Title: Digitalising backpacker to travel vlogger

Authors: Hasliza Hassan; Muhammad Sabbir Rahman; Abu Bakar Sade

Addresses: Faculty of Management, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia ' Department of Marketing and International Business, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh ' Putra Business School, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: Tourism is one of the common ways to achieve economic development in most destinations. The expenditure of tourists stimulates the socio-economic development of local communities. Most countries target business travellers and tourists who do not mind spending while travelling. Backpackers were previously underestimated because they travel on an extremely tight budget. This research is based on secondary reviews in the tourism industry. Owing to digitalisation through social media, many backpackers have become travel vloggers who indirectly became influencers in the tourism industry. The popularity of travel vloggers has led to their appointment as tourism ambassadors who promote travel destinations. A leap in momentum in the Malaysian tourism industry is expected within the next few years with the assistance of travel vloggers.

Keywords: backpacker; digital; travel; tourism; tourist; vlogger.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKMTH.2022.124101

International Journal of Knowledge Management in Tourism and Hospitality, 2022 Vol.2 No.4, pp.366 - 375

Received: 05 Apr 2022
Accepted: 09 Apr 2022
Published online: 12 Jul 2022 *