THE INFLUENCE OF DIGITAL PLATFORM MOVIES ON SHAPING THE PERCEPTIONS OF THE JORDANIAN AUDIENCE TOWARDS TOURIST DESTINATIONS

Digital movie platforms are one of the most prominent modern entertainment mediums that play an increasing role in influencing audience perceptions on various topics, including tourist destinations. The study aimed to evaluate the impact of digital platform films on perceptions of tourist places among the Jordanian public, using a questionnaire on a purposive sample of 400 Jordanians. The study revealed that the majority of respondents (47.2%) watch films on digital platforms extensively, with Netflix being the most popular platform for film consumption. The beautiful depiction of these locations was the main feature of digital platform films that shaped respondents’ perceptions of destinations. Furthermore, digital platform films about destination depictions, as well as their role in promoting cultural communication and understanding, significantly influenced the choice of destinations. Although the impact of these films on promoting tourist destinations was moderate, it has been proven that increasing the number of viewers of films on digital platforms significantly enhances their ability to shape the image of tourist destinations and improve communication and cultural understanding. Results show that younger and more educated consumers are more interested in the places depicted when they use these channels. Demographic factors influence media consumption patterns, and digital films can be great tools for tourism marketing and cultural interchange. The findings of the study also show that there is no correlation between the degree of respondents' viewing of digital platform films and the role these films play in promoting tourist destinations from the study sample perspective. This indicates that the frequency of watching digital platform films does not influence the promotion of tourist destinations. Meanwhile the results demonstrate that there is a positive correlation between the degree of respondents' viewing of digital platform films and the role these films play in influencing their choice of tourist destinations. This suggests that the more respondents watch digital platform films, the more these films influence their choice of tourist destinations. Furthermore, the study opens pathways for tourism policy makers to collaborate with media producers to create cinematic portrayals that both attract international interest and enrich the domestic tourism landscape. Future research could expand on these insights by exploring the long-term effects of repeated digital film exposure on tourism behaviors and investigating how genre-specific content contributes to the appeal of travel destinations.