Travel Vloggers on TikTok: Their Distribution and Impacts on Regional Tourism Development

Xue Peng

No 2024-14, AGI Working Paper Series from Asian Growth Research Institute

Abstract: Anecdotal evidence from multiple cities suggests that short videos boostdestination awareness and subsequently, tourism visitation. TikTok has nowbecome one of the most popular short video platforms and accordingly, hasattracted intensive attention from the tourism industry and scholars querying theimplications. While previous tourism studies have primarily concentrated on theplatform's viewers and user-generated content, studies focused on travel vloggersare scarce, and their roles in tourism development remain understudied. This studyutilizes big data from TikTok in China and employs spatial analysis to investigatethe distribution characteristics and impacts of travel vloggers in regional tourismdevelopment. The spatial analysis methods utilized include Moran's I index andGeodetector. The Moran's I analysis results indicate that cities with a similarnumber of travel vloggers tend to be clustered; however, this tendency is higherwith regard to non-travel-themed vloggers. The Geodetector results reveal thattravel vloggers significantly influence provincial tourist arrivals, demonstratinglarger impacts than conventional variables such as scenic areas, travel agencies,and transport infrastructure. The most crucial factor contributing to the impact oftravel vloggers is their number. This is followed by their productivity in terms ofthe number of videos they upload, which wields a larger impact than the shares orlikes they receive. Within the productivity metric, the cumulative productivity oftravel vloggers from previous years exerts a higher influence than their recentproductivity from the past year. Interestingly, the number of their followers doesnot necessarily impact regional tourist arrivals. These insights can assistpolicymakers and practitioners in leveraging vloggers for regional tourismdevelopment.

Keywords: travel vloggers; TikTok; regional tourism development; big data; spatial analysis methods; Geodetector; Moran's I index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-05
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