Understanding tourists’ motivations to launch a boycott on social media: A case study of the #BoycottMurree campaign in Pakistan

Abstract

This research paper studies the domestic tourism destination boycott of Murree, the most popular tourist spot in Pakistan. Murree, a hill spot in the footsteps of the Himalayan mountain ranges, attracts millions of tourists from all over Pakistan every year due to its natural scenery and easy accessibility. However, weak regulation and unmanageable demand have made the local hospitality industry quixotic, prompting affiliated businesses in Murree to exploit tourists. Subsequently, the #BoycottMurree campaign was launched on social media at the beginning of 2018; this campaign gained quickly momentum, and Murree reported declines in business for the first time during the summer season of 2018. Using a netnographic case study approach of the #BoycottMurree campaign it found that the communication revolved around instrumental boycott motives and non-instrumental boycott motives. Moreover, the tourist ethnocentrism theme naturally emerged from the data, advocating anti-boycott. Overall, the results theoretically inform the literature by extrapolating tourist boycott notions in terms of domestic tourism and pointing out the ways in which domestic tourism boycotts may be different from international tourism boycotts. The results also guide domestic tourism organizations and businesses about the importance of developing competing destinations.

Theory of planned behaviour and boycotting: the moderating role of socio-political control and demographics

“…One very interesting aspect is that boycotting and discursive activities seem closely connected (Delistavrou et al, 2017). This direction implies that social media might be very useful in promoting boycott campaigns, as recent studies indicate (Yousaf et al, 2021). Social media are clearly a channel for activism due to the wider access and increased visibility activists are able to gain (Uldam, 2018).…”

Food vloggers and parasocial interactions: a comparative study of local and foreign food vlogs using the S-O-R paradigm

“…Traditionally, tourism and travel-related activities and affiliated industries have performed below par in Pakistan because of the broader socio-economic repercussions of Pakistan's alignment with the war against terror since 2001 (Yousaf, 2017). However, with amelioration in law and order situations and the up-gradation of infrastructural facilities and road networks, there is an upsurge in inbound tourism and increased demand for domestic tourism in Pakistan (Yousaf et al , 2021). In recent years, popular international food vloggers visited Pakistan and highlighted the culinary uniqueness of different regions in the country.…”

3 Travel Boycotts, Ethical Consumption and Destination Communities: Expanding the Morality of Neighbourliness

“…Significantly, boycotters strive to get the media's attention in order to harm the reputation of a specific business, destination or a country (Hawkins, 2010;Yousaf et al, 2021). The growth of social media has only enhanced this capacity (Gretzel, 2017;Seyfi et al, 2021).…”

“…The growth of social media has only enhanced this capacity (Gretzel, 2017;Seyfi et al, 2021). For instance, the study of Yousaf et al (2021) on the #BoycottMurree campaign showed how campaign momentum on social media affected Murree which is a popular tourist destination in Pakistan. This is also especially evident in the case of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigners pushing for a boycott of Israel's hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 and accusing Israel of exploiting the artistic event to whitewash its human rights violations against Palestinians (Morrison, 2022;Shepherd, 2021).…”