Abstract:

More and more people are turning to digital media to learn about the benefits offered by tourism services, and this becomes a factor when making a decision. The aim of this research is to analyze the relationship between social networking strategies and the consumers’ intention of buying from tourism businesses. For the purpose of this research, the subjects of study are customers from five restaurants located in the gastronomic zone of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Tourism businesses were selected through the observation technique, which allowed identifying those with constant activity in their social networks. 378 surveys were applied, and they were distributed based on the average number of diners reported by the managers of each organization. The results show that the Internet is the medium most used by consumers when searching for services; likewise, the social network preferred by respondents while searching for restaurants is Facebook. It was also shown that there is an average correlation between social networks strategies and the purchase intention. In this way, it is necessary to implement a digital strategy as part of the corporate business project to achieve the desired impact. Through the experience gained, the strategy can be adapted to the needs exposed by Internet users. The process should be clear about the goals expected in agreement with the necessary resources for the success of the project. Keywords: Innovation, Social Networks, Strategy, Purchase Intention, Tourism.

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