Abstract
Purpose This paper aims to explore the themes and nature of sentiment of Twitter content that discussed the Australian bushfire disaster 2019–2020 and its associated wildlife devastation, with considerations for the future of Australia’s tourism industry. Design/methodology/approach A large, qualitative data set consisting of all publicly available Twitter posts during the period of the Australian bushfires from December 2019 to March 2020 that mentioned the bushfires and wildlife are explored. Findings The devastation of wildlife through the Australian bushfire disaster elicited emotionally charged Twitter content from both Australian and overseas users. Positive sentiment focused on offering support to areas impacted by wildlife devastation. Negative sentiment concentrated on linking the Australian bushfires disaster to global discussions surrounding the climate emergency, and a perceived lack of political action. Originality/value Despite the intensity of media attention directed towards the Australian bushfires disaster 2019–2020, there has been little scholarly research exploring social media content specifically focused on the wildlife devastation and its association with, and implications for, the tourism industry.
Highlights
The devastation of wildlife through the Australian bushfire disaster elicited emotionally charged Twitter content from both Australian and overseas users
Despite the intensity of media attention directed towards the Australian bushfires disaster 2019–2020, there has been little scholarly research exploring social media content focused on the wildlife devastation and its association with, and implications for, the tourism industry
This theme primarily consisted of sharing of information about the Australian bushfires and the resharing of news updates about the disaster
Summary
The devastation of wildlife through the Australian bushfire disaster elicited emotionally charged Twitter content from both Australian and overseas users. Despite the intensity of media attention directed towards the Australian bushfires disaster 2019–2020, there has been little scholarly research exploring social media content focused on the wildlife devastation and its association with, and implications for, the tourism industry. This paper aims to explore the themes and nature of sentiment of Twitter content that commented upon both the Australian bushfire disaster 2019–2020 and wildlife devastation. This paper will evidence how global crises such as climate change and ineffective environmental policy are perceived by Twitter users to be inextricably linked to a major disaster with wide-reaching implications for the future of Australia’s tourism industry. This paper presents consideration not widely examined within scholarly literature, the potential insight that social media analysis yields regarding tourism futures
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