Australian tourism operators: What are they up to on social media?

Despite research on social media marketing (SMM) gaining popularity in the last decade, there are still significant gaps remaining, especially when it comes to SMM’s practices of tourism operators. The aim of this study is to assess the SMM’s practices of small to medium tourism operators in Australia. More specifically, the paper reports on the most popular social media platforms used by Australian tourism operators; self-rating of their SMM’s expertise; how often they utilise SMM plans; and business/marketing objectives they are trying to achieve through SMM. The research findings indicate that it is valuable for tourism practitioners to better understand their target audience and devise their SMM strategy accordingly. The paper concludes by outlining implications of the findings and future research directions.