Abstract

Overtourism spoils the good economic and social results produced by the tourism sector, causing reductions in the quality of service of the tourist destination and rejection by the local population. Previous literature has suggested that social networks and new electronic channels could be accelerators of the process of overcrowding destinations; however, this link has not been established. For this reason, in this exploratory study, the influence of social networks on overtourism is analysed using Barcelona as a base, as Barcelona is a massively popular destination in the country that is second in the world in reception of tourists to Spain. This study is also focused on Chinese tourism, which brings large numbers of tourists and presents great economic potential. Two types of study have been used: big data techniques applied to social media with sentimental analysis, and analysis of travel packages offered in China to travel to Spain. Relevant results are obtained to understand the influence of social networks on the travel behaviour of tourists, possible contributions to overtourism, and recommendations for the management of tourism.

Highlights

  • Today, there are two contradictory trends in tourist destinations

  • Given the benefits associated with tourism in terms of economy and employment, among others, tourist destinations compete against each other to attract more visitors

  • This results in overcrowding of infrastructures and public spaces, which leads to a negative perception of tourism from the population

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Summary

Introduction

There are two contradictory trends in tourist destinations. On the one hand, given the benefits associated with tourism in terms of economy and employment, among others, tourist destinations compete against each other to attract more visitors. New tourism phenomena, such as low-cost transportation and short rental platforms, are increasing demand in some traditional tourism destinations. This situation has led to citizens’ rejection of tourism [1]. Despite the growing importance of this phenomenon, overtourism is not a new phenomenon because, since the 60s, some authors have warned about the negative externalities of tourism for citizens [3] These authors analysed the causes and impacts of overtourism in thirteen European countries and asserted that overtourism is a multidimensional problem that does not have a single nor easy solution. The irruption of low-cost transportation companies and platform economy

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