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From views to visits: The role of YouTube influencers in shaping travel destination choices in Japan

dc.contributor.authorHussain, Shah Syed Arif
dc.contributor.authorTezuka, Yukiko
dc.contributor.authorFujisaki, Koichi
dc.contributor.authorYai, Tetsuo
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-26T07:10:38Z
dc.date.available2026-06-26T07:10:38Z
dc.date.issued2026-06-11
dc.identifier.issn0867-5856
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11089/58662
dc.description.abstractSocial media play a key role in how people choose where to travel with influencers shaping many of these choices. This study investigates how YouTube influencers shape travel destination related interest in Japan by analyzing viewer comments on two highly popular itinerary travel videos. Viewer comments were collected using Python scripts and prepared for analysis through standard data-cleaning procedures. The analysis combines transformer-based language models and aspect-based sentiment analysis to examine sentiment, emotions, key destinations and itinerary-related themes in viewer comments. The findings show that itinerary-focused influencer content generates mainly positive sentiment and emotional engagement, along with planning-related viewer responses such as itinerary consideration, destination-specific questions, and reflections on past or intended future travel. The study offers practical insights for the tourism industry, policymakers and destination management organizations (DMOs) by showing how influencers’ content supports destination visibility and interest formation, with implications for promoting lesser-known destinations and managing overtourism.en
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherWydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiegopl
dc.relation.ispartofseriesTuryzm/Tourism;1en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
dc.subjectsentiment analysisen
dc.subjectYouTube comment miningen
dc.subjectsocial-media influencersen
dc.subjectlarge language modelsen
dc.subjectuser-generated contenten
dc.titleFrom views to visits: The role of YouTube influencers in shaping travel destination choices in Japanen
dc.typeArticle
dc.page.number155-168
dc.contributor.authorAffiliationHussain, Shah Syed Arif - Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute (Tokyo, Japan)en
dc.contributor.authorAffiliationTezuka, Yukiko - Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute (Tokyo, Japan)en
dc.contributor.authorAffiliationFujisaki, Koichi - Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute (Tokyo, Japan)en
dc.contributor.authorAffiliationYai, Tetsuo - Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute (Tokyo, Japan)en
dc.identifier.eissn2080-6922
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dc.contributor.authorEmailHussain, Shah Syed Arif - arif-hsn@jttri.or.jp
dc.contributor.authorEmailTezuka, Yukiko - tezuka-ykk@jttri.or.jp
dc.contributor.authorEmailFujisaki, Koichi - fujisaki-kdt@jttri.or.jp
dc.contributor.authorEmailYai, Tetsuo - yai-tto@jttri.or.jp
dc.identifier.doi10.18778/0867-5856.2026.12
dc.relation.volume36


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