In the early days of social marketing, there was minute rivalry for the money and today the rivalry has increase greatly and you can spend a big sum of money on a Facebook advertisement campaign, for example and get no return on your investment. Just like there was the struggle for space in the newspaper some years ago, you are now competing for eyes on social media, since social media by its very nature is a short attention span media and it is ten times tougher to get their attention than it was seen with a newspaper advert. Social media has changed the landscape of marketing in the leisure and hospitality industry as most tourists determine their travel plans based on the reviews they get from social media and also social media shares, thus making online customer service a decisive part of building a positive brand reputation. The predominance of social media has disrupted the old-style customer service models for the hotels and travel agencies. By creating positive reviews in the minds of travellers or tourists and also encouraging social media shares, hospitality brands can influence social media to build positive brand awareness, increase brand loyalty, and thus display just how much their accommodations and actions have to offer (www. hospitalitytech.com). The social media have a huge influence on all walks of our lives and therefore the tourism industry is no exception and societies often rely on social networks to learn about new travel destinations and plan their trips. They equally part their online travel experiences and special moments, their opinions about hotels, restaurants, airlines or car rental services and this also influences peers’ decisions about their future trips. Indeed, social media play a big role in the tourism and hospitality industry especially in decision-making, marketing campaigns’ creation and communication with customers. Also, tourism and hospitality depends to a great extent on the verbal message; opinions, recommendations and comments on social platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and twitter thus enabling customers to share suggestions and tips [1].

Background of Buea Subdivion

Social scientists revealed that Buea was founded by a hunter in search of game and he was Eye Njie Tama Lifanje who came from the Bomboko clan behind the Buea Mountain (Mount Cameroon or Mount Fako). On that fateful day while in search of animals but there were no game to be hunted only a vast peace of hospitable land that could harbour his family. Eyé Njie named it “Mwea”, meaning, hospitable land for farming. This settlement soon grew into a clan but made delayed progress until the later part of the 19^th century when there was an influx of Europeans into Africa for exploration and colonialism. Buea was made the colonial Capital in 1884 by the Germans when they colonized Cameroon (Kamerun). They were marvelled by the Town’s picturesque landscape, iridescent vegetation, unique weather, and most especially its strategic position accentuated by the Majestic Mount Cameroon 4100 m above sea level. Buea later became the capital of the Southern Cameroon and West Cameroon between 1954 and 1972 respectively. Buea is presently the headquarters of the South West Region with an estimated population above 200.000 inhabitants. It is a highly complex community caught between a blend of urban, semi urban, rural and traditional settings and it covers 870 square kilometres surface area [2].

Social media is the collective of online communications channels committed to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and teamwork. It is equally a series of websites and applications designed to allow people to part content rapidly, resourcefully and in real-time. Most people today still define social media as apps on their smartphone or tablet but the truth is, this message tool started with computers and this misapprehension stems from the fact that most social media users access their tools via these apps (www.thebalance.com). Majority of customers admit that they trust earned media that include recommendations from associates, friends and family, rather than advertising. Besides, customers are prone to like photo posts on Facebook and find inspiration for their holidays and travel plans. Even when not fully aware of it, our “likes”, comments and conversations may affect our travel decision making. One cannot deny that social media platforms are a powerful tool and their influence on tourism will grow. Not accepting and adopting to their ever-growing impact on tourism industry, but using only old-fashioned marketing methods will eventually have a negative influence on one’s business (www.linkedin.com). An error retailers make is by using social media to talk about what is important to them rather than speaking about what is significant to the customer, therefore as a retailer, you may think it is great to shout that you have a sale going on and in some regards this would be true. Nevertheless if that is the reason you are getting involved in social media it will do nothing for you as your goal should be to provide content that is relevant to your customer and engages them to the point that they may want to share your post to others. If you are engage in social media, engage your customer and involve them in a dialogue while asking their opinions (www.thebalance.com) [3].

Both primary and secondary methods of data collection was use for this research work with the primary data relying on information gotten from the hospitality establishment while the secondary reveals information that was gotten from the website and archive of the same hospitality establishment. Nevertheless some researchers suggest that that a single research technique may use both qualitative and quantitative techniques as well as it can also use both primary and secondary data with each of them having their own strength and weaknesses.

From Table 1 above, the researcher examined the following research questions in order to have an inside about the use of social sites by one hundred employees of fifteen hotel establishments in Buea Subdivision.

Social media sites vis-a-vis travel research

From Table 1 above, 85% of the respondents or employees of the fifteen hospitality establishments in Buea Subdivision agree that social media sites have eased the search for travel information and 15% of the respondents disagree. The most profound effect that social media has had on the tourism industry to date is the democratization of online reviews and today’s tourists go online to research their future travel destinations and accommodations.

Relation of social media and sharing of information

From Table 1 above, 90% of the respondents or employees of the fifteen hospitality establishments in Buea Subdivision agree that social media sites thus facilitate the social sharing of information while 10% of the respondents disagree. People have always loved sharing photos and videos taken of their travels and with presence of social media sites, it has enlarge societies’ ability to share travel experiences with a wider audience than ever before and thus building an persuasive web of peer-to-peer content that serves to inspire possible guests. 

Social media vis-à-vis customer service enhancement in the tourism and hospitality industry

From Table 1 above, 95% of the respondents of the fifteen hospitality establishments in Buea Subdivision agree that social media has boosted customer service especially in the tourism and hospitality industry while 5% of the respondents disagree with the above statement. Customer service and satisfaction have also been changed as a result of social media and the vast majority of brands have a social media presence that is being used to become aware of and, when necessary, to provide help to unsatisfied or confused customers. The companies that respond to complaints in a sincere and genuine manner develop a strong reputation among current and potential customers hence social media can serve as a social listening tool to find out information about your guests.

Social media and relationship to loyalty programs in businesses

From Table 1 above, 65% of the respondents of the fifteen hospitality establishment in Buea Subdivision agree that social media has altered loyalty programs in businesses while 35% disagrees with the above statement. As most salespersons know that acquiring new customers is far more expensive than retaining existing ones, loyalty programs have become a core piece of the travel business model, and social media has had a huge impact on how hotel loyalty programs are constructed. Many customers understand that the opinions that they share with their individual networks have tremendous influence and as a result, these guests feel entitled to compensation for the positive word-of-mouth marketing that they are doing for a brand.

Social media plays a significant role in many aspects of tourism, especially in information search and decision-making behaviours, tourism promotion and in focusing on best practices for interacting with consumers. Leveraging off social media to market tourism products has proven to be an excellent strategy. Social media has been nothing short of a revolution in communication, politics and travel, but we as locals and conscious travellers, we do have a moral responsibility to selectively tweet or post things.

1. Abam EN. Tourism in Cameroon - A Case Study Approach ISBN-13LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2017.
2. Abam EN. The Negative Environmental Effect of the Guinness Mount Cameroon Race a Case study of Buea Subdivision. Arabian J Bus Manag Review 2016; 6: 279.
3. Veal AJ. Research methods for leisure and tourism- a practical guide, 3ed. Prentice Hall: Malaysia CTP-VVP, 2006.

Table 1: Variables showing the use of social media sites by one hundred employees of fifteen hotel establishments in Buea Subdivision.