Managing the Engagement of Sustainable Tourism in Natural Protected Areas Through Social Media

Abstract

Tourism in protected natural areas is one of the main economic drivers of rural economies in Europe, and Spain is the European country with the highest number of protected areas awarded as sustainable destinations by the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas. The involvement of both local businesses and tourists is vital to the effective management of sustainable tourism, and social media is increasingly becoming a relevant tool to this task. Taking these considerations into account, this chapter has two goals: first is to examine the online activities performed by tourists in Facebook pages of local tourist businesses, aiming to enhance customer engagement with sustainable tourism; second is to perform a comparative analysis on the impact and degree of engagement achieved of firms from different Spanish regions. Findings will contribute significantly to our understanding of the influence of social media in fostering citizen engagement with sustainable tourism.