Use of Social Media by National Tourism Organizations: A Preliminary Analysis

Social media platforms are increasingly becoming popular with consumers and businesses alike. The objective of this research is to determine the extent of the use of social media by national tourism organizations (NTOs). The methodology of this research is interpretive. This exploratory work relied heavily on searching for information on the Internet. Out of the 195 countries investigated not all have a NTO website. Social media use by the NTOs is becoming common across the globe. Even though a wide variety of social media platforms like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Youtube, Hi5, Blogs, Flickr, WAYN, Scribd, Bebo, etc., are used, the most popular platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Flickr, in that order. The issues for future research are discussed.