Social Network Analysis on Tourists’ Perceived Image of Tropical Forest Park: Implications for Niche Tourism

Abstract

Tourists’ perceived image is the core of destination marketing. As an important niche tourist destination, the analysis of tourists’ perceived image of tropical forest parks has great value. This study takes the Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park as a case site and collects a total of 1,44,022 words from online travel reviews on Ctrip.com via the Python web crawler technology. Firstly, through high-frequency word analysis, we identified 77 core elements and a total of five image themes, which are attraction image, emotional image, service facility image, crowd image, and activity image. Secondly, building on Net Draw analysis, a network structure diagram of the tourist’ perceived image of the Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park is constructed. Finally, the overall network and individual network of tourists’ perceived image are analyzed. The results indicate that low overall network density is in possession of core and periphery. Guojianglong Cable Bridge, battery car, and glass path enjoy both high degree centrality and betweenness centrality. They also show significant advantages of structural holes. Therefore, they are on the top of the network. The academic and practical value of tourism image projection and development in tropical forest park is discussed.