Social Media and Its Role in Developing Tourism Services in Hotel Organizations
Prof. Dr. Zuhair Abbas Aziz
College of Tourism Sciences, Al-Mustansiriya University, Iraq
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http://doi.org/10.37648/ijps.v19i01.010
Abstract
Social media is one of the important phenomena that reshapes the world of communication and interaction anew. It is considered one of the outputs of Web 2.0, which comes in many diverse forms. Social media has transformed news consumers into news producers. Accordingly, social media has introduced the world to what can be called the "attention age," a subsequent era following the information age, characterized by individuals' ability to create and consume information instantly and rapidly, as well as share it online via social media. Social media is distinguished by a wide range of features when used in tourism activities, such as ease of use, the abundance of information it provides, high levels of interaction, and more, in addition to offering multiple benefits such as functional, social, and psychological advantages, among others. Tourism services have witnessed continuous development and a widening scope of diversification, becoming one of the fastest-growing services in the world. Contemporary tourism services are closely linked to development, and this dynamism has made tourism services very important for social and economic progress. A tourism service consists of components designed to meet tourists' needs, including a set of elements that form an inseparable package, such as attractions, accessibility, accommodation, facilities, and activities. The development of tourism services in tourism activities requires a precise understanding of the characteristics that significantly distinguish these services, such as traditional characteristics like inseparability and intangibility, non-homogeneity, and modern characteristics like high-risk services, unstable tourism demand, and reliance on employee quality.
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