Branding Indonesian Tourism Destinations through U.S. Social Media Influencers in the International Influencer Trip
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22441/marcommers.v15i1.3047Keywords:
Destination Branding, Influencer Marketing, Social Media Marketing Communication, Electronic Word-of-Mouth, Visual Storytelling, Wonderful IndonesiaAbstract
This study examines how U.S. social media influencers represented Indonesian tourism destinations within the International Influencer Trip and how their content contributed to the communication of the Wonderful Indonesia destination brand. The revision responds to a persistent issue in influencer-based tourism promotion: campaign performance cannot be inferred from follower counts or posting frequency alone, because credibility, message value, visual storytelling, and the representation of local culture and landscapes also shape destination image. Using a post-positivist, descriptive qualitative case-study design, the analysis revisits the documented 2016 campaign archive and focuses on the two U.S. influencer cases for which the original research provides concrete post-level evidence, Michael Dewey and Hannah Lukaszewicz. The unit of analysis comprises documented social media posts, visual themes, engagement indicators, influencer statements, and campaign documents, triangulated with contextual information from tourism and event-management stakeholders. A qualitative content-analysis framework codes self-presentation, visual aesthetics, informational detail, cultural and natural representation, endorsement language, and engagement. The findings identify two case-specific communication patterns rather than universal influencer types. Dewey’s content is predominantly experiential and informational, combining destination scenery with first-person testimony, recommendations, and narratives of local encounters. Lukaszewicz’s documented posts are more destination-centred and visually curated, emphasising a local dancer and Wakatobi’s coastal landscape while generating relatively high reported likes. Together, these patterns suggest that effective destination branding benefits from a portfolio of complementary influencer roles. The study proposes practical criteria for influencer selection, content briefing, and campaign evaluation while recognising the limitations of a two-case retrospective dataset.
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