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Social Medias’ Effect on Intramuros’ Tourism Growth as Perceived by National Capital Region Tourists

Intramuros, also known as the "Walled City," is one of the Philippines' pride and a top tourist spot in Manila. If marketed well, more people will go down memory lane and learn about this must-see destination. One will venture into its culture and learn the history within the walls. To make use of this advantage, a platform is effective. Thus, social media impact is seen nowadays as an effective way to create an impact in the tourism industry. This study aims to explore how social media affected the tourism growth in Intramuros as perceived by tourists from National Capital Region. This descriptive study utilized snowball sampling resulting in 400 respondents from the National Capital Region, aged 18 and above, who visited Intramuros. This study is anchored on Social Media Integration Theory which presents how social media has been utilized for delivering information. The findings revealed that social media has a significant part in Intramuros' tourism growth. Thus, it serves as a popular platform among visitors to research trips and shares their travel's most significant memories. Reviews and feedback help determine the needed improvement of Intramuros, and social media serves as a cost-effective way to reach target audiences. The walled city's cultural, historical, and religious benefits are some of the factors that influence the tourist to visit Intramuros. It concluded that social media is a meaningful marketing tool; therefore, it will lead to an excellent platform to attract potential visitors. Tourists' posted data seem to be a potential, credible, reliable source to represent the historic walled city of Intramuros.


INTRODUCTION
Through the years, Social media has been a part of day-to-day life and transformed the way tourists make decisions. It has become a powerful tool in attracting potential visitors to any country who prefer tourist destinations. As Kane (2013) explained, it increasingly promotes a massive exchange of information within an organization. With previous technologies, users could easily see the connections in which they were directly involved. On the other hand, Fulk and Yuan (2013)

LITERATURE REVIEW
In an online world, seeing is believing. Hannah (2021) justified that we are now engaged in a visual world by navigating smartphones, social media sites, search engines, and platforms that help one to decide and be connected. Tourists undertake a tour to unwind, recharge and enjoy an adventure in safe and enjoyable tourists spots (Garg 2013).
Garcia (2019) presented how people utilize social media as an instrument for delivering information. It combines the four subcategories of connecting, sharing, exposure, and feedback that speed up the platform's potential for advertising and promotion of destinations. It also allows users to spread information by the way travelers and tourists distribute and validate tourism-related data. Social media and Tourism Industry connect the application, persistently having a tremendous effect on tourism development. It created a significant change such as growth in different Tourism Division which is from destinations and attractions. Postma (2017) reiterated that the advancement in technology plays an important role in the substantial growth in tourism. There are components that will be affected, such as the social, economic, spatial, and technological forces. Thus, ICT supports the promotion and marketing strategies of tourism growth and helps other developments online. Almazan (2019) depicted that Intramuros is commonly considered the most visited by tourists on social media sites. The press conference of Asido found that the most significant number of tourists came in 2019, topping the 2 million reported in 2018. Also, he added that social media's impact in 2019 on tourism growth in Intramuros was seen impressively. The Intramuros is home to a prosperous Spanish era and a historical landmark that depicts history's battles. The city starts to innovate to attract more tourists by placing lights. According to the Department of Tourism (2018), Intramuros draws 1 million locals and foreign tourists to celebrate Holy Week with such activities to support the Intramuros as a comprehensive religious location. Moreover, based on the Vatican statistics, the Philippines have millions devoted to Catholicism. With most religions joining Brazil and Mexico, the Philippines is also ranked as the third country globally. In Asia, it remains the most prominent Catholic country. Kim (2021) mentioned that marketing representatives use social media as a form of advertising to increase awareness of one's chosen brand, thereby leading to purchasing decisions. Consumers are positively responding to the growing trend of this marketing influencer.
In 2009, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre mentioned that the socio-cultural sights like traditions and festivities, indigenous peoples, monuments, and the sixteenth century's Walled Cities are advertised. Henderson (2011) cited that the Philippines has a diverse array of tourists attractions from its cultural and natural heritage, which is relaxing to the tourists.
Edera E. (2019) affirmed that approximately 2.12 million sightseers went by the chronicled "Walled City," enlisting growth within the beginning of the semester of 2019. Secretary Puyat stated that the increment of visitors who have already visited the Intramuros in the past years had influenced tourism growth. Hemsley (2018) mentioned that there are different ways how to use social media, whether for good or bad or both. It depends on how one perceives its purpose and whom it might harm. Social media is an advantage for momentary connectedness, which means that there is an important computer-mediated publicness that allows communication to reach the audience.
The effect of social media on the tourism industry, according to Mangan (2015), creates enormous opportunities. Users may analyze previews of their experience at a specific hotel, restaurant, or airline's passenger satisfaction. The Tourism Industry has been impacted by TripAdvisor, an application that offers travel insight, travel information, booking, and customer satisfaction. This platform introduced itself as one of the most trustworthy outlets, especially for tourists. It is no wonder that users rely on the platform because it has 200 million ratings, opinions, updates, and photos, making it one of the most popular platforms for travel. Zhang (2021) argued that using social media can be categorized as political, which has something to do with the users intentionally seeking a political concern on Facebook, while Nonpolitical describes that information sought for maintaining a relationship or entertainment. Other studies revealed that some social media users are very likely to unfriend others due to political postings.
According to Roque and Raposo (2015), the widespread use of online applications in digital networking has revolutionized tourist destination promotion by increasing users. Per Uysal et al. (2016), most travelers see social networking sites as a credible platform for having various data that can help them analyze and plan their travel. The data they obtain from social media is reliable and detailed, allowing users to engage with web-based applications with trust.
Buhalis (2019) noted that as a global industry, tourism is one of the primary components of employment and innovation and has seen a transformation that has brought significant changes to the industry. Social networking and the growth of communications are enhancing the competitiveness of the tourism sector and attractions. As the travel industry has become more valuable and reliable, travelers use technology to plan their journeys, acquire accurate data, and make reservations. New travelers who are intelligent but persistent have gained from social media. Nowadays, travelers have better access to the tourism sector's resources and can reserve travel and accommodation. However, as a result, most tourism organizations have implemented internet technology as part of their strategy. Moreover, Buhalis also added that the rise of social media proves that it is beneficial to tourists rather than the traditional word of mouth since it contains sets of reviews and opinions widely available to internet users. As networking devices are developing and becoming prominent in tourism, Twumasi and Adu-Gyamfi (2013) indicated that users could interact by exchanging information with other participants or social groups. Social media enables its users to connect beyond restrictions in space and time. There are numerous forms of internet platforms or reviews from a lonely planet related to tourism. Therefore, social networking has changed the behavior of users. Many tourism operators and distributors have been running online at the same time to satisfy these types of consumers who are looking for information while purchasing their travel products online. Also, the opportunities will increase for travel organizations because of the effective means offered by digital media.
Eyefortravel (2007) has shown in their studies that travelers are fond of social media' good reviews' more than negative ones. It implies that users turn to consumer-driven content to ensure that the travel decision they are about to make is safe. In general, the number of reviews and comments on social media is relevant to travelers. However, limited posts and comments are not included as those with high social media amounts. Furthermore, reviews posted by travelers that are similar to the audience are of more significant relevance. Thus, this means that sites that correspond to a particular target audience can be more effective than social media sites.

RESEARCH METHOD
The descriptive analysis approach was utilized in this study using snowball sampling, resulting in 400 respondents. The data were collected from those who visited Intramuros with age ranges from 18 years old and above. Since the study emphasizes the effect of social media on the tourism growth of Intramuros, the researchers used the quantitative method. The instrument used was a research-made survey questionnaire focused on the gathered study-related literature and studies. The survey questionnaire was validated and pre-tested before it was distributed. It was mandated that the respondents obtain valid answers regarding their perception of social media's effects on Intramuros' tourism growth. Respondents' Age Category has five groups, as shown in Table 1. A total of 400 respondents were selected from the considered population. The highest frequency belongs to the 21 to 30 category and is closely followed by the 18 to 21 category. The 51 and above category has the lowest among the five categories. This suggests that between 18 to 30 years old, respondents are potential tourists who are eager to visit the beauty of the Walled City of Intramuros. Table 2. Respondents' Gender Category Table 2 presents the respondents' gender. The female category is 10 percent higher than the male category. This means that many females are more interested in visiting the Intramuros and more interested in browsing social media compared to males. This also reveals that there has been a growing trend that females embark on traveling alone compared to males and that social media has become a source of information for female tourists.  Table 4 shows the religion of the participants. Among the 400 respondents, it is clear that most of the respondents' religions were Catholic, followed by Christian, Born Again, and Iglesia Ni Cristo. The least was in the category of Muslim, Baptist, and Agnostic. The Philippines is known to be the only Christian nation in Asia, and more than 86 percent are Roman Catholic. This study revealed that most of the Catholic respondents were interested in traveling in Intramuros since it has two amazing churches, namely, the Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church. As learned in history, Manila Cathedral is the first cathedral in the Philippines, and the San Agustin Church is the oldest church in the Philippines. The respondents were eager to visit these famous churches.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Problem 1: What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:
Problem 2: How does social media affect the tourism growth of Intramuros in terms of: The Philippines has been considered to have one of the highest numbers of social network users across South East Asia. Thereby, Filipinos rely on social media as a meaningful tool and source for arranging tour packages. In fact, Filipinos spend an average of four hours checking social media. As shown in Table 5, the respondents' overall perception of social media connectivity is "strongly affected," with a weighted mean of 3.64 (SD = 0.410). It was observed that "Social media helps Intramuros, Manila in distributing information faster", as the highest average weighted mean with 3.70 (SD = 0.498) among the five items and interpreted as "strongly affected". Table 6. Social Media's Effect in Sharing Table 6 shows that Social media "strongly affected" the Visitors' perception in terms of sharing information on networking sites with an average weighted mean of 3.65 (SD = 0.389). Moreover, respondents also pointed out that "Social media is a popular platform among visitors in sharing personal experiences, comments, and opinions" interpreted as "strongly affected" with a highest average weighted mean of 3.75 (SD = 0.452). This result states that social media helps to expose Intramuros' charms through the personal sharing of the tourists. They share their pictures, experiences, comments through their social media posting. This word of mouth impacted their relatives and friends and has been an excellent means to gain more visitors who witness the beauty of Intramuros. Based on the respondent's response in Table 7, the Feedback, such as reviews and ratings from Manila's Walled City, Intramuros, significantly impacts tourism growth. With an average weighted mean of 3.47 (SD = 0.437), it was discovered that social media "strongly affected" the decision-making motive of potential visitors. Moreover, respondents also identified that item 2, "Feedbacks enable to determine improvements for Tourism Development," is also a big help in the industries' success with the highest average weighted mean of 3.62 (SD = 0.511). These findings depicted that tourist were encouraged to visit Intramuros through tourists ratings, feedback, and social media postings. Once this feedback is visible in public, it also helps in the tourism growth of Intramuros. Table 8. Social Media's Effect in terms of Exposure Table 8 concludes that the use of social media in exposing the destination's attraction, facts, and trivia has a tremendous impact on tourism growth. It was shown that social media "strongly affected" the way Intramuros expose their history, culture, and Hispanic architecture online, generating potential visitors with an average weighted mean of 3.64 (SD = 0.437). Also, respondents observed that the item "Social media is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach out to targeted audiences" has the highest average weighted mean with 3.67 (SD = 0.516). Given the social medias' effects on exposure, this finding depicts that social media are acknowledged as the influencer on tourists' travel choices.  Table 9. Social Media's Influence on Historical and Cultural Factors Table 9 expresses how social media can bring the heritage and cultural factors of Intramuros to life. It was concluded from the table above that in addition to the life of our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, tourists are interested in history, specifically in the influence of the Spanish government, which colonized the Philippines. This part of the history has influenced why visitors visit the walled city, Intramuros. It was shown that social media has a "great effect" on the perceptions of the visitor based on the influence of historical and cultural factors, with an average weighted mean of 3.64 (SD = 0.414). Analyzing the findings, it was discovered that the item "Intramuros is known as one of the tourist destinations in the Philippines because of its National Cultural Heritage Site" has the highest average weighted mean with 3.71 (SD = 0.483). This reflects that social media is a great opportunity to expose the reputation of Intramuros as one of the top destinations in the country. Its magic has reached potential followers and tourists with a sense of getting engaged in history. Intramuros was known for religious events and as an educational center. In fact, it is wellknown for pilgrims and other faith-based tourism activities. As shown above, Table 10 describes the role of Social media in influencing religious factors on the Tourism growth of Intramuros. This finding reveals how dominant the Roman Catholic population is in National Capital Region. The Spanish colony has a significant factor in this conclusion with an interpretation of "great effect" and an average weighted mean of 3.54 (SD = 0.491). Based on data interpretation, item "The seven (7) churches located in Intramuros is one of the factors for the tourism growth since it draws attention to boost faith tourism to the visitors" got the most average weighted mean of 3.57 (SD =0.553). This data also reveals that Intramuros is engaging social media as a convincing tool to virtually promote religious activities online.

Problem 3: Is there an effect on how social media influence the factors of tourism growth in Intramuros as perceived by NCR visitors in terms of:
Problem 4: Is there a significant relationship between social media and the tourism growth of Intramuros?  Table 11 interprets the relationship between social media use and the tourism growth of Intramuros. Social media is vital to tourism growth. Hence, it acts as a marketing strategy to attract potential visitors that interpret a "great effect" on Intramuros tourism growth with an average weighted mean of 3.67 (SD = 0.432). The result of the findings pointed out that the item "Social media is a significant factor that affects the tourism growth of Intramuros" has the highest weighted average mean of 3.68 (SD = 0.509) and is also interpreted as a "great effect". The engagement of tourists in social media through networking sites' search for trips made a huge impact on the tourism growth of Intramuros. Social media serves as a testament for those visitors who shared their travel moments online, thus, raising greater awareness of the historical attraction of Intamuros.

CONCLUSION & FURTHER RESEARCH
With the penetration of social media in the Philippines, almost all Filipinos rely on the social media application as a meaningful platform to check on tourist sites' information. This study proves that it is an effective tool to encourage tourists to include Intramuros in their bucket list and witness the charm of historic Walled City.
Based on the result of the data gathered, most of the respondents were female, ages 21 to 30, and from Manila. This implies that once a resident in Manila, people will never fail to visit Intramuros, same with how foreign tourists prioritize this as part of their itinerary.
Another significant finding is that the majority of the respondents are Catholic, which strengthens the overall result in analyzing the effect of social media on the tourism growth of Intramuros. Historically speaking, the Philippines is the third-largest Catholic population in the world. Filipinos stand out for their devotion and penitential rituals. Thus, Intramuros is famous because of its two amazing churches, namely, the Manila Cathedral, which is known as the first cathedral in the Philippines, and San Agustin Church which is the oldest church in the Philippines. This study reveals that one of the respondents' objectives is to visit these churches.
The effectiveness of social media on the tourism growth of Intramuros in terms of "connecting", revealed that social media is an essential tool for promoting tourism effectively. It helps to expose Intramuros' charms through the personal sharing of the tourists' travel tips and itineraries. They share their pictures, experiences, comments through their social media posting.
The study concluded that visitors depended more on the "Feedback" from previous visitors in reviews and ratings. As per "Sharing", the tourism industry was heavily influenced by social media as one of the marketing strategies to attract potential visitors to spread information about the location through online platforms. Lastly, the findings revealed that exposing the destination's facts, trivia, and the long-term sustainability of Hispanic Architecture in Intramuros was the primary reason for tourism growth. The continued advancement and innovation in technology is one aspect that has contributed to the increased use of social media.
It further revealed that respondents claim that there is a "great effect" after introducing the Spanish government in the Philippines. It has been determined that the influence that they left in the country has been an advantage for tourism growth in Intramuros, such as the sustainability of historical features and museums dedicated to the lifework of Jose Rizal, the Philippines' National Hero. Also, the introduction of Catholicism by Spanish missionaries in the country tremendously impacted boosting faith tourism. Overall, the study's findings show that social media's effect contributed to Walled City's tourism growth. It is evident that it acts as an effective marketing strategy to attract potential tourists that leads to the advancement of tourism. The use of social media for advertising has a massive impact on tourism development, specifically in Intramuros.
This study would benefit students and tourism-related industries such as the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Intramuros Administration (IA) in order to promote, develop tourism activity and encourage everyone to witness the famous Intramuros in the Philippines.