In recent time, YouTube has evolved into a powerful
medium for social interaction. Utilizing YouTube for enhancing
marketing endeavors is a strategy practiced by marketing
professionals across several industries. This paper rationalizes on the
different ways and means of leveraging YouTube-based platforms for
effective destination marketing by the hospitality industry (hotels).
More specifically, the typology of virtual communities is adapted to
evaluate the YouTube platform for effective destination marketing.
Comments made by YouTube users have been subjected to a content
analysis and the results are reported here under the five broad clusters
of virtual communities. Implications for utilizing YouTube-based
community interactions for destination marketing are also highlighted
as part of the outcome of this research.
