Social Media and Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Purpose: This article focuses on a systematic literature review (SRL) of social media and tourism development and the level of attention given by researchers to undertaking research studies in this area. Reviews of the available literature have long been seen as a crucial step in determining the nature of the vast body of information in various fields of study and enabling further advancement. Design, methodology, and approach: To meet the research objective, the study has set inclusion and exclusion criteria. As a result, only the Scopus dataset was chosen as a data source; scholarly published papers in English have been included; and articles beyond 2015–2023 were excluded from the analysis. Furthermore, the nature and validity of the systematic review paper conducted on social media and tourism are examined and evaluated using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). Findings: The study found that the number of research studies in the area of social media impact on the development of the tourism industry has been steadily increasing since 2015. However, a large amount of research work was produced by a few researchers who were interested in finding knowledge and sharing information on the subject matter. Moreover, the expansion of social media platforms has become a crucial tool to promote, guide, and develop the tourism sector. Now, due to the increasing integration between social media and tourism, they are inseparable. Practical implications: This paper suggests that the role of social media in tourism is that social media can retain visitors’ flow to the tourist area. Originality and value: The study contributes to having more knowledge of social media and tourism from the literature review.