Evaluating the Impact of Short-Form Video Content on Sustainable Tourism Narratives in Rwanda and Lombok

Background: Social media platforms Instagram and TikTok and YouTube have revolutionized destination marketing because tourism worldwide now operates through digital systems. The digital exposure which destinations receive through marketing efforts creates two opposing effects because it enables better destination promotion but at the same time it creates problems with cultural misrepresentation and fake authenticity and ethical issues with User-Generated Content (UGC). Objective: The research analysed how short digital tourism content helps achieve sustainable tourism goals by measuring how well these videos perform in destination exposure and their ethical representation and their support for sustainability practices. Method: The study used qualitative research methods to analyse 20 short tourism videos which researchers collected from Instagram and TikTok and YouTube through non-participatory content analysis. The research team used purposive sampling to choose videos which showed influencer content and local business promotions and user-generated travel vlogs that displayed new destinations throughout Africa and Asia. Researchers analysed the data through thematic coding which focused on three main elements that included visibility impact and ethical representation and sustainability goals alignment. Results: The research results demonstrated that digital platforms enable tourism destinations to achieve better promotion and visibility but these platforms fail to protect ethical standards and deliver authentic local cultural experiences. The research revealed three core problems which included selective storytelling and community exclusion and shallow destination representation. Conclusion: The research shows that digital tourism marketing provides businesses with major promotional benefits yet it creates sustainability risks when they fail to consider ethical issues and listen to local community feedback. Unique Contribution: The research uncovers how digital marketing approaches interact with sustainable tourism operations while demonstrating the necessity to assess user-generated content impact on destination story development. Key Recommendation: The study recommends organizations to establish digital marketing strategies which base their ethical principles on community involvement and work to present genuine content through local community involvement which supports sustainable tourism practices.