DefinePK

Abstract

The study examines the role of Facebook as a tool of marketing tourism in Karachi, their use in influencing perceptions, decision-making and interaction between tourists and other local stakeholders in the destinations. The qualitative research technique has been employed where 200 residents of Karachi were interviewed and the gathered information was interpreted with the help of thematic analysis. The results identified five key areas: Facebook as a digital promotional platform, the importance of user-generated content to create a sense of ground-truth, the role of the platform in engaging communities, its impact on tourist decision-making and the issues of misinformation and unorganized official campaigns. The research findings are that Facebook has become an essential tool in advertising the tourism of Karachi by lending visibility, authenticity and interactivity. The opportunities it offers are, however, limited by adverse image and incoherent actions. It is worth noting that tourism authorities and marketers should have a more organized method of using Facebook in attaining sustainable tourism promotions.