Root tourism marketing: a conceptual framework

This paper develops a conceptual framework for root tourism marketing. Drawing on push-pull theory, service-dominant logic, the experience economy, and post-COVID destination-resilience thinking, it explains how diaspora motivations shape value co-creation, experience design, sustainable destination positioning. A central theoretical contribution aligns strategic marketing levers with distinct diaspora clusters,categorized by their genealogical proximity and emotional engagement. This equips destination management organizations (DMOs) with a rigorous tool to move beyond generic promotion toward efficient, culturally sensitive marketing strategies. Furthermore, the framework integrates the role of digital technologies across the visitor journey, from ancestry research to AR/VR on-site interpretation and AI-enabled post-visit storytelling. Finally ethical responsibilities and operational barriers are incorporated as critical conditioning variables for strategic decision-making.