Becoming a Travel Influencer

Abstract

Contrasting the production and distribution of television travel shows and travel vlogs, the second chapter proposes a critical political economy approach foregrounding socio-technical power relations in global tourism, and the empowerment tactics employed therein. The vast majority of television travel shows involve professional crews, large budgets and scripted storyboards. In stark contrast, travel vlogs are, by and large, low-budget productions, providing intimate travel advice from a first-person perspective. The researched travel influencers secured their livelihoods by combining various streams of revenue, including content monetisation, product sponsorship and collaborations with tourism organisations. Both television travel shows and travel vlogs are global cultural flows circulating through the interfaces of Internet technologies. Disseminating global knowledge about travel destinations, streaming services and video-sharing platforms render travel content into global forms. The researched travel influencers produced such global forms for circulation on digital platforms and brought place images from tourism destinations to platform audiences.

Citation

Ritter, C.S. (2024), "Becoming a Travel Influencer", Locating the Influencer: Place and Platform in Global Tourism, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 17-29. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-597-420241002