'I want to record and share my wonderful journey': Chinese Millennials' production and sharing of short-form travel videos on TikTok or Douyin. Issue 21 (2nd November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Du, Xin; Liechty, Toni; Santos, Carla A.; Park, Jeongeun
• Is Part Of: Current issues in tourism. Volume 25:Issue 21(2022)
• Page Start: 3412
• Page End: 3424
• Publication Date: 2022-11-02
• Subjects: TikTok -- tourism experience -- travel videos -- Chinese Millennials -- social media; Tourism -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Tourism -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Travel -- Periodicals; 338.479105
• DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2020.1810212
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1368-3500

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Seeking to understand how involvement with social media influences travel experiences, the current investigation explores the reasoning and social justifications of tourists' engagement with travel videos on the short-form video sharing platform – TikTok. Using phenomenology, data consisted of semi-structured interviews with 12 tourists who had experiences consuming, producing, and sharing travel videos on TikTok. Findings suggest that consuming and creating TikTok touristic fantasies, hashtagging a #wonderfuljourney through sharing, and storing my meaningful life in a 'public' diary are three primary reasons for tourists' engagement in TikTok travel videos. Results show that the daily use of TikTok, a visual storytelling platform, has extended to the tourism context, resulting in the eroding boundaries between tourism experiences and everyday life and contributing to an understanding of the 'Leisure-Tourism' Continuum in Web 2.0. It advocates DMOs to produce tourism videos based on tourist needs and the distinctness of the platform of TikTok.