Content analysis of tripadvisor reviews on safe tourism certified restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Covid-19 outbreak, which emerged in December 2019, deeply affected the economies. During the Covid-19 outbreak, there was a significant decline in restaurant revenues, foreign currency inflows and employment. Moreover, the outbreak has caused radical changes in lifestyles and consumer behaviors. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the user comments on the TripAdvisor website regarding Safe Tourism Certified restaurants in Turkey during the Covid-19 outbreak. The universe considered in this study comprised users who ate at Safe Tourism Certified restaurants in Turkey and commented on the Tripadvisor website. The content analysis method, which is used in qualitative research methodologies, was applied. In this context, a total of 922 reviews for 98 Safe Tourism Certified restaurants on the Tripadvisor website over the period of 11 March 2020- 20 April 2022 were examined with the help of Nvivo 12 program. It was revealed that 80.6% of the customer comments were positive. The most emphasized factors in the comments were taste, price, attitude and behavior of the employee, view, food and beverage quality, cleanliness, punctuality, employee care and Covid-19 security measures. These findings can assist in understanding the nature of consumer perceptions during pandemic.