Tourism Marketing Through Internet and Social Media, the Contribution of Smartphones and Virtual Reality

Abstract

Internet is transforming the entire marketing mix and social media have an increasingly important role for travelers while the role of smartphones is catalytic since the average person is checking it 150 times per day on average. This research discusses the role of social media in tourism and to what extent consumers are affected by word of mouth communication (WOM) in tourism. At the same time virtual reality offers many useful applications for tourism that may need more attention from tourism researchers and professionals.