SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AND TOURIST PERCEPTION: A DESTINATION BRANDING ANALYSIS OF TUMAKURU DISTRICT

Social media marketing has become a critical instrument in destination branding by shaping tourists’ perceptions and influencing travel decisions. This study examines the role of social media marketing in forming the destination brand image of Tumakuru District, an emerging tourist destination in Karnataka, India. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the study combines quantitative data from 150 tourist surveys with qualitative insights from 15 stakeholder interviews, including tourism officials, local entrepreneurs, and digital marketing practitioners. Statistical techniques such as ANOVA, correlation, and chi-square tests are employed to evaluate the influence of social media platforms and content types on tourist perception and visitation intention. The findings reveal that visually driven content-particularly short-form videos and high-resolution images disseminated through platforms like Instagram and YouTube-significantly enhances destination appeal and travel intention. User-generated content is perceived as more credible and influential than traditional promotional materials. However, the study also identifies structural challenges, including the absence of a unified branding strategy, limited digital skills, and inadequate institutional coordination. The research contributes to destination branding literature by offering empirical evidence from a lesser-known district-level destination and provides strategic insights for leveraging social media marketing to strengthen regional tourism branding and sustainable destination development.