Standout online promotional tourism videos attracting young students in numbers

Promotional videos posted by local culture and tourism authorities on the Douyin short-video platform are attracting young students, who view such footage as being unconventional and trendy.

The students said they often watch the videos on the platform, as they provide them with useful information for their travel plans.

Xu Bo, a postgraduate student at Lomonosov Moscow State University, said she has watched the videos in the Russian capital, and finds them "novel and entertaining".

She added that they give her a new understanding of many regions she is not familiar with. Videos from her hometown of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, have also renewed her love for the city, she said.

Xu said that to attract tourists, the authorities in Harbin have tried everything from rolling out carpets on Central Street to installing an artificial moon over Saint Sophia Cathedral.

Some popular videos only feature handsome, shirtless men or beautiful women, but as they are not unique to a particular area, they might soon become outdated, she said.

Feng Weiyi, a postgraduate student in Changsha, Hunan province, believes such promotional videos deserve praise, as they feature content that appeals to young people and also target a huge number of followers on short-video platforms to achieve results.

Instead of spending a fortune on advertising, these videos are much more cost-effective, she said, adding, "After watching the footage about Harbin, I would love to visit the city someday."

Feng said some of the videos might be a little "tacky", but as long as they feature distinctive local attractions and tell the stories of tourist sites, they can attract large audiences.

Li Ke, a postgraduate student from Hunan University, said she has been entertained by the videos. She also often checks the witty remarks made by netizens about such footage.

As long as the videos promote local tourist sites and specialties, they can be entertaining and funny, she said.

"I believe local authorities should give young people more say in creating and editing the videos, as the younger generation knows what the online trends are and how best to attract netizens," Li added.

Ao Simin, a postgraduate student from Central South University in Changsha, said she likes the videos posted by the Jiaozhou culture and tourism authorities in Shandong province the most, because they are not only entertaining but also informative.

She said she has learned about local food culture, customers and traditions from the videos, adding that after seeing the footage, she really wants to visit Jiaozhou.

Ao believes promotional videos should give a true picture of local situations. Otherwise, if people visit a particular destination and it fails to match the videos, they will leave with a bad impression of the place.

Cao Danning, a first-year undergraduate student in Hefei, Anhui province, said she liked the videos posted by the Henan Culture and Tourism Department the most because they featured content about traditional Chinese culture, enabling her to appreciate the province's rich past.

People travel not only to see a local landscape, but also to appreciate a destination's culture, she added.

Tang Xiaoqing and Fu Bingqian contributed to this story.