Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic has been described as one of the greatest health and economic crises of the century. As the impact of Covid-19 on tourism has been unpacked, domestic tourism has notably featured as a key factor in the re-starting of the industry. The study investigates the influence of social media on the tourism industry during the period of Covid-19 from March 2020 until March 2022 with a specific focus on, domestic tourism in South Africa. The study aimed to gain insight into how tourism organisations utilised social media amid Covid-19, analyse how domestic South African tourists were either motivated or discouraged to travel by social media and identify and categorise key emerging themes in the usage of social media from the perspective of tourism organisations and from tourists. Following a mixed study design approach, interviews were conducted with tourism organisations that could provide valuable insight on their use of social media. In addition, responses were collected from South African domestic travellers, through a questionnaire, to understand how they utilised social media during the Covid-19 pandemic. Key findings revealed social media influenced travellers’ perceptions of a destination, the effectiveness of social media, how destination marketing organisations (DMOs)/tourism organisations foster relationships with tourists, and that most importantly DMOs/tourism organisations must have an online social media presence. The study emphasises the importance of social media in tourism, particularly in domestic tourism.