Exploring the tourist attraction network in Florida: A social network approach

Keywords: tourist attractions, multi-location model, social network analysis, centrality measures, destination management, visualization
Session Type: Virtual Paper
Day: Thursday
Session Start / End Time: 4/8/2021 09:35 AM (Pacific Time (US & Canada)) - 4/8/2021 10:50 AM (Pacific Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 33

Abstract

Tourist attractions, the elements of a destination, provide the educational and entertainment activities that attract tourists. They are one of the important factors in tourists’ decision-making process as well as a critical part of the overall tourism system along with hotels, restaurants and other components at any destination. Due to the multi-faceted nature of tourist attractions, these tourist attractions are interrelated as they share some of the destination’s attributes. By understanding the connections between different tourist attractions across destinations, destination management officials and tour operators can make marketing strategies to better promote their attractions and create tour packages that optimize tourists’ experience. This study uses social network techniques to explore how tourist attractions are connected in the State of Florida by plotting the tourist attraction network as well as the centrality measures. The results of the study indicate tourists’ favorite tourist attractions as well as the important attractions on which destination marketing officials need to focus.