Lebanon’s area is ranked 170th on earth (CIA, 2014). It is smaller compared to the size of Connecticut, one of many smallest states in in America. Moreover, Lebanon is one of the few democratic countries in the Middle East region. Regarding its economy, Lebanon is a free market economy and has a very long tradition of laissez-faire economics. As well as its coastal location on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Lebanon is recognized as the central ‘window’ of the center East to Europe, North Africa, and the rest of the world. Due to this, its economy has gone through some very prosperous times and was even once called the ‘Paris’ of the center East before the nation’s 15 year-long bloody civil war which ended in 1990.
Also, although Lebanon is tiny, additionally it is probably the most diverse nations on the globe. Christians, Muslims, Druze, and other minority sects are spread all over the small nation and also Lebanon’s political system is based on sectarian power sharing.
However, this diversity had played a pivotal role in the nation’s problems. This diversity was a necessary condition of the country’s sectarian civil war and currently plays a significant role in its political paralysis, although other factors (mainly foreign) are at fault as well. There is currently no acting President and the country’s rival political parties keep bickering and preventing instead of facilitating the country’s development.
Furthermore, Lebanon’s proximity to Israel has made it a foreign policy/proxy battleground for foreign nations, each using Lebanon for its own selfish ends.
The sad political realities of the country have significantly hurt the country’s economy. Also, since Lebanon is really a service-based economy, this specific sector has taken the largest hit.
Tourism plays a significant role in the country’s economy. In line with the Lebanese Ministry of Economy & Trade (MOET), “Tourism has long been one of Lebanon’s leading economic sectors” (Economic Research Unit, 2010).
Furthermore, The World Travel & Tourism Council estimated that the travel & tourism sector in Lebanon contributed over $4 billion dollars in 2013 (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2014).
The travel & tourism sector made up about 10% of the economy in 2012 but that share dropped to 9% in 2013 (ibid, p. 14). That is due to the political situation in the united kingdom as well as various other factors. Moreover, the amount of tourist arrivals in the united kingdom kept decreasing from 2011 to 2013.
Since the tourism industry has been somewhat floundering in the past few years, the area for error becomes very small for businesses in this industry. The political & economic situations are squeezing tourist-related (TR) businesses in Lebanon. This means that these businesses are forced to accomplish more to make up for increasing losses (or decreasing profits) sufficient reason for fewer resources. There is no telling when the political & economy in Lebanon will improve especially since the civil war in neighboring Syria shows no signs of abating.
There are many ways that Lebanese TR businesses can adapt of these times such as for example implementing downsizing policies and cutting back on marketing & advertising budgets. When economic recessions and tough times affect businesses, the first what to get eliminated are often marketing budgets. But especially since TR businesses should do more marketing to create up for lost businesses, this may not be a good idea.
One solution to this problem is to benefit from Social Media Marketing strategies since they cost little to no resources, ideal for the current economy in Lebanon. Social media marketing allows TR businesses to overcome obstacles of limited budgets and decreased business.
Problem Statement
During the past few years, the positive effect of social media on business has been extremely high (Kaplan et al., 2010; Stelzner, 2010; Treem & Leonardi, 2012, p. 143; Baker & Green, 2014).
Moreover, Facebook and Twitter fans of a specific brand are more likely to recommend and buy from these brands than non-fans (Cruz & Mendelsohn, 2011). But, we don’t need to make certain of social media’s effect on business through clinical tests. For social media users, which include over 30% of the planet, this fact is known. An increasing number of businesses are inserting Social media tools into their marketing strategies and, occasionally, have even become an integral part of their overall business strategy.
Naturally, one would expect that Lebanese businesses would quickly adopt Social Media Marketing as a key role within their overall marketing strategies but this is simply not the case. With regards to the Middle East and especially Lebanon, the region is far behind the West in social media marketing usage. Luxury Travel Experiences that, when it comes to businesses mixed up in tourism industry, there’s much room for growth. Little investment in technology is keeping tourist businesses away from maximizing marketing opportunities distributed by social media.
The Lebanese tourism industry is not taking advantage of social media marketing tactics even though the advantages of doing this are apparent. This presents an excellent problem especially because the economy is going through a very rough time.
Moreover, Lebanese TR businesses and businesses in Lebanon generally are not adopting social media marketing tools because they should. This presents an enormous problem in the waste of resources as well as significant missed opportunities as a larger target audience could be reached via social media marketing enabling businesses that adopt social media marketing tools gain a better chance of success and prosperity