Skip to main content

Technology-Based Tourism Businesses: Extracting Actionable Knowledge and Insights from Social Networks

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Technological Progress, Inequality and Entrepreneurship

Abstract

There are currently many technologies that are changing all types of professional ecosystems around the world. New technologies and business models based on the internet are producing the evolution of the tourism sector towards Digital Tourism, which uses innovation and the interconnection of products and services. The research aim of this study is to identify the main technologies and business models that are transforming the tourism sector into the new digital ecosystem. The trends that will influence the future of Digital Tourism can then be identified. To do this, an original approach is proposed, using textual analysis with data mining and visual data mining techniques with the User Generated Content (UGC) on the Twitter social network. The sample consisted of n = 25,434 tweets downloaded from the Twitter API with the hashtags #DigitalTourism and #Tourism. These were used to get insights and knowledge about the digital tourism industry using the technological innovations in the sector. The results of the research showed the main technologies and business models in the Digital Tourism sector, as well as the trends and future applications for the digital tourism sector. This research fills a gap in the existing research by using data mining techniques to obtain insights and knowledge from UGC about the Digital Tourism industry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ankomah, P., & Larson, T. (2019). Virtual tourism and its potential for tourism development in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Advanced methodologies and technologies in digital marketing and entrepreneurship (pp. 584–595). Pennsylvania: IGI Global.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Anttiroiko, A. V., Valkama, P., & Bailey, S. J. (2014). Smart cities in the new service economy: Building platforms for smart services. AI and Society, 29(3), 323–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aswani, R., Kar, A. K., Ilavarasan, P. V., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2018). Search engine marketing is not all gold: Insights from Twitter and SEOClerks. International Journal of Information Management, 38(1), 107–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atzori, L., Iera, A., & Morabito, G. (2010). The internet of things: A survey. Computer Networks, 54(15), 2787–2805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baggio, R., & Del Chiappa, G. (2014). Real and virtual relationships in tourism digital ecosystems. Information Technology & Tourism, 14(1), 3–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakıcı, T., Almirall, E., & Wareham, J. (2013). A smart city initiative: The case of Barcelona. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 4(2), 135–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bec, A., Moyle, B., Timms, K., Schaffer, V., Skavronskaya, L., & Little, C. (2019). Management of immersive heritage tourism experience: A conceptual model. Tourism Management, 72, 117–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benckendorff, P. J., Xiang, Z., & Sheldon, P. J. (2019a). Tourism information technology. Wallingford: CABI.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Benckendorff, P. J., Xiang, Z., & Sheldon, P. J. (2019b). The digital tourism landscape. In Tourism information technology (3rd ed., pp. 22–46). Wallingford: CABI.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, D., Yábar, D. P. B., & Saura, J. R. (2017). University incubators may be socially valuable, but how effective are they? A case study on business incubators at universities. In M. Peris-Ortiz, J. Gómez, J. Merigó-Lindahl, & C. Rueda-Armengot (Eds.), Entrepreneurial universities: Innovation, technology, and knowledge management. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47949-1_11

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Benyon, D., Quigley, A., O’Keefe, B., & Riva, G. (2014). Presence and digital tourism. AI & Society, 29(4), 521–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruns, A., & Burgess, J. E. (2013). Blog research: The ‘computational turn’ [Blogforschung: Der ‘computational turn’]. In Historyblogosphere: Bloggen in den Geisteswissenschaften (pp. 135–148). Munich: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag GmbH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cha, M., Kwak, H., Rodriguez, P., Ahn, Y. Y., & Moon, S. (2007, October). I tube, you tube, everybody tubes: Analyzing the world’s largest user generated content video system. In Proceedings of the 7th ACM SIGCOMM conference on internet measurement (pp. 1–14). New York: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, C., Burgess, S., Sellitto, C., & Buultjens, J. (2009). The role of user-generated content in tourists’ travel planning behavior. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 18(8), 743–764.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daugherty, T., Eastin, M. S., & Bright, L. (2008). Exploring consumer motivations for creating user-generated content. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 8(2), 16–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Chiappa, G., & Baggio, R. (2015). Knowledge transfer in smart tourism destinations: Analyzing the effects of a network structure. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 4(3), 145–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dhar, V., & Chang, E. A. (2009). Does chatter matter? The impact of user-generated content on music sales. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 23(4), 300–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dredge, D., & Gyimóthy, S. (2015). The collaborative economy and tourism: Critical perspectives, questionable claims and silenced voices. Tourism Recreation Research, 40(3), 286–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Girardin, F., Calabrese, F., Dal Fiore, F., Ratti, C., & Blat, J. (2008). Digital footprinting: Uncovering tourists with user-generated content. IEEE Pervasive Computing, 7(4), 36–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hojeghan, S. B., & Esfangareh, A. N. (2011). Digital economy and tourism impacts influences and challenges. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 19, 308–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotler, P., Bowen, J. T., Makens, J., & Baloglu, S. (2017). Marketing for hospitality and tourism. Singapore: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krumm, J., Davies, N., & Narayanaswami, C. (2008). User-generated content. IEEE Pervasive Computing, 7(4), 10–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambiotte, R., Delvenne, J. C., & Barahona, M. (2009). Laplacian dynamics and multiscale modular structure in networks. Physics and Society, arXiv:0812.1770v3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, C., Bec, A., Moyle, B. D., & Patterson, D. (2019). Innovative methods for heritage tourism experiences: Creating windows into the past. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maci, S. M. (2013). Tourism discourse: Professional, promotional and digital voices (Vol. 11). Genova: ECIG.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minghetti, V., & Buhalis, D. (2010). Digital divide in tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 49(3), 267–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munar, A. M., & Gyimóthy, S. (2013). Critical digital tourism studies. In Tourism social media: Transformations in identity, community and culture (pp. 245–262). Bingley: Emerald Group.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nam, K., Dutt, C. S., Chathoth, P., & Khan, M. S. (2019). Blockchain technology for smart city and smart tourism: Latest trends and challenges. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 24(5), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann, P. W. (2019). SESSION 3.2: Sustainable management of backcountry environments: Tourism, technology and climate change.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, P. (2008). User-generated content and travel: A case study on Tripadvisor.com. Information and communication technologies in tourism 2008, 47–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palos-Sanchez, P., Saura, J. R., Reyes-Menendez, A., & Esquivel, I. V. (2018). Users acceptance of location-based marketing apps in tourism sector: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Spatial and Organizational Dynamics, 6(3), 258–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelet, J. É., Barton, M., & Chapuis, C. (2019). Towards the implementation of digital through Wifi and IoT in wine tourism: Perspectives from professionals of wine and tourism. In Management and marketing of wine tourism business (pp. 207–236). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pierdicca, R., Paolanti, M., & Frontoni, E. (2019). eTourism: ICT and its role for tourism management. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 10(1), 90–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Menendez, A., Saura, J. R., & Alvarez-Alonso, C. (2018). Understanding #WorldEnvironmentDay user opinions in Twitter: A topic-based sentiment analysis approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(11), 2537. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15112537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salerno, R. (2019). Digital technologies for “minor” cultural landscapes knowledge: Sharing values in heritage and tourism perspective. In Geospatial intelligence: Concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications (pp. 1645–1670). Pennsylvania: IGI Global.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Santos, J., Azevedo, L., Patriarca, J., & Leitão, L. (2019). Volunteered geographical information and digital social networks applied to tourism dynamics in the “Alta and University of Coimbra”. UNESCO World Heritage Site.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saura, J. R., & Bennet, D. (2019). A three-stage methodological process of data text mining: A UGC business intelligence analysis. Symmetry-Basel, 11(4), 519. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11093.06880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saura, J. R., Palos-Sanchez, P. R., & Grilo, A. (2019). Detecting indicators for startup business success: Sentiment analysis using text data mining. Sustainability, 15(3), 553. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15030553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saura, J. R., Palos-Sanchez, P., & Reyes-Menendez, A. (2017). Marketing a través de Aplicaciones Móviles de Turismo (M-Tourism). Un estudio exploratorio. International Journal of World of Tourism, 4(8), 45–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saura, J. R., Palos-Sanchez, P. R., & Rios Martin, M. A. (2018). Attitudes to environmental factors in the tourism sector expressed in online comments: An exploratory study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(3), 553. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15030553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saura, J. R., Reyes-Menendez, A., & Alvarez-Alonso, C. (2018). Do online comments affect environmental management? Identifying factors related to environmental management and sustainability of hotels. Sustainability, in Special Issue e-Business, 10(9), 3016. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saura, J. R., Rodriguez Herráez, B., & Reyes-Menendez, A. (2019). Comparing a traditional approach for financial brand communication analysis with a big data analytics technique. IEEE Access, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2905301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sigala, M., & Marinidis, D. (2012). Web map services in tourism: A framework exploring the organisational transformations and implications on business operations and models. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 9(4), 415–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. N., Fischer, E., & Yongjian, C. (2012). How does brand-related user-generated content differ across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter? Journal of Interactive Marketing, 26(2), 102–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thurman, N. (2008). Forums for citizen journalists? Adoption of user generated content initiatives by online news media. New Media & Society, 10(1), 139–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tzanelli, R. (2013). Heritage in the digital era: Cinematic tourism and the activist cause. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dijck, J. (2009). Users like you? Theorizing agency in user-generated content. Media, Culture & Society, 31(1), 41–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vincent, P., Larochelle, H., Bengio, Y., & Manzagol, P. A. (2008, July). Extracting and composing robust features with denoising autoencoders. In Proceedings of the 25th international conference on machine learning (pp. 1096–1103). New York: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, D., Park, S., & Fesenmaier, D. (2012). The role of smartphones in mediating the tourism experience. Journal of Travel Research, 51(4), 371–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, D., & Xiang, Z. (2012). The new landscape of travel: A comprehensive analysis of smartphone apps. In M. Fuchs, F. Ricci, & L. Cantoni (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism 2012 (pp. 308–319). Wien: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Werthner, H., Alzua-Sorzabal, A., Cantoni, L., Dickinger, A., Gretzel, U., Jannach, D., et al. (2015). Future research issues in IT and tourism. Information Technology and Tourism, 15(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-014-0021-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West, J., & Gallagher, S. (2006). Challenges of open innovation: The paradox of firm investment in open source software. R&D Management, 36(3), 319–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoo, K.-H., Sigala, M., & Gretzel, U. (2015). Exploring TripAdvisor. In R. Egger, I. Gula, & D. Walcher (Eds.), Open tourism – open innovation, crowdsourcing and collaborative consumption challenging the tourism industry. Heidelberg: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuan, Y., Tseng, Y. H., & Ho, C. I. (2019). Tourism information technology research trends: 1990-2016. Tourism Review, 74(1), 5–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to María de la Cruz del Río-Rama .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ramón-Saura, J., Palos-Sanchez, P.R., de la Cruz del Río-Rama, M. (2020). Technology-Based Tourism Businesses: Extracting Actionable Knowledge and Insights from Social Networks. In: Ratten, V. (eds) Technological Progress, Inequality and Entrepreneurship. Studies on Entrepreneurship, Structural Change and Industrial Dynamics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26245-7_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics