Background: In tourism, globally there is a growing interest in social media marketing research. However, most previous research on social media marketing has focused on large tourism enterprises such as chain hotels, leaving out small tourism businesses such as travel agencies and tour operators.

Objective: The aim of this research was to establish factors that influence attitude towards the use of social media marketing by travel agencies and tour operators in South Africa.

Method: The study adopted a quantitative approach through the use of questionnaires. Data used in the analysis were collected from 150 travel agencies and tour operators by means of a structured questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis and one-way ANOVA were used for data analysis.

Results: The results showed that managerial support and managers’ level of education are the two main internal factors which influence attitude towards the use of social media marketing. Pressure from competitors, perceived benefits and perceived ease of use were found to be the most prominent external factors which influence the use of social media marketing. The results also revealed that technical knowledge moderates the relationship between attitude towards social media marketing and the level of social media marketing usage.

Conclusion: The study concludes with these recommendations: Management of travel agencies, tour operating businesses and the South African government should support the use of social media marketing by small tourism businesses through providing training and workshops on social media marketing for the employees to acquire the required skills.