The Role of Social Media Instagram in the Travel Process: Evidence from Young People in Surabaya

This paper aims to examine the role of Instagram in the travel process of Surabaya�s young people. This process was divided into five stages: dreaming, planning, booking, experiencing, and sharing. Quantitative descriptive was employed by distributing 200 questionnaires to respondents aged ranging from 18 to 24 years old. The qualitative method was also utilized by having in-depth interviews with five informants. The results have shown that Surabaya�s young people attach the most significant role of Instagram on the dreaming stage and the least role on the booking stage. Youngsters are inspired after seeing posts (uploads) associated with travel on Instagram due to travel-related accounts they follow. This study has provided a preliminary investigation of the travel process using Instagram. It should provide insights to travel agents, both offline and online, to consider Instagram as a promotional media because it plays an important role in the travel process amongst young people.