Content Analysis of Tripadvisor Online Reviews: The Case of Valamar Riviera Hotels in Dubrovnik

Abstract

Purpose - From its foundation until today, Valamar Riviera hotels are one of the leaders in the Croatian hotel industry. Their strong positioning on the market is recognized throughout Europe, and this is particularly visible through the high ratings of former guests on social networks. Online reviews have become an excellent source for capturing the entire experience, which is why potential guests looking for accommodation are increasingly inclined to search platforms such as Tripadvisor for past experiences of previous guests. Based on the above, the purpose of this research was to gain insight into the factors that influence the overall experience of the guests of the Valamar Riviera Hotel. Methodology - For the purpose of this research, online reviews of three Dubrovnik’s Valamar Riviera hotels were analyzed. Online reviews were scraped from the Tripadvisor platform with the help of the ParseHub software for the period from January 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022, after which a sentimental analysis was performed on a sample of 261 online reviews. Based on the results of the sentimental analysis according to factors and connotation, a cause-and-effect diagram was created. Findings - Obtained empirical results indicate that positive comments from former hotel guests are leading for all three samples. Such results were expected; given that these are hotels that won the Tripadvisor Excellence Award. Former guests of Dubrovnik’s Valamar Riviera hotels who wrote online reviews on Tripadvisor about their experience staying at the hotel are mostly women from abroad. Through the sentiment analysis, “Housekeeping” was determined as the most important factor of the overall hotel experience. On the other hand, the largest share of negative particles was determined for the „Other hotel services“, therefore this factor has the greatest negative impact on the eWoM of hotel guests. Contribution - This research contributes to reducing the existing gaps in the literature on hotel experience, by identifying factors that have a negative impact on the eWoM of hotel guests. The findings of this study also provide practical implications based on which hoteliers can improve their strengths and weaknesses in the existing elements of the hotel offer.