“Rales” clips .. a favorite way to choose travel destinations

The results of an opinion poll conducted by the newspaper “Emirates Today” through its account on the “X” platform revealed the changing trends of individuals in choosing their tourist destinations, as the results showed great dependence on social media platforms and “Rales” clips as a major source of inspiration and decision -making.

According to the survey, social media platforms came first with 61.5%, followed by tourist destination sites by 26.9%, while a lower percentage depended on tourism and travel agencies 7.7%, while the media recorded the lowest rate of 3.8%.

These results reflect the accelerated digital transformation in the behavior of travelers, and the increasing effect of visual content and means of communication on tourism and travel decisions. In light of the rapid changes in the customs customs, a number of readers expressed their opinions about the way they are currently adopting in choosing their tourism destinations, stressing that the visual content and real experiences through communication platforms have become the most influential source in their decisions, pointing at the same time that they are heading to more than one channel to verify the information.

Sarah Abdullah said that she often makes decisions regarding the tourist destinations that she chooses through the “Rales” videos that you watch on social media platforms, adding that “the clips are fun and easy to access, and can be viewed at any time and place, and they also offer impressive content.”

She pointed out that some information should be verified from more than one place, including the Internet, the content of the media and other specialized networks, pointing out that short videos give them a quick overview of places, restaurants, experiments, and even prices at times.

In turn, Mounir Al -Khatib stated that he is following bloggers to travel on social media platforms, and through their experiences he gets to know the new destinations and what deserves the visit, indicating that the platforms and bloggers test these destinations and provide rich information about the destination, including issues that concern tourists from the region, especially halal food.

For his part, Maher Hassan prefers to follow reliable accounts that provide live content, and actual experiences regarding tourist destinations, indicating that the official sites of destinations provide accurate information as they follow official bodies, and therefore can be relied upon alongside the media, indicating that he is forced to use more than one channel to identify the destination appropriately and obtain sufficient information.

“With regard to information related to recreational activities, accounts can be relied upon, but to know some information related to knowledge, the history of the place and the safety index in a point, the media and the Internet have a major role in this,” Hassan added.

Ali Al -Salmi said: “I am a fan of travel, but I have no time to search. I follow the bloggers who specialize in traveling on (YouTube), such as those who carry out tours in unconventional destinations, adding: “Videos are usually detailed and eat everything that concerns me as a young traveler, such as budget, means of mobility, and the best time to visit.”

In turn, Hala Zidan said, “The visual content on the media (Rales clips) is the most influential and specifically, and this content can be simply accessed,” adding that the official sites of tourist destinations are not constantly updated and are not available in some content in the Arabic language.

She explained that the information regarding tourist destinations is considered few and not sufficient for the media in general, pointing out that it is looking for the Internet enough for the tourist destination, activities, security and safety factors, and whether they are suitable for families, as well as knowing the evaluation of this destination or activities by other people through specialized sites.

In a related context, Ahmed Al -Saadi said, “Planning for travel was a process that takes time and requires visiting travel offices, seeing destination brochures, and perhaps consulting relatives who have previously traveled, but currently changes almost everything, and travelers have become increasingly dependent on social media platforms, video experiences, and other people’s assessments.”

He added: «In the past, the sources of tourism information were limited and based on promotional publications, and today the mobile phone has become the most prominent way to choose a tourist destination and even reservation and cancellation, and other information that should be known about travel requirements to a destination.

For her part, Suha Mohamed said that she follows the visual content on communication platforms to get to know the tourist destinations, but that is not enough to make the decision to travel, there is important information related to health indicators, diseases, security, safety and requirements for entering countries or obtaining the visa, and this requires browsing official sites or media.

• Social media platforms at first rank with 61.5%, followed by tourist destinations with 26.9% for the choice of destinations.