Vol.:(0123456789) Place Branding and Public Diplomacy https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-019-00134-6 ORIGINAL ARTICLE How vlogging promotes a destination image: A narrative analysis of popular travel vlogs about the Philippines Rachel Luna Peralta 1 Revised: 30 January 2019 © Springer Nature Limited 2019 Abstract This paper critically examines the potential and use of video blogs or vlogs shared on Facebook for creating a destination image. In particular, it makes an in-depth analysis of the travel vlogs about the Philippines created by popular non-Filipino travel vloggers—Lost LeBlanc, BecomingFilipino, Nas Daily, and Drew Binsky. The data were gathered through a qualita- tive content and narrative analysis of the user-generated videos posted on the travel vloggers’ Facebook accounts. Content and visual analysis of the videos as well as viewer responses support the argument that travel vloggers and their respective vlogs play a key role in creating an online destination image of a place. Stories and images in vlogs vividly create destination images necessary and fundamental for place marketing. Travel vlogs are representations of destination experiences, from which public and private tourism agencies can use in their promotional/marketing agenda. Keywords Vlogging · Travel vlogs · Destination image · Philippines · Narrative analysis Introduction In the tourism industry, travel bloggers consistently share online their narratives of the destinations they visit, peo- ple they meet, food they eat, as well as sights and sounds they see and hear. They share their journey on social media and gain feedback while they inspire others to take on the same journey. Studies of travel blogs in tourism particularly tourists characteristics, motivations, and preferences (Car- son 2008; Wegner 2008) tourists’ decision making (Litvin et al. 2006) and how it has impacted destinations and tourist behavior were carried out by scholars (Bergmeister 2015; Bosangit et al. 2009; Thurm 2014). Unanimously, they claim that travel bloggers infuence consumers’ decision to book a destination, and they are considered destination marketing tools (Pan et al. 2007). Hence, travel blogs online infuence travelers’ purchase decision because travellers trust word-of- mouth more than company advertisements (Lange-Faria and Elliot 2012). The application of ICTs in the tourism industry was hailed by Buhalis and Jun (2011) when they emphasized that electronic tourism (e-tourism) encompasses all business functions of e-strategy, e-planning, and e-management of the tourism industry. In support of this, Litvin et al. (2006) conducted the ear- liest tourism studies about the impact of e-wom and they defned e-wom as “all informal communications directed at consumers through internet-based technology related to the usage or characteristics of particular goods and services, or their sellers” (p. 461). They further added that e-wom may either be synchronous (Instant Messaging) or asynchro- nous (email or blog). The rapid evolution of technology has brought blogging to take on a new level, enabling bloggers and travelers to utilize their smartphones or digital cam- eras to video record, post, and share their travel. This phe- nomenon has ushered in an era of vlogging, a portmanteau of video and blogging.  Objectives Travel vloggers utilize Facebook as a platform to share their videos. It is in this light that this research was conducted to examine the use and potential of video blogs or vlogs shared on Facebook for creating and marketing a destination image. This study aimed at answering the following questions: * Rachel Luna Peralta rachel@ift.edu.mo 1 Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao, China