Coastal and marine topics and destinations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Twitter's tourism hashtags

Abstract

Coastal and marine tourism offer various topics discussed within social media communication during a pandemic. The present study analysed the discussion topics in the popular Twitter's tourism hashtags during the COVID-19 crisis related to coastal and marine tourism. The objectives were to (i) determine the discussion topics, (ii) identify the discussion topics of greater hierarchy, and (iii) determine the tourist destinations discussed. The data were collected from Twitter between March and April 2020. A total of 269,722 tweets were extracted in different languages and globally through the Twitter API of popular tourism hashtags about the COVID-19 pandemic using big data software. The word associations technique was used to process the Twitter data. The discussion topics were ‘travel’, ‘beach’, ‘cruise’, ‘sea’, ‘ocean’, ‘nature’, ‘sun’, ‘coast’, and others. The discussion topics of greatest hierarchy were ‘travel’, ‘beach’, ‘sea’, and ‘cruise’. These topics refer to the motivational dimensions‘ ‘escape’, and ‘sun and beach’. The geographic locations discussed were Spain, Canary, Hawaii, Australia, Caribbean, Bermuda, Florida, California, and others. The findings will contribute to the relationship of the topics with the tourist motivational dimensions, and the destinations discussed about marine and coastal tourism in the time of crisis in the COVID-2019 Pandemic in Twitter's tourism hashtags, and companies will also be able to improve their communication strategies and develop post-pandemic products.

Tourism Market Segmentation Applied to Coastal and Marine Destinations: A Study from Acapulco, Mexico

“…Learning was analogous to studies presented by Ekonomou et al [26] and Rid et al [25]. Sun and beach and physical factors were similar to the findings in Carvache-Franco [27]; Carvache-Franco et al [31]; Ekonomou et al [26]; Güzel et al [30]; and Rid et al [25]. The motivation of authentic coastal experience has also been registered by Rid et al [25].…”

“…The motivation to find novelty has a positive impact on satisfaction, and transmission positively affects the loyalty of the visitor to the destination of the coastal and marine adventure tourism. In a worldwide study in the period of COVID-19, academics such as Carvache-Franco et al [31] identified two dimensions of coastal and marine tourism including "Escape", for the theme "travel" and "sun and beach". For the themes "beach", "sea", and "cruise" in this study, the tourism hashtags on Twitter were analyzed.…”

Coastal Cities Seen from Loyalty and Their Tourist Motivations: A Study in Lima, Peru

“…This author found that fear of COVID-19 and perceived risk had a significant negative impact on attitude towards travel; however, social media had a significant positive effect. From this perspective, academics, such as Carvache-Franco et al [26], found two dimensions of coastal and marine tourism "escape," for the theme "travel" and "sun and beach," for the themes "beach," "sea," and "cruise" in a worldwide study using Twitter tourism hashtags during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

New Beach Landscapes to Promote Social Distancing and Coastal Conservation during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…A few have focused on pollution [20,21], environmental education and teaching [22,23], fisheries [24], environmental issues [25,26]. Studies dealing directly with beach tourism have addressed social media [27], local tourism networks [28], one-day tours [29], and the carrying capacity of the beach [2]. New publications regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and coastal management are currently underway.…”