ABSTRACT
With the rise of user-generated content (UGC) and deep learning technology, more and more researchers construct and measure the tourism destination image (TDI) through online travelogues. However, due to the impact of COVID-19 prevention and control, the number of online travelogues has decreased significantly and, therefore, the scientific validity of the TDI based only on text or photos has been questioned. This research fills a gap by comparing the differences between visual and semantic images in terms of the overall image perception and image formation through natural language processing technology and image caption technology in obtaining TDIs, taking Tiantai County in Zhejiang Province of China as a case. Our results show that the texts and photographs shared major similarities in the overall TDI, but from the perspective of interest, they reflect differently. Therefore, when considering the data source selection for TDI research with a small number of travelogues, texts should be the main content, supplemented by photographs. © 2022 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
The current pandemic is accelerating the wide-spreading popularity of digital tourism. Given that technology innovation has broadened the horizon of tourist experiences to the realm of virtual environments, this study aims to (re)conceptualize travel experience and develop a theoretical framework to examine media technology effects on virtual travel experience, destination image, and tourists’ well-being. As a conceptual work, this study adopts technological perspectives on online travel media to decompose technology attributes and articulate distinctive effects of technology-centric variables. The proposed framework illustrates five propositions that specify and explain the relationships among technology-centric variables (modality, agency, interactivity, and navigability), three groups of moderators (user-centric, content-centric, and situation-centric variables), virtual travel experience, destination image, and psychological wellbeing. By adopting the variable-centered approach to decompose online travel media, this study provides a new theoretical lens to understand the psychological mechanism of media technology effects in digital tourism. The framework will serve as useful methodological guidelines to conduct experiments to investigate the distinctive effect of a particular affordance or a specific technical feature. The potential benefits of digital tourism to enhance tourists’ wellbeing are discussed by highlighting the environmentally friendly and inclusive aspects.