Social Media as a Management Tool: Opportunities for Sustainable Heritage Destinations
Abstract
The popularity of certain tourist spots on social media triggers unexpected trends leading to unsustainable tourism development, commodification, cultural dissonance, and other negative impacts on the territory. The popularity is gained mainly due to the amplified dissemination of data through social media. Dealing with these impacts is especially challenging in heritage destinations where nature and culture are essential elements. In this paper a quantitative content analysis of posts and reviews on Instagram, TripAdvisor, and Airbnb is conducted for five World Heritage Sites, 13 Regional Nature Parks, and two unesco Biosphere Reserves in Switzerland. The results provide insight into the distribution of visitors within a larger heritage area during and after the covid-19 pandemic. This will help management agencies develop strategies for a more balanced flow of visitors within the heritage area. The similarities between the heritage destinations allow for comparison, while the differences provide opportunities to apply the methodology to different contexts and heritage sites. Social media analysis of large protected areas opens the field for other applications, mainly with regard to adopting new site governance and visitor management systems.
Keywords: tourism management tool, social media, visitor flows, heritage destinations, sustainable development
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