e-ISSN 2080-6922

DOI: 10.2478/tour-2018-0014 ISSN 0867-5856

Tourism /Turyzm 2018, 28/2

Aleksandra Minkwitz
ORCID 0000-0002-6994-3045
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan
Department of Tourism and Recreation
aleksandra.minkwitz@amu.edu.pl

TRIPADVISOR AS A SOURCE OF DATA IN THE PLANNING PROCESS

OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ON A LOCAL SCALE

Abstract: The aim of this article is to answer the question of whether social networking sites can be an effective source of data,
useful in the context of local tourism planning. The first part of the article contains a presentation of the role of social media in the
tourism industry, a synthetic discussion of the most common topics of research related to the use of social media in tourism, and
also characteristic of the TripAdvisor social network, which is the subject of the study. The second part presents the results of
a study conducted using the website, covering the 30 most popular hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions in Poznan. The
results contain a comment about the risks associated with the analysis of this type of data, as well as possible future directions of
research.
Keywords: social media in tourism, Web 2.0, TripAdvisor, UGC, local tourism planning.

1. INTRODUCTION

Over the past few decades, tourism has become one of another method which makes it difficult to compare
the largest and fastest growing industries. It already results.
plays a significant role in stimulating economic For several years, more and more attention has
growth, in particular through the creation of new jobs, been paid to the opportunities that social media offer
generating revenues from exports as well as infra- or potentially can give to tourism. The growing
structure development (UNWTO 2017). The constantly interest that is visible is caused by the scale of this
increasing number of new tourist destinations has phenomenon. Of the nearly 7.6 billion people living in
resulted in a sudden increase in competitiveness and, the world, over 42% are active users of social media
as a consequence, created a new challenge for policy- (www.wearesocial.com 2018).
makers, the need to move from a somewhat accidental Research shows that users are eager to share their
way to set strategic goals to a more thoughtful and experiences in the internet space, including travel ex-
orderly approach that allows them to find themselves periences (FOTIS, BUHALIS & ROSSIDES 2012). The entries
in dynamically changing conditions (LIU, SIGUAW generated by them (user-generated content) constitute
& ENZ 2008). a set of data which, after prior arrangement, can
Operation in such a turbulent and chaotic environ- be a valuable source of information on consumer pre-
ment (PHILLIPS & MOUTINHO 2014) requires the use of ferences in the tourist market (POLAŃSKA & WASSILEW
strategic planning, not only at the level of companies 2015). In a rapidly changing society, it is necessary to
operating on the tourist services market but also constantly analyze the generated data streams because
among teams working on the development of tourism it is possible to catch signals indicating the emergence
on a local scale. of new trends from the information noise (MCAFEE
One of the main problems faced by planning teams & BRYNJOLFSSON 2012).
is obtaining data on attendance at tourist attractions. This article is an attempt to answer the question of
Only some of the owners/organizers of attractions whether social networking sites can be an effective
sell tickets which allow the collection of data on the source of data useful in the context of local tourism
number of visitors. These are mainly museums, amuse- planning. The first part of the article presents the role
ment parks, events and national parks (KRUCZEK 2016a). that social media play in the tourism industry,
Acquiring data on other attractions would require contains a synthetic discussion of the most frequently
50 Tourism /Turyzm 2018, 28/2

occurring topics of research related to the use of social late mainly around issues related to their growing
media in tourism, and also characterized the Trip importance in the marketing of tourist destinations
Advisor social network, which is the subject of the (HAYS, PAGE & BUHALIS 2013, BRZEZIŃSKI & JASIŃSKI
study. The second part presents the results of a study 2014, SZROMNIK 2012), their use in creating the image
conducted using the website covering respectively the of a restaurant/hotel (CHAN, GUILLET 2011, KWOK
30 most popular hotels, restaurants and tourist attrac- & YU 2013), their influence on tourist behavior (LIU
tions in Poznan. The research problem covered the so- et al. 2008, MUNAR & JACOBSEN 2014) and their use in
called new media in tourism. A hypothesis has been the travel planning process (XIANG & GRETZEL 2010,
put forward that social networking sites can be an FOTIS, BUHALIS & ROSSIDES 2013).
effective source of data useful in the context of local Although the subject of social media in tourism is
tourism planning at the data collection stage. The widely described in the literature, there are still no
results of the study were presented using five result studies on the collection of data from websites for
maps. The results comment on the risks associated tourists, as well as analysis of this data, both quant-
with the analysis of this type of data, as well as poss- itative and qualitative.
ible future directions of research.

3. TRIPADVISOR WEBSITE
2. SOCIAL MEDIA IN TOURISM
TripAdvisor is an American aggregator of opinion,
Social media, as we are currently dealing with, are the founded in February 2000 by Stephen Kraufer and
most advanced form of implementation whose sources Langley Steinert. The site is based on the assumption
should be sought at the basis of the concept of the that tourists planning their trips rely on the opinions
internet itself – a network connecting all its users in an of other travellers or treat these opinions as an
interactive way, on the principle of equal access, additional support in making decisions (MIGUÉNS,
eliminating the barrier of distance between individual BAGGIO & COSTA 2008). Over the past 18 years, the
users (PUDEŁKO 2017). Today's internet contains not website has collected 661 million reviews of hotels,
only static websites but dynamic platforms, where the restaurants and tourist attractions (2018). The offer
center of gravity is transferred from one creator to includes interactive fora for travellers, available in
many users. Internet users simultaneously act as con- many languages. TripAdvisor sites are available on
sumers and content producers (BERTHON et al. 2012). 49 global markets and collect information about all
The evolutionally change in the way of thinking countries around the world. The average monthly
about the form in which communication in the net- number of users is 456 million people (www.trip
work takes place is called Web 2.0 (O’REILLY 2005). advisor.mediaroom.com 2018).
Thus, Web 2.0 is a certain ideology in the spirit of TripAdvisor is a collaborative medium, it works
which space for social media is created. A.M. KAPLAN thanks to the cooperation of many individuals who
& M. HAENLEIN (2010) define this media as ‘a group of provide opinions on tourist products. On this basis,
internet-based applications that build on the ideo- rankings are created, a common good for the com-
logical and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and munity (HOWE 2009). Website users’ opinions on
that allow the creation and exchange of User Gen- tourist facilities are collected in the form of an assess-
erated Content’. ment on a five-point scale, where 5 is ‘excellent’ and
Social media have become a widely used tool in 1 ‘terrible’. In addition, each user has the option of
tourism. There are many tourist portals operating adding a short review describing the experience after
globally that gather consumers and tourism companies a visit. The website suggests to reviewers what should
and enable communication between them. The most be included in a given opinion. Most often the state-
popular web portals of this type include Yelp, ments relate to activities that can be undertaken in
196th in the world ranking of the most visited web- a given place, facilities, additional attractions nearby,
sites (www.alexa.com 2018) and TripAdvisor (246th). the amount of time spent, or the biggest defects. Each
Although both portals are very similar in terms of opinion can be added in any language, and some of
functionality, there is a noticeable variation in their them are automatically translated into other languages.
popularity in particular regions of the world. Yelp is The credibility of opinions is a matter often dis-
more widely used in the United States, while for cussed in academic discourse (AYEH, AU & LAW 2013,
Europe it is giving way to TripAdvisor (www.alexa. BANERJEE & CHUA 2013, ZAJADACZ 2017). Critics accuse
com 2018). the site of adding unfounded opinions, positive – by
A literature review has showed that the themes the interested party, or negative by the competition. It
linking social media with the tourism industry oscil- is not possible to determine which opinions are false.
 Articles 51

Due to the threat of abuse, every statement before it maps showing the users' interest in tourist facilities
is made public, is verified by a company employee. were drawn up and analyzes were based on topo-
TripAdvisor also takes a number of actions to curb graphic data from the area of Poznan (data on Poznan's
practices, such as a lowering of 1 the ranking, or plac- boundaries, from the Central Office of Geodesy and
ing a warning on its site, and also works with law Cartography, was used for the analysis).
enforcement agencies to detect fraud. In June 2018, the
owner of the Italian company PromoSalento, dealing
in the sale of opinion-adding, was found guilty of
fraud by using a false identity and sentenced to nine 5. RESULTS
months' imprisonment (www.tripadvisor.com).
The website may constitute a source of both quant- The attractions identified, using the method described
itative and qualitative data. The portal allows informa- above, along with the corresponding number of
tion to be obtained about a specific area, e.g. a city, as reviews, is presented in Table 1. Table 2 presents the
well as the type of activity, such as tourist attractions. places identified as the most popular as a result of
This data may fill gaps at the stage of primary data a study conducted by Z. KRUCZEK (2016b) and the
collection. Users' opinions are collected on a regular Poznań Local Tourist Organization (2016) together
basis, which allows an analysis of changes and is with the number of visitors in 2015.
useful at the stage of monitoring and evaluation.
Table 1. The most-rated attractions in Poznan
Number
No. The name of the attraction of
4. PURPOSES AND METHODS opinions
1 Old Market Square 1,872
The purpose of this article is to present the possibilities 2 Lake Maltańskie 635
offered by TripAdvisor in the scope of obtaining data 3 Citadel Park 501
on the preferences of those visiting the given destina- 4 Rogalowe Museum 472
5 Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St.
tions. This is particularly important at the stage of data 439
Mary Magdalene
collection in tourism development planning on a local 6 Maltańskie Therms 425
scale. The study presented in the article is an attempt 7 Poznan Town Hall 376
to verify these possibilities, although it should be 8 Poznań Palm House 333
noted that it is only a small segment of the potential 9 St. Peter and Paul Cathedral 284
that is perceived in the data collected on the site. 10 Old Zoo 276
The aim of the study is to identify and analyze the 11 Poznan Goats 256
location of the most commonly rated tourist locations 12 Porta Posnania – ICHOT 238
13 Ostrów Tumski 149
in Poznan. The research sample included information
14 Miniature train Maltanka 134
obtained from TripAdvisor.pl, concerning 30 tourist 15 Botanical Garden of Adam Mickiewicz
attractions, 30 hotels and 30 restaurants located in the 129
University in Poznan
city. The ranking of the most popular locations was 16 The National Museum in Poznan 119
chosen as the criterion of selection for the sample, 17 Lech Brewery 117
whereas ‘popularity’ is measured by the number of 18 Tourist Information Center 116
reviews, regardless of the level of the assessment 19 Cultural Center ZAMEK 112
obtained. The approach taking into account the 20 Poznań Main Railway Station 110
21 Monument of Old Marych 93
highest rated positions was discontinued, due to
22 Archaeological Museum in Poznan 91
the fact that the sample collected in this way would 23 INEA Stadium 89
almost exclusively contains newly created locations, 24 Franciscan Church 79
having several to a dozen or so reviews, and thus had 25 Monument of Poznan June 1956 75
little diagnostic value. The functionality of the Trip 26 Blubry 6D – Poznan legends 58
Advisor.com website allows sorting by popularity, 27 Adam Mickiewicz University 57
however the method by which the ranking is de- 28 Museum of Musical Instruments 54
termined is unclear, therefore the criterion was omitted. 29 Monument to the Enigma Slayers 52
30 Sołacki Park 52
The time range of the survey covers all opinions
posted by users of the portal up to January 1, 2018. Source: author.
Analysis and visualization of the data were made
using geoinformation methods including cluster maps, It should be noted that data from Table 2, showing
buffer tools (equidistant line – 1000 meter) and Voronoi attendance, apply only to ticket sales while omitting
polygons. On the basis of the collected information, all other attractions for which it is not possible to test
52 Tourism /Turyzm 2018, 28/2

the number of visitors in this way. The time range is

also important here – the data in Table 1 covers all the
reviews placed on the portal from its beginning until
the end of 2017, while the data in Table 2 include the
number of visitors only for 2015. There is a large
convergence of attractions identified through the Trip
Advisor portal and research on the number of visitors.

Table 2. Attendance at tourist facilities in Poznan

No. The name of the attraction 2015

1 Maltańskie Therms 936 900
2 Old Zoo 315 135
3 Poznań Palm House 157 690
4 Porta Posnania – ICHOT 96 276
5 Wielkopolska Museum of Independence 86 843
6 The National Museum in Poznan 78 500
7 Swimming pool in Chwiałka 72 580
8 Archaeological Museum in Poznan 52 283
9 Mockups of Old Poznań 50 845
10 INEA Stadium 25 657
11 Archeological Reserve Genius loci 23 533
12 Lech Brewery 21 046
13 Museum of Environmental Knowledge 16 243
14 Museum of Musical Instruments 11 585
15 Archdiocesan Museum 11 413 Fig. 1. Location of the most-rated attractions in Poznan
16 Dendrological Garden UP in Poznań 10 000 Source: author
17 Fort III 6 850
18 Museum of Bamber in Poznań 4 768
19 Musical Salon of Feliks Nowowiejski 2 006
20 Studio-Museum of Józef Ignacy Kraszewski 1 631
21 Presidential Fallout Shelter 1 511
22 Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna apartment-studio 756

Source: author, based on a study conducted by Z. KRUCZEK

(2016b, pp. 122-125) and the Poznan Local Tourist Organization
report (2016, p. 15).

As a result of the analysis, information was

obtained on the location of the most-rated facilities in
Poznan (according to users of TripAdvisor). The first
of the maps (Fig. 1), presents the location of tourist
attractions as well as the railway station and the
airport. The most popular attractions in Poznan are
mainly located in the central part of the city, in the
area of the Old Town. These are both monuments
and museums, as well as parks, gardens and sports
facilities.
The most frequently rated hotels, restaurants and
tourist attractions in Poznan are located in a clear
concentration in the city center (Fig. 2). Few tourists
decide to go to a hotel far away from the center, and
the restaurants located in the central part of Poznan
are often chosen as well. Fig. 2. Most frequently rated hotels, restaurants
and attractions in Poznan
Source: author
 Articles 53

The cluster map (Fig. 3) shows that the largest Buffer zones created around the most visited attrac-
number of eagerly visited attractions is located around tions (Fig. 4) show that both hotels and restaurants
the Old Market Square and the surrounding area. As chosen by users are located a short distance away. In
a result of using this method, the area with the highest the zone covering an area no more than 1000 meters
density is marked on the result map with a darker away, there are 29 restaurants. Only four of the 30 hotels
colour. Few of the attractions selected in the ranking in the ranking are located outside the buffer zone.
are located outside this zone. The focus of interest is As a result of using the Voronoi diagram method
probably due to the large diversity offered by the Old (Fig. 5), polygons were created – areas where distances
Town area where architectural monuments are located from individual attractions are smaller than from
such as tenement houses and the Renaissance town others. This makes it possible to believe that a tourist
hall, or the parish church, as well as those newly located in a smaller polygon will be more likely to visit
created such as museums and parks. attractions located on neighboring polygons. He/she
will probably also visit restaurants and stay in a hotel
located nearby.

Fig. 3. Cluster map for the most-rated attractions

Source: author

Fig. 5. Voronoi polygons for attractions

Source: author

The delimited polygons are clearly smaller for the

central part of the city which shows great interest in
this area. The entire area identified by this method is
a small part of the city and may potentially indicate
the boundaries of the area busiest for tourism.

6. CONCLUSIONS

The conducted analysis shows the location of sites

most frequently chosen by users of the TripAdvisor
Fig. 4. Buffer 1000 m for attractions portal. The areas of greatest density of the most
Source: author popular attractions as well as areas with potentially
54 Tourism /Turyzm 2018, 28/2

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Accepted:
28 November 2018