What Attracts Tourists on Social Media? A Semiotic Analysis on Turkey-Greece Destinations

Abstract

Destination promotion, in general terms, refers to the transfer of touristic products and services of the destination created for the tourists determined as the target audience, through channels using visual and auditory materials. Among the purposes of touristic promotion are to position the core values and capabilities of the destination in question by creating a positive image in the minds of tourists by executing various marketing strategies, to activate travel motivations through the senses, to increase sales volume, to increase the attractiveness of destinations and to disseminate existing information about products and services. can be sorted. In this context, the subject of the research is the interpretation of the images related to the promotion in the state-supported social media accounts (Instagram) of the destinations. From this point of view, the aim of the research is to analyze and make sense of the first two images, which are the most liked for each destination, among the images in the state-supported official social media accounts of Turkey and Greece in the Mediterranean basin. This research reveals what the users, who can be considered as potential tourists, who follow Turkey and Greece as touristic destinations on Instagram, pay attention to what they pay attention to in the images, after the promotional activities are carried out in digital environments in accordance with the post-modern age. The study is considered important in terms of contributing to more effective promotional activities for the next promotional materials by analyzing the meanings of the most liked images and contributing to stand out from competing destinations in terms of promotion on Instagram. According to the results of the findings obtained from the research, it is interpreted that the promotions made through the visuals of the destinations through social media are effective on individuals.