Web for the Tourism Industry

What are the biggest impacts on tourism?

It is assumed that tourism is one of the fastest-growing industries of today, begging the question: which specific trends have had the most notable influence on traveller/s decisions to hop on planes, jump in their cars or board a train to their next destination?

• Wages in most countries have risen, and employers offer longer holiday breaks for workers.
• People have an increased understanding and awareness of different cultures and religions.
• A thirst for knowledge has meant more people have started studying abroad to explore how learning looks in different countries. 

However what encourages this in the first place? And where do travellers get motivation and knowledge? The answer is very simple, we owe this to social media. This article will focus on how social media can influence traveller decisions and the advantages are for the tourism industry.

Social media, the web, and its uses for tourism

Using social media platforms like Facebook allows users to find groups where users discuss and share their experience and memories of journeys they've undertaken and offer advice for prospective travellers. It can be useful because nobody will guide better than a person/s who have been on that trip. In groups like these, we can find a lot of people who've travelled all over the world, they motivate others with stories and photographs and show how something that seemed out of reach can become possible.

Review website TripAdvisor is used by tourists to exchange their opinions with each other, this is for reviewing resorts, comparing prices and also booking attractions. It is one of the easiest ways to organise your trip from the comfort of your home, making it possible to find everything such as hotels, clubs, museums, theatres, restaurants on one website, whilst also being applicable for use by businesses to see tourist’s reviews and think about what changes could be made to improve the experience for future visitors as well as undergoing any changes in pricing to make more profit and increase guest numbers. 

Google Maps allows us to have greater view of the world from our own computers or mobile devices, it allows users to virtually propose ways to get from point A to B and takes into consideration road and traffic delays/works, toll pricing and importantly the distance and time it takes for travelling, either by foot, bike, car, or public transport.

Online magazines feature articles and posts penned by more aware travellers and professionals which can offer higher awareness about certain issues and problems caused by tourism, one such is pollution and its bad impact on the environment and natural habitats with issues caused by climate change. Everyone would agree that aeroplanes have made people’s lives easier but their increased usage by tourists have created issues, “Flights produce greenhouse gases - mainly carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fuel, these contribute to global warming when released into the atmosphere”[1]. Speaking and discussing this helps to make our society more aware and find solutions which combat an issue which is plaguing tourism sales.

WhatsApp and similar instant messengers are apps used when people want to communicate with each other without additional fees for calling from another country or region, they are very often used for additional foreign language lessons with a native speaker from a different part of the world, knowledge of foreign languages plays a big role in people’s lives, why? According to Ludwig Wittgenstein: “The limits of my language are the limits of my world”. People who know more than one language are bolder, more open-minded and they will better deal with difficult situations. They improve their problem-solving and interpersonal skills. The apps also allow keeping contact with friends from the journey.

Summing-up

We use the web & social media at almost every moment and aspect of the day, especially during the travel, because they let us be more organised, more knowledgeable and sometimes safer. It means that we drive the tourism industry and develop it.
Social media have a huge impact not only for individuals but also for a lot of business both directly in the tourism industry and those associated with it, for example, small business like restaurants, institutions, theatres and so on which are strongly connected with tourism, we use them to get the motivation, knowledge and a lot of new ideas which we can use in practice when travelling. The web helps to develop and run companies, markets and it supports the trade, businesses use social media and 'influencers' for advertising purposes to increase sales and bring in more people, through social media, people encourage each other to travel but also people use them to provide warning information and how tourism badly affects the environment and climate change also giving tips to each other about how to try to care more about the environmental effects during our travel.

sources cited;
[1] BBC, 2019. Climate change: Should you fly, drive or take the train? [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49349566