An Online Reputation Analysis of the Tourism Industry in Marbella: A Preliminary Study on Open Innovation

Abstract

This research analyzed the online reputation of Marbella as a tourist destination and the profiles of the reviewers according to sociodemographic characteristics. A correlational, quantitative research technique was used in this study based on the manual extraction of more than 4000 reviews generated on TripAdvisor. The data used in this study were collected from the TripAdvisor website, taking, as a sample, tourists who had visited the city in the last three years. Ratings that did not provide full data on the variables were excluded. The findings show that Marbella is considered a luxury shopping destination. The preliminary conclusions allow us to generalize about the sociodemographic profile of its tourists. The findings of the study will provide valuable information for Marbella’s Destination Management Organization (DMO). On the one hand, this study highlights the importance of ranking the attractions of the city to create better communication strategies and enhance the appeal of those attractions that receive the best ratings, establishing the true vocation of Marbella as a tourist destination. On the other hand, it provides information on what tourists perceive to be negative elements, allowing the administration to create an improvement plan. The novelty of this research paper is that it delves into Marbella’s online reputation through an analysis of specific attractions’ ratings. Areas that require further attention in future research have been highlighted, along with specific advice on each attraction that contributes to the tourist offerings of the city.

Tourism Development through the Sense of UNESCO World Heritage: The Case of Hegra, Saudi Arabia

“…The presence of tourists as advertisers is advantageous for destinations and businesses, as there is no more compelling promotion than that done by tourists themselves [21]. With TripAdvisor and its vast web traffic, the experiences of dissatisfied tourists can reach an unlimited audience, changing how tourists conceive the image of destinations [22]. Online review platforms offer a system for contributing, rating, evaluating, and consuming content, with social distinctions such as several views, impressions, downloads, subscribers, and comments [23].…”

Ecolabels as a Tool of Sustainable Development in Tourist Destinations

“…However, the idea that ecolabels, in addition to indicating the ecological preservation of the tourist destination, can also encourage numerous innovations at the destination level is a new way of considering the use of ecolabels. In addition, ecolabels can be a good tool that will make the application of innovations visible to tourists at the destination level and could improve the image of the tourist destination as well [100]. Properly targeted promotion can attract more tourists for whom their trip must encourage STD in the destination.…”

“…Thus, tourists whose travels are motivated by ecological sustainability will, if their expectations are met, more often show their loyalty to these tourist destinations [10,24]. Therefore, DMOs should choose the method of promotion very carefully and in a targeted manner [100]. In the future, DMOs could provide visibility of ecolabels through QR codes, which would represent an innovative improvement of the tourist offer of destinations according to the model that is already successfully applied in some smart cities in the world.…”

“…Smart cities can offer an opportunity to develop space on the principles of sustainability, and to enable this it is necessary to develop strategies that will simultaneously encourage the application of innovation and the involvement of various stakeholders in the process [104]. The development of smart cities can encourage more efficient sharing of information, and digital innovations and also could encourage and improve the circular economy, the organization of traffic, and energy delivery; generally, it can provide better organization of life and better communication between public and private stakeholders [100]. However, Croatia is a country with a small population, so there are not many large cities and there are no cities that are in the global ranking of smart cities [68,105].…”

Destination Reputation Management: The Divergent Role of Tourists’ Word of Mouth in Urban China

“…In the tourism field, the contribution of word of mouth to destination reputation has been rarely studied. Some studies have equated word-of-mouth information collections about specific destinations in a particular information channel with reputation, identifying and assessing destination reputation through data analysis of online reviews [39,40]. However, not all word-of-mouth information can be trusted and adopted by tourists in the face of complex and heterogeneous user-generated content and opinions [41].…”