How Can Destination Branding in Smart Tourism Move from Information Reach to Immersive Experience

Abstract

Smart tourism technologies are rewriting the underlying logic of destination brand communication, but while information can achieve virtually unlimited reach, can experience travel just as far? As virtual reality (VR) places tourists at the center of attractions and algorithms continuously surround them with destination-related content, the explanatory power of a communication paradigm centered on brand awareness and information reach is becoming increasingly limited. This article argues that immersive experience should become the central logic of destination brand communication in the context of smart tourism. Three interrelated rationales support this argument: an epistemological shift from an information-processing paradigm to an experience-generation paradigm; an ontological transformation of brand communication from information transmission to meaning co-creation; and the profound role of immersive experience in fostering both brand identification and civilizational identification. The argument is examined through three cases of smart cultural tourism in Fujian, some of which have approached the threshold of immersive environments, while others remain in transition.