ABSTRACT Tourist Daka, a recording behaviour displaying individuals’ tourism in virtual spaces, has become a major manifestation of travel experiences in modern social media. Through a dual motivation lens, this study investigated the relationship between Daka destination features, dual Daka motivations (i.e. intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation), and Daka intention to develop a model that outlines the influencing mechanism driving the occurrence of tourist Daka. The results demonstrated that: (1) Daka destination features evoke different Daka motivations; (2) intrinsic motivation triggers an individual’s emotions on Daka destination and affects their Daka intention, while extrinsic motivation only evokes their emotions on Daka destination; and further (3) individual’s tourism involvement plays a moderating role in the influencing path. This study provides theoretical data regarding studies of tourist behaviour and practical guidance for the development of novel tourism models.