Where Do Tourists Go? Visualizing and Analysing the Spatial Distribution of Geotagged Photography

Abstract

Visualizing the geographical positions of photographs taken by tourists is a promising method to measure tourist activity in urban spaces. Most photo-sharing sites on the Internet offer the possibility of ''geotagging'' photos, resulting in geographical information retrievable by databases using the application programming interface (API) of such sites. These data sets can be visualized on maps or digital globes, which make the correlations of the photo density and the geographical objects of a given area expressive. It is possible to differentiate pictures taken by locals from those of visitors by examining the temporal distribution of a specific user's photos. Resulting maps revealed interesting correlations between the tourist attractions of the area and the number of photos taken there. In the case study of Budapest tourists took photos only in the areas around main tourist attractions. In contrast, locals also photographed recreational spaces or interesting sights not advertised for tourists. The development of recreational infrastructure is also visible in the case of the most recent projects. RÉSUMÉLa visualisation de la position géographique des photographies prises par des touristes constitue un moyen porteur de promesses de mesurer l'activité touristique en milieu urbain. La plupart des sites de partage de photos sur Internet offrent la possibilité de « géobaliser » les photos, ce qui produit de l'information géographique qu'il est possible d'extraire de bases de données en utilisant l'interface de programmation d'applications (API) des sites en question. Il est possible de visualiser ces ensembles de données sur des cartes ou des globes numériques, ce qui rend expressif l'établissement de liens entre la densité de la photo et les objets géographiques d'un secteur donné. Il est possible de distinguer les images prises par la population locale de celles que prennent les visiteurs en examinant la répartition dans le temps des photos d'un utilisateur en particulier. Les cartes ainsi produites ont révélé des liens intéressants entre l'offre touristique de la région et le nombre de photos qui y sont prises. Dans l'étude de cas portant sur Budapest, les touristes ont pris des photos seulement dans le voisinage des principales attractions touristiques. Par contre, la population locale a aussi photographié des espaces récréatifs ou des panoramas intéressants non annoncés aux touristes. La mise en valeur de l'infrastructure récréative est aussi visible dans le cas des projets les plus récents.

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