Lebanon’s area is ranked 170th on earth (CIA, 2014). It really is smaller compared to the size of Connecticut, one of the smallest states in in America. Moreover, Lebanon is one of the few democratic countries in the centre East region. Regarding its economy, Lebanon is a free market economy and contains an extremely long tradition of laissez-faire economics. In addition to its coastal location on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Lebanon is recognized as the central ‘window’ of the center East to Europe, North Africa, and all of those other world. For this reason, its economy has gone through some very prosperous times and was even once called the ‘Paris’ of the Middle East prior to the nation’s 15 year-long bloody civil war which ended in 1990.

Also, although Lebanon is tiny, additionally it is one of the diverse nations on the globe. Christians, Muslims, Druze, along with other minority sects are spread all around the small nation and also Lebanon’s political system is dependant on sectarian power sharing.

However, this diversity had played a pivotal role in the country’s problems. This diversity was a required condition of the country’s sectarian civil war and currently plays an important role in its political paralysis, although other factors (mainly foreign) are to blame as well. There’s currently no acting President and the country’s rival political parties keep bickering and preventing instead of facilitating the country’s development.

Furthermore, Lebanon’s proximity to Israel has made it a foreign policy/proxy battleground for foreign nations, each using Lebanon for its own selfish ends.

Motivational Content of the country have significantly hurt the country’s economy. Also, since Lebanon is a service-based economy, this specific sector has taken the biggest hit.

Tourism plays a significant role in the country’s economy. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Economy & Trade (MOET), “Tourism is definitely among Lebanon’s leading economic sectors” (Economic Research Unit, 2010).

Furthermore, The World Travel & Tourism Council estimated that the travel & tourism sector in Lebanon contributed over $4 billion dollars in 2013 (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2014).

The travel & tourism sector made up about 10% of the economy in 2012 but that share dropped to 9% in 2013 (ibid, p. 14). This is because of the political situation in the united kingdom as well as some other factors. Moreover, the quantity of tourist arrivals in the country kept decreasing from 2011 to 2013.

Because the tourism industry has been somewhat floundering before few years, the room for error becomes really small for businesses in this industry. The political & economic situations are squeezing tourist-related (TR) businesses in Lebanon. This means that these businesses are forced to accomplish more to create up for increasing losses (or decreasing profits) and with fewer resources. There is absolutely no telling when the political & economic situation in Lebanon will improve especially since the civil war in neighboring Syria shows no signs of abating.

There are many ways that Lebanese TR businesses can adapt during these times such as for example implementing downsizing policies and cutting back on marketing & advertising budgets. When economic recessions and a down economy affect businesses, the first what to get eliminated are usually marketing budgets. But especially since TR businesses should do more marketing to make up for lost businesses, this may not be a good idea.

One solution to this issue is to take full advantage of Social Media Marketing strategies given that they cost little to no resources, ideal for the current economy in Lebanon. Social media marketing allows TR businesses to overcome obstacles of limited budgets and decreased business.

Problem Statement

During the past few years, the positive effect of social media marketing on business has been extremely high (Kaplan et al., 2010; Stelzner, 2010; Treem & Leonardi, 2012, p. 143; Baker & Green, 2014).

Moreover, Facebook and Twitter fans of a specific brand are more likely to recommend and purchase from these brands than non-fans (Cruz & Mendelsohn, 2011). But, we don’t need to make sure of social media’s effect on business through clinical tests. For social media users, such as over 30% of the planet, this fact is known. More and more businesses are inserting Social media tools into their marketing strategies and, occasionally, have even become an integral part of their overall business strategy.

Naturally, you might expect that Lebanese businesses would quickly adopt Social Media Marketing as a key role within their overall marketing strategies but this is not the case. When it comes to the Middle East and especially Lebanon, the spot is far behind the West in social media usage. Not only that, in terms of businesses mixed up in tourism industry, there is much room for growth. Little investment in technology is keeping tourist businesses away from maximizing marketing opportunities given by social media.

The Lebanese tourism industry isn’t taking advantage of social media tactics even though the benefits of doing so are apparent. This presents a great problem especially since the economy is going by way of a very rough time.

Moreover, Lebanese TR businesses and businesses in Lebanon in general are not adopting social media tools as they should. This presents an enormous problem in the waste of resources in addition to significant missed opportunities as a more substantial target audience can be reached via social media marketing enabling businesses that adopt social media marketing tools gain a better potential for success and prosperity