Identification of the Unique Attributes of Tourist Destinations from Online Reviews

Abstract

Online reviews have become increasingly important in tourist destinations and they affect the way in which they are perceived by potential consumers. They represent an overabundant source of information in the form of open answers, where customers freely express their experience regarding the tourist destination. Previous studies have made use of the shared experiences of visitors to obtain the main attributes of a tourist destination. This article goes one step further and proposes the identification of those attributes that are uniquely associated with a tourist destination when compared with some other destinations, using a combination of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s honestly significant difference. Findings reveal that the unique attributes are the best predictors of tourist destinations when compared with other destinations. Additionally, they represent a competitive advantage that could be reinforced by planners or agencies while minimizing the effect of the unique attributes of competitors.