THE EFFICACY OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A MARKETING COMMUNICATION TOOL IN THE DURBAN TOURISM INDUSTRY

Marketers still have the view that social media is a set of strange and foreign technologies that they may or may not use to market their offerings. They are still thinking that this is a pre-mature time to get a full understanding of the influence of social media in promoting business activities. The purpose of the study is to determine the efficacy of social media as a marketing communication tool in the Durban tourism industry. The study followed a quantitative research method. Descriptive research design was employed and data was collected using a questionnaire from a sample of 300 local and international tourists to Durban. The results revealed that social media is of strategic effectiveness in promoting tourism as it is adopted by the majority of travelers, creates awareness of tourist destinations, and creates opportunities for engaging with customers and building relationships. Tourists use social media to search for information, interact with other travelers and marketers, and share their experiences. Social media is not an optional extra in the tourism industry and destination marketing organisations, like any other firm, must participate on social media sites in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive business environment. The study recommended that tourism marketers must adopt and integrate new social media applications in their formalized promotion strategies. Marketers must break communication barriers and improve efficiency in promoting tourism by increasing the utilisation of social media platforms. Social media marketing should be incorporated in the online marketing plan for tourism businesses. Tourism operators need to raise their level of online commitment and transform their marketing strategies to the online environment.