Are Social Media Data Pushing Overtourism? The Case of Barcelona and Chinese Tourists

Abstract

Overtourism spoils the good economic and social results produced by the tourism sector, causing reductions in the quality of service of the tourist destination and rejection by the local population. Previous literature has suggested that social networks and new electronic channels could be accelerators of the process of overcrowding destinations; however, this link has not been established. For this reason, in this exploratory study, the influence of social networks on overtourism is analysed using Barcelona as a base, as Barcelona is a massively popular destination in the country that is second in the world in reception of tourists to Spain. This study is also focused on Chinese tourism, which brings large numbers of tourists and presents great economic potential. Two types of study have been used: big data techniques applied to social media with sentimental analysis, and analysis of travel packages offered in China to travel to Spain. Relevant results are obtained to understand the influence of social networks on the travel behaviour of tourists, possible contributions to overtourism, and recommendations for the management of tourism.

Reasons and Consequences of Overtourism in Contemporary Cities—Knowledge Gaps and Future Research

“…Many authors such as Phi [1] and Goodwin [13] referred to the falling cost of air travel and low-cost carrier companies' growth, the expansion of sharing platforms, seasonality and the concentration of tourists in certain areas. Alonso-Almeida et al [9] underlined the role of social media in establishing overtourism, as they raise tourism demand and direct it to particular destinations. Additionally, Phi [1] points to the complex nature of the local/global tourism supply-chain, and the exceeding efforts that the destinations put into marketing actions.…”

“…Higgins-Desbiolles et al [8] p. 16 described the conflicts represented by overtourism as a wake-up call as tourism should be reclaimed from an industry that has defined it as a business sector to accumulate their profit, to a human endeavor based on the rights and interests of local communities in welcoming tourists. While causing reductions in the quality of service of a tourist destination and rejection by the local population, overtourism spoils the positive economic and social results produced by the tourism sector [9]. In numerous popular tourist destinations where the harmful effects of overtourism occurred, any previous consensus on the desirability of continuous quantitative tourism growth for the sake of maximizing the economic benefits of tourism, without fully considering the side effects that can be destructive to the social, cultural and ecological environments, has come under intense pressure from the civil society and local populations.…”

From Blockbuster to Neighbourhood Buster: The Effect of Films on Barcelona

“…Besides, word of mouth (WoM), and more specifically electronic word of mouth (eWoM), as information sources, is considered to be more effective than information provided by a destination itself or traditional information sources (i.e., travel agencies or tour operators) [68,69]. Thus, social media generates a rapid expansion of WoM [70], and this information, regardless of whether it is positive or negative, influences tourist behaviour when making travel decisions [71].…”

“…The setting of this study is Barcelona-the most visited city in Spain, with more than 12 million overnight stays in 2018 (Barcelona, 2019). Barcelona has captured the attention of numerous investigations in relation to tourism [11,103,104] and, in the last few years, researchers have focused their studies on the externalities that the growth of tourism is causing in the city and especially for its citizens [69,72,105].…”

The Circular Economy Strategy in Hospitality: A Multicase Approach

“…Another problem derived from tourism is overtourism [6]. Overtourism produces negative impacts on biodiversity, cultural and historical heritage [6,7]. Moreover, it arouses negative feelings in local inhabitants mainly due to overcrowding in holiday destinations, noise pollution, uncivil tourist behaviour and the scarcity of basic infrastructure and utilities [8].…”