Authors : Dr. Nitin Vyas; Ishant Dubey; Navneet Mehta

Volume/Issue : Volume 10 - 2025, Issue 1 - January

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/yc4sxrwr

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/bp5f99t2

DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14848286

Abstract : This research delves into how user-generated content, particularly travel vlogs on YouTube, has influenced the present-day travel market. The major goal is to examine how YouTube travel vlogs affect vacationers' preferences, decisions, and destination selections. Thanks to the proliferation of online video, YouTube has emerged as a go-to site for users to share their travel stories, providing genuine, relatable information that influences vacation planning. In addition, this study intends to evaluate the impact that travel vloggers on YouTube have had in popularising new forms of tourism such as sustainable tourism, niche travel, and experiential tourism. Vloggers play a role in the increasing popularity of eco-friendly vacationing and off-the-beaten-path locales by producing and sharing videos about these topics. The research also looks at how destination branding, local tourism markets, and worldwide tourism trends are affected by YouTube travel vlogs from an economic and cultural perspective. Vloggers' real-life, compelling content about destinations affects the branding of places and local tourist markets' financial viability. According to the results, travel vlogs on YouTube have become an important factor in changing the dynamics of tourism around the world and a powerful instrument for influencing people's travel choices. The study emphasizes the importance of user-generated content in boosting destination visibility in a competitive global market and fostering new tourism trends.

Keywords : User-Generated Content; Travel Vlogs; Youtube; Global Tourism Trends; Tourism Promotion.

References :

1. Adeloye, D., Makurumidze, K., & Sarfo, C. (2022). User-generated videos and tourists’ intention to visit. Anatolia, 33(4), 658-671.
2. Ana, M. I., & Istudor, L. G. (2019). The role of social media and user-generated content in millennials’ travel behavior. Management dynamics in the knowledge economy, 7(1), 87-104.
3. Arora, N., & Lata, S. (2020). YouTube channels influence on destination visit intentions: An empirical analysis on the base of information adoption model. Journal of Indian Business Research, 12(1), 23-42.
4. Aslam, W., Khan, S. M., Arif, I., & Zaman, S. U. (2022). Vlogger’s reputation: Connecting trust and perceived usefulness of vloggers’ recommendation to shop online. Journal of Creative Communications, 17(1), 49-66.
5. Balakrishnan, J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2017). Social media addiction: What is the role of content in YouTube? Journal of behavioral addictions, 6(3), 364-377.
6. Cheng, Y., Wei, W., & Zhang, L. (2020). Seeing destinations through vlogs: implications for leveraging customer engagement behavior to increase travel intention. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(10), 3227-3248.
7. Chu, J. (2020). Sustainable Travel on YouTube: Discussion and Perception: How do YouTube travel vlogs discuss sustainable travel? How are they perceived?
8. Dai, F., Wang, D., & Kirillova, K. (2022). Travel inspiration in tourist decision-making. Tourism Management, 90, 104484.
9. He, J., Xu, D., & Chen, T. (2022). Travel vlogging practice and its impacts on tourist experiences. Current issues in Tourism, 25(15), 2518-2533.
10. Hudson, E. K. (2024). Generation Z's Use of User-Generated Content for Travel Advice.
11. Khan, M. L. (2017). Social media engagement: What motivates user participation and consumption on YouTube? Computers in human behavior, 66, 236-247.
12. Kozinets, R. V. (2020). E-tourism research, cultural understanding, and ethnography. Handbook of e-Tourism, 1-16.
13. Liikkanen, L. A., & Salovaara, A. (2015). Music on YouTube: User engagement with traditional, user-appropriated, and derivative videos. Computers in human behavior, 50, 108-124.
14. Munnukka, J., Maity, D., Reinikainen, H., & Luoma-aho, V. (2019). “Thanks for watching”. The effectiveness of YouTube vlog endorsements. Computers in human behavior, 93, 226-234.
15. Nazir, B., Sheikh, A. A., Yasir, M., & Gaybullaeva, M. (2023). The Role of Travel Vlogs on Consumer Engagement Towards Destination Visitation. Journal of Tourism, Hospitality, and Services Industries Research (JTHS), 3(02), 44-72.
16. Nofrizal, N., & Arizal, N. (2023). Social media vlogs and e-wom on man-made tourism destination: Insights from Indonesia. Journal of Business & Banking, 13(2).
17. Palao, C. A. V., Calangi, P. D. T., & Tolentino, J. P. L. (2023) THE EFFECTS OF TRAVEL VLOGS ON TRAVEL DECISIONS OF GENERATION X AND BABY BOOMERS.
18. Peralta, R. L. (2019). How vlogging promotes a destination image: A narrative analysis of popular travel vlogs about the Philippines. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 15, 244-256.
19. Silaban, P. H., Chen, W. K., Silaban, B. E., Silalahi, A. D. K., Eunike, I. J., & Damanik, H. M. (2023). Demystifying Tourists’ Intention to Visit Destination on Travel Vlogs: Findings from PLS-SEM and fsQCA. Emerging Science Journal, 7(3), 867-889.
20. Soto-Vásquez, A. D. (2022). YouTube and TikTok as platforms for learning about others: The case of Non-Chinese travel videos in Shanghai Disneyland. Online Media and Global Communication, 1(2), 315-338.
21. Tran, K., & Tran, N. (2022). Elements of travel vlogs that impact LAB University of Applied Sciences students’ travel destination choice.
22. Triawan, E. H. (2020). Influences of Parasocial Interaction between Mark Wien’s Travel Vlogs and Indonesian Viewers on Their Travel Intentions to Thailand (Doctoral dissertation, Bangkok University).
23. Xiang Z., Magnini V. P., and Fesenmaier D. R., Information technology and consumer behavior in travel and tourism: insights from travel planning using the internet, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. (2015) 22, 244–249.
24. Xu, D., Chen, T., Pearce, J., Mohammadi, Z., & Pearce, P. L. (2021). Reaching audiences through travel vlogs: The perspective of involvement. Tourism Management, 86, 104326.