THE INFLUENCE OF KOREAN REALITY SHOWS ON TOURISM TRENDS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: FOCUSING ON VIETNAM AND THAILAND
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17501/Keywords:
Korean Wave, Korean reality shows, film-induced tourism, tourism trends, nowcasting, Southeast AsiaAbstract
Screen culture is increasingly shaping tourist behaviour worldwide, yet the role of Korean reality shows in generating outbound travel interest towards Southeast Asia is still not fully studied. This research addresses that gap by examining how selected episodes of Korean reality shows filmed in Vietnam and Thailand influence the online information seeking behaviour of South Korean viewers. Applying nowcasting framework, the research analyzed Naver Trends search index data collected 60-day period centred on broadcast dates and compared them with official monthly tourist arrival data from both destination countries. Paired t-tests applied to 234 destination and cuisine related keywords extracted from 28 episodes confirmed a statistically significant post-broadcast increase in search activity for 72.22 % of selected keywords. Sa Pa (Vietnam) recorded the largest increase following the broadcast of an episode of New Journey to the West (Season 4). Despite these strong search interests, official tourist arrival data rarely reflected a comparable immediate increase, the finding attributed to the structural time lag between information search and actual travel decision, curiosity-driven versus intentional search behaviour, and external environmental factors such as cost and safety awareness. The study concludes that nowcasting using search engines provides a practical, real-time view for evaluating destination awareness, and offers actionable recommendations for Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) and travel agencies who seek to take advantages of the increase in media-inducing interest.
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