its aesthetic value in the Tourism
industry today. People also come in Oriental Mindoro for the
great outdoors featuring rivers, lakes, and gorgeous
mountains. Diving has become a popular activity given that
the island’s proximity to one of the richest diving spots in
the country. It is indeed an excellent place to visit not
only by locals but most especially by foreign tourists. It
has inherent characteristics that give it a personality of
its own. Despite of the wonderful sceneries and recreational
activities offered in Oriental Mindoro, still, there are
several tourism site’s owners/operators cannot sustain their
operations due to inability of running a tourism business and
lack of knowledge and expertise in the field specifically in
terms of social media marketing.
The 160.5 km long by 84.5 km wide island of Mindoro was
first mentioned in Chinese annals when merchants from Cathay
on ships carrying native products traded on the island 982
AD. Ship Captains and their men often referred to the island
as “Mai”, which was late corroborated by the Chinese historian
Chen-Jua Kuan in the first known description in 1225 AD.
59
The name Mindoro derived from the term Minoro, sometimes
spelled Minolo - a small coastal settlement northwest of the
poblacion of present day Puerto Galera. Captain Martin de
Goiti and Juan de Salcedo explored Western Mindoro on their
way to Manila on May 8. 1570. After fighting with the Moro
pirates and capturing the island of Lubang, Legaspi imposed
Spanish rule upon the natives of Northern Mindoro the
following year. While Moro piracy was in existence during the
17th century, the island was organized into a corregimiento,
with Puerto Galera as the capital. The island became the part
of Bonbon (Taal, Batangas) under the encomienda of Calilaya
(Unisan, Quezon Province).
Since the 10th century, Puerto Galera was known to
seafarers as a trading port and a strategic harbor along the
important trade routes to and from the Near East, Indian
coast, Indo-Chinese coast, China, various points within the
Philippine archipelago, and the kingdoms of Sumatra and Java.
The Muelle Bay area, recognized as one of the safest natural
harbors in Asia, was used extensively for dock repairs and as
a safe anchorage for all types of sailing vessels.
Sixteenth century reference to Mindoro often only meant
the harbor of Minolo, which was then the center of trading
60
between the Chinese and the natives. Chinese merchants
bartered glazed porcelains for gold, jade, corals, shells,
birds, rattan, and other forest products that were abundant
on the island. The antiques unearthed from an ancient
gravesite near Minolo were traced back as early as the 10th
century and 15th centuries. Most are Chinese, but substantial
quantities from Thailand and Vietnam have also been
excavated.
When the Spaniards discovered the island of Mindoro in
the early 17th century, the natural beauty and safe heaven
that is Muelle Bay astonished them. They thus named the land
of Puerto de Galleon or Port of Galleon. It was later called
Puerto Galera. When the Spaniards conquered the whole island,
they made Puerto Galera the capital of the province. Due to
the regularity of the Moro attacks, the Spaniards built
watchtowers and stationed battleships outside Muelle Bay to
deter Moros. One such battleship was the Canonero Mariveles,
which sunk due to violent storm in 1879. The Spaniards also
built a rice granary in Puerto Galera that was used to a stash
grains ready for shipment. This grain storage was believed to
have caught fire in the grains ready for shipment. This grain
storage was believed to have caught fire in the late 18th
61
century, but the carbonized palay grains were preserved by
sea water and remains scattered along Muelle Bay to this day.
The natives primarily lived by fishing, crude farming
and hunting. They raised animals, planted rice, corn, sweet
potatoes and other root crops using the slash and burn method
to clear and prepare the land for planting. Then the Spaniards
introduced the plow, increasing the productivity of the land.
However, the tributes and taxes imposed by the Spanish
government discouraged farmers, causing them to seek other
means of livelihood. After more than two centuries, the
capital of the province was transferred to Calapan (the
present capital of Oriental Mindoro).
Tourism is essentially a social phenomenon defined by
the consequence of the movement of people to and their
temporary stay at a place away from their normal residence
(Chang & Katrichis, 2016). With increased national incomes,
the rise of leisure ideology and the popularization of the
global village, foreign/domestic tourism has become a part of
people’s lives. In fact, tourism products can include
tangible and/or intangible elements. Moreover, tourism is not
just the production of goods or services (Carvalho & Costa,
2011).
62
In addition, tourism can improve the quality of life in
an area by increasing the number of attractions, recreational
opportunities, and services (Scheyvens, 2010). Tourism offers
residents the opportunities to meet interesting people, make
friendships, learn about the world, and expose themselves to
new perspectives. Experiencing different cultural practices
enriches experiences, broadens horizons, and increases
insight and appreciation for different approaches to living.
Often, dwindling interest in host cultures is revived by
reawakening cultural heritage as part of tourism development,
which increases demand for historical and cultural exhibits.
This interest by tourists in local culture and history
provides (Dodds, 2009; Fyall & Leask, 2016; Sharpley, 2014).
Bhardwaj and Sharma (2012) highlighted that there are a
few tourist attractions in the state and they are also
scattered but still with innovative ideas. Punjab can develop
latest concept of tourism like rural tourism, eco-tourism,
farm house tourism, agriculture tourism etc. The study also
questioned if Haryana could successfully promote highway
tourism, why not Punjab. They suggested that special
incentives should be given to the entrepreneurs who want to
start their venture in tourism industry so that in coming
63
times, the demand of more tourism products may be fulfilled.
They also pointed out that economic reforms shall help in
making Punjab more prospectuses and economically sound which
will automatically lead to increase in demand for tourism.
In the study of Sharma (2012), he examined the
organizational structure of Rajasthan Tourism Development
Corporation (RTDC) and studied the opinions of tourists
regarding the various services and facilities provided by the
corporation. The study revealed that pleasure was the most
important reason for tourists to undertake journey and good
number of tourists were satisfied with the services and
facilities provided by RTDC. The analysis of the study further
revealed that trend of stay of tourists was towards non-star
hotels followed by guest houses and tourist bungalows. The
research highlighted the need for improved communication
skills, reducing room rents, increasing efficiency of staff,
strengthening the association of private sector and employing
specialists for the growth of industry.
Early research on tourism defined tourism as an
identifiable nationally important industry (Australian
Department of Tourism and Recreation, 2012). The industry
involves a wide cross section of component activities
64
including the provision of transportation, accommodation,
recreation, food, and related services for domestic and
overseas travellers. It involved travel for all purposes,
including recreation and business (Ansett Airlines, 2010).
Later, Leiper (2012) also affirmed the tourism industry
consists of all firms, organizations and facilities that are
intended to serve the specific needs and wants of tourists.
That intention is manifested by a marketing and design
orientation of the individual units forming the industry.
Nowadays, tourism sector is among the world’s most
important industries, accounting for significant shares of
global GDP and employment. In 2013 these shares were estimated
at 9.5% and 8.9% respectively (World Travel and Tourism
Council, 2014). Pojani (2011) defined tourism as an industry
that had not been explored or even considered prior to the
fall and only started developing and initiating after.
Meanwhile, Neuhofer (2014) emphasized that technological
advancements have brought major transformations to tourism in
general while making it easy to compare features from one
destination to another.
In addition, Komppula & Pesonen (2010) initiated that
visitors get to seek the most of their travels and it is vital
65
for travel destinations to be compatible with the industry's
standards, as travellers perceive them. Tourism is an
industry that may help developing countries to solve their
problems of unemployment and poverty by turning the
potentials, for example, natural beauties and cultural
heritage, into a profit. Moreover, it is a clean industry
that achieves to preserve and conserve nature for future
generations.
Moreover, to reach Oriental Mindoro from Luzon, one have
to ride a boat from the ports of Batangas and pass through
Verde Island Passage which houses thousands of species of
marine life-forms. This passage is one of the reasons where
Philippines is being dubbed as the center of marine fish
biodiversity in the world. Oriental Mindoro is one of the
emerging eco-tourism destination in the country. Among the
topmost visited tourists spots in Oriental Mindoro are Sabang
Beach, Talipanan Beach, Aninuan Beach, Big La Laguna, Haligi
Beach and White Beach in Puerto Galera, Tukuran Falls in San
Teodoro, Mt. Halcon in Baco, Alibatan Island and Buyayao
Island in Bulalacao (TouristSpotsFinder, 2021).
Development of Strategic Social Media Marketing Plan.
Samson (2017) argued that social media plays an important
66
role in promoting and marketing the tourism industry. It has
helped in promoting the world’s diversity and has given
positive contribution towards preserving our natural and
cultural heritage. The ministry of tourism has formulated
various policies and programmes for the development and
promotion of tourism. The advancement through the internet
and the development of Social Media has assisted the
interconnectivity of travellers through the various means of
social media. Interactions through various means of social
Media like through forums, ratings, reviews and feedbacks.
The development of various means of social media helps the
travellers to make better choice and discussion. Travellers
rely on personal approach rather than on various
advertisements as the social media information that is
through their personal acquaintance. The information shared
through the social media plays a great role in the pre-stage
of travelling.
Lozano (2018) asserted that trying to build a brand on
social media without a defined strategy can be totally
counterproductive. He also emphasized that the first reason
why there is a need to develop a strategic social media
marketing plan is because it will help any business build a
67
strong, organic presence online. Hence, owners of tourists’
destinations in Oriental Mindoro could able to plan out posts
in advance, and get them scheduled and set. On one hand,
failure to maintain consistency is one big reason social media
accounts stop growing.
The internet in the 21st century has led to several
changes, and the marketing technique is no exception. The
Internet has become stronger in the everyday lives of people.
In recent years, the business sector has become increasingly
critical to optimize search engine (SEO) and search engine
marketing (SEMs). Marketers began utilizing technology to
optimize the ranking of search results on their own websites
with special keywords and links from other websites. In return
for content search results, advertisers started paying for
search engines such as Yahoo! and Google for specific keywords
or phrases. Marketers using pay-per-click (PPC) ads were
compensated for solely by clicking the ad for customers.
Google Adwords, Yahoo! and Microsoft's adCenter were the
dominant search markets throughout much of the 2000s. By 2008,
internet search engines were sold for $13.5 billion annually
and this was steadily increased in the years 2010.
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As an additional point of reference, Balabanova (2020)
published an article that examined the modern media space. It
was based on the perspective of the possibilities and
characteristics of electronic communication and the
advantages created by internet marketing. By characterizing
internet advertising in terms of its characteristics and
opportunities for both customers and marketing service
providers, virtual reality innovations of technology made way
for the transition in the marketing world into an
unquestionably higher level of development, all in a
qualitative group covering wide variants of discipline.
For decades, advertising had only primarily revolved
around the basics: print, television, and radio advertising,
probably those of broadcasting alone. With the advent of
digital technology and the demise of some types of
conventional media, businesses were forced to find new ways
to engage with the public and market products and services to
their target audiences. The majority of digital marketing
occurs on the Internet, which provides businesses with a lot
of ways to connect with their customers. Virtual reality (VR)
and free trials are two examples of how customers can interact
with and simulate a service or see the actual product through
69
photos they can access without having to physically go to a
store before using or purchasing it.
Through email marketing and social media marketing,
online businesses have also attempted to interact with
customers on a much more intimate and immediate level. The
practice of sending unwanted marketing emails to prospective
customers is known as "spam." When such messages are received
in an unwelcome manner, they are referred to as spam. Some
customers subscribe to company mailing lists in exchange for
receiving email messages, while in other cases, they do not.
By subscribing, they are frequently rewarded with exclusive
coupons and other special offers available to subscribers.
According to the company, customers are encouraged to
advocate products within their social networking sites when
companies use social media marketing to build a special
connection between them and the brand. On the other hand,
viral marketing occurs when a corporation publishes
interesting, controversial, or educational content that
quickly becomes popular and spreads widely throughout the
Internet by people who are not involved with the organization.
Digital marketing also includes the tracking of one's
browsing habits and the advertising of goods and services
70
that are in line with online practices, which is another
aspect (Thomset-Scott, 2014).
Lozano also stressed that creating and implementing a
strategic social media marketing plan can help an
entrepreneur in saving time. Getting everything together to
create a content calendar and content bank is a big task at
first, but getting the posts sorted and scheduled for the
next week or month will greatly reduce the time need to spend
on actually posting each day. No more staring at a blank
screen scrambling to figure out what to post. Having a
strategic social media marketing plan in place will ensure
that social media efforts are more fruitful, and are working
to support the broader business goals.
Bourque (2009) explicated that social media is reshaping
the world we live in. Greater connectivity with friends and
family gives “word of mouth” new meaning, advice on what
products to buy and what brands to avoid is only a mouse click
away. Social media is reaching deep into our everyday lives,
including affecting things like how we travel. To make a
lasting impact on the user and build a successful business
any entrepreneur should be adept in social media marketing.
There are also a number of factors to keep in mind while
71
promoting your business online so as to maximize its potential
and achieve realistic real time sales.
Kumar et al., (2020) emphasized in their study that the
tourism industry at first focused on utilizing computerized
systems to increase efficiency in processing of internal
information and managing distribution. Nowadays, the internet
and information and communication technologies are relevant
on all operative, structural, strategic and marketing levels
to facilitate global interaction among suppliers,
intermediaries and consumers around the world. Taking
advantage of new technologies and the internet, they enable
destinations to enhance their competitiveness by increasing
their visibility, reducing costs and enhancing local co-
operation. Destination marketing must lead to the
optimisation of tourism impacts and the achievement of the
strategic objectives for all stakeholders.
Several writers such as Brown et al., (2010) agreed that
there are myriad social media, social networking, social
computing and social business sites on the web, like Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter, Wiki-travel, Concierge, LinkedIn, and
hundreds of them, encouraging conversations with millions of
people who use various mechanisms to connect, communicate and
72
collaborate through a variety of channels. This is a massive
socioeconomic shift that is fundamentally changing the way
consumers and companies communicate and interact with each
other. Companies and customers are adopting newer and more
sophisticated ways of communication. Traditional marketing
campaigns now have to have a digital component to ensure that
they are reaching the correct segment of the audience, and
there are lots of case studies about success and positive ROI
from web campaigns.
Gammet Interactive (2011) discussed that the tourism
industry as a whole encompasses a variety of different service
and consumer product industries. One type of tourism office
is a destination marketing organization, or DMO. The goal of
DMOs is to increase tourism to a particular city, state, or
region. DMOs seek to achieve their goals by branding the area
as a whole and advertising that brand; promoting specific
institutions, restaurants, accommodations, attractions,
activities, and events that take place in the area; and
offering information and assistance to visitors. Study
conducted by on social media influence in tourism in the
United States says generally social media offerings are rated
on the basis of three factors: usage of social media tools,
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content, and user Engagement. In order to measure these
factors, Gammet analyzes each state’s DMO presence in the
following areas: Quant cast, Google, Facebook, Twitter,
Flickr, YouTube, user-generated reviews, content sharing,
blogging, backlinks, geo-location, and mobile. As social
media has evolved during the past two years, Gammet has
adapted its ranking algorithm to include emerging technology
trends.
Meldrum & McDonald (2007) asserted that marketing has
long been recognized to be important for the long-term
survival and success of organizations. There are many
definitions that try to illustrate what marketing is all
about. One of the best describes marketing as the way in which
an organization matches its human, financial and physical
resources with the wants and needs of its customers.
Synthesis
The literature reviewed presented focus on Social Media
vs. Traditional Media, Impact of Social Media on Tourism,
Tourism in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, and Development of
Strategic Social Media Marketing Plan.
74
Differences in the above-mentioned studies could be noted
in terms of respondents, research locale, and period of
conducting the study, strategies and some indicators that
would be used in establishing relationship. Similarities
could be noted on the research purpose of the study. All
the preceding researches assisted the author in
conceptualizing the paper and provided him a better path in
the conduct of the study. It enlightened him on various
theories regarding the development of a strategic social
media marketing plan which is the focus of his research.
Chapter 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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This chapter presents the methods and procedures used by
the researcher. This includes the research design,
respondents of the study, data gathering instruments, data
gathering procedures, validation, and statistical treatment
of data utilized to conduct the study.
Research Design
This study utilized a descriptive research design to
facilitate understanding and analysis on the level of
awareness on social media marketing and extent of
manifestation of social media marketing strategies of tourism
site’s owners/operators in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.
Scrutiny of data gathered through questionnaires was applied.
Descriptive research design is a scientific method of
observing and describing the behavior of a subject in its
normal order (Calderon and Gonzales, 2018). Many scientific
disciplines, especially social science, psychology, and
business used this method to obtain a general overview of the
subject. While, for Torneo and Clamor-Torneo (2017),
descriptive research is generally concerned with
investigating, measuring, and describing one or more aspects
or characteristics of one or more groups, communities, or
phenomena. Through this method, the researcher would like to
76
dig deeper into stakeholder views to reveal their
expectations to draft a proposal for the institution.
Respondents of the Study and Sampling Technique
The study involved a total of 50 research respondents
comprising of tourism site’s owners/operators in Calapan
City, Oriental Mindoro and were selected considering their
direct involvement in the tourism industry. The tourism
site’s owners/operators who were the respondents of this
study have been in the tourism industry for at least a year
or more and have been actively involved in all the processes
of tourism sector. The tourism site’s owners/operators age
range is from 25 to 60 years old and above. The participants
were chosen through purposive sampling to guarantee that the
fundamental data that the researcher needs will be given as
needs be. According to Crossman (2018), a purposive example
is a non-likelihood test that is chosen in view of attributes
of populace and the target of the investigation. Purposive
inspecting is otherwise called judgmental, particular, or
abstract examining. All these qualifications were used in
selecting the participants to make this study reliable and
accurate.
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Research Instrumentation
Construction. The researcher used survey questionnaires
as the main data gathering instrument for this study and a
semi-structured interview constructed by the researcher since
the study aims to collect exploratory information for the
purpose of better understanding and to test the specific
hypotheses cited in Chapter 1. Saul Mcleod (2018) defined
questionnaire as a research instrument consisting of a series
of questions for the purpose of gathering information from
respondents. Questionnaires can be understood as a kind of
written interview. They can be carried out either face to
face, through telephone, computer or post.
Survey Questionnaire. The instrument utilized in this
study was a survey questionnaire which was distributed to 50
tourism site’s owners/operators in Calapan City, Oriental
Mindoro to know their demographic profile in terms of age,
sex and educational attainment. The second part contains
survey proper that explores the response of the tourism site’s
owners/operators in terms of their level of awareness on
social media marketing in terms of social media platforms,
online campaigns and promotions, and tourists’ engagement. It
was followed by another section of survey questionnaire that
identifies the extent of manifestation of the tourism site’s
78
owners/operators in incorporating social media marketing
strategies in terms of content marketing, online
The survey part of the questionnaire contains question that
were structured using the Likert format. The choices
represented the degree of agreement for each respondent on
the given question.
Validation. To determine whether the instruments have
high quality, measurement properties such as reliability and
validity were assessed, using standardized criteria. It is
important to measure the accuracy and consistency of the
research instruments. A drafted questionnaire was prepared by
the researcher to established validity. To ensure that the
questions fully represent its purpose, raters (experts)
reviewed all of the questionnaire items for readability,
clarity and comprehensiveness and come to some level of
agreement as to which items should be included in the final
questionnaire. To measure if the content is valid, the formula
below was utilized:
CVR = [(ne - N)-N/2] / 2
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Where CVR = content validity ratio; ne = number of
experts in the panel answered "yes, relevant and; N =
total number of experts in the panel.
Reliability test. To examine reliability, this study
employed the internal consistency reliability.
Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure. Internal
consistency is the consistency of people’s responses across
the items on a multiple-item measure. Internal consistency
reliability explains the consistency of the results delivered
in a test, ensuring that the various items measuring the
different constructs deliver consistent scores (Martyn
Shuttleworth, 2010).
In order to test for internal consistency, Cronbach's
alpha through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)
software version 20.0 was used. Cronbach's alpha is a
statistic calculated from the pairwise correlations between
items. Internal consistency ranges between negative infinity
and one. Coefficient alpha will be negative whenever there is
greater within-subject variability than between-subject
variability. Furthermore, pilot testing was also done. After
the researcher has finished designing the survey
questionnaire, 30 people from the target group in Calapan
80
City, Oriental Mindoro was selected to pretest it. The random
sampling was employed in selecting 30 participants in testing
the reliability of the participants. The testers completed
the survey the same way that it was completed in the actual
conduct of the study. The researcher observed them while
completing the survey. In the same manner, the researcher
looked for places where the respondents hesitate or make
mistakes. Since the researcher conducted an interview, field
testing of the questionnaire is very important. It gives the
idea about the level of cooperation the researcher was likely
to get from the respondents.
After the survey was pretested, the researcher identified
the practical problems encountered for improvements. Pilot
testing is important in instrumentation to ensure that the
questions were understood by the respondents and there were
no problems with the wording or measurement. Pilot testing
involves the use of a small number of respondents who are not
involved in the study to test the appropriateness or
correctness of the questions and their comprehension
(Zeepedia.com).
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Data Gathering Procedure
The researcher sought approval or permission to conduct
the study on the tourism sites in Calapan City, Oriental
Mindoro including the letter to the respondents of the various
tourists’ destinations. After securing the necessary approval
and assistance from the authorities, the researcher started
securing data and information by distributing the
questionnaires to the selected respondents.
The primary form of the questionnaire was referred to
the adviser for comments and suggestions with regards to the
format and item content. It was then presented to some experts
in the field of tourism. The suggestions served as guidelines
for the revision of questionnaire. The questionnaire was
generated using qualified questions as per advised by the
researcher’s adviser and through literature reviews. Then, it
was modified according from the related studies and
subjective questions constructed by the researcher.
Statistical Treatment
The statistical treatment of data is necessary to ensure
that the data are used correctly (Siddharta Kalla, 2009). The
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following statistical procedures were used to analyze the
data collected in this study:
Quantitatively, descriptive statistics was used.
Specifically, percentage method, frequency method, weighted
mean, and four point rating scale method. The frequency
distribution method was used to count the number of times
that each variable occurs. In statistics, the term
“frequency” means the number of times each score or event
occurs. A table was used to show the demographic profile of
the tourism site’s owners/operators in terms of age, sex and
educational attainment.
To determine the level of awareness of tourism site’s
owners/operators on social media marketing in terms of social
media platforms, online campaigns and promotions, and
tourists’ engagement and the extent of manifestation of the
tourism site’s owners/operators in incorporating social media
marketing strategies in terms of content marketing, online
communications, brand advocates, and cross-channel campaigns,
weighted mean was used to represent the interpretation of
subgroups having unequal sizes. Likewise, determining the
weighted mean is appropriate in this study since it is
83
important for the researcher to know how many of the
participants gave a particular answer.
The formula for weighted mean

P= is:
∑f
N
Where: X = weighted mean
∑f = summation of the product of frequency and
weight of responses
N = total number of respondents
Further, Pearson’s R correlation Coefficient was used to
test the significant relationship between variables. To
indicate the descriptive and numerical interpretation, the
four-point rating scale was used. The following scales were
used in the study.
Table 1
Four-point Rating Scale in Interpreting the Data of the
Respondents
Scale Range Verbal Interpretation
4 3.50 - 4.00 Highly Aware (HA)

3 2.50 - 3.49 Moderately Aware (MA)
2 1.50 - 2.49 Unaware (U)
1 1.00 - 1.49 Very Unaware (VU)
Level of Awareness on Social Media Marketing
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Table 2
Four-point Rating Scale in Interpreting the Data of the
Respondents
Scale Range Verbal Interpretation
4 3.50 - 4.00 High Extent (HE)

3 2.50 - 3.49 Moderate Extent (ME)
2 1.50 - 2.49 Low Extent (LE)
1 1.00 - 1.49 Very Low Extent (VLE)
Extent of Manifestation of Social Media Marketing
Strategies
Ethical Considerations
As part of the academic criteria, a short review of the
purposes of this study has been performed before primary data
were formally gathered. The researcher secured permission and
sought time availability from the subjects of the study. No
deception or exaggeration about the aims and objectives was
prompted. The researcher ensured that the respondents were
informed on the nature of the study and that they voluntarily
submit themselves to be the process. The researcher also
clarified that their honesty and transparency would
contribute greatly to the success of this initiative and that
they had the right, under pressure, or fear of reprisal, to
withdraw any data they provided particularly when their
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interest would be in jeopardy. As soon as the full consent of
the participants was acknowledged, the data gathering
procedure started. An adequate level of confidentiality and
protection of the privacy of the stakeholder groups were
guaranteed along with the promise that only relevant
components would be assessed. Finally, interviews were
conducted individually in a private and quiet room in the
participant’s home. Further, participants who opted to be
interviewed virtually were interviewed via zoom and Google
meet.
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Chapter 4
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
This chapter presents the analysis and interpretation of
data gathered from the tourism site’s owners/operators and
which were elicited in order to develop a strategic social
media marketing plan for tourism promotion in Calapan City,
Oriental Mindoro.
1. Socio-demographic profile of the tourism site’s
owners/operators. The foregoing discussion presents the
socio-demographic profile of the tourism site’s
owners/operators in terms of age, sex, and educational
attainment. The results of the data gathered from the
respondents in relation to the socio-demographic profile of
the community residents are presented in Table 3 to 5 as
follows:
1.1 Age. Table 3 presents socio-demographic profile of
the community residents in terms of age.
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Table 3.
Distribution of Respondents in terms of Age

AGE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE (%)
18 – 30 13 26
31 – 40 12 24
41 – 50 21 42
51 – 60 4 8
Total 50 100
Table 3 shows the distribution of the respondents in
terms of age. Of all the respondents, 21 or 42 percent aged
41-50 years old and 13 or 26 percent aged between 18 to 30
years old, 12 or 24 percent aged between 31 to 40 years old.
Meanwhile, 4 or 8 percent of the total are between 51 to 60
years old.
The data shows that 41 - 50 (42%) is the common age of
a tourism site’s owner/operator with 21 responses and ranked
number one. It was followed by 18 to 30 years old (26%).
1.2 Sex. Table 4 presents socio-demographic profile of
the community residents in terms of sex.
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Table 4.
Distribution of Respondents in terms of Sex
GENDER Frequency Percentage (%)
Male 26 52
Female 29 58
Total 50 100
terms of gender. They are 29 females and 26 males. The
percentage of female respondents is 58% which is larger than
that of males which comprised 52% of the total. Results
revealed that more women are involved in the operation of
tourists’ destinations in Oriental Mindoro than that of men.
Okumus et al., (2010) stated that the role of women in
both entrepreneurship and employment has improved
significantly over the past few decades as a result of socio-
cultural, economic and legal developments.
On one hand, Owren (2020) discussed on his journal how
women play a critical role in managing natural resources on
family and community levels and are most affected by
environmental degradation. In communities around the world,
women manage water, sources for fuel, and food, as well as
both forests and agricultural terrain. Women produce 60 to 80
89
percent of food in developing countries, while inheritance
laws and local customs often prevent them from owning or
leasing land and securing loans or insurance. From the high
level to the grassroots, the 1992 UN Earth Summit, India’s
Chipko movement and Kenya’s Green Belt Movement all
highlighted the role of women’s voices and perspectives in
sustainable development.
The United States Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asserted
during the Earth Institute’s State of the Planet meeting at
Columbia University, in New York City, in March 2010, that
the world’s women are crucial to sustainable development,
peace and security. Because women are the chief resource
managers for their families in many parts of the world, their
engagement in remedies for and adaptation to climate change
is essential.
In the same periodical, it was denoted that across the
states and regions of the world, women play critical roles in
relation to their natural environment. Often deeply dependent
on available natural resources for food, fuel and shelter,
women can be particularly vulnerable to environmental changes
or threats. Because women’s workload is often centred on
managing natural resources, biodiversity and ecosystems,
90
their experiences and perspectives are essential to
sustainable development policymaking and actions at every
level, for a healthy planet for generations to come.
1.3 Educational attainment. Table 5 presents socio-
demographic profile of the community residents in terms of
educational attainment.
Table 5.
Distribution of Respondents in terms of Educational
Attainment
EDUCATION Frequency Percentage (%)
High School 7 14
Vocational/TESDA 15 30
College Level 5 10
College Graduate 19 38
Masters Unit 3 6
Masters Graduate 0 0
Post Graduate 1 2
Total 50 100
terms of their educational attainment. Here educational
attainment pertains to the highest level of education that a
particular individual has completed. Of all the respondents,
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19 or 38% graduated in college and only 1 or 2% completed a
post-graduate course.
The data shows that most tourism site’s owners/operators
in Oriental Mindoro graduated in college.
2. Level of Awareness on Social Media Marketing. This
section discusses the tourism site’s owners/operators level
of awareness on social media marketing in terms of social
media platforms, online campaigns and promotions, and
tourists’ engagement.
2.1 Level of Awareness in terms of Social Media
Platforms. Table 6 presents the ratings of respondents on
their level of awareness on social media marketing in terms
of social media platforms.
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Table 6.
Level of Awareness in terms of Social Media Platforms
Social Media Platforms Mean Description
I am aware that there are

different social media
platforms available online. 3.69 Highly Aware
I am aware that social media
platforms like Facebook,
Instagram, Youtube, Twitter
etc., can boost audience
visibility for a tourism Highly Aware
site. 3.68
I am aware that social media
platforms can be used to
advertise the products and
services of a tourism site.
3.56 Highly Aware
I am aware that advertising
a tourism site's products
and services on social media
platforms is more quickly
recognized by the community
rather than advertising it
through other media (such as Moderately Aware
newspapers, radio, and TV). 2.80
I am aware that a tourism
site should have a social
media marketing tool. Highly Aware
3.60
Overall Mean Score 3.46 Moderately Aware
Table 6 shows that tourism site’s owners/operators in
Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro are highly aware on the fact
that there are different social media platforms available
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online. Based from the data, item 1 obtained 3.69 weighted
mean interpreted as “Highly Aware”.
Meanwhile, it is also evident that tourism site’s
owners/operators in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro are highly
aware on the fact that social media platforms like Facebook,
Instagram, Youtube, Twitter etc., can boost audience
visibility for a tourism site. Based from the data, item 2
obtained 3.68 weighted mean interpreted as “Highly Aware”.
The tourism site’s owners/operators in Calapan City,
Oriental Mindoro are also highly aware on the fact that social
media platforms can be used to advertise the products and
services of a tourism site. Based from the data, item 3
obtained 3.56 weighted mean interpreted as “Highly Aware”.
Similarly, it could be gleaned that tourism site’s
aware on the fact that a tourism site should have a social
media marketing tool. Based from the data, item 5 obtained
3.60 weighted mean interpreted as “Highly Aware”.
On one hand, data shows that tourism site’s
owners/operators in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro are
moderately aware on the fact that advertising a tourism site's
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products and services on social media platforms is more
quickly recognized by the community rather than advertising
it through other media (such as newspapers, radio, and TV).
Based from the data, item 4 obtained 2.80 weighted mean
interpreted as “Moderately Aware”.
Results revealed that the tourism site’s
in terms of social media platforms is high with overall mean
score of 3.46.
Mintel (2013) asserted that social media sites in the
internet today are used more often than the physical
participation of individuals in a communication. Several of
the popular social media sites are the Facebook. Twitter,
Linked in, Instagram and YouTube.
Mintel denoted that it is important to note that the
communications in the virtual world are very rapid and news
spreads faster than in any other form of communication over
the internet. It is no longer necessary for the individuals
to wait to interact physically to be able to understand the
actual situation of a destination that they wish to travel to
for the purposes of tourism. It is now possible through the
social media sites to be able to get e word of mouth
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references. It is also possible to have access to the visual
impact of the destination on the social media sites and the
internet sites. This makes taking a decision easier and it
also supports the decision making process as to which is the
best offer for the travel to that particular destination.
2.2 Level of Awareness in terms of Online Campaigns and
Promotions. Table 7 presents the ratings of respondents on
their level of awareness on social media marketing in terms
of online campaigns and promotions.
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Table 7.
Level of Awareness in terms of Online Campaigns and
Promotions
Online Campaigns and Mean Description
Promotions
I am aware that online

campaigns and promotions are
good to be used as a
marketing tool to promote
Moderately Aware
tourism sites’ offerings. 3.00
campaigns and promotions can
rapidly encourage most
Moderately Aware
people to visit a tourism
site. 3.07
campaigns and promotions can
swiftly draw the attention
of any tourists to visit a
Moderately Aware
tourism site in Oriental
Mindoro. 2.93
campaigns and promotions
helps people to remember the
Moderately Aware
offerings of a tourism site.
2.80
campaigns and promotions are
better Moderately Aware
2.80
Table 7 shows that majority of tourism site’s
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moderately aware on the fact that online campaigns and
promotions are good to be used as a marketing tool to promote
tourism sites’ offerings. Based from the data, item 1 obtained
3.00 weighted mean interpreted as “Moderately Ware”.
On the same manner, majority of tourism site’s
moderately aware on the fact that online campaigns and
promotions can rapidly encourage most people to visit a
tourism site with 3.07 weighted mean interpreted as
“Moderately Aware”.
Likewise, majority of tourism site’s owners/operators in
Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro are moderately aware on the
fact that online campaigns and promotions can swiftly draw
the attention of any tourists to visit a tourism site in
Oriental Mindoro with 2.93 weighted mean interpreted as
“Moderately Aware”.
Further, obtaining a mean score of 2.80, it could be
gleaned that most of the tourism site’s owners/operators in
Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro are moderately aware on the
fact that online campaigns and promotions helps people to
remember the offerings of a tourism site.
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Equally, tourism site’s owners/operators in Calapan
City, Oriental Mindoro are moderately aware on the fact that
aware that online campaigns and promotions are better.
Results revealed that tourism site’s owners/operators
level of awareness on social media marketing in terms of
online campaigns and promotions is moderate with overall mean
score of 2.92.
Yadav & Arora (2012) discussed that potential visitors
have a choice of many competing destinations and are not
willing thoroughly extract information and waste time by
shopping. On the other hand they are often willing to pay
more for a quality product when it is easily accessible.
Social media created a great opportunity to develop and
maintain relationships with busy customers.
Werthner and Ricci (2014) stated that tourism is an
industry that is at the forefront of internet use and online
transactions. Social media have taken tourism and travel
booking experiences to a new level. They enable to visitors
communicate with not only the destinations but also with
visitors who have recently experienced the destination they
are considering to visit.
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2.3 Level of Awareness in terms of Tourists’ Engagement.
Table 9 presents the ratings of respondents on their level of
awareness on social media marketing in terms of tourists’
engagement.
Table 8.
Level of Awareness in terms of Tourists’ Engagement
Tourists’ Engagement Mean Description
I am aware that most people prefer

visiting a tourism site that is
popular online. 3.60 Highly Aware
I am aware that engaging the

people through social media could
help a tourism site reach new Moderately Aware
tourists and visitors. 3.00
I am aware that social media can

build and measure the awareness of
tourists on a tourist site. 2.30 Unaware
I am aware that creating an

outstanding tourism image on
social media can be a deciding Moderately Aware
factor for target tourists to
visit the site. 2.67
I am aware that competition on

tourism is fierce and grabbing the
attention of potential tourists
and visitors through social media
Moderately Aware
is needed for the tourism business
to thrive. 2.93
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Table 8 shows that majority of tourism site’s
aware on the fact that most people prefer visiting a tourism
site that is popular online. Based from the data, item 1
obtained a mean score of 3.60 interpreted as “Highly Aware”.
On the contrary, majority of tourism site’s
moderately aware on the fact that engaging the people through
social media could help a tourism site reach new tourists and
visitors with a mean score of 3.00 interpreted as “Moderately
Aware”.
Obstinately, with a mean score of 2.30, it could be
denoted that majority of tourism site’s owners/operators in
Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro are unaware that social media
can build and measure the awareness of tourists on a tourist
site.
Further, most tourism site’s owners/operators in Calapan
City, Oriental Mindoro are moderately aware that creating an
outstanding tourism image on social media can be a deciding
factor for target tourists to visit the site garnering a mean
score of 2.67 interpreted as “Moderately Aware”.
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Finally, the mainstream of tourism site’s
moderately aware on the fact that competition on tourism is
fierce and grabbing the attention of potential tourists and
visitors through social media is needed for the tourism
business to thrive. Based on the data, item 5 obtained 2.93
interpreted as “Moderately Aware”.
tourists’ engagement is moderate with overall mean score of
2.90.
Pavliceka (2014) denoted that social media plays a
significant role both on the demand and on the supply side of
tourism allowing destinations to interact directly with
visitors via various internet platforms and monitor and react
on visitors´ opinions and evaluations of services.
3. Extent of Manifestation of Social Media Marketing
Strategies. This section discusses the tourism site’s
owners/operators extent of manifestation of the following
social media marketing strategies, such as: content
marketing, online communications, brand advocates, and cross-
channel campaigns.
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3.1 Extent of Manifestation of Content Marketing. Table
9 presents the tourism site’s owners/operators extent of
manifestation of social media marketing strategies in terms
of content marketing.
Table 9.
Extent of Manifestation of Content Marketing
Content Marketing Mean Description
There are email contents to 1.60 Low Extent

market our tourism site’s
offerings.
There are video 2.76 Moderate Extent
advertisements on social
media platforms such as
Facebook, Instagram, Youtube,
Twitter etc., to market our
tourism site’s offerings.
The content of our social 2.50 Moderate Extent
media advertisements are
valuable, relevant, and
consistent that attracts and
retain old and target
tourists/visitors.
Overall Mean Score 2.29 Low Extent
Table 9 shows that majority of the tourism site’s
owners/operators in Oriental Mindoro are not systematically
integrating email contents to market our tourism site’s
offerings.. Based from the data, item 1 obtained a mean score
of 1.60 interpreted as “Low Extent”.
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On the other hand, incorporating of video advertisements
on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram,
Youtube, Twitter etc., to market tourism site’s offerings are
manifested at a moderate extent by tourism site’s
owners/operators in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. Based
from the data, item 1 obtained a mean score of 2.76
interpreted as “Moderate Extent”.
With regards to the content of social media
advertisements that attracts and retain old and target
tourists/visitors., tourism site’s owners/operators in
Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro are exhibiting it to be
valuable, relevant, and consistent at a moderate extent.
Based from the data, item 1 obtained a mean score of 2.50
Results revealed that most tourism site’s
owners/operators in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro are not
utilizing email marketing as a strategy to promote their
tourist’s destination. It can also be denoted that their
extent of implementation of social media marketing strategies
in terms of content marketing is low with overall mean score
of 2.29.
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Kaur (2017) states that today's social media marketing
has become an indispensable part of every tourism business,
regardless of its size and type, with email marketing being
a key tool, which must be worked on very well, through the
personalization of offers and communication with the
different segments to maximize their profitability.
Taking the views of Kaur, it could be denoted that email
marketing is an effective strategy to attract potential
tourists.
3.2 Extent of Manifestation of Online Communications.
Table 10 presents the tourism site’s owners/operators extent
of manifestation of social media marketing strategies in
terms of online communications.
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Table 10.
Extent of Manifestation of Online Communications
Online Communications Mean Description
Our tourism has a 2.60 Moderate Extent

website/page that addresses
issues, queries, and
concerns that potential
customers care about.
Our tourism site has 2.45 Low Extent
available and reachable chat
bots on its website and
page.
Our tourism site allow 2.80 Moderate Extent
tourists to leave vacation
feedback on its website and
page.
Overall Mean Score 2.61 Moderate Extent
moderately utilizing websites/pages that addresses issues,
queries, and concerns that potential customers care about.
On the other hand, having available and reachable chat
bots on online websites and pages are manifested at a low
extent by tourism site’s owners/operators in Calapan City,
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Oriental Mindoro. Based from the data, item 2 obtained a mean
score of 2.45 interpreted as “Low Extent”.
With regards to allowing tourists to leave vacation
feedback on its website and page, tourism site’s
manifesting this method at a moderate extent. Based from the
data, item 3 obtained a mean score of 2.80 interpreted as
“Moderate Extent”.
in terms of online communications is moderate with overall
mean score of 2.61.
Baloglu et al., (2017) asserted that tourism destination
is a natural entity which has in terms of tourism unique
conditions and properties different from other destinations.
Visitors develop an image about a destination as well as a
set of expectations based on previous experience, word of
mouth, press reports, advertising, and common beliefs, before
visiting a destination.
3.3. Extent of Manifestation of Brand Advocates. Table11
presents the tourism site’s owners/operators extent of
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of brand advocates.
Table 11.
Extent of Manifestation of Brand Advocates
Brand Advocates Mean Description
Our tourism site allows its 3.36 Moderate Extent

employees and partner
stakeholders to
enthusiastically promote its
offerings on social media.
Our tourism site properly 2.90 Moderate Extent

meets the needs of its
customers to encourage
customer loyalty and social
media promotion.
Our tourism site hire social 1.30 Very Low Extent

media influencers to help
the site drive more
visibility and profits from
tourists.
Overall Mean Score 2.52 Moderate Extent
owners/operators in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro moderately
allows its employees and partner stakeholders to
enthusiastically promote its offerings on social media. Based
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from the data, item 1 obtained a mean score of 3.36
On the other hand, in terms of properly meeting the needs
of its customers to encourage customer loyalty and social
media promotion, tourism site’s owners/operators in Calapan
City, Oriental Mindoro moderately manifested this strategy.
With regards to hiring social media influencers to help
the site drive more visibility and profits from tourists,
tourism site’s owners/operators in Calapan City, Oriental
Mindoro are manifesting this method at a very low extent.
interpreted as “Very Low Extent”.
in terms of brand advocates is moderate with overall mean
score of 2.52.
Werthner and Ricci (2014) explicated that by using
social media, visitors can gather information first-hand from
other visitors and make decisions about the destination or
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the experience. Information gathering is possible through
blogging, experience sharing; story writing that can be
published on personal internet site of visitors, the
destination´s site, or a networked site. The content of blogs,
stories, etc. is generated mainly by visitors who have
experienced the destination, so that the information is based
on opinion and perceived authentic experience.
3.4 Extent of Manifestation of Cross-channel Campaigns.
Table 12 presents the tourism site’s owners/operators extent
of manifestation of social media marketing strategies in
terms of cross-channel campaigns.
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Table 12.
Extent of Manifestation of Cross-channel Campaigns
Cross-channel Campaigns Mean Description
Our tourism site utilizes 2.00 Low Extent

cross-channel campaigns.
Our tourism site hires an 2.40 Low Extent

operator with technical
expertise on social media
and the one that can create
and maintain a single and
consistent view of the
site’s offerings across all
social media channels.
Our tourism site used online 2.26 Low Extent

mediums that complement one
another.
Overall Mean Score 2.22 Low Extent
owners/operators in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro are not
utilizing cross-channel campaigns. Based from the data, item
1 obtained a mean score of 2.00 interpreted as “Low Extent”.
On the other hand, in terms of hiring an operator with
technical expertise on social media and the one that can
create and maintain a single and consistent view of the site’s
offerings across all social media channels, tourism site’s
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manifesting this strategy at a low extent. Based from the
data, item 2 obtained a mean score of 2.40 interpreted as
“Low Extent”.
With regards to using online mediums that complement one
another, tourism site’s owners/operators in Calapan City,
Oriental Mindoro are manifesting this method at a low extent.
interpreted as “Low Extent”.
Results revealed that tourism site’s owners/operators in
Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro have poor understanding about
the concept of cross-channel campaigns. Poor understanding
and lack of knowledge about the concept of cross-channel
campaigns make them unable to incorporate this strategy in
promoting their tourist’s destination.
in terms of cross-channel campaigns is low with overall mean
score of 2.22.
Pavliceka (2014) denoted that today’s visitors have a large
selection of destinations to choose from, but less time to
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make a buying decision. In order to be successfully promoted
in the targeted markets, a destination must be favorably
differentiated from its competitors. The development of
information and communication technologies and their
increasing use has radically changed the relationship between
the destinations and their visitors. The growing role of
social media particularly the utilization of cross-channel
campaigns in tourism is undeniable; leveraging off social
media to market destinations has proven to be an excellent
strategy.
Peelen & Beltman (2013) asserted that the multichannel
strategy is a marketing strategy on how to combine the
different channels and, very importantly, how to provide the
same level of customer service on each channel. The costs
that come along with a certain channel mix are most of the
time the primary reason to choose or not to choose for certain
channels. Nowadays, more and more online channels are used,
because they are more effective and have significant lower
costs.
4. Relationship between the tourism site’s

owners/operators’ socio-demographic profile and level of
awareness on social media marketing. To test the relationship
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between the tourism site’s owners/operators’ socio-
demographic profile and level of awareness on social media
marketing, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a post hoc
test using Scheffe test was used. The summary of the results
of hypothesis testing was shown in Table 6 as follows:
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Table 6
Relationship between the tourism site’s owners/operators’
socio-demographic profile and level of awareness on social
media marketing
CORRELATIONS
Socio- Level of Computed r p - Interpretation Decision

demographic Awareness value value
Profile
Age Social Media 0.00 1.00 No Correlation Accept Ho

Platforms
Online 0.006 0.919 Negligible Accept Ho

Campaigns Correlation
and
Promotions
Tourists’ 0.073 0.202 Low Accept Ho

Engagement Correlation
Gender Social Media 0.00 1.00 No Correlation Accept Ho

Platforms
Online 0.164** 0.004 Slight Reject Ho

and
Promotions
Tourists’ 0.016 0.782 Low Accept Ho

Educational Social Media 0.157** 0.006 Slight Reject Ho

Attainment Platforms Correlation
Online 0.180** 0.001 Slight Reject Ho

and
Promotions
Tourists’ 0.129** 0.024 Slight Reject Ho

Legend: ** significant at 0.01 level of significance
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The data revealed that the socio-demographic profile in
terms of educational attainment has slight correlation in the
respondents’ level of awareness on social media marketing in
terms of social media platforms, online campaigns and
promotions, and tourists’ engagement as tested by Pearson’s
r correlation with p-value of 0.006, 0.001, and 0.024
respectively, at 0.01 level of significance. Hence, the null
hypothesis was rejected. This denotes that the socio-
demographic profile in terms of educational attainment has
impact on the tourism site’s owners/operators’ level of
awareness on social media marketing.

owners/operators’ demographic profile and extent of
manifestation of social media marketing strategies. To test
the relationship between the tourism site’s owners/operators’
demographic profile and extent of manifestation of social
media marketing strategies, Pearson’s r correlation was used.
The summary of the results of hypothesis testing was shown in
table 7 as follows:
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Table 7
socio-demographic profile and extent of manifestation of
social media marketing strategies
CORRELATIONS
Socio- Extent of Computed r p - Interpretation Decision

demographic Manifestation value value
Profile
Age Content 0.014 0.810 Low Accept

Marketing Correlation Ho
Online 0.048 0.398 Low Accept

Communications Correlation Ho
Brand -0.031 0.592 Low Accept

Advocates Correlation Ho
Cross-Channel 0.00 1.00 No Correlation Accept

Campaigns Ho
Gender Content 0.00 1.00 No Correlation Accept

Marketing Ho

Brand -0.033 0.569 Low Accept

Cross-Channel -0.077 0.178 Low Accept

Campaigns Correlation Ho
Educational Content 0.180** 0.001 Slight Reject

Attainment Marketing Correlation Ho
Online 0.129** 0.024 Slight Reject

Brand 0.157** 0.006 Slight Reject

Cross-Channel 0.150** 0.008 Slight Reject

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The data revealed that the socio-demographic profile in
terms of educational attainment has slight correlation in the
respondents’ extent of manifestation of social media
communications, brand advocates, and cross-channel campaigns
as tested by Pearson’s r correlation with p-value of 0.001,
0.024, 0.006, and 0.008 respectively, at 0.01 level of
significance. Hence, the null hypothesis was rejected. This
denotes that the socio-demographic profile in terms of
educational attainment has impact on the tourism site’s
owners/operators’ extent of manifestation of social media
marketing strategies.

marketing strategies. To test the relationship between the
media marketing and extent of manifestation of social media
marketing strategies, Pearson’s r correlation was used. The
summary of the results of hypothesis testing was shown in

table 8 as follows:
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Table 8
level of awareness on social media marketing and extent of
manifestation of social media marketing strategies
CORRELATIONS
Level of Extent of Computed r p - Interpretation Decision

Awareness Manifestation value value
Social Media Content 0.00 1.00 No Correlation Accept

Platforms Marketing Ho
Online 0.006 0.919 Negligible Accept

Brand 0.073 0.202 Low Accept

Cross-Channel 0.025 0.659 Low Accept

Online Content 0.014 0.810 Low Correlation Accept Ho

Campaigns Marketing
and
Promotions Online 0.180** 0.001 Slight Reject Ho
Communications Correlation

Cross-Channel -0.077 0.178 Low Accept

Tourists’ Content 0.164** 0.004 Slight Reject

Engagement Marketing Correlation Ho


Cross-Channel 0.00 1.00 No Correlation Accept

Campaigns Ho
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The data revealed that the tourism site’s
marketing in terms of online campaigns and promotions has
slight correlation in the respondents’ extent of
of online communications as tested by Pearson’s r correlation
with p-value of 0.001, at 0.01 level of significance. Hence,
the null hypothesis was rejected. This denotes that the
media marketing in terms of online campaigns and promotions
has impact on their extent of manifestation of social media
marketing strategies in terms of online communications.
Data also shows that the tourism site’s
marketing in terms of tourists’ engagement has slight
correlation in the respondents’ extent of manifestation of
social media marketing strategies in terms of content
marketing as tested by Pearson’s r correlation with p-value
of 0.004, at 0.01 level of significance. Hence, the null
hypothesis was rejected. This denotes that the tourism site’s
marketing in terms of tourists’ engagement has impact on their
extent of manifestation of social media marketing strategies
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7. Proposed Strategic Social Media Marketing Plan for
Tourism Promotion in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.
The findings of the study answered the immense
capabilities of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro to have an
effective implementation of a strategic social media
marketing strategies for tourism promotion. While there is a
strategic social media marketing strategies founded by other
researchers, the area of focus was not expounded on tourism
promotion in particular tourists’ destinations and there were
still other crucial characteristics to be considered in
building a successful strategic social media marketing
strategies for tourism promotion in Calapan City, Oriental
Mindoro.
Basic Premises of the Proposed Strategies
Social media has made an enormous effect on the tourism
industry. Consumers engage with social networking sites to
research trips, make informed decisions about their travels
and share their personal experiences of a particular hotel,
restaurant or airline. A strategic social media marketing
plan in particular has had a wide-reaching effect on the
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industry. With its effective implementation, it could reach
millions of unique monthly visitors who are actively seeking
out travel.
Globalization and changes of visitors’ needs and
attitudes have increased the volume of information that
destinations have to analyse in order to stay competitive
in a continuously changing tourism market. Social media as
a tool of tourism marketing can greatly enhance the
destination’s reputation and more and more convince
destinations´ marketers that they are an integral part of
the marketing strategies.
This study is therefore intended to develop synergies
between existing marketing plan with the aim to construct a
strategic social media marketing strategies which is more
comprehensive and generally applicable to different tourists’
destinations in the city.
The proposed strategic social media marketing plan for
tourism promotion were based on the following premises:
1. The proposed strategic social media marketing plan for
tourism promotion are formulated based on the tourism
site’s owners/operators’ level of awareness on social
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media marketing and extent of manifestation of social
media marketing strategies.
tourism promotion are to enhance further operations,
management, and marketing of tourism site’s
owners/operators.
3. The enhancement of strategic social media marketing plan
for tourism promotion lies in tourism site’s
owners/operators and social media platforms.
tourism promotion were formulated to be deemed
applicable to tourism site’s owners/operators.
tourism promotion were based on the study's findings
relative to the tourism site’s owners/operators’ level
of awareness on social media marketing and extent of
manifestation of social media marketing strategies.
In this premise, the proposed strategic social media
marketing plan listed the crucial strategies needed for
effective and efficient tourism promotion that are
interrelated in the literatures and studies cited, patterned
in any way to other relevant researches and organized them
into a more transparent and comprehensive program.
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Objectives
A solid strategic social media marketing plan for
tourism promotion will help tourism site’s owners/operators
boost tourism businesses. This social media marketing plan
aim to enable tourism site’s owners/operators to take
advantage of the booming opportunities in social media
platforms. It is an essential tool to support the tourism
site’s owners/operators’ goals and objectives. Through this
social media marketing plan, the tourism site’s
owners/operators will experience the benefits of reaching out
to the tourists, acting to the tourists’ needs, converting
the intention to a successful transaction, and engaging
tourists to become loyal visitors.
The specific objectives of the strategic social media
marketing plan for tourism promotion are:
1. To build a brand or product awareness to tourists using
various products and services techniques, multiple
online channels promotion strategies, and seasonality
product promotion strategy.
2. To generate a high volume of qualified leads by using
tourism site’s review promotion strategy, successful
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transactions review promotion strategy, and
freebies/discount promotion strategy.
3. To convert marketing strategy into revenue generation
using quality customer service strategy, worth price
strategy, and product review strategy.
4. To create tourists’ loyalty by the use of user-friendly
social media platform strategy, product quality
maintenance strategy, and effective after-sales
Product or Service
Plugged as one of the country’s emerging eco-tourism
destinations, Oriental Mindoro has long been known for its
variety of beautiful attractions that evoke images of a
genuine tropical paradise. Serving as the provincial capital,
Calapan City is a 2nd class component city in the First
Congressional District in the province of Oriental Mindoro,
one of many reasons why the province is widely recognized as
one of the best destinations in the Philippines.
The City of Calapan
Calapan City also serves as the gateway to the Oriental
Mindoro province with the implementation of the Strong
Republic Nautical Highway, an integrated Roll On-Roll Off
project that extends further to the southern part of the
Philippines. The Calapan City Seaport is the largest and
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busiest seaport in Mindoro Island, with ships that travel to
and from the Batangas City International Seaport. Calapan
City is currently one of only two cities (the other being
Puerto Princesa City) in the MIMAROPA region of the
Philippines. It is the center of commerce and industry, the
center of transport and communication, and the center of
education in the entire province of Oriental Mindoro. It also
serves as the administrative center in the entire Region of
MIMAROPA. This makes the city as viable destination for
recreation and business.
The city is known most distinctly as the "Gateway to the
Golden Isle" but is also referred to with other different
titles such as "The Discipline City", "The City of the Golden
Grains", "The Acropolis of the South", and "The Provincial
Capitol".
The city's economy is dependent on agriculture and
fishing. However, a growing industry in machinery and tourism
has contributed well to the city's annual income, making it
one of the fastest growing new cities in the country for the
last 10 years.
Since 1998, the city has experienced rapid development.
The establishment of a special development area, particularly
an eco-zone for light industries located at the Urban
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Development Area (Lumangbayan and Guinobatan), has been
promoted and now serves as growth area which generates
employment and spurs economic opportunities. Such industries
focus on agro-industrial based activities such as food
processing, handicraft making, furniture making and other
related activities.
Calapan City is ready to welcome visitors and cater to
their needs, be it accommodation, food, souvenirs, shopping
and leisure and recreation. It is no secret that Calapan City
is blessed with unspoiled beautiful sceneries and spots like
beaches, mountain trails, forests, leisure farms, resorts and
hosts a number of rare flora and fauna.
Calapan City Eco-Tourism Sites
Calapan City Zoological and Recreational Park - already
an existing park used by locals to savor nature, this area
was improved to become a zoo to make its landscape more ideal
for tourist use. Zip-lines and wall climbing were added for
more recreational activities.
Verde Islands
Baco-Chico Islets - these islets are located in Calapan
Bay. The reefs surrounding the islands have a potential for
scuba diving.
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Aganhao Islet - located near Silonay Island, Aganhao has
a small strip of white sand beach frequented by local
excursionists.
Silonay Islet
Harka Piloto Marine Sanctuary - a marine sanctuary
located in Silonay Island in the eastern part of the city,
the sanctuary is actively protected by the local government.
Given its protected status, Harka Piloto is now an ideal site
for diving and snorkeling.
Bulusan Mountain Trail
Caluangan Lake - A wide lake that that is surprisingly
still unclogged by fish pens. With Baruyan River as the
connecting attraction, tourists can have leisurely cruises or
kayaking activities in Caluangan Lake.
Baruyan River - this is a long river that ends at
Caluangan Lake. Highly ideal for river cruising (or
kayaking). What makes the river more interesting is that it
is not clogged by any man-made development such as fish pens.
Together with the lake, the sites still possess the character
of a rural ambience most attractive to tourists seeking such
kind of an experience.
Pachoca-Balite Beach - offers a long stretch of fine
gray-sand beach
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Lazareto-Suqui-Parang Beach - offers a long stretch of
fine gray-sand beach
Silonay, Navotas, Maidlang marshes - perfect for
boating, bird watching and educational trekking
Festivals
To further boost tourism in the city and to effectively
place Calapan in the country's festival map, the local
government established many colorful festivities and
glamorous santacruzan celebrations.
Kalap Festival. Celebrated every 21st of March is the
city's official festival, the Kalap Fest. Launched only in
2009, the Kalap Festival is a celebration of culture and
history. Participated by various sectors of Calapan's broad
citizenry, the people walk the city streets moving as one. It
is intended to be a yearly celebration packed with
performances, colorful floats, and most significant of all,
history. Along the main streets, floats detail the defining
moments of the city's past, an insight into the Calapan of
today.
Sto. Niño de Calapan Festival. For religious tourism,
the city holds the Sto. Nino de Calapan Festival at the start
of every year, January 1. It is a month-long celebration
starting as early as December until it reaches its pinnacle
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through a series of different religious activities to honor
the city's patron, the young child Sto. Nino, and to reflect
the people's religiosity. The celebration extends towards the
Christmas season laced with nightly cultural presentation,
yuletide activities topped by the lighting of the giant
Christmas tree and fireworks, as well as agro-industrial and
tourism fairs.
Harvest Festival. The Harvest Festival was
conceptualized by the city government council in recognition
of Calapan City's achievement as one of the major exporter of
rice in the Philippines. The city was once an importer of
rice but now rice is the most important export of Calapan.
According to city statistics, the increase in palay
production is attributed to the improvement of the city’s
agricultural programs. Thus Calapan is also dubbed as "The
City of the Golden Grains".
Sinkaw Festival. The Sinkaw Festival derives its name
from “sining kalabaw" or carabao arts, a creative artistic
painting competition with no less than the carabaos as
“canvasses.” This festival honors the city's native “beasts
of the burden” as an eternally indispensable partner in
farming and, essentially, a special tribute to the farmers’
industry.
130
Mardigras. Mardigras are held on many different
occasions (fiesta, summer, Foundation Day, Halloween) that
add more color to the already vibrant city. It is the ultimate
street party that takes place along the entire stretch of J.
P. Rizal Street. The hypnotic lights and upbeat music,
together with various fun-filled activities, will bring
together a bevy of party-goers to party the night away.
Notable Landmarks
Neo-Calapan, Neo-Calapan Mall. Calapan City Hall -
reminiscent of Greek-Corinthian architecture, it is a
favorite destination for study tours, excursions, local
gatherings and occasions.
Calapan City Plaza. A place where families and friends
can hang around and have a picnic. It has a map of Oriental
Mindoro smack in the middle of a small pond and a monument of
Jose Rizal, a rare depiction, one where he is seated, writing
one of his novels.
Calapan City Public Market. Awarded Outstanding
Infrastructure Project in Asi.
Sto. Niño Cathedral. Constructed in 1959, visitors will
be amazed with its grandiose alatar, magnificent pipe organ
and stained glasses that depict the mysteries of the Holy
131
Rosary, Beatitudes, Gifts of the Holy Spirit and Apostle’s
Creed.
Calapan City Museum. The museum is a repository of
Calapan’s history in photographs and memorabilia. It serves
as a memorial marker as a perennial remembrance to the
founders and great men of Calapan. It is an interesting
showcase of the customs and way of life of Calapenos.
Arts and Culture
The city and provincial governments also maintain
separate libraries and museums. Moreover, the Calapan City
Plaza which is located in front of the old city hall in San
Vicente East is one of the city's famed attractions because
of its unique features that includes a statue of a Mangyan
man standing beside a tamaraw. The statue has now become the
most famous landmark of the city.
Native Delicacies
When in Calapan eat like the Calapeños. A visit to
Calapan City would not be complete without buying souvenir
items and pasalubong for your folks and friends back home.
After an enjoyable tour around the city, try Calapan’s treats
such as suman sa lihiya, cassava cake, banana chips, sweet
dried pusit, dried fish, puto, kalamay, bibingka, nilupak,
132
hyrid rice, ginger tea, kamote pastillas, yema, toasted
siopao and coco jam.
In a place that is abundant with rice, it is not
surprising that the city's main local delicacy is the suman.
The city's official entry to the One Town-One Product (OTOP)
is the Merl's Native Delicacy Products most famous of which
is the Suman Sa Lihiya with coco jam which had been claimed
many times as delicious like no other (Dacumos, 2012).
Target Audience/ Target Market
The different types of tourists are looking for
different experiences, and to market to those tourists it is
vital to understand their demographics.
The target audience for eco-tourist attractions like
beaches, caves, and rivers among others includes those who
are seeking relaxing tourism such as travellers. For culinary
tourism, the target audience include travellers seeking food,
drink, agriculture. For cultural and heritage tourism, the
target audience include travellers who seek history and
heritage, and for adventure tourism, the target audience
include travellers who seek for parks and outdoor activities
or any recreational activities.
133
Although many groups come to a destination for a specific
reason, such as adventure tourism, once the tourists are at
the destination, they branch out and look for other things to
do. Family members who travel together may also seek
accommodations and alternative activities, including
shopping. Tourism site’s owners and operators should strive
to let tourists know that Calapan City offers these
opportunities. Providing a welcoming and inviting atmosphere
is important to a successful experience for the traveller.
Competitive Analysis
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
 Majority of tourism  Majority of tourism

site’s owners and site’s owners and
operators are good at operators are not
using Facebook familiar with content
 Provide a chat bot for marketing such as email
customer service using marketing, cross-
Facebook channel campaigns, and
 Ask for customers’ brand advocates.
feedback  Unaware of utilizing
 Can focus on quality of other social media
the service over platforms such as
quantity Instagram in promoting
tourists destinations
 Servicing wide range of
tourists  New to cross-channel
campaigns
 Insufficient
interactive content
creation
 Poor engagement with
potential tourists
 Restrictions on
employees to use social
134
networks during man
hours
 Few followers on social
media
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
 More brand authority  Negative followers

 Better customer hurling bad comments
satisfaction  Dominating presence of
 Target niche market and competitors
audience  Time consuming
 May run social media campaigns and marketing
contests and campaigns  Insufficient funds and
 May create viral resources
content on social media
(e.g. Facebook and
Youtube)
 Connect with customers
via social media
Value Proposition
The strategic social media marketing plan for tourism
promotion must be attained at a reasonable cost, and
implementation of the tourism site’s owners/operators should
be considered in its overall assessment. Reaching conclusions
about a strategic social media marketing plan for tourism
promotion involves a high degree of subjectivity due to the
intangible nature of factors to consider. The fact remains
that the best strategic social media marketing plan for
tourism promotion is worthless if the will to make them work
is lacking. The success of plans and implementation of
135
strategic social media marketing plan for tourism promotion
firmly lies in the hands of all tourism site’s owners and
operators.
Promotional Mix
This section discusses the promotional mix of the
proposed strategic social media marketing plan for tourism
promotion. The researcher aimed to create new marketing
strategies for tourism site’s owners and operators. However,
based on the results and analysis of the study, respondents
seemed to have low level of awareness on social media
marketing in terms of social media platforms, online
campaigns and promotions, and tourists’ engagement and the
extent of manifesting social media marketing strategies in
terms of content marketing, online communications, brand
advocates, and cross-channel campaigns is moderate. As a
result, the researcher decided to collate and organize a
promotional mix of the proposed strategic social media
marketing plan for tourism promotion.
136
Table 13
Promotional Mix
Promotional Tool Specific Objectives

Media and/or
Platform
Content Marketing Email, To prepare, publish
LinkedIn and distribute the
right content so that
it is viewed, read
and heard. In content
marketing,
production,
publishing, and
promotion are the
three building blocks
to form a successful
campaign. The better
the three building
blocks are, the more
promising the
campaign.
Online Facebook, To help to
Communications Instagram, destination
Twitter, communicate
Youtube, effectively. It can
LinkedIn, help destination
Email increase awareness of
the destination,
achieve global
publicity, strengthen
the destination image
as a favourite
destination, target
specific market,
ensure understanding
of what the
destination does,
change behaviour and
perceptions where
necessary, support
the brand, increase
the visitation
137
numbers in social
media channels,
website and digital
communication, engage
effectively with
stakeholders, and
demonstrate
destination´s
success.
Brand Advocates Facebook, To help create
Instagram, personal connections
Twitter, between the
Youtube destination and
potential visitors
while being a low-
cost, high return
marketing strategy.
The brand advocates
seal of approval can
boost the
destination’s profile
and ultimately
increase positive
brand association.
Keeping the brand
advocates engaged and
will likely attract
additional brand
advocates down the
road for tourism
promotion.
Cross-Channel Facebook, To understand how
Campaigns Instagram, customers behave
Twitter, across all channels.
Youtube A cross channel
campaign strategy
offers several
options to the target
customers. Likewise,
tourists’
destinations with
cross-channel
campaigns allow
customers to decide
138
how they will
interact with the
business. This makes
for a better customer
experience across the
board, which improves
the chance of a
conversion.
The promotional mix of the proposed strategic social
media marketing plan involved four (4) fundamental strategies
such as content marketing, online communications, brand
advocates, and cross-channel campaigns.
The content marketing strategy is designed to form a
successful campaign. In content marketing, production,
publishing, and promotion are the three building blocks to
form a successful campaign. The better the three building
blocks are, the more promising the campaign. Successful
content marketing for the tourism sector requires the ability
to prepare, publish and distribute the right content so that
it is viewed, read and heard.
The online communications strategy is designed to help
to destination communicate effectively. It can help
destination increase awareness of the destination, achieve
global publicity, strengthen the destination image as a
favourite destination, target specific market, ensure
139
understanding of what the destination does, change behaviour
and perceptions where necessary, support the brand, increase
the visitation numbers in social media channels, website and
digital communication, engage effectively with stakeholders,
and demonstrate destination´s success.
The brand advocates strategy is designed to help create
personal connections between the destination and potential
visitors while being a low-cost, high return marketing
strategy. The brand advocates seal of approval can boost the
destination’s profile and ultimately increase positive brand
association. Keeping the brand advocates engaged and will
likely attract additional brand advocates down the road for
tourism promotion.
The cross-channel campaign strategy is designed to
understand how customers behave across all channels. A cross
channel campaign strategy offers several options to the
target customers. Likewise, tourists’ destinations with
cross-channel campaigns allow customers to decide how they
will interact with the business. This makes for a better
customer experience across the board, which improves the
chance of a conversion.
The development of a strategic social media marketing
plan for a tourist’s destination is an articulation of the
140
strategic priorities and direction that have been identified
by stakeholders for the planning, development, management and
marketing of a destination and is essential for the long-term
success and sustainability. The basic purpose of the strategy
is to increase destination competitiveness. The increased use
and changes in technology hand in hand with the decrease of
marketing budgets are forcing destinations to innovate their
communications strategies as well. More and more destinations
shift their traditional communications strategy based on
radio, television, printed media and others towards internet
and social media.
Digital mobility and social media activities enable
tourism industry to have appropriate insight in the world of
tourists. Marketing communications will be mostly
concentrated on the improvement of relationships in social
media and adapting to tourists’ needs. Social media has been
recognized as one of important competitive tools in terms of
tourism marketing. Tourism need to engage their tourists with
multichannel integrated communications and encourage them to
talk about and recommend good experiences. Engaging with
travellers on real-time social media has huge implications
for the travel industry. Today tourists encounter with the
new digital technology that can help them improve services
141
and make their online experiences more personalized and more
relevant.
142
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter presents the summary, findings, conclusions
and recommendations in this study.
Summary
This study aimed to propose a strategic social media
Oriental Mindoro.
Specifically, this sought answers to the following:
1. What is the socio-demographic profile of the tourism
site’s owners/operators in terms of:
1.1 Age;
1.2 Sex; and
1.3 Educational Attainment?
2. As assessed by tourism site’s owners/operators, what
is their level of awareness on social media marketing in terms
of:
2.1 social media platforms;
143
2.2 online campaigns and promotions; and
2.3 tourists’ engagement?
3. What is the extent of manifestation of the following
social media marketing strategies:
3.1 Content Marketing;
3.2 Online Communications;
3.3 Brand Advocates; and
3.4 Cross-channel Campaigns?
awareness on social media marketing?
site’s owners/operators’ demographic profile and extent of
manifestation of social media marketing strategies?
144
7. Based on the analysis, what strategic social media
Oriental Mindoro may be proposed?
The focus of the study was to gather information
regarding the level of awareness on social media marketing
and extent of manifestation on social media marketing
strategies in promoting tourists’ destinations through social
media marketing that served as basis for the proposed
strategic social media marketing plan for tourism promotion
in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. The descriptive method was
used in the study. The study involved tourism site’s
owners/operators from the various tourist destinations in
Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro which were chosen using
purposive sampling. A researcher-made survey questionnaire
was used to gather data. Statistical tools such as frequency
distribution, percentage method, weighted mean, four-point
rating scale and Pearson’s r correlation were also used in
the study in interpreting quantitative data. Tables were
presented and analysed in order to arrive at meaningful
conclusions and recommendations.
145
Findings
1. The data shows that 41 - 50 is the common age of a
tourism site’s owner/operator. It was followed by 18 to 30
years old. In terms of sex, results revealed that more women
are involved in the operation of tourists’ destinations in
Oriental Mindoro than that of men. Meanwhile, the data shows
that most tourism site’s owners/operators in Oriental Mindoro
graduated in college.
2. Results revealed that the tourism site’s
in terms of social media platforms is high. On one hand,
results revealed that tourism site’s owners/operators level
of awareness on social media marketing in terms of online
campaigns and promotions and tourists’ engagement is
moderate.
3. Results revealed that tourism site’s owners/operators
in terms of online communications and brand advocates is
moderate. Meanwhile, in terms of content marketing and cross-
channel campaigns, the extent of implementation is low.
146
4. Results revealed that the socio-demographic profile
in terms of educational attainment has slight correlation in
the respondents’ level of awareness on social media marketing
in terms of social media platforms, online campaigns and
promotions, and tourists’ engagement. Hence, the null
hypothesis was rejected.
5. Results revealed that the socio-demographic profile
in terms of educational attainment has slight correlation in
the respondents’ extent of manifestation of social media
Hence, the null hypothesis was rejected.
6. Results revealed that the tourism site’s
marketing in terms of online campaigns and promotions has
slight correlation in the respondents’ extent of
of online communications. Hence, the null hypothesis was
rejected. Results also revealed that the tourism site’s
marketing in terms of tourists’ engagement has slight
correlation in the respondents’ extent of manifestation of
147
social media marketing strategies in terms of content
marketing
7. The proposed strategic social media marketing plan
will improve the operation of the businesses in the tourism
industry.
Conclusions
Based on the findings of the study, the following
conclusions are drawn:
1. It is concluded that both men and women are now
playing huge roles in the tourism industry.
2. It is concluded that tourism site’s owners/operators
in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro level of awareness on social
media marketing is moderate and, thus, requires further
knowledge building.
3. It is concluded that tourism site’s owners/operators
in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro are not utilizing email
marketing as a strategy to promote their tourist’s
destination. Likewise, tourism site’s owners/operators are
not employing cross-channel campaigns as well as social media
influencers in promoting tourists’ destinations.
148
4. It is concluded that tourism site’s owners/operators’
socio-demographic profile in terms of educational attainment
has impact on the tourism site’s owners/operators’ level of
awareness on social media marketing.
socio-demographic profile in terms of educational attainment
has impact on the tourism site’s owners/operators’ extent of
manifestation of social media marketing strategies.
online campaigns and promotions has impact on their extent of
of online communications. It is also concluded that tourism
marketing in terms of tourists’ engagement has impact on their
extent of manifestation of social media marketing strategies
7. The proposed strategic social media marketing plan
will be relevant to the marketing needs of the tourism
industry in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. It will also help
in improving the operational performance.
149
Recommendations
After a thorough examination of the findings and
conclusions of the study, the researcher emphatically offers
the following recommendations:
1. The strategic social media marketing plan for tourism
promotion in Oriental Mindoro may be evaluated for its
feasibility and viability for they may be used as a concrete
plan/guide that may be subject for improvement if the tourism
destinations in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro fail to have
a successful tourism promotion.
2. Intensive marketing information drives and
promotional campaigns may be carried out both in the
international and domestic levels by the owners/operators of
various tourists’ destinations.
3. The government and private sectors may collaborate to
improve tourism marketing. The local government may allocate
funds for tourism promotion and for online campaigns of
tourists’ destinations.
4. The local government units may be proactive to
anticipate future tourism promotions path and innovative
enough to fashion out social media marketing strategies that
150
will help in promoting tourists’ destinations in Calapan
City, Oriental Mindoro.
5. Similar studies for future researchers may be
conducted along this line.
151
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Appendix A
LETTER TO RESPONDENTS OF THE STUDY
May 25, 2021
Dear Respondents;
The undersigned is currently undertaking a research
study entitled “PROPOSED SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PLAN FOR
TOURISM PROMOTION IN ORIENTAL MINDORO”
As a requirement for my study, I am conducting a survey
about the level of awareness of tourism site’s owners and
operators on social media marketing and the extent of
manifestation of social media strategies on tourism promotion
in Oriental Mindoro.
Rest assured that all data and pertinent responses to be
gathered from you will be treated with highest degree of
professionalism and confidentiality and will be strictly used
for tabulation and educational purposes only.
I hereby attached here our questionnaires and actual
guide interview, so that you will be able to answer it the
soonest possible time.Your immediate consideration and
approval to this matter will be of great help in my study.
Thank you and more power!
Respectfully yours,
ROWELA C. ASILO
BSTM, Student
Noted:
FRANIE M. AFABLE
Adviser
155
Appendix B
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
Part I. Socio-Demographic Profile
Directions: Please provide the following demographic profile

for analysis purposes.
Please put a check mark in the space provided for per item.
Your answers are relevant to this research for a thorough e
valuation of the study.
Name ____________________________ Email ______

_____________
Contact Number ____________________ Address ____
____________
Gender:
______Male Age group:
______Female ______25-30
______31-40
______41-60
______61 above
Educational Attainment (Select the highest that you’ve comp

leted):
______Elementary
______Secondary
______Vocational/TESDA
______College Level
______College Graduate
______Masters Units
______Masters Graduate
______Post Graduate
156
Part II. Level of Awareness on Social Media Marketing
Directions: This questionnaire seeks to gather information
about the tourism site’ owners and operators level of
awareness on social media marketing. Read each statement
carefully. Please encircle the number which indicates your
honest assessment of the level to which you adapt these issues
using the following scale:
Numerical Scale Verbal
Descriptions
4 Highly Aware (HA)
3 Moderately Aware
(MA)
2 Unaware (U)
1 Very Unaware (VU)
Level of Awareness on Social Media 4 3 2 1

Marketing
Social Media Platforms
I am aware that there are different social 4 3 2 1

media platforms available online.
I am aware that social media platforms 4 3 2 1
like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter
etc., can boost audience visibility for a
tourism site.
I am aware that social media platforms can 4 3 2 1
be used to advertise the products and
services of a tourism site.
I am aware that advertising a tourism 4 3 2 1
site's products and services on social
157
media platforms is more quickly recognized
by the community rather than advertising
it through other media (such as
newspapers, radio, and TV).
I am aware that a tourism site should have 4 3 2 1
a social media marketing tool.
Online Campaigns and Promotions
I am aware that online campaigns and 4 3 2 1
promotions are good to be used as a
marketing tool to promote tourism sites’
offerings.
promotions can rapidly encourage most
people to visit a tourism site.
promotions can swiftly draw the attention
of any tourists to visit a tourism site in
Oriental Mindoro.
promotions helps people to remember the
offerings of a tourism site.

promotions
Tourists Engagement
I am aware that most people prefer 4 3 2 1
visiting a tourism site that is popular
online.
I am aware that engaging the people 4 3 2 1

through social media could help a tourism
site reach new tourists and visitors.
I am aware that social media can build and 4 3 2 1

measure the awareness of tourists on a
tourist site.
I am aware that creating an outstanding 4 3 2 1

tourism image on social media can be a
158
deciding factor for target tourists to
visit the site.
I am aware that competition on tourism is 4 3 2 1

fierce and grabbing the attention of
potential tourists and visitors through
social media is needed for the tourism
business to thrive.
Part III. Extent of Manifestation of the Social Media

Directions: This questionnaire seeks to gather information
about extent of manifestation of the social media marketing
strategies. Read each statement carefully. Please encircle
the number which indicates your honest assessment of the
level to which you adapt these issues using the following
scale:
Numerical Scale Verbal

Descriptions
4 High Extent (HE)
3 Moderate Extent
(ME)
2 Low Extent (LE)
1 Very Low Extent
(VLE)
Extent of Manifestation of Social Media 4 3 2 1

Content Marketing
There are email contents to market our 4 3 2 1

tourism site’s offerings.
There are video advertisements on social 4 3 2 1
media platforms such as Facebook,
Instagram, Youtube, Twitter etc., to
market our tourism site’s offerings.
159
The content of our social media 4 3 2 1
advertisements are valuable, relevant, and
consistent that attracts and retain old
and target tourists/visitors.
Online Communications
Our tourism has a website/page that 4 3 2 1
addresses issues, queries, and concerns
that potential customers care about.
Our tourism site has available and 4 3 2 1
reachable chat bots on its website and
page.
Our tourism site allow tourists to leave 4 3 2 1
vacation feedback on its website and page.
Brand Advocates
Our tourism site allows its employees and 4 3 2 1
partner stakeholders to enthusiastically
promote its offerings on social media.
Our tourism site properly meets the needs 4 3 2 1

of its customers to encourage customer
loyalty and social media promotion.
Our tourism site hire social media 4 3 2 1

influencers to help the site drive more
visibility and profits from tourists.
Cross-Channel Campaigns
Our tourism site utilizes cross-channel 4 3 2 1
campaigns.
Our tourism site hires an operator with

technical expertise on social media and
the one that can create and maintain a
single and consistent view of the site’s
offerings across all social media
channels.
Our tourism site used online mediums that 4 3 2 1

complement one another.
160
161
Appendix C
CURRICULUM VITAE
ROWELA CUSI ASILO

Sto. Niño, Calapan City
Oriental Mindoro
09127269530
welacasilo@gmail.com
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Date of Birth : March 18, 1994

Place of Birth : Sto. Niño, Calapan City
Age : 23
Sex : Female
Height : 5’4”
Weight : 111 lbs.
Civil Status : Single
Citizenship : Filipino
Religion : Roman Catholic
Father’s Name : Ruel R. Asilo
Mother’s Name : Elenita C. Asilo
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Tertiary : Mindoro State University, Calapan City

Campus
Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Tourism
Management
S.Y. 2020-2021
Secondary : Apitong National High School

S.Y. 2009-2010
162
Primary : Saturnino E. Gomez Memorial Elementary
School
S.Y. 2005-2006
EMPLOYMENT RECORD
Flight and Ground Attendant

Air Republic Airlines
Royal Star Aviation, Andrews Ave.
Pasay City, Philippines
2011-2014
163

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PROPOSED STRATEGIC SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PLAN FOR TOURISM

PROMOTION IN CALAPAN CITY, ORIENTAL MINDORO

This thesis entitled “PROPOSED STRATEGIC SOCIAL MEDIA

FRANIE M. AFABLE, DBM-HM

ENYA MARIE D. APOSTOL, Ph.D. JOHNNALEA H. MARTINEZ

AUDITTE V. SOL MARIANE LEE B. LINESES

Approved and accepted in partial fulfillment of the

FRANIE M. AFABLE, DBM-HM

This study was conducted to gather information regarding

Keywords: Social Media Marketing Strategies, Tourists’

The researcher wants to show her warmest gratitude and

deepest appreciation to the following persons for their

support, encouragement and assistance to successfully

accomplish this study:

First and foremost, to the Almighty GOD, Who blessed her

with a strong heart, potential, and healthy body in

accomplishing this study.

Dr. Franie M. Afable, Dean of College of Business

Management, for his dedication and kindness from the

preparation of the study up to the finalization of the study.

To the members of the panel, for their willingness to

help, for their critical reviewing of my study, and for their

worthwhile and highly helpful suggestions for the improvement

being her inspiration in completing this study.

CHAPTER I RESEARCH PROBLEM

CURRICULUM VITAE 148

TABLE TITLE PAGE

FIGURE TITLE PAGE

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

Tourism industry is one of the topmost competitive

fields of service sector which necessitates effective

management of financial, natural and human resources existing

in any state. It is, therefore, important for developing

tourism industry in any state to provide relevant

infrastructure, intensify customer satisfaction, and improve

service quality. The soul of a successful tourism industry is

a well-managed marketing as it provides sufficient value to

gain valuable stakeholders and long-term loyal customers.

There are different types of tools in marketing, which aims

to attain customer satisfaction and loyalty. Social media is

a crucial tool for success in business today. People these

days are talking about anything using social media, hence,

tourism industry should establish good relations directly to

the customers through the use of social media.

Without a question, social media today is used for

leisure as well as for business purposes. Facebook, Twitter

businesses and huge firms. Similarly, it has bought its

their experiences and reviews about a tourist destination

they have visited and the information available on the social

media sites helps folks to make prospective choice. Social

media helps in making decision easier and make a better choice

as to which place to travel. Indeed, this podium has set a

great contribution in providing some good and not so good

feedbacks and contributions.

A recent research showed that more than half of the

people change their decisions and plans after investigating

through research on several social portals. It helps the