Resumen de Projecting a destination image through facebook: The role and challenges of destination management organizations

Mónica Coronel, Leonardo Torres León, Imelda Avecillas Torres, Cristina Barzallo Neira

• This study exploreshow the image of a destination-an intermediate city of South America-is projected by theDMOon the official Facebook page, and how this social networking is managed by the DMO.To this end,454posts from the officialDMO’sFacebook page overone year, consistingof text, illustrations (photographs, banners, graphics) and videos,were analysed usingtwo approaches, inductiveand deductive.Findings reveal that postsmainly compriseplaces in the city-tourist hot spots-and dismiss activities and people (locals and visitors), which projects the image of a mass tourism destination. Content ismainly informative andnot always on tourism-related topics. The pandemic significantly impacted the type of content published duringthe study period. The DMO fails to project on Facebook a consistent and well-differentiated imageof the city. The DMO’s lack of political independence from the local government influences the content and purpose of the publications.The study reflectsthe impact of social networks on the projection of the image of a destination. It highlights the usefulness of visual resources in tourism promotionand their possibleimpact on the expectations and motivations of potential visitors. Furthermore, it outlines an approach to assessing the projected image of a destination through social media by categorizing three elements -places, activities, and people-shown in the posts. The current work offers valuableinsights to DMOs on social media management strategies, especially Facebook.