أثر الكلمة المنطوقة عبر وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي على ترقية السياحة الداخلية

Abstract

This study aims to identify the impact of word of mouth on social media on promoting domestic tourism, through a field study of a sample of tourist vehicle customers in Algeria. The importance of this topic stems from the shift in tourist consumer behavior and their increasing reliance on the opinions and experiences of others posted on social media before making their travel decisions. This has made word of mouth on social media one of the most influential tools in travel and tourism decisions, especially in domestic tourism.To achieve the objectives of the study, a descriptive analytical approach was adopted, whereby a questionnaire was developed covering a range of topics related to the nature of word-of-mouth communication on social media and its impact on customers' domestic tourism intentions, with a focus on customer characteristics and preferences in choosing tourist vehicles and destinations. The questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 750 individuals, and 700 were recovered from a number of tourist vehicle customers in different states of the country. The data was analyzed using SPSS V21 software, relying on a set of statistical tools such as arithmetic means, standard deviation, and variance analysis.The study reached a number of conclusions, the most important of which are: there is a positive and statistically significant effect at a significant level of α ≥0.05 for word of mouth via social media on the promotion of domestic tourism. It also has a positive and statistically significant effect on the customer's decision to travel domestically, as the results showed that positive messages exchanged between customers about the quality of tourist vehicles and services contribute significantly and effectively to promoting domestic tourism. The study also showed that there are no statistically significant differences at a significance level of α≥ 0.05 in promoting domestic tourism through word of mouth on social media due to variables such as gender, age group, nationality, educational qualification, monthly income, social status, and daily use of social media.The study also recommends training employees on professional interaction via social media to enhance the image of tourist vehicles and expand the customer base. In addition, tourist vehicles and travel agencies need to adopt effective digital communication strategies based on encouraging customers to share their experiences and build a positive digital identity for tourist vehicles through content created by the customers themselves.