In the past two decades, online media has greatly influenced our lives and become the most important part of our modern society. In the article Neo-Marshallian nodes in global networks（2017), Thrift and Amin found that more than 25% of all the people in the world utilize at least one form of social media and this number is rapidly growing around the globe. Thrift and Amin define social media as the use of the Internet and cell phone technology to create and share interactive content. A single user will usually create the content, which in turn is propagated by other users through many outlets. Potential travelers to a particular tourist destination will depend on other tourists’ experiences posted on a social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp to make a decision to travel. This can reduce risks and at the same time increase the desire as well as the confidence of travelers. Online media has become an important part of the tourism industry in modern society because it influences the way tourists create, organize and consume tourism products.

The rapid development of technology has changed the way the world communicates on many levels. Online media has become a necessity in enhancing the tourism sector. In the article Seeing Social Media More as Portal than as Pitfall, Klass (2012) argues that people utilize technology to chat with one another even when they are in the same room. Despite the fact that people are crazy about using technology, this also implies that people are able to share experiences they encountered in a given tourist destination with one another and influence each other in making decisions to travel to a tourist destination. Online media enables people to get the most current information regarding a particular tourist destination, hence, motivating them to travel to the destination which,  in turn, leads to an influx of tourists to that particular destination. With the increase in the number of tourists in a given destination, host community members are able to gain more income, thus raising their living standards.

Online media has been utilized to sensitize people to the importance of sustainable tourism to tourist destinations. Through posts on social media platforms, tourists are now informed in advance of some of the expectations of the host community. They are made aware of how they should behave when they are at a given destination. They are enlightened in advance of the host community’s traditions and customs. Online media prevents some unnecessary conflicts that may arise because of tourists acting contrary to the expectation of the host community. In most instances, the host community has its own dress code, and it will always expect visitors to respect their dress code and adopt its dress code while at the destination. However, tourism providers should be aware that online media has no exact regulations on how to use it. It will be difficult to control and confine it to particular standards that would promote sustainable tourism in a tourist destination. Some tourists who may feel dissatisfied because they were denied the opportunity to carry out certain tourism activities in a given tourist destination may comment negatively regarding that destination. This may eventually affect that tourist destination’s image and reputation, hence reducing the chances of attracting potential tourists.

Online media also supports the profitability and competitiveness of the tourism industry. Tourism systems utilize databases and software for inventory control and for tactical administration. The Internet, Intranet, and Extranet have been used by tourism providers to serve customers better. Customer management systems have made checking in and out of hotels easy and efficient, making most of the hotels more competitive and profitable. Customers would always want efficiency in the provision of services in hotels and ecolodges. Online media has enabled tourism providers to enhance their services to tourists. Tourists are now promptly served, as they are able to book hotel rooms in advance on the Internet without having to travel all the way to the tourist destination to book rooms.

Unlike traditional media like the newspaper, which is a one-way communication channel, online media possesses participatory and selectivity functions. Online media enables tourism providers to get immediate feedback from their customers, enabling them to improve their products and services to customers. It also permits tourism providers to reach individual customers who are their target audience. This is contrary to traditional media, which transmits information to large groups without a specific target group. In addition, online media is affordable and it has an increased number of connections. This implies that tourism providers do not spend much money on promoting their tourism activities and products to potential visitors. In the article The psychology of the Internet(2015), Wallace argues that online media have similar features, for example, immediate broadcast and explosive transmission that enable easy promotion of tourism products. This implies that promotional tools such as Facebook, Microblogs, and YouTube are likely to be used by tourism organizations in the promotion of tourism.

 In a nutshell, online media has enabled tourist destinations to promote their products easily and cheaply, and also makes the tourism industry more competitive and profitable. Tourists have also been sensitized to the importance of practicing sustainable tourism at the tourist destination which, in turn, has helped the local community benefit from tourism rather than incurring costs because of tourism. In today’s fast-paced society, online media will always be a perfect choice for everyone to rely on.

Works Cited
Klass, P. Seeing Social Media More as Portal than as Pitfall. The New York Times. (January 2012).
Thrift, Nigel, and Ash Amin. "Neo-Marshallian nodes in global networks." Economy. Routledge, 2017. 159-175
Wallace, Patricia. The psychology of the Internet. Cambridge University Press, 2015