THE TRUSTWORTHINESS OF TRAVEL AND TOURISM INFORMATION SOURCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA: A PERSPECTIVE OF INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF ASIA AND THE PACIFIC EMPLOYEES

Abstract

The credibility of social media travel information sources remains a contentious subject among scholars, prompting this research to delve into the trustworthiness of such sources. Travel plans hinge on accurate and reliable information. Planning your future trips and having social media as your information source is important to have a credible source to ensure that you will receive trustworthy details about destinations, accommodations, transportation, and local customs of the place you wish to visit. Social media can be a breeding ground for swindles and fraudulent schemes targeting travelers. Credible information sources help travelers distinguish between legitimate services and potential fraud. Through a quantitative approach, this study aims to unravel the reliability of travel and tourism information disseminated across social media platforms, specifically scrutinizing the perspectives of International School of Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) employees. This study will survey 34 respondents of ISAP employees but will not cover the administrative staff and MCNP employees. A meticulously designed set of structured questionnaires was employed, utilizing printed surveys to collect and gather data. Statistical techniques including Frequency Count, Percentage Distribution, Weighted Mean, One-way ANOVA, Independent Sample T-test, and Regression Analysis were meticulously applied for data analysis. The overarching conclusion of this inquiry suggests that the trustworthiness of travel and tourism information shared on social media, as perceived by ISAP employees, hinges on a delicate equilibrium between the authenticity of shared experiences and the critical appraisal of content. ISAP employees ascertain the credibility of information, data, experiences, and details provided by social media, underscoring its substantial influence on their decision-making processes when planning future trips.