Online Destination Image of Porto: A Consumer Based Perspective.

I ONLINE DESTINATION IMAGE OF PORTO: A CONSUMER BASED PERSPECTIVE ANA RITA CARVALHO MOURA DE SOUSA MASTER’S DISSERTATION IN MARKETING ADVISOR: PROF. DOUTORA MARIA CATARINA DE ALMEIDA ROSEIRA CO-ADVISOR PROFESSOR: DOUTOR JOÃO MANUEL PORTELA DA GAMA 2014 III Short biographical presentation Ana Rita Carvalho Moura de Sousa was born in 1985 in Porto, Portugal. In 2008 she completed her bachelor in Management at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto. In September 2013, she enrolled as a graduate student in the Master in Marketing at the University of Porto. In the second term of the first year of studies she had the opportunity to master her knowledge in the University of Carlos III, in Madrid, as an exchange student. Since 2010, she has been working in the retail sector. IV Abstract Understand the tourist’s image of a place is an important piece of information that tourism marketers should be aware of. Especially in the Web 2.0 era where tourists not only consume but also contribute with information. Additionally, studies suggest that User Generated Content (UGC) have influence in the purchase decision making process (O'Connor, 2008). Many studies have already explored online Destination Image but none have addressed Porto’s region. This study analyses data collected from reviews that have been published online on popular blog website Travelpod and travel website Tripadvisor. In the last one, the study focus on Attractions, Restaurants and Accommodation categories. The methodology applied is based on text mining tools and focuses on words frequency. Results highlights a visitors’ association to Douro River and Port Wine. Results seem also to indicate a positive image of Porto, with good results in all four studied categories. Keywords: Destination Image, Travel 2.0, Electronic Word Of Mouth, User Generated Content, Text mining, Travel Blogs, Tripadvisor, Porto. v Index SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL PRESENTATION ......................................................................... III ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... IV 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 2. DESTINATION IMAGE ................................................................................................ 3 2.1. DESTINATION IMAGE FORMATION AND DIMENSIONS ........................................... 6 3. TRAVEL 2.0. ............................................................................................................ 11 3.1. ELECTRONIC WORD OF MOUTH (E-WOM) ...................................................... 14 3.2. USER GENERATED CONTENT (UGC) ................................................................ 14 3.2.1. WEBLOGS .................................................................................................. 17 4. RESEARCH GOAL AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 20 4.1. DATA COLLECTION ........................................................................................... 22 4.2. DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................ 23 5. RESULTS .................................................................................................................. 25 5.1. BLOG................................................................................................................ 25 5.2. TRIPADVISOR .................................................................................................... 28 ATTRACTIONS ....................................................................................................... 28 RESTAURANTS ...................................................................................................... 31 ACCOMMODATION ................................................................................................ 33 6. CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................... 35 6.1. CONTRIBUTIONS ............................................................................................... 37 6.2. LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................... 37 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 38 ANNEX 1 – RAPID MINER ............................................................................................... 43 ANNEX 2 - BLOG DATA ................................................................................................... 45 ANNEX 3 - TRIPADVISOR ATTRACTIONS DATA ............................................................. 49 vi ANNEX 4 - TRIPADVISOR RESTAURANTS DATA ............................................................. 53 ANNEX 5 - TRIPADVISOR ACCOMMODATION DATA ...................................................... 57 Figures index Figure 1 - A general framework of Destination Image formation. ................................... 6 Figure 2 - 7 Stages model theory of Destination Image formation .................................. 7 Figure 3 – Attributes to measure Destination Image. ....................................................... 9 Figure 4 - Destination Image components ...................................................................... 10 Figure 5 - RapidMiner process resume........................................................................... 24 Figure 6 – Destination Image components – adaptation to Porto................................... 35 Tables index Table 1 – TravelPod - top bigrams by nationality .......................................................... 27 Table 2Tripadvisor Attractions - top bigrams by nationality ....................................... 30 Table 4 - TripAdvisor Restaurants - top bigrams by nationality .................................... 32 Table 5 - TripAdvisor Accommodation - top bigrams by nationality ............................ 34 Illustrations index Illustration 1 - Blog cloud ............................................................................................... 25 Illustration 2 - Attractions cloud ..................................................................................... 28 Illustration 3 - Restaurants cloud .................................................................................... 31 Illustration 4 - Accommodation cloud ............................................................................ 33 Graphics index Graphic 1 - Inspiration and travel planning sources ......................................................... 1 Graphic 2 - Word best describe Portugal ......................................................................... 5 Graphic 3 - Number of individuals using internet, 2005-2014 (estimated).................... 11 Graphic 4 - Degrees of trust per type of advertising ...................................................... 16 vii Acronyms GDP – Gross Domestic Product e-WOM – Electronic Word of Mouth ICT - Information and Communication Technologies WTTC - World Travel and Tourism Council WOM - Word of Mouth UGC – User Generated Content 1 1. Introduction Destination Image has been raising the attention of social scientists. This concept comprises the emotions, feelings, reactions and effects that are triggered and perceived about a particular destination (Echtner & Ritchie, 1993). Its importance is twofold: it influences consumers choice on their tourism destination and afterwards, when evaluating the trip and future intentions (Reza, Samiei, Dini, & Yaghoubi, 2012). More recently, studies about Destination Image in the internet context are following the development of information and communication technologies (ICT). With the broad use of Internet it is possible to collect information and assess opinions and judgements of products images, services or places without coming into direct contact with consumers. Online holidays reviews can influence individual travellers and therefore impact the overall competition of the tourism sector. This new reality has changed the market from a customer-centric to a customer-driven approach, where consumers not only follow the information but also share and contribute to it (Buhalis & Jun, 2011). Moreover, studies suggest that interpersonal influence and Word Of Mouth (WOM) are actually seen as the most important source of information when considering a purchase. Google (2013a) published a study (with Ipsos Media CT) that reinforces this idea. In the study, interviewees were questioned about the sources that typically inspire them to start thinking about a personal or leisure trip and the sources they often use to plan a trip (graphic 1). The majority of interviewees make use of the internet and family, friends or colleagues. Source: Adapted from Ipsos MediaCT/Google Travel Study (2013) Graphic 1 - Inspiration and travel planning sources 2 In this current era, understanding how users perceive and assess online holiday reviews is not just relevant for practitioners but it is also challenging for academics (Papathanassis & Knolle, 2011). In the last years, Porto has become an attractive tourism destination. According to Intercampus (2013b), the number of international visitors in the North of Portugal, where Porto is located, had risen up to 43% from 2004 to 2012. Tourism plays a crucial role in the Portuguese economy. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in its 2012 economic report, the total contribution of travel and tourism accounted for 15.2% of the Portuguese GDP, representing 26.2 billion euros. These are striking results. It represent an opportunity to both public and private tourism players to maximize the benefits that tourism may bring to the region and to the country (Quilkin, 2013). This study examines the image of Porto by analysing visitors’ online publications and reviews in Travelpod - a travel blog website and in Tripadvisor - a travel reviews website. The aim of this project is to contribute to deeper the knowledge about Porto visitors’ opinion. The analyses presented add value to agents and policy makers that work in the tourism sector in Porto by empowering them with a detail summary of what has been commented online and helping them assess their marking strategies. The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 and 3 present a literature review. Section 2 details the Destination Image concept, its formation and dimensions, while section 3 relates ICT to Tourism environment. Section 4 explains the research goal and the methodology used, including data collection and what kind of text mining tools supported the study. Section 5 presents the results. Section 6 concludes and suggests new research avenues. 3 2. Destination Image “The image and stability of destinations remains of critical importance.” in OECD (2014) The Destination Image theory is the main concept of this study. The definition of image is linked to the subjective perception of an objective reality that each one of us creates in our consciousness (Kesić & Pavlić, 2011). Using Reynolds (1965) words, page 69, “an image is actually the result of a complex process, it is the mental construct developed by the consumer on the basis of a few selected impressions among the flood of total impressions; it comes into being through a creative process in which these selected impressions are elaborated, embellished, and ordered”. Baloglu & McCleary (1999) note that since in the past decades studies have been suggesting that human behaviour is dependent upon image rather than objective reality, the interest and studies about image were developed in different areas of research such as tourism, marketing, business organisation and business strategy (Çakmak & Isaac, 2012). Destination Image concept emerged around 1975, when Hunt (1975), cit. in Hosany, Ekinci, & Uysal (2006), developed the notion of image in the tourism context. Destination Image reflects all objective knowledge and also impressions, preconceptions, imaginations and emotions that an individual might have of a particular place (Echtner & Ritchie, 1993). Those impressions can be correct or false, real or imagined, but they influence and shape a person’s behaviour (Barich & Kotler, 1991). Images change slowly and so it is crucial to regularly monitor travellers’ images (Gunn, 1988, cit. in O'Leary, 2005). Cultural distance also influences Destination Image. Consumers might be more confident in destinations with a culture similar to their own values (San Martín & Rodríguez del Bosque, 2008). Country images are likely to influence people’s decision on purchasing, investing, changing residence and traveling (Kotler & Gertner, 2012). Destination’s image affects the behaviour of tourists in many ways, primarily as a key factor in the decision-making process of where to travel (Kesić & Pavlić, 2011). Secondly it influences the post- 10 Figure 4 - Destination Image components Source: Adapted from Echtner & Ritchie (1993) Figure 4 illustrates a resume of the features important to consider while measuring Destination Image (Echtner & Ritchie, 1993). Consumers are not only perceivers of Destination Image information but they actively build and share their own images in the internet (Dwivedi, 2009). Because of the multiple dimensions of Destination Image (Gallarza, Saura, & Garcıa, 2002) and the greater complexity the Internet has provided to destination marketing, investigating the Destination Image on the web is currently receiving great attention from researchers and destination marketing practitioners (Choi, Lehto, & Morrison, 2007). Common Attributes Holistic Imagery Unique Psychological characteristics Functional characteristics 11 3. Travel 2.0. “Visitors are demanding more individual and authentic experiences and are relying more heavily on technology to plan and enhance their trips” in OECD (2014) This sector begins by explaining the impact of the ICT. Then, it explores the concepts of Web 2.0, social media and social networks and the role they play in changing the tourism sector, namely through a more active role of tourists in forming destinations’ images. - ICT and the Tourism sector According to International Telecommunication Union 2014, it is estimated that at the end of 2014, the number of internet users will almost reach three billion persons, which represents 40% of world’s population. Two-thirds of the world’s internet users come from developing countries (graphic 3). Source: Adapted from ITU World Telecomunication / ICT Indicators database Tourism sector is also growing up. According to the World Bank statistics, the International inbound tourists (overnight visitors) have grown 50% in 10 years, from 718 million in 2003 to 1.078 in 2012. The revolution of ICT’s represented huge implications for the tourism industry (Buhalis & Jun, 2011). Travel planning is one of the main uses of the internet. A study conducted in Britain by Dutton & Helsper (2007) found that Graphic 3 - Number of individuals using internet, 2005-2014 (estimated) 12 respondents most frequent search activity online was making travel plans (84%), getting information about local events (77%) and looking for news (69%). Aditionaly, internet is establishing itself as a important place to buy travel services, representing already 54% of bookings, while travel agents represent 24% (OECD, 2014). Traditional operators are facing a new consumer, which can easily access information and share photos, comments or suggestions in an informal and collaborative way, influencing other consumer decision making (Miguéns, Baggio, & Costa, 2008). Worldwide larger access to internet has shifted the power from the providers of tourism services to consumers, and eased a change to self-guided holidays and independent travel (OECD, 2014). Consumers are no longer dependent on web site owners to find the information they seek, as they can increasingly rely on unfiltered, dynamic and topical information provided by their own peers. Instead of the marketer dictating how information is presented and consumed, the user is now in control. - Web 2.0 The concept Web 2.0, developed by O'Reilly (2005), refers to “the second-generation of Internet-based services that let people collaborate and share information online in perceived new ways-such as social networking sites, blogs, wikis and communication tools” (Lai & Turban, 2008). In this era, users add tremendous value (O'Reilly, 2005). The website is no longer a static page, but a dynamic place which allows users to generate content with an easiness interactivity promoting the formation of communities and the generation of user-driven content (Miguéns et al., 2008). Web 2.0 applications in the tourism sector have been named Travel 2.0 and are creating a cultural change in the tourism world (Miguéns et al., 2008). Consumers not only take an active role in choosing and preparing their own trips, but also helping other tourists in forming an image or idea of their destination before travelling (Muñoz, Hernández, & Sánchez, 2012). - Social Media This new reality take us to the concept of Social media, defined as the online platforms and tools used to share opinions and experiences through text, photos, videos, music, insights, and perceptions with each other (Lai & Turban, 2008). Social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube along with the influence of sites such as Tripadvisor, 13 have moved the source information to a powerful online community often with local knowledge of tourism products and services and within an immediate feedback (OECD, 2014). As an influential democratic force, social media enables people, rather than organizations, to control and use various media easily at little or no cost; consequently, it enables communication and collaboration on a massive scale (Lai & Turban, 2008). - Social Networks Then there is also the concept of Social Networks, where web tools allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile, share a connection with other users, view and navigate their list of connections and those made by others within the system (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). People may create their own space or home page (Lai & Turban, 2008), connect in social networks and share common interests and activities. Social networks provide to users a vast interaction options, such as chat, video conferences, participation in blogs or discussion groups (Miguéns et al., 2008). According to a survey conducted at the World Travel Market Trade Fair held in London in 2010, 36% of tourists from the UK used social networks as a source of information for making travel arrangements (Muñoz et al., 2012). Transparency, community, personalization and experience are the buzzwords associated to Travel 2.0. Official websites no longer satisfy the current needs or interests of consumers in terms of planning their trip (Conrady & Buck, 2007). 14 3.1. Electronic Word Of Mouth (e-WOM) Word Of Mouth (WOM) is defined as an informal communication occurring in person, by telephone, email, mailing list, or any other communication method about a service or a good (Goyette, Ricard, Bergeron, & Marticotte, 2010). A recommendation source may be personal or impersonal (Goyette et al., 2010) and can be established between producers and consumers as well as between consumers themselves (Litvin et al., 2008). More recently, within Web 2.0 era, WOM has developed to electronic-Word of Mouth (e-WOM) which is equally defined as communications directed at consumers but through Internet-based technologies (Litvin et al., 2008). E-WOM communication possesses unprecedented speed of diffusion and enables multi-directional exchanges of information between communicators and receivers (Goyette et al., 2010). Consequently, e-WOM is revolutionizing consumer’s behaviour (MacKinnon, 2012) and transforming travel industry. Studies in the tourism area demonstrate the influence of both positive and negative WOM upon tourism products and additionally confirm its importance in increasing travel intentions, creating a favourable image of the destination, and reducing promotional expenditures (Jalilvand & Samiei, 2012). 3.2. User Generated Content (UGC) The popularity of Web 2.0 has empowered consumers to influence others through a User Generated Content (UGC) tools such as blogs, forums or social networking sites (Cheung & Thadani, 2012). UGC and e-WOM are two important concepts and often confused. The two differ depending on whether the content is generated by users or if it is transmitted by them. E-WOM might be originated by a power position, for example a marketer; while UGC is created from the consumers themselves, people who voluntarily contribute with information. For example, if a tourist posts on www.youtube.com a video about his holidays in Porto, that is UGC. However, when internet users share the video with their friends it is also e-WOM. Though UGC and e-WOM are distinct concepts but closely 15 related. To be successful, e-WOM depends on the dissemination of content, and UGC has less influence without e-WOM (Cheong & Morrison, 2008). The potential impact of consumer reviews can be significant, due to the specific nature of holidays. Holidays are intangible products, difficult to evaluate before acquisition, characterized as high involvement and risk considering the personal importance usually associates (Papathanassis & Knolle, 2011). The growth of User Generated Content is clearly affecting travel consumer decisions. Most readers perceive travel reviews are being more likely to provide up-to-date, enjoyable and reliable information in comparison to what is provided by travel service providers (Ulrike Gretzel & Yoo, 2008). Consumer reviews serve two distinct roles: provide information about products and services and serve as recommendations (DoHyung, Lee, & Han, 2007). Reviews are particularly important for the accommodation product, with relevance for other travel products much smaller (Ulrike Gretzel & Yoo, 2008). Trip characteristics seem to play a key role when it comes to travellers’ engagement with UGC for travel planning (Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014), Simms (2012) found that a higher percentage of travellers turned to user-generated content when visiting a destination for the first time, as well as when visiting an international destination (Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014). UGC sites can be divided into several categories such as: social networks (e.g. facebook, linkedIn), blogging (e.g. travelblog, twitter), forums (e.g. travelforum, lonelyplanet), video-sharing (e.g. youtube), photo-sharing (e.g. flickr) or review-sites (e.g.Tripadvisor) (Davydova, 2012). A study published by Nielsen (2009) – graphic 4 - concluded that after recommendations from people that are known, the most trustful sources were online consumer’s opinion follows with 70% percent of respondents trusted “completely” or “somewhat” recommendations from consumer opinions posted online. 16 Source: Adapted from Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey (2009) A survey conducted by Ulrike Gretzel (2007) sponsored by Tripadvisor, with a sample of 1480 persons, concluded that most of the surveyed Tripadvisor.com users do not like to make spontaneous decisions and plan their trips to a large extent in advance. Almost all participants use Internet as an information source for planning pleasure trips and a majority (82.5%) uses it every time they plan a pleasure trip. Their most frequent travel planning-related online activities are: looking at other consumers' comments/materials (90%), printing out maps/directions (82.7%) and reading travel-related blogs (64.2%). More than half (57.8%) read other travellers' online reviews every time they plan a pleasure trip while 36.7% read them very often or frequently. More than three quarters (77.9%) of online travel review readers think that other travellers’ reviews are extremely or very important for determining where to stay. Additionally over 80% confirm that reading other traveller’s online reviews increases confidence in decisions, makes it easier to picture what a place would be like, helps reduce risk and uncertainty, makes it easier to reach decisions, and helps with planning pleasure trips more efficiently. Graphic 4 - Degrees of trust per type of advertising 17 One other study (Intercampus, 2013a) developed through questionnaires, considering a sample of tourists in Portugal also concluded important numbers: about 36% of inquiries chose Portugal for tourism destination from family, colleagues or friends recommendations; and 22% from information seen in internet (this value varies from country of origin, Spain is the nationality where information seen in internet has a bigger weight: 34%). The Web is evolving from a business-to-consumer marketing media to one where peerto-peer generation and sharing of data are the norm (Peter O'Connor, Höpken, & Gretzel, 2008). Though, the tourism industry is required to treat consumers as co-producers and leverage network resources to successfully operate their businesses in this consumercentric era (Buhalis & Jun, 2011). Tourism businesses are facing the need to implement strategies and tools (websites or portals) based on User Generated Contents or, at least, to incorporate these new technologies to enrich their multimedia contents (Miguéns et al., 2008). Organizations should utilize online reviews to improve their understanding of the market’s reaction to their offering and subsequently feed this information into their product development and quality control processes (Dellarocas, 2003). Through positive online feedback new customers can be acquired and retained at a relatively low cost, while negative feedback can obstruct customer acquisition and reduce the value of brand in the longer term (Dellarocas, 2003). 3.2.1. Weblogs One of the most highly touted features of the Web 2.0 era is the rise of blogging. Personal home pages exists since the early days of the web (O'Reilly, 2005). Internet has become an important medium for sharing visitor’s storytelling (Martin, Woodside, & Dehuang, 2007). First-hand visitor reports experiencing destinations indicate that tourists tell stories that offer clues of how they interpret and enact the myths that these destinations enable (Martin et al., 2007). Tourists are looking after experiences and that is one of the aspects 18 of tourism: its experiential element; that fact aligned with the desire on the part of some tourists to share theirs, has created the perfect conditions for the growth of tools such as travel blogs (Prats & Marín, 2012). Stories do move people profoundly (Mckee, 1997), they have the potential of influencing a substantial number of future visitors who go online in search of first-person unbiased reports of others’ own destination experiences (Martin et al., 2007). Travel blogs are becoming an increasingly important mechanism for exchanging information among tourists, and for marketers to learn about the attitudes of their markets (Wenger, 2008). Following Thevenot (2007) research, blogs can be classified into three main categories: individual, collaborative and corporate. In Individual blogs (or personal), the writer’s combine personal life and a certain subject that they would like to provide information or comments on. Some of the most well-known nowadays include travelblog.org and travelpod.com, mytripjournal.com. There is also a space for personal travel blogs on specialized customer review sites (e.g. Tripadvisor.com) and other travel related companies’ sites (such as travel agencies and travel guides). In collaborative blogs, posts are written by more than one author. This makes those blogs more regularly updated, having wider range of information and whereby they are seen as being more relevant for the reader. While in personal blogs the author can choose any topic he wants for the next post, collaborative blogs has a specific topic which has to be followed. Finally, corporate blogs are the ones published by a certain organization. This research will study reviews posted in www.travelpod.com, an individual blog. In this webpage the blogger creates his own blog reporting different topics he desire. The reader has the possibility to search posts from one blogger or search for a specific topic from all writers. That was how data was collected, searching posts related to Porto. More and more studies have found that consumers tend to be more interested in products discussed on blogs and web forums than they are in those marketed in traditional ways. E-WOM can thus contribute raise the credibility of a product or service (Bickart & Schindler, 2001). It remains a challenge for managers to incorporate e-WOM effects into their business planning (Rong, Vu, Law, & Li, 2012), it is fundamental to focus in this type of communication to obtain a significant competitive advantage. In times where consumers trust on organizations and advertising reduced and a decrease in television 19 advertising is visible (Jalilvand & Samiei, 2012), key stakeholders in tourism will need to develop the competencies to cope with emerging digital and social media shifts. The scale and pace of these developments creates challenges to continually update marketing strategies, including online strategies (OECD, 2014), the industry winners will be those quick enough to adapt their business plans to the new dynamics of the online marketplace (Conrady & Buck, 2007). In the last two sections the fundamental theoretical concepts of this research are presented. In Destination Image, after an overall definition, the formation process and the main attributes defended by several authors were descripted. In Travel 2.0, the complex mutation in ICT’s, emphasizing the concepts and impacts of UGC and e-WOM. The importance of those two concepts to the success of a tourism destination is undeniable. Tourism marketers should be focused on that. We expect this investigation shed some lights towards in that way. 26 A total of 519 reviews were considered in TravelPod. The size of the words in the cloud is closely related to the frequency of the word used by Travelpod writers. In the centre, in grey, it is the most used word. The subsequent levels of importance are in green, violet and orange. There are several messages that can be extracted from this tag cloud. There is a widely recognition of associating Porto to PortWine. Although the cellars are not located in Porto itself, Port wine is attracting the interest of Travelpod writers. There are several bigrams in different colour layers that support the importance of Port-wine, such as port tasting, wine tasting, port cellars, port houses or port caves. White port is also highlighted, it is not well known as the red port and some visitors discover it in their trip. Also Nova Gaia referring to the city where the wine cellars are installed - Vila Nova de Gaia. The Douro River also attracts some attention. Cruises and the boat rides are mentioned several times. Douro word is also sometimes associated to Douro wine and Douro valley. There is also a common notion of seeing Porto as an old town. Many references are made to degradation state of some buildings. However, its monuments are not widely cited. Luis Bridge, and the train station are amongst the most highlighted. D. Luis I bridge (named as Luis Bridge) is very appreciated by its iron architecture drawn by Gustavo Eiffel. The train station is often related to S. Bento train station with its appreciated blue and white tiles works. Harry Potter is also much cited referring to a touristic bookstore where is said to inspire the Harry Potter author to write the book. The Stock Exchange Palace (Palácio da Bolsa) follows in top frequencies. On the contrary, Torre dos Clérigos, the Church of S. Francisco or Casa da Música, seem to have been overlooked despites being usually suggested in tourist guides. There are also few remarks on the Portuguese cuisine. Tour guide is also highlighted. Many visitors refer to use a tour guide to visit the city and also in the wine cellars visit. In table 1, a synthesis top 10 bigrams by country of origin (more data in anexx 2). Those are the countries with more posts published in English. It is unquestionable that the main bigrams bloggers use to describe their experience in Porto are related to the Port wine, the river and title Porto as an old town. Those words appear in different contexts with a strong incidence across all nationalities. A particularity in Americans’ posts is the 27 expression San Sebastian. Further searching of these reviews revealed that many visitors include San Sebastian (a city located in the North of Spain) in their trip itinerary. United States Freq. Australia Freq. Canada Freq. 1 port_wine 52 port_wine 31 port_wine 25 2 douro_river 26 old_town 20 douro_river 22 3 arrived_porto 13 train_station 19 side_river 14 4 porto_portugal 13 douro_river 18 douro_valley 11 5 san_sebastian 12 said_goodbye 14 old_town 11 6 city_porto 11 port_tasting 13 train_station 11 7 side_river 10 white_port 12 year_old 11 8 boat_ride 9 bus_station 11 day_porto 10 9 douro_valley 9 day_porto 11 white_port 10 10 pretty_good 9 headed_hostel 11 nova_gaia 9 After this analysis of the main results in Blogs testimonials we will now start the analysis in Triadvisor reviews. Table 1 – TravelPod - top bigrams by nationality 28 5.2. Tripadvisor Attractions Illustration 2 - Attractions cloud 29 A total of 2924 reviews were considered in this subsection. Again, the colour and the size of the words refer to their frequency on those reviews. This cloud highlights the attractiveness of Porto. By outlining its worthiness, Porto is formally recognized as a tourism destination. Important is now to understand what are the most valuable sights of the city. Interestingly is to note that the words used by Tripadvisor are in line to those used by Traverpod writers. Porto wine and Douro river are again taking the central role. Also in terms of monuments, D. Luis I bridge and S. Bento train station are widely mentioned. The views are also highlighted, when searching in visitor’s posts it is possible to see its association with the river and is frequently mention the views from and of the bridge. In addition, there is a reference to other important monuments or museums as Casa da Música, the Stock Exchange Palace (or Palácio da Bolsa) and references to modern and contemporary art concern Serralves museum, which deserves here a prominent mention. The river seems privileged over the sea, the sea and the beaches are not acknowledged as Porto’s main attractions once there is no mentions in top 150 words or bigrams. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the image Tripadvisor writers have from Porto, an analysis to the more frequent words was also analyse. Adjectives with higher frequency have a positive connotation, such as beautiful, great and nice. These are outstanding results to the city of Porto and corroborate the analysis of the tag cloud, where the most important words were “worth_visit”. Table 2 presents the top ten more frequent set of bigrams segmenting them by nationality. The majority of the English contributions on Tripadvisor Attractions come from the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. All three highlight its worth visit and Douro river. Looking for some differences, in a deeper list of 30 bigrams available in anexx 2, we can identify that United States visitors highlighted some monuments that other two did not. Casa da Musica, Stock Exchange and Art Museum are only referred by United States. On the other side, United Kingdom is only referring Cable Car and Canadians are the only refereeing Clerigos Tower. 30 United Kingdom Freq. United States Freq. Canada Freq. 1 worth_visit 47 douro_river* 34 see_porto 5 2 river_douro* 29 train_station 31 take_time 5 3 great_views 26 great_views 18 worth_visit 5 4 side_river 15 worth_visit 16 tile_work 4 5 views_river 15 river_cruise 15 train_station 4 6 railway_station 14 boat_ride 12 view_city 4 7 definitely_worth 12 walk_bridge 12 clerigos_tower 3 8 port_wine 12 definitely_worth 11 douro_river 3 9 views_city 12 port_wine 11 douro_valley 3 10 worth_visiting 12 casa_musica 9 gaia_side 3 Table 2Tripadvisor Attractions - top bigrams by nationality (*) The bigrams River_Douro and Douro_River were aggregated once just the words order is changed, keeping the same meaning. Despite the lack of reference to the Portuguese cuisine and the accommodation services on the previous contributions, Tripadvisor writers can make separate contributions on these two topics. The paper will analyse what Tripadvisor writers have been writing regarding the restaurants and hotels in Porto. 31 Restaurants Illustration 3 - Restaurants cloud 32 A sample of 4748 reviews was considered in the analysis of Tripadvisor restaurants. Once again, there is an overall positive idea about the restaurants in Porto in terms of quality of service and its cuisine. Tripadvisor contributors noted the quality of the food and compliments as delicious, tasty and fresh are observed (anexx 4). When searching words related to drinks and food, wine is also here the most cited word. Fish is mentioned more times than meat. Surprisingly sea bass have more frequency than cod fish, as the last one is seen by locals as one of the more traditional elements of Portuguese gastronomy (anexx 4). Many highlights are seen describing the cuisine as Portuguese and typical. Porto’s famous dish, Francesinha and olive oil are also mentioned. Sushi is an exception to the traditional trend seen, as it is not part of Mediterranean diet (in which Portugal is included). Service and price-quality ratio are also highly commented. Positive descriptions as friendly staff and good service are generally comment. When mentioning costs, the highlighted bigrams suggest also positive feedback considering reasonably price. Table 4 compiles the frequency of the words by country of issuance/publication. The countries with more posts in English were United Kingdom, United States and Canada. The table clearly outlines the quality of the Portuguese food. It is interesting to realize each that United States reinforce in the same level the food and service, while the other two highlighted first the gastronomy. United Kingdom Freq. United States Freq. Canada Freq. 1 food_good* 78 service_good* 35 food_good* 17 2 good_value 54 food_good* 35 food_excellent 9 3 service_good* 40 highly_recommend 20 service_excellent 8 4 staff_friendly 31 food_excellent 13 chocolate_cake 5 5 wine_list 24 staff_friendly 13 food_delicious 5 6 main_course 23 house_wine 12 glass_wine 5 7 quality_food 23 food_great 11 service_good* 9 8 reasonably_priced 22 trip_advisor 11 wine_list 5 9 night_porto 21 friendly_helpful 10 great_service 4 10 traditional_portuguese 21 great_food 10 reasonably_priced 4 Table 3 - TripAdvisor Restaurants - top bigrams by nationality 33 Accommodation Illustration 4 - Accommodation cloud 34 In “Acommodation” category, 4413 reviews were considered from Tripadvisor’s hotels, bed&breakfast and special lodging sections. Once again, a highlighted point is the friendly and helpful staff. One example of that is the impressive frequency the bigram “Carmen joao” have. Those are the two hosts of a guesthouse located in the riverside, many of their guests are fascinated with their service. The location is also frequently commented. In general guests seem satisfied with the accommodation location, words as walking distance, metro and train station also appear with a high presence. Some other compliments such as clean rooms and good breakfast appear in top frequencies. Related to price, tourist seem also satisfied and consider a good relation value money. Analysing top 10 bigrams by nationality in the Table 5, we may visualise that results are similar, all three nationalities highlights location, the friendliness and help provided by their hosts, and also cleanliness and breakfast. When searching some more information in anexx 5, it is seen that United Kingdom is the one most referring features as air conditioning and wi-fi. United States Freq. United Kingdom Freq. Canada Freq. 1 guest_house 84 stayed_nights 56 guest_house 37 2 carmen_joao 56 guest_house 48 house_douro 20 3 train_station 38 place_stay 47 walking_distance 15 4 house_douro 35 staff_friendly 47 carmen_joao 11 5 place_stay 33 metro_station 41 stayed_nights 11 6 walking_distance 30 friendly_helpful 38 place_stay 10 7 stay_porto 29 value_money 38 location_perfect 9 8 highly_recommend 26 staff_helpful 35 stay_porto 9 9 great_location 25 city_centre 34 clean_comfortable 8 10 room_clean 23 friendly_staff 34 friendly_helpful 8 Table 4 - TripAdvisor Accommodation - top bigrams by nationality The main results of this study are disclosed. In the next section, some conclusion are presented. 35 6. Conclusions This is the first study about Destination Image developed for this region with this methodology. For that reason this investigation acts more as an experimental research, it intends to contribute with some insights of tourist’s image of Porto but also encourage future researches to continue this project for deeper conclusions. In the next lines the main conclusions of this study are described. Porto Wine and Douro River seems to be the central elements of Porto Image, being the most frequent bigrams observe in this research. When searching value judgements, beautiful city, great views, staff friendly and food good are the highlighted descriptions. Regarding the analysis comparing the most frequent bigrams by nationality, results suggest there are no significant differences. Though for conclusive answers, the study would have to examine a bigger sample and consider reviews in different languages. It is possible to make some association of the main results with destination image components presented in literature review. Through a general overview of the highlighted bigrams, some suggestions are now exposed (figure 6). Concerning functional attributes, price levels and monuments as S. Bento train station can be mentioned. Also good evaluation on service and food quality are considered functional attributes. In functional and holistic quadrant, Douro River, D. Luis I bridge Figure 6 – Destination Image components – adaptation to Porto Value money *S. Bento train station *Douro river Friendly and helpful staff *D.Luis I bridge Old Town Good service Good food *Douro valley Attributes *Port wine Traditional food Wine tasting Functional characteristics Psychological characteristics Holistic Imagery 42 Reynolds, W. H. (1965). The role of the consumer in image building. California management review, 7(3). Reza, Samiei, Dini, & Yaghoubi. (2012). Examining the structural relationships of electronic word of mouth, destination image, tourist attitude toward destination and travel intention: An integrated approach. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 1(1-2), 134-143. doi: 10.1016/j.jdmm.2012.10.001 Rong, J., Vu, H. Q., Law, R., & Li, G. (2012). A behavioral analysis of web sharers and browsers in Hong Kong using targeted association rule mining. Tourism Management, 33(4), 731-740. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2011.08.006 San Martín, H., & Rodríguez del Bosque, I. A. (2008). Exploring the cognitive– affective nature of destination image and the role of psychological factors in its formation. Tourism Management, 29(2), 263-277. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2007.03.012 Simms, A. (2012). Online user-generated content for travel planning - different for different kinds of trips? University of Wollongong. Son, A. (2011). International tourists' image of Zhangjiajie, China: content analysis of travel blogs. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 5(3), 306-315. doi: 10.1108/17506181111156998 Tan, A.-H. (1999). "Text mining: The state of the art and the challenges." Proceedings of the PAKDD 1999 Workshop on Knowledge Disocovery from Advanced Databases. Vol. 8. Thevenot, G. (2007). Blogging as a social media. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 7(3-4), 287-289. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.thr.6050062 Tripadvisor. (2014). Retrieved 1 September 2014, from http://www.tripadvisor.com/PressCenter-c4-Fact_Sheet.html Walzem, S. J. (2011). An American Tourist in Portugal. Wenger, A. (2008). Analysis of travel bloggers' characteristics and their communication about Austria as a tourism destination. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 14(2), 169-176. doi: 10.1177/1356766707087525 Zeng, B., & Gerritsen, R. (2014). What do we know about social media in tourism? A review. Tourism Management Perspectives, 10, 27-36. doi: 10.1016/j.tmp.2014.01.001 43 Annex 1 – Rapid Miner Stage 1: Stage 2: 44 Stage 3: Stage 4: Stage 5: 45 Annex 2 - Blog data Table bellow presents top 100 frequency words and bigrams. Total Words Freq. Total Bigrams Freq. 1 porto 1348 port_wine 146 2 port 833 douro_river 90 3 city 660 side_river 47 4 day 606 old_town 44 5 river 586 river_douro 43 6 time 539 white_port 43 7 went 531 douro_valley 40 8 got 501 nova_gaia 38 9 portugal 491 train_station 38 10 get 489 porto_portugal 34 11 wine 443 arrived_porto 33 12 town 426 day_porto 31 13 good 414 port_tasting 31 14 old 397 vila_nova 31 15 bus 396 year_old 31 16 see 382 city_porto 26 17 tour 378 wine_tasting 26 18 night 339 port_cellars 25 19 nice 337 atlantic_ocean 24 20 people 330 tour_guide 24 21 took 302 couple_days 22 22 made 291 decided_take 22 23 place 276 luis_bridge 22 24 great 267 city_centre 21 25 bit 266 harry_potter 21 26 portuguese 261 port_houses 21 27 walked 261 northern_portugal 20 28 found 260 port_caves 20 29 douro 256 river_cruise 20 30 hostel 256 world_heritage 20 31 hotel 245 beautiful_city 19 32 going 242 boat_ride 19 33 take 242 bus_tour 19 34 decided 239 city_center 19 46 35 dinner 227 dom_luis 19 36 find 226 hop_hop 19 37 beautiful 224 old_city 19 38 beach 218 porto_port 19 39 walk 217 san_sebastian 19 40 headed 216 bus_station 18 41 side 208 old_buildings 18 42 pretty 194 stock_exchange 18 43 streets 192 views_city 18 44 morning 191 good_thing 17 45 lisbon 188 great_time 17 46 train 185 half_hour 17 47 days 180 part_town 17 48 bridge 177 porto_city 17 49 arrived 175 pretty_good 17 50 lunch 174 ruby_port 17 51 hours 170 spent_day 17 52 trip 170 spent_time 17 53 couple 167 walking_tour 17 54 area 165 blue_white 16 55 room 165 bus_stop 16 56 food 162 caught_bus 16 57 walking 161 decided_head 16 58 know 158 port_lodges 16 59 think 156 port_porto 16 60 came 153 rio_douro 16 61 hour 153 went_walk 16 62 look 153 bus_porto 15 63 make 153 day_went 15 64 called 151 largest_city 15 65 lot 151 melted_cheese 15 66 saw 151 place_called 15 67 white 151 port_made 15 68 tasting 150 porto_river 15 69 looking 149 river_porto 15 70 stop 149 vintage_port 15 71 port_wine 146 wine_port 15 72 restaurant 146 bus_ride 14 73 street 146 city_portugal 14 74 top 146 got_bus 14 75 amazing 145 hop_bus 14 76 met 145 ice_cream 14 47 77 buildings 144 narrow_streets 14 78 thing 144 ponte_luis 14 79 local 142 port_tour 14 80 minutes 141 porto_wine 14 81 big 138 said_goodbye 14 82 church 137 south_side 14 83 free 136 tourist_office 14 84 said 136 town_porto 14 85 water 136 trip_porto 14 86 road 135 trying_get 14 87 things 135 bottle_wine 13 88 come 134 casa_musica 13 89 full 134 day_trip 13 90 car 129 finally_got 13 91 started 129 glass_port 13 92 looked 127 headed_hostel 13 93 told 127 heritage_site 13 94 flight 125 needless_say 13 95 thought 124 river_front 13 96 say 123 steep_hills 13 97 actually 121 streets_porto 13 98 spain 121 took_bus 13 99 spent 121 view_porto 13 100 amp 119 couple_hours 12 48 In table bellow are top frequency bigrams per country, those are de countries with more posts published in English. Australia Freq. United States Freq. Canada Freq. 1 port_wine 31 port_wine 52 port_wine 25 2 old_town 20 douro_river 26 douro_river 22 3 train_station 19 arrived_porto 13 side_river 14 4 douro_river 18 porto_portugal 13 douro_valley 11 5 said_goodbye 14 san_sebastian 12 old_town 11 6 port_tasting 13 city_porto 11 train_station 11 7 white_port 12 side_river 10 year_old 11 8 bus_station 11 boat_ride 9 day_porto 10 9 day_porto 11 douro_valley 9 white_port 10 10 headed_hostel 11 pretty_good 9 nova_gaia 9 11 place_called 11 white_port 9 porto_portugal 9 12 went_walk 11 pedro_nuno 8 river_douro 9 13 couple_days 10 spent_day 8 river_valley 8 14 river_douro 10 wine_tasting 8 beautiful_city 7 15 side_river 10 atlantic_ocean 7 port_houses 7 16 arrived_porto 9 casa_musica 7 tour_guide 7 17 bus_stop 9 city_center 7 arrived_porto 6 18 harry_potter 9 city_portugal 7 atlantic_ocean 6 19 part_town 9 finally_got 7 bus_tour 6 20 port_caves 9 got_see 7 city_centre 6 21 went_hostel 9 morning_woke 7 glass_port 6 22 wine_tasting 9 port_cellars 7 ruby_port 6 23 world_heritage 9 year_old 7 vila_nova 6 24 bottle_wine 8 bad_news 6 yellow_bus 6 25 caught_bus 8 day_porto 6 aged_years 5 26 city_centre 8 decided_head 6 alcohol_content 5 27 douro_valley 8 decided_take 6 caught_bus 5 28 good_thing 8 famous_port 6 cost_euros 5 29 melted_cheese 8 hop_hop 6 day_took 5 30 old_city 8 largest_city 6 french_fries 5 49 Annex 3 - Tripadvisor Attractions data Table bellow presents top 100 frequency words and bigrams. Total Words Freq. Total Bigrams Freq. 1 porto 1026 worth_visit 142 2 river 762 douro_river 119 3 visit 586 train_station 87 4 see 584 port_wine 77 5 beautiful 564 great_views 69 6 great 552 river_douro 60 7 bridge 531 visit_porto 49 8 worth 531 definitely_worth 48 9 city 478 see_porto 46 10 nice 462 great_view 45 11 view 418 nova_gaia 45 12 views 383 view_city 43 13 walk 378 city_porto 42 14 place 358 great_place 41 15 tour 355 view_porto 41 16 church 347 views_city 40 17 station 343 guided_tour 38 18 douro 340 side_river 37 19 get 336 luis_bridge 36 20 take 323 modern_art 36 21 top 313 walk_bridge 36 22 good 308 boat_trip 35 23 amazing 303 views_river 35 24 building 295 railway_station 34 25 time 280 sao_bento 34 26 day 266 place_visit 33 27 museum 258 vila_nova 33 28 port 245 casa_musica 32 29 area 232 view_river 32 30 old 224 wine_tasting 32 31 wine 220 cable_car 31 32 interesting 212 blue_white 30 33 train 209 porto_gaia 30 34 side 197 river_cruise 30 35 people 185 upper_level 30 36 tiles 185 worth_visiting 30 50 37 art 180 douro_valley 29 38 trip 180 worth_seeing 29 39 tower 176 art_deco 28 40 wonderful 168 boat_ride 28 41 restaurants 164 wine_cellars 28 42 cathedral 162 tile_work 27 43 boat 161 views_porto 27 44 gaia 161 take_time 26 45 look 158 art_museum 24 46 walking 153 contemporary_art 24 47 history 148 gaia_side 24 48 enjoy 145 old_town 24 49 lovely 144 see_beautiful 24 50 took 144 half_hour 23 51 worth_visit 142 top_bridge 23 52 gardens 140 visiting_porto 23 53 portugal 140 walk_river 23 54 free 134 amazing_view 22 55 portuguese 125 arab_room 22 56 room 122 entrance_fee 22 57 bit 119 nice_place 22 58 douro_river 119 ponte_luis 22 59 find 119 porto_city 22 60 impressive 119 rail_station 22 61 park 119 beautiful_place 21 62 excellent 118 nice_views 21 63 climb 117 top_tower 21 64 lot 117 tour_guide 20 65 guide 116 view_top 20 66 metro 116 visit_church 20 67 entrance 115 amazing_views 19 68 went 115 cross_bridge 19 69 architecture 113 day_night 19 70 euros 113 entrance_hall 19 71 work 110 palacio_bolsa 19 72 part 109 part_porto 19 73 night 108 porto_worth 19 74 cruise 107 river_side 19 75 lots 107 take_pictures 19 76 experience 106 beautiful_view 18 77 going 106 climb_top 18 78 ride 105 lower_level 18 51 79 town 103 nice_view 18 80 street 102 stock_exchange 18 81 fantastic 101 sunny_day 18 82 walls 101 take_walk 18 83 main 100 walk_top 18 84 bridges 99 good_place 17 85 level 98 nice_walk 17 86 make 98 port_houses 17 87 visited 98 view_bridge 17 88 visiting 98 boat_tour 16 89 especially 95 enjoy_view 16 90 miss 95 get_top 16 91 stunning 95 old_city 16 92 world 95 porto_take 16 93 definitely 94 take_look 16 94 modern 94 views_douro 16 95 shops 94 worth_effort 16 96 ticket 94 city_center 15 97 upper 94 eiffel_tower 15 98 minutes 91 good_views 15 99 narrow 89 see_city 15 100 hour 88 take_photos 15 58 37 street 456 hotel_located 75 38 people 430 top_floor 75 39 walking 426 hotel_good 74 40 area 423 spent_nights 74 41 river 402 good_breakfast 73 42 lovely 398 made_feel 73 43 beautiful 396 old_town 73 44 floor 382 great_value 71 45 service 381 clean_rooms 69 46 made 378 free_wifi 68 47 restaurants 372 definitely_stay 67 48 free 371 center_porto 66 49 wonderful 370 staff_nice 66 50 modern 355 star_hotel 66 51 guest 351 stayed_night 63 52 center 346 enjoyed_stay 62 53 centre 346 breakfast_room 59 54 view 346 location_good 59 55 amp 335 old_building 59 56 apartment 329 centre_porto 58 57 kitchen 328 front_desk 58 58 bit 327 nice_clean 58 59 amazing 321 centrally_located 57 60 definitely 319 port_wine 57 61 guest_house 312 glass_port 56 62 minutes 311 min_walk 55 63 building 309 definitely_recommend 54 64 visit 305 douro_river 54 65 find 304 clean_room 53 66 big 303 highly_recommended 53 67 town 300 central_location 52 68 make 294 hostel_stayed 52 69 quiet 293 room_spacious 50 70 value 292 extremely_helpful 49 71 spacious 290 hotel_staff 48 72 reception 288 night_stay 48 73 main 283 perfect_location 48 74 places 282 staff_extremely 47 75 port 272 air_conditioning 46 76 douro 271 city_porto 46 77 experience 270 clean_staff 46 78 see 270 make_stay 46 59 79 trip 269 room_nice 46 80 want 264 bed_comfortable 45 81 days 263 clean_modern 45 82 easy 262 excellent_location 45 83 beds 261 places_visit 45 84 feel 259 recommend_hotel 45 85 staff_friendly 256 room_bathroom 45 86 got 246 trip_porto 45 87 staying 243 bathroom_clean 44 88 shower 238 nice_breakfast 44 89 portugal 237 walk_river 44 90 bus 233 bento_train 43 91 arrived 230 casa_dos 43 92 food 229 porto_stay 43 93 loved 229 room_floor 43 94 double 228 hostel_staff 42 95 joao 228 breakfast_great 41 96 friendly_helpful 224 double_bed 41 97 distance 221 hostel_great 41 98 fantastic 218 hotel_great 41 99 top 216 nice_helpful 41 100 place_stay 215 orange_juice 41 60 In table bellow are top frequency bigrams per country, those are de countries with more posts published in English. United States Freq. United Kingdom Freq. Canada Freq. 1 guest_house 84 stayed_nights 56 guest_house 37 2 carmen_joao 56 guest_house 48 house_douro 20 3 train_station 38 place_stay 47 walking_distance 15 4 house_douro 35 staff_friendly 47 carmen_joao 11 5 place_stay 33 metro_station 41 stayed_nights 11 6 walking_distance 30 friendly_helpful 38 place_stay 10 7 stay_porto 29 value_money 38 location_perfect 9 8 highly_recommend 26 staff_helpful 35 stay_porto 9 9 great_location 25 city_centre 34 clean_comfortable 8 10 room_clean 23 friendly_staff 34 friendly_helpful 8 11 stayed_nights 22 breakfast_good 33 highly_recommend 8 12 friendly_helpful 21 helpful_friendly 33 staff_friendly 8 13 made_feel 19 good_location 32 great_location 7 14 minute_walk 18 minute_walk 32 location_great 7 15 city_center 16 great_location 31 minute_walk 7 16 staff_friendly 16 clean_comfortable 30 room_clean 6 17 clean_comfortable 15 minutes_walk 30 staff_helpful 6 18 douro_river 15 room_clean 30 top_floor 6 19 front_desk 15 walking_distance 29 train_station 6 20 location_great 15 good_value 28 breakfast_good 5 21 breakfast_included 14 rooms_clean 28 breakfast_included 5 22 centrally_located 14 double_room 27 casa_dos 5 23 glass_port 14 stay_porto 27 definitely_stay 5 24 port_wine 14 old_town 20 front_desk 5 25 porto_stay 14 stayed_hotel 20 great_place 5 26 sao_bento 14 enjoyed_stay 19 metro_station 5 27 breakfast_morning 13 free_wifi 19 metro_stop 5 28 staff_helpful 13 air_conditioning 18 reasonably_priced 5 29 visit_porto 13 great_place 18 rooms_clean 5 30 definitely_stay 12 sao_bento 18 amazing_staff 4