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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
In the globalisation era, digital influencers have become a key communication source of the 21st century and an important player in several business activities. They are known as content creators, they can influence large audiences who want to consume their contents and are available to be influenced by their information and behaviors. Additionally, digital platforms have played an important role in the development of new digital marketing strategies for the promotion of tourist destinations, namely integrating opinion leaders as products and service influencers. Therefore, this study aims to understand the role of digital influencers in the promotion of tourist destinations and to identify the strategies used for their promotion. To answer our objectives a qualitative study was conducted. 17 digital influencers participated in our study, of both genders, with a mean age of 26 years (SD=7.98). All the participants fulfilled a demographic questionnaire and it was conducted a semi-structured interview to answer the research question "How do Portuguese digital influencers promote a tourist destination?". The interviews were verbatim transcript and data analysed according to thematic analysis procedures. The preliminary results showed that “trip characteristics” and “influencer function” are the main categories. For the trip it is important to define the main reasons to visit the tourist destination, positive and negative dimensions related to the trip, and interests in the place. The influencer functions emerge from the communication with the followers, digital, technical and soft skills needed to be professional. Thus, it can be concluded that digital influencers can have an important role in the promotion of a tourist destination. The digital influencer should have significant communication skills but also digital, technical and soft skills. Therefore, it is crucial to train future tourism professionals to be prepared for this professional option. We discuss the main practical and theoretical implications and offer some suggestions for further studies.
Description
Keywords
Digital influencers Digital marketing Tourism promotion Tourist destination Social networks Qualitative study
Citation
Publisher
Academic Conferences and Publishing International