The social media phenomenon revolutionized the way people communicate and share information in all age groups. In the context of global expansion and its undeniable popularity, social media platforms have favored the emergence of a new concept, the social media influencer (SMI). SMIs are online celebrities, followed and copied by a large number of users. The paper’s goal is to investigate the capacity of travel SMIs to influence the tourist decisions of Generation Z members. Aiming to obtain insight results, an exploratory study was conducted using the qualitative focus group research method. The respondents are members of Generation Z, users of social media platforms for travel planning. The main results highlight the characteristics of travel SMIs’ activities and influences, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of following their recommendations in the travel planning process. Also, this study highlights the reduced influence of Romanian travel SMIs on Generation Z tourists, despite the fact that they are primary information consumers on this communication channel. The results could contribute to establishing general benchmarks of a future professional career for Generation Z members as travel SMIs, an important sustainable option for communication in tourism.

Tourism destination literature identifies place identity and place dependence as prominent dimensions of place attachment. Despite their importance, only limited research has been carried out to examine the likely influence of these constructs on satisfaction and loyalty in the context of an Eastern European post-communist country. Romanian coastal destinations were analyzed due to their high rate of domestic return visitors with possible connections to the fact that these were their only coastal tourism option during communist times. Our results reveal that place identity and place dependence for Black Sea coastal destinations significantly influence satisfaction and loyalty toward such destinations and that satisfaction has a significant mediating role between place attachment and loyalty intentions for these destinations. Findings also reveal that in the case of tourists with a low visitation frequency, satisfaction influences their intention to recommend the destination to other people. Our findings help Black Sea coastal destination marketers strengthen tourists’ place attachment, satisfaction, and destination loyalty.