Travel Vlogs and Fan Tourism: Make it or Break it?

Nomoskar! Hope you all are safe and sound. The past week, I have been busy writing a research paper on travel vlogs and its implications on destination image creation for a conference to be held in Turkey (of course virtual). So thought of sharing my thoughts on the same with you all through my blog. Happy reading!

In today’s digital age, ‘Internet Entrepreneurship’ is gaining a lot of popularity. YouTubers, specifically the travel vloggers are enjoying massive viewership with millions of subscribers to their channel. Travel vlogs have become the primary source of information for many tourists. Gone are the days when people had to depend on booklets, brochures, etc. for information. A study suggests that 64% of people watch travel videos before deciding on a vacation. And trust me when I say this, as I belong to that majority. Every time I think of a place, I just pick up my phone and watch a few travel vlogs. That’s how I get my to-do list done.

But the question is why travel vlogs or videos? A lot of studies has found out that the biggest influence on the consumer buying decisions is the word-of-mouth opinions, experiences and stories. Same goes with the tourism products as well. The vloggers are storytellers. Through their stories, they share the experiences of visiting different places along with important information about the place. Its easier to believe that information rather than the information booklets by the marketers as ‘Seeing is believing’. Those real-life experiences seem more trustworthy than advertisements or booklets. With these plethoras of information, experiences, and visuals, an image is created in the viewer’s mind, which we can term it as ‘Destination Image’. A destination image can be defined as ‘the expression of all objective knowledge, impressions, prejudice, imaginations, and emotional thoughts an individual or group might have of a particular place’ (Lawson, F., and Baud-Bovy, M. (1977). This image impacts the choice of destination. The image created by the videos is one of the strongest images created in an individual’s mind. Gunn’s (1972) Seven stage theory suggests that the Organic images created by the travel vlogs, documentaries, books, school lessons and stories of friends' experiences and the Induced images created by the travel brochures, publicity and advertisements play a role in the choice of the destination. But the organic images are present in the individual’s mind throughout life. It is the primary image which decides the next course of actions.

Source: Fig. 1. Stage-theories of destination image (source: Gunn, 1972, p. 120).

Apart from the Destination Image creation, the vloggers have also given rise to ‘Fan tourism’. Fan tourism is travelling to places for fannish satisfaction like going to the movie sets, places visited by your favourite celebrity etc. The YouTubers have a huge fan base. They are no less than celebrities. And we can say that after we have seen the success of the YouTube Fan fests, where thousands of viewers attend those fests to have a glimpse of their favourite YouTuber. There is an increase in the ‘I want to go there too phenomena’. Often the viewer’s bucket list is inspired by the vlogger’s visits and recommendations. This has been overlooked by researchers and marketers in the past. Travel vlogs can be a great promotional tool for the destinations and can be used for destination branding.

At The Eagle and the Child pub where J R R Tolkien often sat with his unfinished manuscript of 'The Lord Of The Rings'.

With celebrity tags, comes responsibility. They are also known as social media influencers as their content influences and impacts a lot of individuals. We are all aware of the current situation, the pandemic and its impact on the travel industry. In such times, the vloggers can play a crucial role in the revival of the industry. It's natural to be scared of any kind of travel after the havoc created by the deadly virus. There is a lot of anticipation about how the new normal would be. The vlogs will help the viewers know the do’s and don’ts as well as clear the mental block regarding travel. They can again entice the longingness to visit a place amongst the people. Through the videos, the viewers will also be able to see the safety and hygiene measures taken. Thus, the title of my blog Travel vlogs and Fan tourism: make it or break it?

Hope you enjoyed today’s read. Stay tuned for more!

Lots and lots of Love,

Ambalika