The role of travel influencers in sustainable tourism development

Abstract

Tourism, as one of the main industries at the global level, can provide many benefits, primarily economic, however the growing trend of tourist travel has begun to cause incalculable damage to the environment, cultural heritage and to affect the lifestyle of the local population of tourist destinations. In recent years, sustainable development in tourism has emerged as a necessity, but in order for such processes to be adequately completed, it is necessary to reprogram people's awareness of environmental protection, consumption of sustainable products, healthy lifestyles and preservation of tourist destinations. The rapidly evolving digital environment has become an indispensable tool for marketing professionals. It is possible to communicate more efficiently with the target market through internet-based platforms. Influencers have played a major role in influencing other members of society even before the advent of digital technologies. However, electronic word-of-mouth communication (eWOM), as a form of word-ofmouth communication in the digital environment, can be a very successful tool for influencing consumer attitudes, including attitudes towards sustainable tourism development. Today, travel influencers play a particularly important role on social networks. If the influencers are focused on a healthy lifestyle, environmental protection and the development of sustainable tourism, there is a good chance that their followers will adopt such behavior. Given that eWOM communication can have a viral effect, it is very likely that such positive information will continue to spread exponentially in the virtual space, continuing its uncontrolled influence.

Exploring the Status Quo of All-for-one Tourism Development in Meishan City, China: Insights from Local Travel Influencers

“…Travel influencers are recognized as opinion leaders in the tourism context (Kotler et al, 2009). Previous literature investigated the role of travel influencers from diverse aspects, such as their role in shaping tourists' travel decisions (Pop et al, 2021), promoting tourism destinations (Xu (Rinka) & Pratt, 2018), engaging in word-of-mouth (George et al, 2021), enhancing sustainable tourism development (Baltezarević et al, 2022;Kapoor et al, 2022), and destination image (Gholamhosseinzadeh et al, 2023). Furthermore, previous studies evaluated the quantitative impacts of travel influencers such as follower numbers, clicks, likes, and reposts.…”

“…Travel influencers are recognized as opinion leaders within the tourism factors and are ranked among the external factors that influence tourists' behaviors (Kotler et al, 2009). Previous literature has investigated the role of travel influencers in shaping tourists' travel decisions (Pop et al, 2021), promoting tourism destinations (Xu (Rinka) & Pratt, 2018), engaging in word-of-mouth (George et al, 2021), enhancing sustainable tourism development (Baltezarević et al, 2022;Kapoor et al, 2022), and destination image (Gholamhosseinzadeh et al, 2023). However, there is limited focus on the cultural and geographical characteristics of travel influencers in the literature.…”

From Likes to Sustainability: How Social Media Influencers Are Changing the Way We Consume

“…The discrepancy in outcomes among studies examining the impact of influencers on sustainable consumption can be attributed to differences in their scope, extent, and sampling. It is worth noting that most existing research has focused on the impact of influencers on specific products, such as food [18][19][20][21], clothing [14,22], freight [16], and tourism [23], and has targeted specific demographics, such as children [24] and millennials [14,25]. Although these studies have yielded valuable insights, the literature to date has not provided a comprehensive answer to the question of whether influencers have a broad impact on sustainable consumption and, if so, how consumers' perceptions of influencers' characteristics affect various types of sustainable consumption.…”

Scientific review tourism of the Republic of Serbia: Characteristics and strategic goals of development

“…The above fact is best confirmed by the data of the World Tourism Organization on the number of people who traveled abroad, that is, who participated in international tourist movements: in 1950, about 25 million, in 1970, 166 million, in 1990, 435 million, in 2010 over 935 million, and in 2019 close to one billion and 500 million [21; 22]. When the number of domestic tourists is added to this number, which is many times higher, it can be concluded that tourism, in modern conditions of development, represents the "leading world industry" and that its influence on the process of economic development is becoming more and more intense [3].…”