User Generated Content (UGC) Pariwisata Jawa Barat pada Media Sosial Instagram sebagai alat Marketing Public Relations

Abstract

Rapid advances in digital technology and information systems have transformed tourism marketing from one-way communication dominated by official messages from destination managers and government agencies into participatory communication shaped by user-generated content (UGC). This study aims to analyze the types of UGC on Instagram related to West Java tourism, the information conveyed, and the patterns of interaction among users in online environments. Employing a qualitative approach with a virtual ethnographic tradition, the unit of analysis comprises UGC on Instagram posted by individual users and tagged with #wisatajawabarat, #destinasiwisatajawabarat, and #pariwisatajawabarat. Data were collected through literature review, participant observation, and documentation, and subsequently analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the forms of UGC are photos and videos, with a strong focus on content depicting Bandung as one of the epicenters of tourism and the creative economy in West Java. The UGC combines functional information (location, routes, access, facilities, prices) with symbolic–affective information (atmosphere, beauty, emotional impressions), thereby constituting electronic word-of-mouth. User interactions are facilitated through likes, comments, reposts, and tagging, while comments on West Java tourism UGC can be categorized into appreciative, informative–consultative, and persuasive types. These results suggest that UGC represents a marketing public relations asset that can be integrated with the official “Smiling West Java” campaign to collaboratively enhance the promotion of West Java tourism in digital spaces.