The impact of social media influencers on student’s travel destination choice : a comparative study between the University of Malta and Canterbury Christ Church University students

Abstract

Travelling and visiting destinations has been part of of the lives of many people for centuries. Tourism continues to grow in the digital age with better access to different online platforms. Social media is a growing phenomenon in the youth age- since youths are actively investing a considerable amount of their time on social media, including when they choose a destination. The growing in popularity of social media influencers on different platforms is gradually affecting the consumer behaviour in the travel industry. The aim of this study focuses on the impact of social media influencers on student’s destination choice while comparing two universities, the University of Malta and Canterbury Christ Church University, to find any differences and similarities regarding the identified impact. Throughout this research, social media, social media influencers, the destination image and choice as well as the consumer decision-making process is explained and researched in detail. The research was conducted to satisfy a gap in the literature for which little emphasis has been given to the area of investigating the impact of social media influencers on student’s destination choice. The findings exposed that students have trust issues with social media influencers when choosing a destination. The primary data revealed that influencers mainly influence students when they recommend a travel place on their platforms with images and videos. Furthermore, it turned out that those online users who follow a travel influencer; are more influenced by these opinion leaders. Lastly, the research revealed that the comparison between the two universities is not big. Although Canterbury Christ Church University students, are more influenced by an influencer because the students are more diverse when it comes to nationality. The findings indicate that somehow, social media influencers do have an impact on travel students.