The influence of social media in Creating over-tourism in Athens
Georgopoulou, Martha (2024)
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024053119282
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024053119282
Tiivistelmä
This thesis aims to investigate the phenomenon of over-tourism, examining the city of Athens and conducting a qualitative study to determine the relationship of social media to the phenomenon of over-tourism.
Social media plays a crucial role in everyday life of modern tourists, who to decide which destination to choose for their holidays, will usually look for information on them. Specific destinations are over-promoted through social media, resulting in the phenomenon of over-tourism.
The research method chosen was qualitative research using a semi-structured questionnaire. Also, the technology acceptance model (TAM) was used, as it can explain the acceptance of social media. TAM was based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA), which models user acceptance of information systems to describe an individual's technology acceptance behavior, i.e. the way an individual uses a new technology.
The conclusions of the research are useful both for research purposes in the field of tourism, marketing, and economics, as well as for the formulation of political decisions and strategies regarding sustainable tourism development for the city of Athens.
The results showed that tourism professionals disassociate the effects of over-tourism from the use of social media. What became clear from this study was that qualitative analysis can highlight the views of those involved in a specific sector (in this case tourism) and highlight elements that illuminate a specific topic, without being influenced by constants and parameters.
Social media plays a crucial role in everyday life of modern tourists, who to decide which destination to choose for their holidays, will usually look for information on them. Specific destinations are over-promoted through social media, resulting in the phenomenon of over-tourism.
The research method chosen was qualitative research using a semi-structured questionnaire. Also, the technology acceptance model (TAM) was used, as it can explain the acceptance of social media. TAM was based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA), which models user acceptance of information systems to describe an individual's technology acceptance behavior, i.e. the way an individual uses a new technology.
The conclusions of the research are useful both for research purposes in the field of tourism, marketing, and economics, as well as for the formulation of political decisions and strategies regarding sustainable tourism development for the city of Athens.
The results showed that tourism professionals disassociate the effects of over-tourism from the use of social media. What became clear from this study was that qualitative analysis can highlight the views of those involved in a specific sector (in this case tourism) and highlight elements that illuminate a specific topic, without being influenced by constants and parameters.