Lebanon’s area is ranked 170th on earth (CIA, 2014). It is smaller than the size of Connecticut, one of the smallest states in in the us. Moreover, Lebanon is one of the few democratic countries in the centre East region. Regarding its economy, Lebanon is really a free market economy and has a very long tradition of laissez-faire economics. Along with its coastal location on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Lebanon is considered as the central ‘window’ of the center East to Europe, North Africa, and the rest of the world. Because of this, its economy went 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, it is also one of the most diverse nations in the world. Christians, Muslims, Druze, along with other minority sects are spread all around the small nation and even 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 required condition of the country’s sectarian civil war and currently plays an important role in its political paralysis, although other factors (mainly foreign) are to blame as well. There’s 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 managed to get a foreign policy/proxy battleground for foreign nations, each using Lebanon for its own selfish ends.
The sad political realities of the united states have significantly hurt the country’s economy. Also, since Lebanon is a service-based economy, this specific sector has taken the biggest hit.
Tourism plays a substantial role in the country’s economy. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Economy & Trade (MOET), “Tourism is definitely among Lebanon’s leading economic sectors” (Economic Research Unit, 2010).
Furthermore, THE PLANET 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 composed 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 country as well as some other factors. Moreover, Lifestyle Enhancement of tourist arrivals in the united kingdom kept decreasing from 2011 to 2013.
Because the tourism industry has been somewhat floundering in the past few years, the room for error becomes very small for businesses in this industry. The political & economic situations are squeezing tourist-related (TR) businesses in Lebanon. Which means that these businesses are forced to accomplish more to create up for increasing losses (or decreasing profits) sufficient reason for fewer resources. There is absolutely 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 during these times such as implementing downsizing policies and cutting back on marketing & advertising budgets. When economic recessions and tough times affect businesses, the first things to get eliminated are often marketing budgets. But especially since TR businesses should do more marketing to make up for lost businesses, it isn’t really a good idea.
One solution to this issue is to benefit from Social Media Marketing strategies given that they cost little to no resources, perfect for the current economic situation in Lebanon. Social media marketing allows TR businesses to overcome obstacles of limited budgets and decreased business.
Problem Statement
During the past couple of years, the positive effect of social media marketing 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 particular brand are more likely to recommend and purchase from these brands than non-fans (Cruz & Mendelsohn, 2011). But, we don’t need to make certain of social media’s impact on business through research studies. For social media users, which include over 30% of the world, this fact is known. A growing number of businesses are inserting Social media tools into their marketing strategies and, sometimes, have even become a fundamental element of their overall business strategy.
Naturally, one would expect that Lebanese businesses would quickly adopt SOCIAL MEDIA as a key role within their overall marketing strategies but this is simply not the case. In terms of the Middle East and especially Lebanon, the spot is far behind the West in social media usage. Not only that, with regards to businesses mixed up in tourism industry, there is much room for growth. Little investment in technology is keeping tourist businesses from maximizing marketing opportunities given by social media.
The Lebanese tourism industry is not taking advantage of social media marketing tactics even though the advantages of doing so are apparent. This presents a great 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 tools as they should. This presents an enormous problem in the waste of resources and significant missed opportunities as a larger target audience could be reached via social media enabling businesses that adopt social media marketing tools gain a better potential for success and prosperity