Collective Destination Marketing in China: Leveraging Social Media Celebrity Endorsement

Abstract

This study examines a social media campaign initiated by Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) using Chinese actress Yao Chen as a celebrity endorser to promote New Zealand (NZ) as a tourism destination for free and independent travelers from China. Yao Chen shared her travel experiences in NZ, including her wedding in Queenstown, on her Sina Weibo microblog, which had more than 10.9 million followers, thereby raising awareness in China of NZ as a tourism destination. Drawing on a single case study, this article shows that the travel experience of a foreign celebrity shared on social media can serve as a script for a typical travel experience for potential travelers. Furthermore, to capitalize on the opportunities created by the collaborative social media campaign, government tourism agencies and businesses need to actively monitor the content on the social media site of the celebrity endorser, which in turn allows them to learn about the target customer and to customize the businesses' offerings accordingly. However, a lack of relevant language and cultural skills can be a barrier preventing tourism businesses from realizing the benefits of such campaign.