The effect of social media marketing on cultural tourism: A study on consumer behaviour

Globalization, increasing competition, the contribution of tourism activities to the country's economy and the negative impact of seasonal demand fluctuations on tourism businesses have led to the necessity of spreading tourism activities to 12 months. Cultural tourism has an important impact on the expansion of tourism activities to 12 months. Along with the changing world, important changes have also occurred in tourist activities. Now individuals foreground the cultural and historical values of the place while choosing a destination. As a result of the developing technology, social media is an important source of information for individuals about the destinations they go. This change in the tourist profile has led tourism operators to use social media actively. Especially by using social media channels for marketing activities, tourism companies can reach consumers with less cost than traditional media channels. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of social media and social media marketing practices on consumers' cultural tour selection. In the analysis part of the study, questionnaire forms which were prepared to determine the effect of social media marketing on cultural tourism were answered by the people who live in Istanbul, use social media and participate in cultural tourism. The data obtained from the answers given by 393 people were analyzed and interpreted by statistical procedures with the help of SPSS package program. According to the results of the research, social media marketing applications have no effect on consumers' cultural tourism selection.