Rallying support for animal welfare on Twitter: a tale of four destination boycotts

• Published in: Tourism recreation research 2023-05, Vol.48 (3), p.384-398
• Main Authors: Shaheer, Ismail, Carr, Neil, Insch, Andrea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: animal-associated campaigns; social media strategies; Tourism boycotts; Twitter; welfare of animals
• ISSN: 0250-8281; 2320-0308
• DOI: 10.1080/02508281.2021.1936411

Tourism destinations that are perceived to have engaged in egregious policies/behaviours may face boycott calls. It is increasingly observed that people use social media to call for boycotts of products and tourism destinations. However, limited attention has been given to understanding destination boycotts. Additionally, while research on online protests has increased over the last two decades, studies related to online protests about tourism destinations are relatively limited. Notably, not much is known about the online strategies that are employed to mobilise support for destination boycotts. To help fill this gap, this paper explores the strategies utilised to mobilise support for destination boycotts on Twitter. For this study, tweets posted calling for tourism boycotts of China, Kerala (India), Spain, and South Africa due to concerns about animal abuse were analysed. Thematic analysis of the tweets revealed that information-based, appeal-based, and association-based strategies were employed to mobilise support for the boycotts. The paper examines the implications of these strategies for destinations and boycott organisers/supporters.