How Social Media Interaction Sustains Tourism Popularity from Viral to Long-Term

Abstract

The landscape of tourism promotion has been changed by social media, turning hot spots into viral hot spots, with likes, shares, and check-ins. The free press generated by such digital exposure is always a spike – not stability. Informed by Rogers diffusion of innovations [1] and co-creation theory, this paper explores how to transform destination from hype to heat. Examples such as China’s Village Super League, the over tourism of Barcelona, and community-led processes within Iceland indicate the bad and good of unmanaged popularity and collaborative governance. The research concludes that the development of sustainable destination mandates active collaboration between DMOs, intermediaries and residents for ensuring a proper dealing of visibility and responsibility. Through the integration of theory and application, this paper provides strategic insights with which viral dynamics can be strategically employed to escape the ephemeral fame and to generate sustained tourism value.