Combining Social Media and Mobile Positioning Data in the Analysis of Tourist Flows: A Case Study from Szeged, Hungary

Zoltán Kovács,Tamás Kovalcsik,Ábel Elekes,György Vida

doi:10.3390/su13052926

Abstract

Despite the growing importance of mobile tracking technology in urban planning and traffic forecasting, its utilization in the understanding of the basic laws governing tourist flows remains limited. Knowledge regarding the motivations and spatial behavior of tourists has great potential in sustainable tourism studies. In this paper, we combine social media (Twitter) and mobile positioning data (MPD) in the analysis of international tourism flows in Szeged, a secondary urban center in Hungary. First, the content of geotagged and non-geotagged Twitter messages referring to Szeged in a six-month period of 2018 was analyzed. In this way specific events attracting foreign tourists were identified. Then, using MPD data of foreign SIM cards, visitor peaks in the investigated period were defined. With the joint application of the social media and mobile positioning analytical tools, we were able to identify those attractions (festivals, sport and cultural events, etc.) that generated significant tourism arrivals in the city. Furthermore, using the mixed-method approach we were also able to analyze the movements of foreign visitors during one large-scale tourism event and evaluate its hinterland. Overall, this study supports the idea that social media data should be combined with other real-time data sources, such as MPD, in order to gain a more precise understanding of the behavior of tourists. The proposed analytical tool can contribute to methodological and conceptual development in the field, and information gained by its application can positively influence not only tourism management and planning but also tourism marketing and placemaking.

Highlights

Social media data have gained increasing popularity among researchers for its use in analyzing the spatiotemporal activities of people [1,2]
The main objective of this paper is to present a novel methodology combining two types of tracking technologies (Twitter and mobile phones) in the analysis of international tourist flows in Szeged, a major city of Hungary
To the best of our knowledge, except for the pioneering experiment of Sowkhya et al [1], no attempt in tourism literature has been made toward the simultaneous utilization of the data available on social media platforms and the data stored by mobile phone operators, at least not at such fine geographical resolution

Summary

Introduction

Social media data have gained increasing popularity among researchers for its use in analyzing the spatiotemporal activities of people [1,2]. Social media covers a wide range of topics, from something as simple as products, events, or different services to more complex issues related to culture, sports, politics, the environment, or pandemics. Such data offer policy makers a good opportunity to improve their knowledge of the local environment, and to detect people’s flows and the use of services in a certain area. Using this knowledge, they are able to make better and more sustainable decisions [1,7].

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Results

Conclusion