Using a market basket analysis in tourism studies

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel market basket analysis approach using geo-location data to identify tourism service bundles and demand patterns, aiding smart tourism planning and decision-making.

Contribution

It presents a new method applying market basket analysis to geo-location data for understanding tourism consumption patterns at the destination level.

Findings

Effective identification of tourism service bundles

Insights into tourism demand patterns in Vienna

Potential for enhancing smart tourism strategies

Abstract

Understanding tourist visitation patterns is crucial for decision makers in order to create smart tourism industry. A growing body of tourism research uses geo-location data in order to better understand tourism demand. In this paper, we present a new approach based on a market basket analysis. This approach uses geo-location data shared by tourists on tourism platforms in order to bundle the range of available tourism services and understand which experiences are consumed together. The approach was tested on the case of Vienna, Austria. Based on our analyses we argue that the proposed approach has potential for use at the destination level and provides relevant information on tourism demand patterns important for smart tourism decision-making.