ABSTRACT
Nowadays, the development of Internet apps particularly new media platforms including social networking sites, the power of smartphones and other mobile devices have changed the media landscape, and enabled Destination Marketing Organisation (DMOs) to introduce some tourism events of their places to broader publics. By using a case study of three different cities in Indonesia – Jakarta, Bandung and Bali – this chapter uses qualitative methods to explore the use of DMOs’ Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to promote the number of traditional cultural events in these cities amongst young people. Netnographic approach and online focus groups via Skype with several members of online social networking site communities (ages: 15-28 years) in the three different types of social media were conducted. The aim is to investigate how the social media is used in the promotional cultural events; is social media used as a source of information to gather the events; and the roles of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook in the promotion of traditional cultural events of three different cities. Findings show that Twitter is the most favourite tool that has been used by respondents followed by Instagram and Facebook in order to gather information of cultural events in Jakarta, Bandung and Bali. The results also indicate social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook help DMOs communicate and promote the cultural events. They have changed the roles of, and interrelationship between DMOs as events providers and how consumers process media content.
