Effective tourism promotion through KOLs

Philippine KOLs group visits and experiences in Da Nang . Photo: TTXTDL

Drive customer growth

In mid-late August, the Danang Tourism Promotion Center coordinated with Cebu Pacific Airlines to organize a famtrip program for a group of Philippine KOLs to visit and experience Danang city.

With the message "New Da Nang - New Experience", during 5 days and 4 nights, the group surveyed and experienced many tourist attractions of the city such as: Son Tra peninsula, Cham Sculpture Museum, Marble Mountains, Hoi An ancient town, My Son temple complex, Bay Mau coconut forest, Thanh Ha pottery village, Tra Que vegetable village... Organizing the KOLs group is expected to help further spread the image of Da Nang tourism to the Philippine market and Southeast Asia.

In recent years, the trend of using KOLs in tourism communications has become increasingly popular. In Da Nang, the city welcomes an average of 50 KOLs each year and organizes events with the participation of KOLs. By taking advantage of the influence of KOLs and the advantages of social networks, the results are quite positive.

In particular, the cost of inviting KOLs is also much lower than traditional promotional activities. Most of them are socialized with the support of service providers such as: transportation, accommodation, restaurants, etc.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Khiet, Deputy Director in charge of the My Son World Cultural Heritage Management Board, acknowledged that the appearance of KOLs with a large number of fans has contributed to creating a strong "wave" of interest in the My Son heritage.

“The articles and images from KOLs not only introduce the beauty of Champa architecture and sculpture, but also highlight the Cham cultural imprint through unique folk dances, thereby giving visitors a more multidimensional and in-depth view of the heritage site,” said Mr. Nguyen Cong Khiet.

It seems that every year My Son welcomes several groups of KOLs and famous travel bloggers from within and outside the country to experience, share articles, images, and feelings on social networking platforms such as: tiktok, instagram, youtube... helping to bring the image of My Son closer to the public.

Surveys show that most famous tourist attractions in the city such as Hoi An ancient town, Bay Mau coconut forest, Vinpearl Nam Hoi An, Han market, Sun World Ba Na Hills... have recorded an increase in the number of young visitors after youtubers shared videos on social networks.

Building policies for KOLs

In the first 8 months of 2025, Da Nang will welcome about 12.8 million visitors, an increase of 20.8% over the same period in 2024 (international visitors will reach 5 million).

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Tham, Director of Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center, affirmed that the above results had a significant contribution from KOLs.

“Introducing and promoting Da Nang tourism destinations through KOLs brings clear results thanks to the large number of followers. Therefore, each feeling or article, image of KOLs has a high influence on the online community and users, thereby making Da Nang's image more widely known,” Ms. Tham acknowledged.

Currently, the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center is building a policy to attract KOLs, celebrities, and influencers to Da Nang before consulting the city to issue it.

In particular, KOLs whose articles have high views and great spread will be proposed by the city to be rewarded at the end of the year to motivate KOLs to promote and introduce Da Nang destination better.

According to Ms. Tham, inviting KOLs is not mass but based on specific criteria such as number of followers, positive social impact, and no violation of the law. All KOLs are assessed by the unit before cooperation.

In addition, based on the analysis and characteristics of each market, the Center will have different promotional solutions. In particular, priority will be given to KOLs for the Southeast Asian and Korean markets, where young people are more interested in social networks.

For the European and American markets, promotion must still be carried out in the traditional way to create consistency and diversity.

Through images and articles written by KOLs, Bay Mau coconut forest is known to more domestic and foreign tourists. Photo: VINH LOC

According to Mr. Le Quoc Viet, Chairman of Quang Destination Club, using KOLs to promote tourism is not only a trend but has become an indispensable part of the sustainable tourism development strategy in many localities, including Da Nang.

"In the context of digital technology and strong development of social networks, promotion through KOLs and KOCs brings clear results thanks to the large number of followers. Each article and image they post creates a ripple effect, especially with young tourists who regularly use social networks," Mr. Viet analyzed.

It is forecasted that when the KOLs solution is implemented systematically, choosing the right target audience and customer market and combining practical and effective tourism product quality, it will not only help increase the number of visitors but also elevate the brand of Da Nang destination on the international tourism map.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/hieu-qua-quang-ba-du-lich-qua-kols-3302840.html