The effects of tourism on the environment Attitudes and beliefs towards the use of social media when travelling: geotagging Can social media used by tourists be harmful to the environment?

Abstract

The surge of social media has reshaped the tourism industry from within, and has been impacted by new technologies specially social networks as they influence who wants to travel where, for how long, to do what, and at what prices (Buckley et. al., 2015). It has changed the way people travel and interact, sharing information and pictures of their travels online leading to a phenomenon known as “geotagging”, where individuals tag the location where a picture was taken on a social media post, which can cause overtourism and environmental concerns. This study aimed to further investigate travellers' attitudes and beliefs towards the use of social media when travelling and the subsequent impact on the environment. For that purpose, three research questions were put forward, on wether travellers 1) think tourism can be harmful to the environment, 2) think that social media use when travelling negatively affects the environment, and 3) benefit from geotagging and are aware of its potential harmful effect. The study found that travellers use social media for travel planning purposes as well as during their trips which often imacts their decision-making process and creates expectations that sometimes are not met, in most cases participating in the “geotagging” phenomenon. Travellers recognised the impact travelling has on the environment and were keen to modify their behaviour to adapt to the rising environmental crisis even unaware of the actual impact their travelling decisions and actions had on the environment.