Formatting Online Image of “Halal” Destination through Photography

Abstract

Web 2.0 or social media as a digital instrument of the internet marketing is increasingly significant in formatting an online image of the tourist destination. The study collected photographic information of two destinations in Indonesia (West Sumatera and Aceh) from the official Instagram account of each of their local authorities to explore the online image of these destinations. Visual content analysis was applied to examine the image formation of this halal tourism within the collected photograph. The results indicate that various dimensions of an image are composed of five dimensions: social opportunity and attraction, natural and cultural amenities, accommodation and transportation, infrastructure, food and friendly people, physical amenities, and recreation activities. However, similarly natural and cultural amenities are the most emphasized dimension. Conversely, the dimension of accommodation and transportation is less stressed by these official webs. Meanwhile, categories of some image dimensions were emphasized differently. The implication of halal destination and study findings to the theoretical development of the image of halal tourism and some recommendations for future study were discussed.