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Table of Contents
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 3
1.1. Background of the study............................................................................................................3
1.2. Problem statement........................................................................................................................4
1.3. Research objectives......................................................................................................................4
1.4. Research questions.......................................................................................................................4
1.5. Significance of the study............................................................................................................ 4
1.6. Scope of the study.......................................................................................................................... 5
1.7. Outline of chapter.......................................................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER II – LITERATURE REVIEW.....................................................................................................7
Chapter introduction.................................................................................................................................7
2.1. Social media concept........................................................................................................................7
2.2. The impacts of social media on tourism industry...........................................................8
2.3. Theoretical framework................................................................................................................10
Chapter conclusion.................................................................................................................................. 12
CHAPTER III – REVIEW OF FIRST DATA METHOD......................................................................13
3.1. Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................13
3.2. Qualitative Research Method...................................................................................................13
3.3. Interview.............................................................................................................................................. 14
3.3.1. Interview design........................................................................................................................14
3.3.2. Data collection process..........................................................................................................15
3.4. Chapter Conclusion.........................................................................................................................16
CHAPTER IV – REVIEW OF SECOND DATA METHOD.................................................................17
4.1. Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................17
4.2. Quantitative Research Method................................................................................................17
4.3. Survey Questionnaire....................................................................................................................18
4.4. Sampling Techniques....................................................................................................................19
4.5. Questionnaire Survey Procedure...........................................................................................19
4.6. Data Analysis...................................................................................................................................... 20
4.7. Chapter Conclusion.........................................................................................................................21
CHAPTER V – TRIANGULATION OF FINDINGS...............................................................................22
5.1. Chapter Introduction.....................................................................................................................22
5.2. Discussion and analysis of the questionnaire data......................................................22
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5.2.1. Sources of travel-related information about Vietnam.........................................22
5.2.2. The impacts of social media on travel-related information..............................25
5.2.3. Motivation of using social media to search travel-related information... .27
5.2.4. Types of information which are usually sought by the travellers in the
social network.........................................................................................................................................28
5.2.5. Intentions to use in the near future................................................................................29
5.3. Discussions and analysis of the interview data.............................................................29
5.4. Chapter conclusion......................................................................................................................... 31
CHAPTER VI – LIMITATIONS...................................................................................................................32
CHAPTER VII – CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION..........................................................33
7.1. Chapter introduction.................................................................................................................33
7.2. Summary of the main findings.............................................................................................33
7.3. Recommendations......................................................................................................................34
7.4. Chapter conclusion.....................................................................................................................35
References......................................................................................................................................................... 36
QUESTIONNAIRE............................................................................................................................................ 39
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS............................................................................................................................ 43
CÂU H I PH NG V NỎ Ỏ Ấ ................................................................................................................................ 44
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CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION
1.1.Background of the study
Recently, the booming of Internet in general and of social media such as
YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagrams in general has changed the communication
ways and information sharing methods among people all over the world (Ulrich, 2014).
Specifically, the development of social media has allowed people immediately share
their status, photos, events, and thought with their own emotions and other followers
all over the world will quickly see those sharing as soon as they log in their social media
account. It could be said that social media provides its users a tool to connect with not
only all other users in their network but also institutions and professional firms who
use social media to come closer to its partners (Zhang, Wang, de Pablos, Tang, & Yan,
2015).
The number of users using social media has been increasing significantly and this
number is expected to be much higher in the next few years; large online community
connects people quickly in which they can share and easily see the others’ sharing on
the experiences, evaluations, and perceptions toward specific events or activities
(Belvaux, 2011). Via accessing those information, the users might be easily influenced
by the posts or comments of the others, from which affecting their behaviours and
decisions. In other words, it could be said that an individual using social media could
have the influences on the thought and behaviours of his/her followers toward specific
events, products, and services.
Realising this trend, many companies have express their marketing campaigns
on social media with the hope that their customers could easily access the information
on their products and services. The marketers could also save the marketing cost by
taking the advantages of the influences among users on social media. In addition, with
the application of this marketing type, marketers could easily manage the feedbacks of
its customers from which have suitable adjustments (Charlesworth, 2015).
Marketing in tourism and hospitality industry is also in this trend and it even
applies this method more strongly to publish and promote their products/services to
more potential customers. Due to the fact that visitors live far away from the tourist
destination, travel agents, and other hospitality facilities, online marketing is seen as the
most suitable method to get public information. In addition, visitors often base on the
3
feedbacks of previous travellers to decide their destination; therefore, using social
media is the best ways to attract customers of tourism and hospitality institutions
(Kiráľová, 2015).
1.2.Problem statement
It could be clearly seen the popularity as well as the strong impacts of marketing
on social media in tourism and hospitality industry. However, there are very few
researchers analysing this issue in the scope of tourism in Vietnam. As a result, the
author decided to conduct a research on the roles of social media marketing in Vietnam
tourism industry, contributing to the diversification of researches on social media
marketing in different areas.
1.3.Research objectives
This research is conducted with the aims of achieving the following objectives:
- To study the current advertising media and possibilities on integrating using
social media
- To find out the feasibility of using social media to boost the Vietnam tourism
- To studies the current international trend and the expansion potential of
Vietnam tourism to international tourist
- To come up with an effective marketing strategy of Vietnam Tourism
1.4.Research questions
In order to achieve above objectives, the author will firstly find out the answers
for the following questions:
- How can social media be used to improve tourism industry?
- How can the new-age social media help to boost the tourism industry?
- What can be done to simplify the information gathering process?
- How can Vietnam tourism industry take the advantages of social media in
minimising the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns?
1.5.Significance of the study
The completion of this research will provide a brief overview about social media
marketing in business in general and in tourism industry, especially in Vietnam, in
4
particular. The findings of this research will provide marketing students the knowledge
on an effective tool to do marketing in reality. In addition, hospitality and tourism
students also have more understanding on how to gain business success with the
application of social media. On the other hand, tourism and hospitality agencies in
Vietnam could base on the findings of this research to clearly see the effectives of social
media marketing in their industry, from which have suitable business plans.
1.6.Scope of the study
This research will be conducted in Vietnam, an emerging market for tourism and
hospitality. Besides, Vietnam is a largely unexplored market in term of tourism and
most of the marketing and advertising are done through the conventional way, which
have limited outreach and thus I believe that by studying the impact of the use of social
media marketing would have a benefical contribution to the industry and hence the
topic for my dissertation shall be “The impact of social media marketing on tourism
in VietNam”.
1.7.Outline of chapter
This research is formed with 5 chapters and each one has its own functions and
responsibilities.
The first chapter is Introduction which provides the information on research
background, reasons for choosing topics, objectives, questions, contribution, scope, and
structure.
The second one is Literature review showing the findings generated from
previous researches and studies in the literature review. In this chapter, the author will
present the knowledge on social media in general and its roles in tourism industry in
particular. At the end of this chapter, basing on above findings, the theoretical
framework showing the relationship between different determinants of social media on
the travel decision making of Vietnamese tourists
The third chapter is the exploration of 1 methodology and its expected outcome
from some most methods used to gather information including survey, interviews, focus
groups, and document analysis.
Chapter 4 has similar roles as chapter 3 in which it will describe the second
methodology used.
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Chapter 5 contains the findings generated from the analyses of collected data.
This chapter shows the perspectives of customers on marketing strategies on social
media.
The limitation of the study will be listed in chapter 6.
And finally, chapter 7 presents the summary of whole research findings, from
which generating the recommendations for the improvement of social media marketing
strategies in tourism and hospitality industry in Vietnam.
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CHAPTER II – LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter introduction
Currently in the booming of Internet and technology era, all industries
worldwide have conducted revolution not excluding the tourism (Zang, 2013). The
revolution due to diffusion of the Internet includes the growth of social media as a
replacement for the traditional sources of information. Embracing social media in
tourism activities has become an increasing trend in the world (Leung, Law, Hoof, &
Buhalis, 2013). Social media is said to have strong influences on tourism industry. This
chapter will therefore dig into the related theories regarding social media and its
important role on the tourism industry. Then, the theoretical framework of the study
will be built afterwards in order to function as the base for the whole study further.
2.1. Social media concept
The evolvement of the Internet and the development of social media sites have
created emphasis on the growing popularity of the social media concept (Chan-Olmsted,
Cho, & Lee, 2013). This concept has been widely adopted as one of the most effective
communication tools worldwide which brings great benefits to not only the individual
users but also organisations who would like to reach more target customers. Social
media comprises of six main types including blogs, micro-blogs, social networks, wikis,
forums and online communities.
It has indicated the incredible advancement of social websites in recent years,
especially Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, with the fast increase of the user numbers.
Each one has its own characteristics and popularity in certain regions and areas. As a
result, when conducting the research on the use of social media in tourism, identifying
the most powerful and efficient social websites is very essential. The study from Milano,
Baggio, & Piattelli (2012) has helped to point out the number of visits with Facebook
referrals to tourism websites is much bigger than that with Twitter and Instagram
referrals. Accordingly, the contribution and influence of Facebook to tourism can be
seen as greater in comparison to Twitter and Instagram. In Vietnam, Facbook is also
much more popular than the other social websites. Consequently, the involvement of
Facebook as a powerful and efficient social website while planning and working out
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feasible strategies of using social media in promoting Vietnam tourism will be
highlighted.
2.2. The impacts of social media on tourism industry
Social media plays an important role for the analysis of tourists’ behaviours and
attitudes as a reliable source of information (Zivkovic, Gajic, & Brdar, 2014). The unique
of tourism industry is that the customers often live far away from the travel agents and
tourist destinations. As a result, the most frequent and effective way to get information
of those customers is via the application of Internet. Therefore, it could be seen the
appearance, development and popularity of websites and other online applications
including social media conveying the information relating to tourism. According to
Zivkovic, Gajic, & Brdar (2014), social media is widely applied in the tourism industry
because this kind of communication is not only cost-effective but also bias-free. Social
media allows customers to access all information relating to tourism such as
destinations, travel agents, exciting things to try, etc. without any barriers. In addition,
this channel also allows visitors to leave their comments and share their experience
anonymously; basing on this, tourism institutions could have an overview on customer
buying behaviours and their expectations from which having suitable strategies to meet
the demands of customers, bringing back better business performance. Those
comments also provide the information on the dissatisfaction of customers as well as
the weaknesses of the tourism institutions in the eyes of customers which are the
foundation for these institutions to better enhance their strengths and competitiveness.
The important role of social media on tourism has once again emphasized by
Gohi (2015). From his perspective, social media offers tourism companies with effective
methods to promote their services as well as build and maintain the relationship with
customer more personally and intimately. In addition, social media is also considered as
a useful tool of destination advertising and marketing, tourism planning and promotion.
Secondly, the study also clarified the initiatives taken by Madhya Pradesh Tourism
through social media. Realizing the importance of social media to tourism, Madhya
Pradesh Tourism has planned and implemented many campaigns and programs to take
advantage of social media. Noticeably, the state tourism department has partnered with
famous social media agencies in the state to promote the efficiency of tourism
advertising and marketing activities for the state. By launching campaigns and
8
advertising through social media, Madhya Pradesh Tourism has significantly improved
its brand equity and successfully introduced all tourist spots of the state to more people.
In addition, the study also pointed out that the use of social media can boost tourism
development in the state. Thanks to warmly embracing social media in Madhya
Pradesh, the state has garnered impressive achievements. On one hand, social media
helps significantly increase the number of tourist arrivals (both foreign and domestic
travellers). On the other hand, it helps attract much more investments to the state.
Those initiatives of Madhya Pradesh Tourism are excellent example to follow.
Leung et al (2013) emphasize that social media has a pervasive impact on
tourism activities, from both traveller’s perspective and traveller supplier’s perspective.
From traveller’s perspective, social media is regarded as an effective method in their
travel planning process. From traveller supplier’s perspective, social media also helps
improve customer engagement, customer loyalty and brand awareness for traveller
suppliers. In addition, in today’s competitive market, social media is also considered as
an effective tool to create competitive advantages. Besides, it offers tourism companies
with strategic information to improve and develop their products and services.
Furthermore, Leung et al (2013) also pointed out the importance of trustworthiness to
online consumer behaviour. If customers experience the trustworthiness with social
media, the trust of customers on hospitality brand will significantly increase. The
authors also emphasize that social media supports tourism in five main aspects:
promotion, product distribution, management, communication and research.
However, Khan (2012) criticizes that social media brings not only positive but
also negative impacts. First of all, taking advantages of social media like Google,
Facebook, Skype, LinkedIn, Twitter, Bing and Trip Advisor can bring about five main
benefits for tourism companies and tourism franchise corporations. The five benefits
that the study has pointed out include: reaching out to more customers in the world,
even in the remote areas; promote immediacy; improve accessibility, offering 24/7
operations regardless of time difference, enhancing interactive exchanges. More
importantly, the study has also pointed out the negative impacts that social media can
bring about for travel suppliers. In details, posting negative reviews on social media can
lead to very bad images of travel companies. A large number of negative reviews can
result in serious damages and losses. The study showed that learning how to deal with
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Similarity Trust Travelers’ decision making
Source Identity Trust Travelers’ decision making
such reviews is very important. This is a noticeable point while planning or
implementing strategies of using social media in tourism.
2.3. Theoretical framework
In this study, the model of Nhon & Thu (2014) regarding the factors affecting
travel decision making of Vietnam online travellers will be applied in this paper. The
model describes the relationship between different determinants of social media on the
travel decision making of Vietnamese tourists including similarity, source identity,
openness and internet experience which all contribute to the behaviours of travellers
and affects the performance of tourism organizations in Vietnam. Based on the above
discussion, the hypotheses of the paper are established as follow.
Hypothesis 1
Similarity has positive indirect effects on the travel decision making mediated by
customers’ trust.
In the online marketing environment, the higher the similarity of the senders
who post reviews or comments of previous customers with the online customers is
assumed to contribute to higher trust in those perceived information (Nhon & Thu,
2014). The similarity in age, occupation or geographic area might lead to the similar
needs and expectations between the senders of the reviews and the online consumers
who are seeking for information. The online consumers will expect the same behaviours
and perceptions from the ones who share more similarities in the background with
them. They are also more comfortable when interacting with the consumers who have
the similar characteristics with them leading to more frequent interpersonal
communication and higher interpersonal attraction. Thus, they will have higher trust on
the reviews of those people and make faster decisions.
Hypothesis 2
Source identity has positive indirect effects on the travel decision making
mediated by customers’ trust.
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Openness Trust Travelers’ decision making
Internet Expertise Trust Travelers’ decision making
The definition of Source Identity in online marketing has been provided by Ma &
Agarwal (2007) as “the extent to which CGM information discloses the basic personal
information about the identity or personal details of the individuals who posted the
reviews.” The information provided by the senders is proved to be more effective when
the senders’ information is identifiable. The identity of the source provides higher
trustworthiness and credibility for the information and the reviews toward the tourism
enterprises.
Hypothesis 3
Openness has positive indirect effects on the travel decision making mediated by
customers’ trust.
Openness is one of the most obvious personal characteristics which have strong
impacts on the decision making process of travellers. Turten & Bosnjak (2001) have
emphasized that there is a positive influential relationship between openness as a factor
of personality and the perceived information and trust of customers towards the
tourism information available online. A person with higher level of openness will trust
the information from social media more easily than the ones with lower level of
openness. In tourism industry, it is critical to notice that personal characteristics are
widely applied as the basis for tourism market segmentation purposes. It has been
generally approved that personality is closely associated with the decisions of travellers
towards the destination, leisure activities within that destination and other travel-
related issues.
Hypothesis 4
Internet expertise has positive indirect effects on the travel decision making
mediated by customers’ trust.
The level of internet expertise of online customers is closely related to the level
of familiarity toward Internet usage, online capacity and skills, and online experiences.
The perception of customers toward the information provided in the social media is
11
proved to be strongly influenced by the Internet expertise. The longer time users spend
on Internet proves the higher credibility of the information provided by social media by
those users. Higher credibility and trust on the information provided by the social
media will eventually leading to easier decision-making process of the individuals
(Greer, 2003).
Chapter conclusion
The above section has helped to establish a theoretical base which concerns the
understanding and knowledge of many issues related to the use and impact of social
media on tourism. The section is expected to help indicate the one of the most popular
social media website - Facebook. Facebook has a significant influence on the decision
making and travel planning of travellers. In addition, as revealed from the reviewed
studies, social media can bring about both positive and negative impact on tourism. On
one hand, it helps reach out to more customers, promotes immediacy, offers 24/7
operations, improve accessibility and enhances interactive exchanges. On the other
hand, it can spread negative reviews of travel companies with fast speed. Besides, the
papers have also pointed out important factors affecting the consumer perception of
credibility of online travel-related information on social websites. All of these findings
and discussions greatly assist the author in building a theoretical foundation for his
research which includes four hypotheses including similarity, source identity, openness
and internet experiences.
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CHAPTER III – REVIEW OF FIRST DATA METHOD
3.1. Chapter Introduction
The above two chapters has introduced the impacts of social media on tourism
as the topic of the whole research. It is assumed that social media has strong impacts on
the performance of the tourism industry. In order to examine how strong the impacts of
social media on the tourism are, the researcher has first explored the secondary data of
the research by reviewing on the current literature. Then, primary data is employed in
order to have an insight into the research problem from a different perspective.
Interview, therefore, is mainly focused in this section in order to get the necessary
qualitative primary data for the research.
First of all, in this section, the discussion of interview as a qualitative research
method has been provided with its both advantages as well as disadvantages. Then,
design of the interview in accordance with the data collection process via interview will
be described accordingly.
3.2. Qualitative Research Method
This method bases on the foundation of exploring the phenomenon in a detail
and comprehensive ways to collects necessary information with the supports of various
tools such as interviews or open-ended questions in the survey. Generally, this method
could only involve the participation of small number of respondents because it is quite
difficult to arrange the meeting with each individual respondent while it often takes
them quite long time to help the researcher complete the researches. In this method,
the researchers could choose to well-structure the interviews by preparing a list of
open-ended questions and directly deliver to target respondents and require them to
self-complete. On the other hand, interviews might have conversational interviews with
some prepared questions and then basing on the answers of respondents to quick add
some other additional questions to deploy more information. Due to the fact that this
method could not gather information from large number of sample size, its findings are
often limited and could not represent for whole population (Devetak, Glazar, & Vogrinc,
2010).
In a different manner, this research method provides insights into the specific
issues so that it is often seen as an excellent tool for having more in-depth and detailed
13
and understanding about the reasons or motives of choices. In addition, this method
often takes the roles of generating ideas and knowledge which is used as the foundation
for the development of hypotheses used in later quantitative research (Willis, 2007).
Commonly, it could be concluded that qualitative research method is useful in
generating detailed and valid data relating to specific issues and problems from which
providing in-depth context and understanding. In general, qualitative research method
is often combined with the application of the quantitative one which is suitable for
deploy the opinions of large population with identifiable to develop and explain the
cause-and-effect relationships. Each method has its own characteristics and advantages
so that the task of choosing a method to apply is considered as an ultimately
philosophical question. Basing on the requirements of the researches, the conditions of
researchers as well the functions of each method, the decisions of choosing the most
suitable ones to be applied individually or in combination will be made (Trochim &
Donnelly, 2006). Recently, the combination of these two methods seems to be more
commonly applied in business researches. It is agreed that qualitative and quantitative
methods are not two opposite application but their characteristics could support to fix
the weaknesses of the other in order to create an excellent mix research method. The
selection of research method must base on the research objectives to see which one
could be the best to generate valid results. It is not true that the combination of these
two methods is always better than the application of each individual one. For example,
in a behavioural research, qualitative research method might be more effective to be
used separately.
In order to find the answers for the research questions, secondary data collection
method is applied. First of all, reliable information about social media and its impact on
consumer behaviours is collected from authentic sources including books, newspapers,
journals, the Internet, etc. The trustworthy sources will be employed to illustrate the
link between the behaviours of travellers and the social media impacts. Finally, the
information is synthesized, analysed, compared, contrasted and evaluated to come up
with precise answers for each research questions. Beside, interview is also applied in
order to collect deeper information of the respondents.
3.3. Interview
3.3.1. Interview design
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In this research, the author has chosen the implementation of questionnaires as
the main instrument to collect necessary information. However, this method also has
some specific drawback because almost questions in the questionnaires are close-ended
questions which could encourage the bias and carelessness of respondents and prevent
researcher from gaining detailed information. As a result, semi-structure interview is
decided to be used to help the author fix those problems in order to generate more valid
and accurate research result.
Those interviews aimed at exploring some deeper insights into the research
questions through in-depth information about impacts of social media on the attitude
and behaviours of travellers which then affect the performance of the tourism industry
in Vietnam. Accordingly, as the target respondents of the research are Vietnamese, 2
interviews were conducted in Vietnamese to ensure that there will no
misunderstandings in the communication between interviewers and interviewees. In
order to keep the paper away from bias due to the misunderstanding of the interview
questions, the questions are designed in English and then translated into Vietnamese.
Two versions of the interviews will be attached in the Appendix as well.
The interviews are implemented with the 2 people who have working
experiences in the Sales or Marketing department in travel agencies in Vietnam. They
are the ones who most understand which tools and how travel agencies use social
media to attract the customers. There are 4 questions only in total which are assumed
to take short time of the participants to be completed.
3.3.2. Data collection process
In accordance with the implementation of the survey, the interviews were also
conducted. First, the researcher contacted with numerous travel agencies in Hanoi,
Vietnam in order to ask for their approval to participate into the interview. Via the
phone call, the researcher explains the objectives of the interviews and persuades the
respondents to participate into the interview. However, due to their busy business, only
2 of them agreed to participate in the interview. The author then arranged fixed the
appropriate time and locations for the interviews. To create a comfortable atmosphere
for the interviews, the author began by some informal social chat. The author asked to
record the interviews but no participants agreed. Therefore, he made an attempt to take
a quick note as detailed as possible.
15
3.4. Chapter Conclusion
In conclusion, the above chapter has presented the choice of interview as the
first type of evidence in order to explore the research question. However, the
application of interview data with only 4 respondents is not adequate to measure the
impacts of social media on tourism indeed. Thus, the next following section will present
the second type of evidence for the exploration of research question which is the
questionnaire survey with details regarding to the sampling technique and the
questionnaire design.
16
CHAPTER IV – REVIEW OF SECOND DATA METHOD
4.1. Chapter Introduction
The above chapter has presented the set of secondary methodology including
document analysis and interviews as the two main techniques. However, the presence
of secondary data only could not help to solve all the research questions. Primary data is
proved to be critical in order to have a more objective and innovative point of view into
the research problem. In this section, therefore, the exploration of the research question
under the survey questionnaire method will be discussed.
4.2. Quantitative Research Method
It is widely agreed that there are no real significant differences between the
application of qualitative and quantitative because each one has its own strengths and
weaknesses that could be combines to generate undesirable outcomes (Alwood, 2012).
As a result, there are not many researchers entirely applied and analyse only one
method in their research but it often see the combination of these two ones to take their
advantages and minimise their disadvantages. This combination is called a mix-method
approach which has gradually been applied more widely in more recent scientific
researches. (Warfield, 2010). Previous part has provided some information relating to
qualitative method; in this part, the author will provide some basic information about
quantitative method.
Quantitative research is seen as the application of quantification of data in
helping the researchers achieve the research objectives. This method approached the
research problems and achieves the research goals by gathering information from large
enough sample size/given sample. Basing on those information, the interests and
trends in whole population could be interfered and generated. While qualitative
research pays attention on the non-numeric/qualitative data collected from the
interviews or other sources of secondary data such as literature review and reports, the
quantitative one bases on the collection and analysis of numeric data to reach the
research outcome. The application of quantitative research always has the support of a
survey with the implementation of close-ended questionnaires in collecting information
from large sample size (Sheperis & Young, 2009). The sample size is always large
enough to represent for the opinions of almost whole population in order to ensure the
17
reliability of the research outcome. Generally, the target respondents in quantitative
research are chosen randomly in order to ensure the objectivity for the research and
avoid the bias of both researchers and respondents from which lead to the most
accurate research results.
In this research, qualitative method is decided as the main method to help the
researcher achieve the research objectives. In addition, the qualitative one is also
applied to provide more in-depth information relating to the choices, interests and
motivation of respondents in the survey. The combination of these two method will
bring back the most positive and accurate result for the research.
4.3. Survey Questionnaire
In this research, survey questionnaire is chosen as the main quantitative
technique. Questionnaire has been proved to be one of the most popular methods in
order to collect quantitative data in a large sample population within a short period of
time. Questionnaire is defined as “any written instruments that present respondents
with a series of questions or statements to which they are react either by writing out
their answers” (Brown, 2001). The questions in the questionnaire could be either
opened-ended question or closed-ended questions. In this research, the author chooses
survey questionnaire as the main data collection method due to some reasons which are
listed in the following sections.
First of all, the questionnaire is appropriate in collecting data from large sample
population within a short period of time. The research focuses on examining the impact
of social media marketing on the whole tourism industry in Vietnam. Thus, the sample
population is significantly large which makes the questionnaire essential in order to
collect necessary information for the research. The respondents are selected randomly
from the sample population following the non-probability technique which will be
discussed further in the next following section.
Secondly, the application of questionnaire is easy to be taken via the Internet
which is not only faster but also more economical. This advantage is very attractive for a
dissertation paper which is restricted by time and human resources.
The questionnaire in this survey is established with the purpose of solving the
three hypotheses proposed in chapter II. The questionnaire is designed with 12
questions in general which are mostly closed-ended questions. Only the last question
18
requires opened-ended responses from the respondents. The first four questions are
associated with the general information of the respondents including their hometown,
employment status, year of birth and gender. That information is assumed to be critical
in affecting the responses of the participants in the other main sections. Then, the habit
of travelling and finding information related to travel is examined in the two next
questions. The four next questions take notice of the usefulness and frequency of social
media usage by the travellers. Meanwhile, the final question examines the future
intentions of using social media of the respondents.
The questionnaire is written in English and directly delivered to customers
coming to travel agents in Vietnam. Luckily, after 2 weeks of distribution, the author has
collected adequate sample population as expected.
4.4. Sampling Techniques
Sampling technique is proved to be of great significance in every quantitative
research method because it determines the accuracy and validity of the research results.
Only adequate sample size could represent the opinions of the whole large sample
population in order to deal with the proposed research questions and objectives.
Saunders, Phillip, & Adrian (2009) divided sampling techniques into two main
categories including probability and non-probability sampling. These two techniques
are mainly different from each other by the ways of selecting the population. Probability
sampling selects the whole sample population as the sample size without any selection
while the non-probability sampling chooses respondents within the total population
randomly or based on criteria. The general population of the respondents includes all
tourists of the Vietnam tourism industry both domestically and internationally. Thus,
the population is proved to be too large for the application of probability technique.
Non-probability, therefore, is chosen as the main sampling technique. 150
questionnaires have been distributed directly to the respondents and are collected
within 2 weeks. The questionnaire receives the permission of all respondents before
being delivered.
4.5. Questionnaire Survey Procedure
The procedure of distributing the questionnaire is conducted via two main
stages including piloting and surveying. These main stages will be presented as follows.
19
Stage 1: Piloting
After designing the questionnaires, the author decided to test its suitability with
the research objectives and respondent characteristics by firstly constructing the
piloting. This step is completed by delivering the draft questionnaires to 10 random
respondents (those respondents will not be involved in the real survey in order to avoid
their bias). Those respondents will complete the questionnaires in limited time and
after that they will give their comments on the suitability and logic of the content and
structure of the questionnaires as well as the evaluation of whether they have enough
time to complete the question list after carefully reading and thinking. Basing on those
comments, the researcher will have suitable adjustments for the completion of final
version of the questionnaires. This step greatly helps the researcher enhance the
effectiveness of questionnaire implementation.
Stage 2: Surveying
For the sake of participants, the survey was administrated directly in order to
facilitate the time and place where participants could fill in the survey. The author has
asked some friends and acquaintances working at some travel agents in Vietnam help
him deliver the questionnaires to their customers. At the beginning of the survey, the
aim of the research and confirmation of the strict confidentiality of all information are
provided in order to reduce the uncertainties to participate in the survey. Finally, the
researcher checks all the questionnaires in order to ensure that no questions were left
out. Only qualified questionnaires with adequate responses are selected for analysis.
Fortunately, 150 expected copies of the questionnaires have been collected after 2
weeks of delivering.
During the process of conducting the survey, the author has encountered some
problems. Among those, the design of the questionnaire is proved to be the hardest
problem for him because the author merely has no experience in applying social media
in the specific case of the tourism industry. Thus, numerous efforts have been paid in
order to design an appropriate questionnaire. The author has carefully read through
numerous previous works in the literature in order to map out the first draft of the
questionnaire. Then, careful piloting stage in order to ask for the comments of the pilot
respondents has been conducted.
4.6. Data Analysis
20
With the application of piloting stage as well as the review of researchers, the
questionnaires are well structured with no errors. This results in the collection of
enough 150 responds from the questionnaires completion. After that, the data collected
from the questionnaires will be carefully analysed with the support of Microsoft Excel
2010 in creating charts and figures. The application of this software provides readers
attractive visual evidence supporting for all analyses of the researchers from which
readers could clearly and easily understand the meaning of collected data as well as the
trends in the choices and perspectives of survey respondents.
4.7. Chapter Conclusion
The above chapter has introduced the application of survey questionnaire as the
main quantitative method for the research. First of all, the quantitative approach has
been discussed with the regards to its advantages and disadvantages. Then, survey
questionnaire has been introduced along with the reason why the researcher is
motivated to choose questionnaire as the main quantitative research method. Sampling
technique is also discussed in order to ensure the validity and reliability of the research.
Finally, the data collection and analysis procedure are presented.
21
CHAPTER V – TRIANGULATION OF FINDINGS
5.1. Chapter Introduction
The previous chapters have explained the methodology which is applied in order
to collect adequate information for the research. Thus, in this chapter, the triangulation
of findings along with some discussions will be provided in order to reach a deeper
insight into the application of social networking channels in travel agents in Vietnam.
5.2. Discussion and analysis of the questionnaire data
5.2.1. Sources of travel-related information about Vietnam
First of all, the questionnaire examines the sources of information which the
travellers usually use to search for travel-related information about Vietnam. There are
eight options available including self experiences, friends and relatives’ references,
website, social apps, books and guides, travel agencies, fairs and exhibitions, and finally
other sources.
I alre
ady knew of it
My friends a
nd relativ
es
Websit
e
Apps such
as Face
book, blogs,
twitt
er
Books and guides
Travel a
gencies
Fairs and exhibitio
ns
Other s
ources
0
10
20
30
11.3 148.7
30
10.714
6 5.3
Figure 5.1 – The sources of travel-related information about Vietnam
As can be seen from the above figure, the distribution of travel-related
information sources is uneven. Social media channels such as Facebook or Twitter are
proved to be one the most popular sources of information for travellers in Vietnam
(account for 30%). The robust development of the Internet has attracted meticulous
attention from travellers as one of the most convenient and trusts source of
22
information. The high frequency of using those social media networks also contributes
higher chances for information to be reached by the authors.
The second most popular sources of information are the references from friends
and relatives as well as the travel agencies which share the same proportion of 14%.
The reviews from friends and families are listed as the most trustful source of
information because it is the real experiences which are perceived by the closest people
of the respondents. However, this source of information is usually limited because there
are many places where the acquaintances of the travellers have not passed by yet. Thus,
in order to find wider range of information, social media channels with reviews from
strangers are more appreciated. Travel agencies also account for the same proportion
with the references from acquaintances. Travellers who do not want to spend time
searching for information in such tremendous available sources could find the supports
from the travel agencies who are willing to provide travel tours and guides with
detailed information related to the sightseeing. Nevertheless, this source of information
might be costing and prevent the travellers from self exploring the culture in Vietnam
because they are restricted in the tour schedule.
Other 11.3% of the respondents have already visited the place and found the
information by themselves via practical experiences in Vietnam. Other sources of
information share the more modest proportions in which books and guides account for
10.7%, website 8.7%, fairs and exhibitions 6% and other sources 5.3%.
Thus, it can be concluded that in the era of Internet booming, the role of social
media as a source of travel-related information about Vietnam is proved to be critically
important and should be put in the top prioritized concerns.
Then, the author goes closely to identify the most popular channels of social
media which travellers usually use to search for travel related information. There are
six social media channels are put into consideration (Facebook, Twitter, Search engines,
Blogs, Online travel agents such as Agoda, booking.com, and finally Trip Advisor) and
one option for other less popular ones. The results are presented in figure 5.2.
As can be seen from the this figure, Search Engines, Facebook and Trip Advisor
are the three most popular social media channels which are used to search travel-
related information in Vietnam. Most of the respondents (account for 24.7% of the total
sample population) agree that they have the habit of searching in popular search
engines such as Google or C c C c whenever they are in needs of any travel-relatedố ố
23
information. The search engines are so convenient and cost-saving in fact. Furthermore,
it is also advantageous due to the huge quantity of information available. However, the
information available via search engines is not as trustful as expected which requires
the travellers to carefully select the trusted sources among the wide diversity of
information which might be excessively time-consuming.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
22.7
5.3
24.7
14.7
8.7
19.3
4.59999999999999
FacebookTwitterSearch EnginesBlogsOnline travel agents such as Agoda, booking.comTrip AdvisorOther
Figure 5.2 – Popular social media channels which are used to search travel-
related information in Vietnam
Facebook ranks second among the most popular social media channels for
travellers to search information in Vietnam (account for 22.7%). Facebook has become
a daily habit of Vietnamese in which Vietnamese usually have the habit of using
Facebook, making reviews on Facebook and advertising their services on Facebook.
Thus, this result is understandable and Facebook is a rich source of information for
travellers, especially in Vietnam context.
Another 19.3% of the respondents believe in Trip Advisor – a popular website
which receives high trust from travellers for the detail reviews of numerous travel spots
in Vietnam. The detailed information provided in this website is highly appreciated by
numerous tourists indeed. The information provided on this website is evaluated as
trustworthy and diversified. Blogs of famous people are also a good source of
information about traveling for Vietnamese, in fact (account for 14.7% of the
respondents). In the eyes of customers, famous people have chances to travel to many
different destinations from which they have much experience so that their assessments
24
would be more valuable. As a result, it could be said that in Vietnam, the reviews from
famous people in the society have significant impacts on others.
Online travel agencies only draw attention of 8.7% of the respondents.
Interviewed respondents stated that although those agencies provide much
information, they could not reveal the real experiences and feeling of previous
customers so that the reliability of information is not very high. Those respondents also
indicated that they always would like to consult the experiences of other customers
before making their decisions. Twitter is also proved to be not as familiar in Vietnam
like Facebook, many respondents even stated that they do not know what is Twitter.
Thus, only 5.3% of the respondents choose this social network as the channel for
information seeking. Other 4.6% of the respondents choose other sources of social
media in order to look for travel related information. It is interesting that most of these
respondents clarify Zalo as their sources of information seeking.
5.2.2. The impacts of social media on travel-related information
After identifying the social media channels which function as the sources of
travel-related information, the researcher makes attempts to examine the impacts of
the social media tools on travellers. First of all, the frequency of searching the selected
social media for travel-related information is explored.
As can be seen from figure 5.3, the frequency of using social media channels as
the source of travel-related information is different from channel to channel. The most
frequently used social media is proved to be the Search engines which accounts for
47.3% of respondents of often use and 19.5% of very often used respondents. Closely
follow is Facebook with 41% of frequently used respondents and 12.3% of very
frequently used respondents.
It is worth noticing that the third most frequently used method of social media
for searching travel-related information is other sources. 24.7% of the respondents and
11.4% of the respondents assert that they are often or even very often used other
methods besides the mentioned available options in order to search for travel-related
information. Among different available options which are mentioned by the
respondents, Zalo is indicated to be the most popular one. The application of Zalo in
Vietnam market as an online social marketing method has gradually proved its
25
significant role which the travel agencies should pay attention to in order to market
their brand to the potential customers besides other traditional marketing channels.
Not very ofter
Not often
Neutral
Often
Very often
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
8
12.7
26
41
12.3
15.3
37.3
40.7
2.5
4.2
4.6
7.3
21.3
47.3
19.5
7.3
16
47.3
21.4
8
1
19.3
46
16
8.7
5.3
18
44.7
22.7
9.3
7.3
17.3
39.3
24.7
11.4
OthersTrip AdvisorOnline travel agentsBlogsSearch EnginesTwitterFacebook
Figure 5.3 – The frequency of using social media channels as the source of travel-
related information
Twitter and Online Travel Agencies are proved to be the least frequently used
social media channels of the travellers. In fact, up to 37.3% of the respondents who did
not frequently use Twitter to seek information even they have a Twitter account.
Another 15.3% of the travellers even do not have Twitter accounts and many of them
even have never heard about this social network. Online travel agencies are also not
trusted by many travellers that 19.3% of the respondents do not have habit of using the
information from online travel agencies as the references for their travel to Vietnam.
Explaining for this choice, some respondents acknowledged that the information on
26
those websites is provided subjectively by the agencies themselves so that it is not
really reliable.
5.2.3. Motivation of using social media to search travel-related information
There are numerous drivers which motivate travellers to use social media as the
sources of information for their travel in Vietnam. The four most popular of them are
indicated and examined in the following section.
As can be seen from figure 5.4, the distribution of motivation for using social
media channels as the sources of travel-related information is relatively diverse. The
popularity and prestigious name of the social media are proved to be the most
significant reason which motivates travellers to choose that channel as the main source
of information (agreed by up to 36% of the respondents). In fact, the more popular the
social media channel is, the easier the customers could approach the available
information here. Furthermore, Vietnamese customers tend to assume that the well-
known social media will be more trustful indeed.
14
3618
21
11Due to recommenda-tion from my friends and relatives
It is a well-known and prestigious social media
It is a convenient social media
It is an informative social media
Other
Figure 5.4 – The motivation to choose specific social media to search travel –
related information
The informative characteristics of the social media channel is said to have second
strongest impacts on the decision of traveller with 21% of the respondents. The more
detailed the information in the channel is, the more attractive the social media channel
is to the customers. In fact, the travelling places are excessively strange to the travellers
which make them want to have more knowledge about the place as much as possible.
The informative social media channel, thus, is highly appreciated. This is also the reason
27
why Search Engine which enables the travellers to approach a tremendous range of
information is preferred by the travellers.
Closely follow, the convenience of the social media channel also contributes to the
higher preference of travellers to select that source of information of Vietnam’s
traveling places (account for 18% of the respondents). Easy access and available
resources are proved to be a decisive factor which turns a social media into a great
source of travel-related information.
The recommends from friends and relatives rank the forth position regarding the
level of significance with 14% of the respondents. Respondents are usually influenced
by the behaviours of their peer group. For example, if may of the respondents’ friends
use a certain type of social networks for information seeking, it is more possible for the
respondents to also select that network due to the influences and association with those
friends. Other factors account for the left 11% of the respondents.
5.2.4. Types of information which are usually sought by the travellers in the
social network
Regarding the types of the information which are usually sought by the travellers
in the social network distinctively, the findings seem to be very interesting and worth
noticing.
First of all, search engines seem to be a multi-functional tool of information
seeking for travellers. Almost all information is sought by the travellers via this channel
indeed. Respondents tend to find the maps of the area they have intention to go via the
Google maps application of Google – the most famous and popular search engines
currently (account for 74% of the respondents).
Closely follow, the requirement of visa and embassy information are also taken
into consideration by the respondents via search engines (account for 58% of the
respondents. Nevertheless, the visa requirements & embassy information as well as
airline information are more frequently sought by the travellers via Trip Advisor than
search engines (84% and 59% respectively for Trip Advisor). This information requires
the high level of credibility which is assumed to be high in such famous social page like
Trip Advisor.
One of the most worth noticing and concerning issues is the information related to
time, weather and language. This type of information is frequently sought by the
28
travellers via Facebook (account for 93% of the respondents) where the information is
updated on a daily basis which could satisfy the needs of the respondents most
perfectly.
5.2.5. Intentions to use in the near future
As can be seen from figure 5.5, the potential of social networking sites as a source
of travel agencies marketing their products is very huge. There are up to 78% of the
respondents claim that they have the intention to use the social media channel as a
source of seeking travel-related information. Only 22% of the respondents do not have
intention to use those channels again. Thus, it is critical for the travel agencies to utilize
the impacts of social media channels in order to market their products and services to
travellers in the near future.
Yes No0
102030405060708090
78
22
Figure – The intention to use social media in the near future
5.3. Discussions and analysis of the interview data
First of all, when being asked about the most popular online social media channels
that they are frequently used to attract travellers to Vietnam; most interviewees agree
that SEO (search engine optimization) is the most popular method which is applied by
the travel agencies. Respondent B agrees that:
“The current online marketing tools used for my travel agent include Google
Adwords, Online ads, Facebook fanpage, email marketing and SEO. Most of these tools
have their own effectiveness-measuring systems so that the status of usage is measured
frequently. However, SEO is still the most frequently applied method in the end.”
Furthermore, respondent A adds that:
29
“The benefits which bring about by the search engine channels are tremendous and
undeniable which make it become one of the most effective social media methods applied
in our travel agent.”
In the opinions of those respondents, those marketing channels have significantly
improved their business performance by attracting more tourists both domestic and
international ones. They often survey their customers to define the sources of
information about their agent and the result showed that over a half of surveyed
customers accessing the information via online channels. On the other hand, those
interviewees also share the changes in their marketing strategies in recent year. They
indicated that as the modern technology, especially the portable smart devices and
applications, has been very popular in younger education, they gradually switch their
marketing channel from traditional to online and digital ones, especially the
advertisement on mobile devices. Respondents A and B highly appreciated the roles of
digital marketing in attracting their foreign tourists because it could be seen as the main
channel for foreigners to have information about travel agents and tourism
destinations. However, it is also agreed by most interviewees that Facebook and Zalo
are not paid enough attention to by their marketing team which is really a big
disadvantage of the marketing strategy in the travel agents.
Besides developing digital marketing, Vietnam travel agents still pay attention to
develop its marketing strategies for traditional channels such as magazines and
newspapers. Both respondent A and B indicated that there are many customers
approaching their information via traditional marketing channels by reading magazines
or newspapers provided on trains, airplanes, and at stores and at home. However, both
interviewees stated that the number of those customers has gradually decreased while
the number of those accessing information via their digital marketing campaign has
significantly increased. As a result, they both indicated that, in the future, they will
continue taking advantages of digital marketing, especially social media marketing to
publish information and attract both domestic and foreign customers. In addition, they
still advertise their products and services on traditional channels to ensure that they do
not miss any potential customers; however, the budget for those channels will be
decreased.
5.4. Chapter conclusion
30
The above chapter has illustrated the analysis of collected data from the
application of questionnaires and interviews. After all, some interesting findings
relating to the implications of social media in tourism marketing in the eyes of
customers and managers of tourism institutions have been revealed. Basing on those
findings, some recommendations which are expected to be proposed in the next
following section.
31
CHAPTER VI – LIMITATIONS
It is a lie to say someone did not encounter any problems during their process of
conducting a dissertation. Actually, there is always a certain difficulty behind every
success which results into some limitations of the research. The author’s dissertation is
also not an exceptional case.
Firstly, during the data collection, the author has conducted both the
questionnaires and the interviews. The data collection process is relatively difficult. The
author has no experience in collecting primary data through questionnaire survey and
interview before. Thus, initially, he seems to be confused in deciding the reasonable
procedure to collect proper information from the sample population. Then, he turns to
find help from the supervisor and other previous dissertation as a reference. Luckily,
the author has successfully collect adequate data for analysis. However, the sample
population of the questionnaire is only restricted within 150 respondents which is
assumed to be not enough large sources of evidence for constructive validity of the
whole research because it is hard for such small of respondents to represent the whole
population.
Secondly, the preparation and design of the questionnaires might have the
subjectivity from the side of researcher. Although the questionnaires were designed
basing on the analyses of previous literature and consultant of previous research, it
could not avoid little personal ideas of researcher.
Finally, the use of SPSS software is a real challenge to the author. He has no
idea on this software before. Therefore, it takes times and efforts of the author to learn
the way to use SPSS by himself. Thus, the author has made decision to use simpler
software, Microsoft Excel 2010, to analyse the data. It would be better if the author
could apply SPSS in analysing the data but because the author has not deeply
understood the application of this software, he decided to choose a safer software to
avoid the mistakes that might arise in the process of analysing survey data.
32
CHAPTER VII – CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
7.1. Chapter introduction
The previous chapters have made attempts to solve all the mentioned research
questions in the chapter I. In this chapter, therefore, the main findings of the whole
study will be concluded. Furthermore, the recommendations for future development of
the application of social media in the tourism industry will also be proposed.
7.2. Summary of the main findings
The social media channels are proved to be among the best sources of travel-
related information. Social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter are proved to
be the most popular, convenient and trustful sources of information for travellers in
Vietnam due to the robust development of the Internet. The frequency of social media
networks among users is become increasingly high leading to higher chances for
information to be reached by the targeted consumers of the travel agencies. Other
sources of information have its own advantage and disadvantage which are also
discussed. After this analysis, it is once again concluded that social media plays a critical
role as a source of travel-related information which should be put in the top prioritized
concerns of the travel agents.
Secondly, the most popular social media tools are also examined with the
advantages and disadvantages of each individual tool. The travel-related information is
essentially important for the travellers because many of them are unfamiliar with the
travel destinations. Among numerous social media tools, Search Engines, Facebook and
Trip Advisor are proved to be the three most popular channels for travel-related
information. Search Engines are preferred for its convenience and wide diversity of
available data which attract many tourists. However, it is proved to be quite time-
consuming which is also due to the too large quantity of available information.
Facebook stands as the second most popular source of travel-related information
indeed. Facebook has become a daily habit of people not only in Vietnam but worldwide
as well. Facebook, therefore, becomes one of the rich sources of information for
travellers, especially in Vietnam context. However, many customers claim that the
information available in Facebook is somehow limited and not trustful enough in some
cases which are a disadvantage of this social media channel. Trip Advisor is the third
33
most popular channels of social media when travellers want to search travel-related
information. The advantage of this channel is it provides the readers with detailed
information about travelling to different places in Vietnam. However, the information in
this channel is not as updated as that in other channels like Facebook or Search Engines.
Twitter and online travel agencies are proved to be not as popular as expected in
Vietnam. Meanwhile, it is worth noticing that Zalo is a growingly popular social media
channel for travellers to seek information about Vietnam.
Furthermore, regarding the underlying motivation which inspires the travellers to
choose social media as a channel of information seeking for their travel to Vietnam, the
popularity and prestigious name of the social media is proved to be the most influential
factor. This is because of the fact that the more popular the social media channel is, the
easier the customers could approach the available information here. Furthermore,
Vietnamese customers tend to assume that the well-known social media will be more
trustful indeed. Closely follow, the informative characteristics and convenience of the
social media channels as sources of travel-related information. The more detailed and
convenient the social media channels are, the more attractive they are to the customers.
Easy access and available resources with details are proved to be a decisive factor which
turns a social media into a great source of travel-related information.
7.3. Recommendations
The emergence of Zalo in Vietnam tourism market as a popular social media tool
for travellers to seek information related to Vietnam’s travel destinations. However, this
channel is not properly utilized by the travel agents which might be a disadvantage of
them. It is, therefore, critical for the travel agents in Vietnam to advertise their tours as
well as other services in Zalo in order that it could reach larger quantity of customers
and higher level of brand recognition.
Furthermore, regarding the motivation of travellers to choose social media
channel as their source of travel-related information, it is critical to notice that the
popularity, detail and convenience are the three most appreciated characteristics.
Therefore, it is critical for the travel agents to make their advertisement on the social
network not only detail-oriented and trustful but also popular and easy to be
approached. In order to do so, the travel agents must have themselves a content editor
who is responsible for the content of the social media marketing. Furthermore, it is also
34
advisable for travel agents to use popular social media channels such as Search Engines,
Facebook, and Zalo to make their advertising more popular.
7.4. Chapter conclusion
The above mentioned sections have summarized the main findings of the whole
study with the close link with the proposed research objectives which are indicated in
chapter I. At the end, some recommendations have been proposed in order to improve
the effectiveness of marketing campaign in the social media channels of travel agents in
Vietnam in order to attract the attention of more customers.
35
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38
QUESTIONNAIRE
Hi, this questionnaire is designed to discover the usage and impacts of social media on
tourism in Vietnam. It would be grateful if you could spend about 10 minutes
completing this survey by answer the appropriate answer.
Question 1 – Please name your country of residence: ________________________
Question 2 – What is your employment status?
Question 3 – Your year of birth: _________________________
Question 4 – Your gender: _____________________________
Question 5 - How many times have you travelled to Vietnam?
Question 6 – From what source did you find travel-related information about Vietnam?
39
Student
Employed
Self-employed
Unemployed
Retired
Other: ...........................................................................
Once
2 - 3 times
4 - 5 times
More than 5 times
More than 5 times
I already knew of it
My friends and relatives
Website
App such as Facebook, blogs, twitter,
Books and guides
Question 7 – Which social media channels did you use to search travel-related
information?
Question 8 – How often do you search the selected social media for travel-related
information?
Not very often Very often
1 2 3 4 5
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Search Engines
4. Blogs
5. Online travel agents
such as Agoda,
booking.com
6. Trip Advisor
7. Others:
Question 9 – Why did you choose that social media to search travel-related information?
40
Travel agencies
Fairs and exhibitions
Other source: ____________________________________
Search engines
Blogs
Online travel agents such as Agoda, booking.com
Trip Advisor
Other: ____________________________________
Due to recommendation from my friends and relatives
Question 10 – What kind of information can you find in the social media channel that
you have used?
Airline
Informatio
n
Visa
Requirement
s & Embassy
Information
Health
RelatedMaps
Currenc
y
Time,
weather
and
language
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Search Engines
4. Blogs
5. Online travel agents
such as Agoda,
booking.com
6. Trip Advisor
7. Others:
Question 11 - Are you satisfied with the information provided by the selected social
media?
Completely dissatisfied Completely satisfied
1 2 3 4 5
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Search Engines
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It is a well-known and prestigious social media
It is a convenient social media
It is an informative social media
Other: ____________________________________
4. Blogs
5. Online travel agents
such as Agoda,
booking.com
6. Trip Advisor
7. Others:
Question 12 – Will you use the selected social media again?
Yes. Why? ______________________________________________
No. Why? _______________________________________________
Thank you very much for your contribution!
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INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Here is the list of interview questions designed for travel agencies in Vietnam to reveal
what they have done to attract customers from online social media.
Question 1 – What online social media channels do you use to attract travellers to
Vietnam? What effective are these strategies and how has it help to increase tourist
arrivals to Vietnam? With the increase in technology used among the younger
generation, how has it change the way travel agencies does their marketing?
Question 2 – What are the various marketing strategies that the travel agents used to
appeal to visitors to VN? Is digital marketing more effective than traditional marketing?
Question 3 – So far what is the most effective strategy that you used to appeal visitors to
Vietnam?
Question 4 – Are you able to share with me your campaigns and programs that take
advantage of social media to attract travellers to VN?
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CÂU H I PH NG V NỎ Ỏ ẤĐây là danh sách các câu h i ph ng v n đ c thi t k cho các công ty du l ch t i Vi tỏ ỏ ấ ượ ế ế ị ạ ệ
Nam v cách h dùng m ng xã h i tr c tuy n đ thu hút khách hàng. ề ọ ạ ộ ự ế ểCâu 1 – B n dùng kênh m ng xã h i tr c tuy n nào đ thu hút khách hàng t i Vi tạ ạ ộ ự ế ể ớ ệ
Nam? Hi u qu c a các kênh này nh th nào và nó giúp gì cho vi c tăng s l ngệ ả ủ ư ế ệ ố ượ
khách du l ch đ n Vi t Nam? S ph bi n c a vi c s d ng công ngh trong thê h trị ế ệ ự ổ ế ủ ệ ử ụ ệ ệ ẻ
đã thay đ i ph ng th c marketing c a các công ty du l ch nh th nào? ổ ươ ứ ủ ị ư ếCâu 2 – Các công ty du l ch th ng dùng các chi n l c marketing gì đ thu hút kháchị ườ ế ượ ể
du l ch t i Vi t Nam? Vi c s d ng marketing kỹ thu t s (digital marketing) có hi uị ớ ệ ệ ử ụ ậ ố ệ
qu h n các kênh marketing truy n th ng?ả ơ ề ốCâu 3 – Hi n nay chi n l c nào là chi n l c hi u qu nh t mà b n đã t ng s d ngệ ế ượ ế ượ ệ ả ấ ạ ừ ử ụ
đ thu hút khách du l ch t i Vi t Nam?ể ị ớ ệCâu 4 – B n có th chia s v chi n d ch và ch ng trình mà b n đã t ng th c hi n đãạ ể ẻ ề ế ị ươ ạ ừ ự ệ
s d ng hi u qu m ng xã h i đ thu hút khách du l ch t i Vi t Nam không?ử ụ ệ ả ạ ộ ể ị ớ ệ
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