Against the backdrop of the rise of "attention cities" and the deep penetration of digital media, official cultural and tourism short videos produced by urban authorities have rapidly emerged as significant carriers for disseminating urban tourism images and facilitating the digital transformation of public services, owing to their visual appeal, entertainment value, and interactivity. However, there is currently a dearth of research exploring how soft advertising embedded in these official cultural and tourism short videos influences the public travel intentions. This paper constructs an analytical framework based on the AIDMA model to investigate the impact mechanism of soft advertising in official cultural and tourism short videos on the public travel intentions. Relevant conclusions are drawn through empirical analysis of 1, 012 questionnaires. The findings reveal that the public's travel intentions are subject to the combined influence of the attractiveness of soft advertising in official cultural and tourism short videos, the public's interest and desire in such advertising, and the information pushed by platforms. During this process, perceived usefulness serves as a mediating factor. This study not only provides a theoretical framework for understanding how soft advertising in official cultural and tourism short videos affects the public travel intentions but also offers practical insights for enhancing the digital transformation and effectiveness of urban tourism public services.