Social media: allies or enemies? Qualitative analysis of visitor ratings of small accommodation businesses in the mountains of Valencia, Spain

The use of Social Media (SM) is fully integrated in today's society. In the tourism industry, SM has allowed businesses to showcase their spaces to the world. In the case of Small Accommodation Businesses (SABs), SM is helping them to compete with more resourceful establishments. This qualitative study analyses over 5,000 google reviews from visitors to different SABs with a range of tourism-sports products and services in the mountainous area of the Valencia region of Spain. The results indicate that the degree of customer satisfaction with the SABs and the services they offer is very high, although in the case of leisure and free time activities there is a large margin for growth. It is also noted that SM can be a threat if not well managed. The conclusions indicate that the use of SM requires careful management so that they do not become a threat.