The Role of Social Media in Shaping Tourists' Travel Decisions

Abstract

With increased economic and population growth, air connectivity, and travel facilities, international travel of Chinese citizens has tremendously increased. Although usually in groups, there has been a growing trend among Chinese tourists toward travelling independently. These independent travellers or so-called ‘new tourists' are highly exposed to new technologies and social media and prefer to do research about possible destinations, and new travel routes and activities that package tours usually do not include. This chapter examines how social media in general and WeChat, in particular, shapes the Chinese individual travellers' travelling decisions. As will be seen, while WeChat's popularity among the Chinese outbound tourists is largely attributed to its multi-functionality, its influences on their destination visitation choice are found in multiple levels: by providing illuminating information, allowing users to integrate their payment system easily to their bank accounts in China, and providing means to obtain discounts and promotional offers in a variety of ways.