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User-Generated Social Media Events in Tourism

Author

Listed:
  • Estela Marine-Roig

    (Faculty of Law, Economics and Tourism, University of Lleida (Catalonia), 25001 Lleida, Spain)

  • Eva Martin-Fuentes

    (Faculty of Law, Economics and Tourism, University of Lleida (Catalonia), 25001 Lleida, Spain)

  • Natalia Daries-Ramon

    (Faculty of Law, Economics and Tourism, University of Lleida (Catalonia), 25001 Lleida, Spain)

Abstract

Social media and mobile technologies have revolutionised communication and particular attention has been given to user-generated content (UGC) and the formation of online communities; however, little attention has been given to tourist events entirely generated by users through social media. This paper aims to define and characterise the phenomenon of tourism user-generated events (UGEs) through social media around the user’s new empowered role and to assess user-generated social media events’ online socialness. It is also our aim to provide a useful mixed-methodology analysis framework for UGEs in relation to social media and to highlight their interest for organisations. The methodological approach includes a quantitative model to store, analyse and compare events’ online socialness, which is combined with qualitative, participant observation at the events. This approach is applied to the analysis of three Instagram meetups organised by a specific online community at Catalan ski resorts. The paper’s results show the differential characteristic of tourism UGEs: user initiative and empowerment, full organisation and structure, great social media use and UGC production, brand dissemination, attraction capacity, strong online community bond and faithfulness. With UGEs, an event management paradigm shift occurs as organisations are no longer the main initiators and controllers of the event.

Suggested Citation

  • Estela Marine-Roig & Eva Martin-Fuentes & Natalia Daries-Ramon, 2017. "User-Generated Social Media Events in Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-23, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:12:p:2250-:d:121676
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Talib Hussain & Benqian Li & Dake Wang, 2018. "What Factors Influence the Sustainable Tour Process in Social Media Usage? Examining a Rural Mountain Region in Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-16, June.
    2. Fangxuan (Sam) Li, 2020. "Chinese Tourists’ Barriers to Sharing Travel Photos in WeChat," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-13, January.
    3. Eduard Cristobal-Fransi & Francisco Hernández-Soriano & Berta Ferrer-Rosell & Natalia Daries, 2019. "Exploring Service Quality among Online Sharing Economy Platforms from an Online Media Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-18, July.
    4. Eva Martin-Fuentes & Jorge Nieto Ferrando & Estela Marine-Roig & Berta Ferrer-Rosell, 2020. "From Blockbuster to Neighbourhood Buster: The Effect of Films on Barcelona," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, March.
    5. Josef Zelenka & Tracy Azubuike & Martina Pásková, 2021. "Trust Model for Online Reviews of Tourism Services and Evaluation of Destinations," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-21, March.
    6. Sungwook Lee & Do-Hyung Park, 2019. "Community Attachment Formation and Its Influence on Sustainable Participation in a Digitalized Community: Focusing on Content and Social Capital of an Online Community," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, May.
    7. Eduard Cristobal-Fransi & Natalia Daries & Eva Martin-Fuentes & Yolanda Montegut-Salla, 2020. "Industrial Heritage 2.0: Internet Presence and Development of the Electronic Commerce of Industrial Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-18, July.

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