The Use of Big Data in Planning Tourism: Evidence from Italy

Social media refer to a broad range of technological platforms that allow users to share information and connect with others. The accelerating use of Big Data has also brought fundamental changes to tourism sectors, offering new opportunities for the tourism market. Big Data involves the technologies that exist today and the applications it facilitates. Many destinations around the world are already using Big Data to better manage tourism. Tourism boards and companies in the tourism sector can benefit from data of this type in many ways. This data allows them both to assess traditional indicators and incorporate new statistical information, in a way that is only possible due to Big Data analysis. This study is focused on touristic areas of Italy and highlights the kind of tourism-related information that can be inferred from public online records on Twitter. Results show that Big Data can be a great help in the decision-making process of players in the tourism sector, and improve the operation of tourism in a destination.