This study aimed to determine the role of social media in various travel decision-making stages of tourists. Another goal of the research was to determine the tourists’ aim to use social media at each stage before, during and after the trip. The present study was applied in terms of goal and qualitative regarding methodology, carried out with the phenomenological approach. The statistical population included 25 tourists from Turkey, who traveled to Ukrine in summer 2018 through Ati Travel Agency. The sample size was determined using the data saturation criterion, and after data collection, the Dickman Method was exploited to analyze the data. Following several analyses and comparing the key points, we extracted four items of “being inspired to travel”, “reading others’ comments about the hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions”, “sharing photos and videos of the trip destination”, and “learning about special offers and discounts” as the goals of using the social media before travel. In addition, four items of “decision-making about the next destination”, “expressing one’s feelings and characteristics”, “achieving information” and “selecting the most appropriate recreation plans” were recognized as goals of using social media during travel. Finally, three items of “helping others find their travel destination”, “sharing bad experiences and preventing their reoccurrence”, and “expressing one’s feelings and characteristics” were identified as the goals of using social media after travel.
