The Role of Social Media in Gen-Z's Tourism Destination Selection in an Emerging Nation

Generation Z constitutes a substantial demography of social media (SM) users, serving as the vanguard in countries, particularly emerging nations such as Bangladesh. Their vacation destination choices are greatly shaped by SM, which offers more engaging and targeted communication compared to traditional methods. This study explores the Influence of SM on destination preferences among Gen Z in emerging economies. Data were collected from 334 Bangladeshi tourists through a structured questionnaire using judgmental sampling. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed for analysis. Results indicate significant positive relationships between Gen Z's destination decisions and three SM elements: online travel agents (OTA), social media content (SMC), and tourism and travel blogs (TTB). Specifically, OTA (β = 0.606, p < 0.01), SMC (β = 0.203, p < 0.01), and TTB (β = 0.102, p < 0.01) all showed strong, statistically significant influences on destination selection. These findings offer practical insights for travel service providers and tourism boards to refine digital marketing strategies to engage Gen Z travelers better.