Abstract
The present chapter involved a thorough investigation into the tourist destination in question, Amares, where the research results suggest that the Municipality of Amares can improve its digital marketing and online social networks strategy to attract more tourists. Thus, the research adds value to the tourist destination of Amares (Portugal), as it allows understanding in which direction the municipality should focus its efforts in tourism promotion. The conclusions drawn from benchmarking and questionnaire results showed that digital marketing and online social networks are important tools in promoting tourism in the Municipality of Amares. Additionally, some more effective practices were presented, such as the creation of strategic content tailored to different market segments, the use of attractive images and videos inspiring people to visit the tourist destination, and the development of influencer marketing campaigns.
TopIntroduction
According to Turismo de Portugal (2022), tourism is a key sector of activity for generating wealth and employment in Portugal. In this way, tourism recorded in 2021, 11.3% of total exports and 36.9% of exports of services. Even so, the sector continues to grow, as can be seen from the employment rate in tourism, which is 6.7% in 2021. The growth of tourism has brought great results to the country, as the number of guests has increased, as well as the number of overnight stays and the number of average stays, as well as tourism revenue in Portugal. Tourism, assumes itself as a multifaceted and geographically complex activity that increasingly generates new (and different) market segments with different individual interests (Sousa, Magalhães & Soares, 2021; Correia et al., 2022). After the controversial period of 2020, caused by the global pandemic, in 2021, a year of recovery, 2.3 billion euros of tourist revenue were recorded, and the most recent data states that in 2022 there were 21.1 billion euros in tourism revenue. This chapter aims to study the impact of digital marketing and online social networks on tourism, more precisely, in the Municipality of Amares (Portugal). the tourism sector, contributing to the integration and development of a tourist destination.
In this context, a literature review was conducted, demonstrating the importance of digital marketing and online social networks in tourism. Subsequently, after gathering information, it was necessary to consider the exploratory method to be used, which in this case was quantitative. The conclusions drawn from benchmarking and questionnaire results showed that digital marketing and online social networks are important tools in promoting tourism in the Municipality of Amares. Additionally, some more effective practices were presented, such as the creation of strategic content tailored to different market segments, the use of attractive images and videos inspiring people to visit the tourist destination, and the development of influencer marketing campaigns. In summary, the present research involved a thorough investigation into the tourist destination in question, Amares, where the research results suggest that the Municipality of Amares can improve its digital marketing and online social networks strategy to attract more tourists. Thus, the chapter adds value to the tourist destination of Amares (Portugal), as it allows understanding in which direction the Municipality should focus its efforts in tourism promotion. From an interdisciplinary perspective, this chapter presents insights from a marketing perspective (digital and social networks) and from a tourism and regional (and local) development perspective.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Destination Management: The management of all aspects of a destination that contribute to a visitor's experience, including the perspectives, needs and expectations of: visitors.
Local Development: A process of economic, social, cultural, and political changes leading to the improvement of the general level of inhabitants' prosperity.
Social: Media : Social media are interactive computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.
Storytelling: The social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation or instilling moral values.
Social Networking: Using internet-based social media sites to stay connected with friends, family, colleagues, or customers.
Digital Marketing: Also called online marketing - is the promotion of brands to connect with potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication. This includes not only email, social media, and web-based advertising, but also text and multimedia messages as a marketing channel.