The role of social media for sustainable development in mountain region tourism in Pakistan

ABSTRACT

This research letter focuses on tourist behavior and tourism business operators’ contributions to rural mountain region economic growth and sustainable development when using social media. Data were collected from 43 interviews from different tourism business operators, and a questionnaire survey of 576 tourists from the Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Drawing on development communication theory, the study reveals that there is a positive relationship between the tourists’ intentions and rural mountain region sustainable development. The study also reveals that most tourists are willing to pay more taxes when touring mountain regions. The real business outcomes from tourism business operators show that rural mountain region tourism creates better employment opportunities for the rural population. All tourists demonstrated the motivation to take part in rural mountain region sustainable development while touring rural locations. The study also offers policy implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainable development
• mountain tourism
• employment
• social media
• quality of life
• income growth

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.