Understanding Internet Memes’ Characteristics in Tourism- How Tourism Hotspots Become Successful?

Driven by internet memes, some specific spots rapidly become tourism hotspots, a phenomenon known as meme tourism. However, little is known about why certain tourism memes become more successful than others. Drawing on meme theory, this study analyses 12,548 online posts that feature memetic tourism phenomena. Under the text mining approach, six key characteristics are identified via topic modeling: virality, transmutability, humorousness, creativity, inspirationality, and imitability. Based on Gephi network analysis, the findings further show that tourism memes resonate emotionally when tourism spots are visually distinctive, humorous, symbolically clear, and imaginative. This study offers practical implications for marketers, government officials, and destination management organizations.