The Role of Social Media in International Tourist’s Decision Making

Recent crises have highlighted the increasingly important role of social media in crisis communications. Attention has been given to residents’ use of social media during a crisis; however, there is a lack of research which focuses on factors that influence tourists’ use of social media during a crisis. Understanding these factors can have practical implications for destinations in crisis. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether internal, travel-related, and demographic factors affect the likelihood to use social media to seek information if a crisis were to occur while traveling. Linear regression revealed that the countries of origin of India, Brazil, Australia, and South Korea; the age group 31–40; past international travel experience; and perceptions of crime, natural disasters, disease, financial, equipment failure, weather, cultural barriers, and political risk were positively associated with the likelihood of using social media in the event of a crisis during travel.