Collecting Memorable Tourism Experiences: How Do ‘wechat’?

Abstract

This paper explores the potential of a social media platform, WeChat, for adding value to qualitative data collection in research on tourism experiences. This manuscript details how WeChat provides a unique opportunity for researchers to collect rich in-depth qualitative data without physical immersion into sampling. Additionally, WeChat encourages sustained interaction between the researcher and the subject to enhance the depth of the data collected to answer theoretically driven research questions and ensure the data collected trustworthy. A conceptual model of WeChat-mediated data collection within memorable tourism experiences (MTEs) research is presented. This manuscript contributes to an emerging scholarly debate on the collection and interpretation of tourism qualitative data in a society where interaction has become increasingly mediated through social media. Future research should focus on studies which assess the efficacy of comparable social media platforms for conducting internet-mediated research in tourism.