Introduction

The Lebanon area ranks 170th in the world (CIA, 2014). It is smaller than the size of Connecticut, one of the smallest states in America. Furthermore, Lebanon is one of the few democratic countries in the Middle East region. In terms of its economy, Lebanon is a free market economy and has a long tradition of laissez-faire economics. In addition to its coastal location on the eastern Mediterranean coast, Lebanon is considered the Middle East’s central “window” to Europe, North Africa, and the rest of the world. Because of this, its economy has been through very prosperous times and was even once called the ‘Paris’ of the Middle East before the bloody 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

Furthermore, while Lebanon is small, it is also one of the most diverse nations in the world. Christians, Muslims, Druze and other minority sects are spread throughout the small nation and even Lebanon’s political system is based on shared sectarian power.

However, this diversity had played a fundamental role in the nation’s problems. This diversity was a necessary condition of the country’s sectarian civil war and currently plays an important role in its political paralysis, although other factors (mainly foreign) are also to blame. There is currently no acting president and rival political parties in the country continue to argue and prevent rather than facilitate the development of the country.

Furthermore, Lebanon’s proximity to Israel has made it a foreign policy / power battleground for foreign nations, each of which uses Lebanon for their own selfish ends.

The sad political realities of the country have significantly damaged the economy of the country. Furthermore, since Lebanon is a service-based economy, this sector in particular has been hit the hardest.

Tourism plays an important role in the nation’s economy. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Economy and Trade (MOET), “Tourism has long been one of the main economic sectors in Lebanon” (Economic Research Unit, 2010).

Additionally, the World Travel and Tourism Council estimated that the travel and tourism sector in Lebanon contributed more than $ 4 billion USD in 2013 (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2014).

The travel and tourism sector accounted for approximately 10% of the economy in 2012, but that share dropped to 9% in 2013 (ibid, p. 14). This is due to the political situation in the country, as well as other factors. Furthermore, the number of tourist arrivals to the country continued to decline from 2011 to 2013.

Since the tourism industry has been somewhat reeling in recent years, the margin of error becomes very small for companies in this industry. Political and economic situations are putting pressure on tourism-related businesses (TR) in Lebanon. This means that these companies are forced to do more to make up for increasing losses (or decreasing profits) and with fewer resources. It is not known when the political and economic situation in Lebanon will improve, especially as the civil war in neighboring Syria shows no signs of abating.

There are many ways that Lebanese TR companies can adapt during these times, such as implementing curtailment policies and cutting marketing and advertising budgets. When economic downturns and tough times hit businesses, the first things to go is often marketing budgets. But especially since TR companies need to do more marketing to make up for lost business, this may not be a good idea.

One solution to this problem is to take advantage of Social Media Marketing strategies, as they cost little or no resources, perfect for the current economic situation in Lebanon. Social media marketing enables TR companies to overcome the hurdles of limited budgets and dwindling business.

Problem Statement

In recent years, the positive effect of social networks on companies has been extremely high (Kaplan et al., 2010; Stelzner, 2010; Treem & Leonardi, 2012, p. 143; Baker & Green, 2014).

Furthermore, Facebook and Twitter fans of a specific brand are much more likely to recommend and buy these brands than non-fans (Cruz & Mendelsohn, 2011). But we don’t need to make sure of the impact of social media on business through research studies. For users of social networks, which include more than 30% of the world, this fact is known. More and more companies are inserting social media marketing tools into their marketing strategies, and in some cases, they have even become an integral part of their overall business strategy.

Naturally, one would expect Lebanese companies to quickly adopt Social Media Marketing as a key role in their overall marketing strategies, but this is not the case. When it comes to the Middle East and especially Lebanon, the region lags far behind the West in the use of social media. Not only that, when it comes to companies involved in the tourism industry, there is a lot of room for growth. Low investment in technology prevents tourism companies from maximizing the marketing opportunities offered by social media.

The Lebanese tourism industry is not taking advantage of social media marketing tactics even though the benefits of doing so are obvious. This presents a big problem, especially since the economy is going through a very difficult time.

Furthermore, TR Lebanese companies and Lebanese companies in general are not embracing social media tools as they should. This presents a huge problem in wasting resources, as well as significant missed opportunities, as a broader target audience can be reached through social media, allowing businesses that adopt social media marketing tools to gain a better chance of success and prosperity.

Purpose of the study

The fruits and benefits of social media marketing tools can take a significant time in Lebanon if we ignore the factors that have led to the prevention of the widespread adoption of social media marketing.

Also, as long as the issue of effective implementation of a social media marketing campaign is not studied in the Lebanese context, many TR companies may get lost even if they decide to adopt social media marketing tools.

Furthermore, although numerous studies have been conducted in the West on the effective implementation of social media marketing campaigns, the results of these studies may or may not apply to the Lebanese context. Therefore, it is also the purpose of this study to discover the factors related to the effective implementation of social media marketing among Lebanese TR companies.

In the end, there is no doubt that social media marketing plays an extremely important role in marketing campaigns and even the overall success of tourism-related businesses.

Lebanese tourism-related companies (TR) lag far behind the developed world in terms of investment and use of SMM. Since there are many benefits of SMM, why is this so? Also, to catch up with the rest of the world, what is the most effective way for Lebanese TR companies to deploy an SMM campaign? Therefore, the purpose of the study was to find reasons for such low investment and use of SMM by Lebanese TR companies and to help guide these companies in the effective use of SMM.

Methodology

The purpose of this study is twofold. This study aims to find out exactly what those factors are preventing the widespread adoption of social media marketing tools among TR Lebanese companies. The philosophy used is interpretivism, so that an inductive approach moves from specific to general research, the strategy is ethnographic and the methodology is qualitative. In-depth interviews with ten participants from ten different companies are used. Five companies had high “visibility” on social media and the other five did not. The participants’ responses then provided very useful information and solutions to the research problem.

recommendations

The results found that among the most relevant factors of the low investment and use of SMM by the Lebanese TR companies are that many do not see the benefits of the use of SMM and, therefore, do not support it.

The results also provided useful information on the factors for the effective implementation of SMM by TR Lebanese companies, including the acceptance of SMM by owners / decision makers and the importance of these people in seeing the benefits of SMM. . Additionally, problems with SMM implementation include negative customer feedback and power struggles between departments.

Recommendations include communicating the benefits of SMM to Lebanese TR companies, which is of great importance for them to use SMM. There should also be an SMM plan with a consistent schedule outlining the days to add content to social media sites, as well as comprehensive monitoring of SM user feedback on the business.

In the end, the researcher hopes that the study will help shed light on important aspects of SMM and its relationship with TR Lebanese companies. Lebanese TR companies are also expected to take the recommendations into account.

References

Baker, S. and Green, H. (February 20, 2014). Social media will change your business. Workweek.

CIA World Factbook 2014. (2014, November 11). Total area – square km 2014 country comparisons, ranges, by range.

Cruz, B. and Mendelsohn, J. (2011). Why social media is important to your business. Obtained from Chadwick Martin Bailey

Economic Research Unit. (2010) Tourism. Bulletin of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, (5)

Kaplan, Andreas M., and Michael Haenlein. 2010. “Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social networks”. Business Horizons 53: 59-68.

Stelzner, M. (2010). Social Media Marketing Industry Report: How Marketers Use Social Media To Grow Their Business.

Treem, JW and Leonardi, PM (2012). “Use of social networks in organizations: exploration of the possibilities of visibility, editability, persistence and association”. Communication Yearbook, 36, 143-189

World Travel and Tourism Council. (2014). Travel and tourism: economic impact 2014 Lebanon.