A Virtual Tourism Development Approach to Advancing Local Economic Development in Kerinci Regency

Digital tourism offers opportunities to connect destination promotion with business performance and local economic participation, but these relationships require systematic examination. This study evaluates a proposed framework linking virtual tourism quality and digital marketing capability with tourism business performance and local economic development in Kerinci Regency, Indonesia. The population was tourism businesses operating in Kerinci Regency that have participated in, used, or been represented through virtual tourism content. Purposive sampling identified respondents meeting the criteria, data from 100 respondents. All five direct relationships were positive and statistically significant. Virtual tourism and digital marketing were associated with business performance, with standardized coefficients of 0,592 and 0,707, respectively. Their direct relationships with local economic development were 0,479 and 0,554, while the coefficient for business performance was 0,252. The model demonstrated generally acceptable fit, although two goodness-of-fit indices remained below conventional reference criteria. The framework illustrates how digital destination experiences and marketing capabilities were examined alongside business-level economic contributions.