Social Media Marketing in Tourism: The Role, Impact, and Future Direction of Research
Abstract
Digital technology has made social media one of the main tools in tourism marketing. Social media not only serves as a promotional tool but also plays a role in shaping the image of destinations and influencing tourist behavior. Although research on social media marketing in the tourism sector continues to grow, studies that integrate research themes, applications, impacts, and future research trends are still limited. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the development of social media marketing research in the tourism sector through the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach. The process of identifying and selecting articles was carried out based on the PRISMA guidelines, while VOSviewer was used to analyze the emergence of keywords and research trends. Based on the selection process, 13 articles published between 2020 – 2026 were included in the literature synthesis. The results showed that the main themes that dominated the research included tourism behavior, destination marketing, destination image, platforms, and influencers. In addition to serving as a promotional medium, social media also influences the intentions and behavior of tourist visits. The findings of this study provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role of social media in tourism and identify opportunities for future research.
Keywords: destination images; influencer marketing; social media marketing; tourist behavior
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