A Social Network Analysis of Tourist Movement Patterns in Blogs: Korean Backpackers in Europe

Hee Chung,Yoonjae Nam,Namho Chung

doi:10.3390/su9122251

Abstract

Given recent developments in information and communication technology, the number of individual tourists enjoying free travel without the advice of travel agencies is increasing. Therefore, such tourists can visit more tourist destinations and create more complex movement patterns than mass tourists. These tourist movement patterns are a key factor in understanding tourist behavior and they contain various information that is important for tourism marketers. In this vein, this study aims to investigate tourist movement patterns in Europe. We acquired 122 data points from posts on the NAVER blog, which is the most famous social media platform in Korea. These data were transformed into matrix data for social network analysis and analyzed for centrality. The results suggest that Korean backpackers in Europe tend to enter Europe through London and Paris. Venezia and Firenze are also key cities.

Highlights

The movement of tourists is a key factor in tourism and represents very important information in terms of understanding tourist behavior and the role of specific tourist destinations [1,2,3]
Sustainable tourism has mostly been studied in terms of development in an attempt to determine how tourism destinations should be developed in harmony with local residents and the natural environment [5,6,7,8]
The results reveal the structure of the network of Korean backpackers in Europe

Summary

Introduction

The movement of tourists is a key factor in tourism and represents very important information in terms of understanding tourist behavior and the role of specific tourist destinations [1,2,3]. The guidebook and tour guide are being replaced by mobile devices. These new information-sharing activities are going on constantly, without any restrictions based on the physical environment. In this context, this study examines such individuals’ independent travel behavior in terms of sustainable tourism. Travelers who enjoy traveling independently using information obtained via the virtual space information are more concerned with maintaining harmony with local residents as compared to group tourists and seek local authenticity [9]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion