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• Published: 17 May 2024

Understanding attractions’ connection patterns based on intra-destination tourist mobility: A network motif approach

• Ding Ding 1 , 2 ,
• Yunhao Zheng 1 , 2 ,
• Yi Zhang 1 , 2 &
• Yu Liu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0016-2902 1 , 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  636 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Business and management
• Complex networks
• Science, technology and society

Tourist movement patterns among attractions are complex and variable, and understanding such patterns can help manage tourist destinations more effectively. However, previous studies on tourist movement utilising complex networks have not explored the network motif approach comprehensively. Therefore, we adopted a network motif approach using social media data to extract and analyse motifs in a city network. This study analyses the attractions corresponding to the nodes in each motif, revealing the connection patterns between these attractions. We also discuss motifs between attractions with different types and titles. Popular attractions play a significant role in a local network while other attractions serve distinct functions within the network. This study’s findings enhance the significance of network motifs in examining tourist movement and deepen the understanding of recurring movement patterns between attractions. Moreover, they assist managers in developing policy tools for intelligent tourism destination marketing and planning that cater to tourists’ needs.

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Introduction.

Tourism has emerged as a leading economic activity worldwide, surpassing certain traditional industries and serving as a pivotal catalyst for international and regional economic growth. Specifically, urban tourism constitutes the cornerstone of contemporary tourism and has reached an advanced stage of competitive growth (Cárdenas-García et al., 2024 ; W. Su et al., 2003 ). Tourism has generated business prospects for numerous companies within renowned tourist cities such as Paris, New York, and Tokyo, simultaneously creating many employment opportunities for the urban population and infusing consistent economic vibrancy into such destinations (Hassan, 2000 ). Contemporary tourists’ movements in cities are no longer bound by rigid schedules or fixed itineraries, and their temporal and spatial flexibility is highlighted by their mobility patterns. John Urry’s ‘new mobility paradigm’ focuses on such changing nature of mobility (Korstanje, 2018 ; Merriman, 2012 ; Tzanelli, 2021 ; Urry ( 2008 )).

The rapid development of information and communication technologies has led to the widespread popularisation of mobile terminal devices equipped with positioning technology. The large amount of user location data collected by these devices has significantly enhanced our understanding of tourist mobility over the past two decades (Chen et al., 2022 ; Chuang, 2023 ; Jiang & Phoong, 2023 ; Leng et al., 2021 ; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2023 ; Park et al., 2023 ; Xu et al., 2024 ). By leveraging these datasets, diverse research methods and theories have been used to investigate tourist mobility, including geographic information systems (Lau & McKercher, 2006 ), time geography (Grinberger et al., 2014 ; Xiao-Ting & Bi-Hu, 2012 ), and Markov chains (Vu et al., 2015 ; Xia et al., 2009 ). Tourism researchers have attempted to understand the essence of tourist mobility because it plays a key role in attraction marketing, event planning, and the management and design of attractions in cities. Understanding tourist mobility with a city as a single destination can help managers make refined decisions compared to tourist movement on a larger scale, such as movement between destinations. Notably, a prevalent trend involves the aggregation of individual-level mobility data into networks, which serve as a basis for analysing the topological structure of attraction systems (Vu et al., 2015 ).

Tourist mobility data correspond to a network structure in which tourist attractions are nodes and the spatial movement between two attractions represents bonds (Kang et al., 2018 ). Consequently, network analysis is a data mining technique that has been widely used to extract the connection patterns established between attractions as tourists move through a geographical space (García-Palomares et al., 2015 ; Han et al., 2018 ; Leung et al., 2012 ; Mou et al., 2020a ; Peng et al., 2016 ; Xu et al., 2022 ; Zeng, 2018 ). Understanding the network characteristics of tourist attractions has practical implications for the competitiveness, management, and planning of tourist attractions (Stienmetz & Fesenmaier, 2015 ).

Nevertheless, most current literature employing social network analysis relies on descriptive measurements to analyse tourist mobility patterns. However, this approach hampers the assessment of the reliability and validity of the identified patterns (Park & Zhong, 2022 ). This study emphasises the concept of network motifs. These motifs are characterised as recurring and statistically significant subgraphs within a larger graph. As a crucial research task in complex network theory (Ahmed et al., 2017 ), motifs reveal functional properties based on the structural traits of network systems. Examining motifs in tourism networks enhances the understanding of how destinations are connected, how tourists move between destinations and how tourism policies affect network structure and dynamics. Moreover, in comparison with the travel motifs applied in previous studies (Park & Zhong, 2022 ; Yang et al., 2017 ), network motifs provide greater insight into individual tourist mobility at the aggregation level. Consequently, motifs can be useful in identifying the most influential or central destinations in tourism networks.

In summary, this study answers the following three questions: (1) What types of motifs do attractions constitute? (2) How are motifs linked to specific attractions? (3) How do motifs relate to attraction attributes? As the first study to use network motifs to examine tourist movement in a group manner, we select Suzhou City as the case study area and adopt social media data to extract tourists’ movements, which makes it easy to connect the nodes of the network with specific attractions. This paper proceeds as follows: The Literature Review section, as its name implies, presents a review of relevant studies on tourist mobility and network motifs. The Methodology section presents the dataset used in this study and the motif discovery method that we used to analyse it. The Results section presents an analysis of the results of motif discovery. In the Discussion section, we discuss this study’s results and implications for tourism. The Conclusion section presents the conclusions of the study.

Literature review

Research on network motifs.

Network motifs are defined as patterns of interconnections occurring in complex networks at numbers that are significantly higher than those occurring in randomised networks (Milo et al., 2002 ). Motifs can characterise the dynamic and functional behaviour of a network, therefore enabling the classification of networks based on statistical analysis (Roy et al., 2023 ). Network motifs have practical implications for social relationships, protein complexes, and information infrastructures (Yu et al., 2020 ). Current methods for discovering network topics can be divided into two categories: network-centric and motif-centric approaches. Network-centric methods enumerate all subgraphs in a network, such as Mfinder (Kashtan et al., 2002 ), FanMod (Wernicke & Rasche, 2006 ), Kavosh (Kashani et al., 2009 ) and G-tries (Ribeiro & Silva, 2010 ). Conversely, approaches such as Grochow (Grochow & Kellis, 2007 ) and MODA (Omidi et al., 2009 ) are motif-centric. Based on subgraph symmetry, motif-centric methods search for a single query graph and then map frequencies rather than enumerate them.

Regarding the application of complex network science in the field of tourism, previous studies examine tourist flow networks from the perspective of inter-destination (Liu et al., 2017 ; Peng et al., 2016 ; Shih, 2006 ; Wang et al., 2020 ) and intra-destination (Gao et al., 2022 ; Hwang et al., 2006 ; Leung et al., 2012 ; Mou et al., 2020 ; Zeng, 2018 ; Zheng et al., 2021 ). Summarising these previous studies, two common types of metrics can be identified: network- and node-based metrics. Network-based indicators include density, efficiency, diameter, average shortest path, average clustering coefficient, and centralisation. Node-based metrics include degree (out and in), degree centrality (out and in), closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality. Furthermore, network structure analysis methods, such as structural holes and core-periphery analyses, have also been employed.

Although motif discovery is a crucial research area in network science, its application to tourism has been relatively limited. Several studies have been at the forefront of applying network motifs to the study of human mobility (Cao et al., 2019 ; Schneider et al., 2013 ; R. Su et al., 2020 ). In contrast to concentrating solely on subgraphs within mobility networks, researchers have introduced the concept of travel motifs, therefore expanding motifs from topological spaces to include temporal and semantic dimensions (Yang et al., 2017 ). To the best of our knowledge, this tourism network motif was first mentioned in a global tourism network study (Lozano & Gutiérrez, 2018 ). Several network motifs including transitive feedforward loops and different one and two mutual-dyads subgraphs, have been identified. Furthermore, a study conducted in South Korea introduced a network motif algorithm to examine the interconnections of travel patterns between places within the context of tourism (Park & Zhong, 2022 ), and disregarded only the spatial behaviour of local tourists. Moreover, because cell towers collect mobile sensor data, it is challenging to accurately determine the precise locations of mobile users and the tourist attractions corresponding to those specific locations. Therefore, this study employs social media data and links each tourist’s spatial behaviour to a corresponding attraction, therefore revealing the connection patterns among attractions.

Tourist mobility and network analysis

Tourist mobility encompasses tourists’ flow, movement, dispersal, and travel patterns across space and time (Hardy et al., 2020 ; Shoval et al., 2020 ). The analysis of spatial movement is a significant aspect of tourist mobility (Oppermann, 1995 ). Understanding how tourists move through time and space has important implications for infrastructure and transportation development, product development, destination planning, and planning of new attractions, as well as the management of the social, environmental, and cultural impacts of tourism (Lew & McKercher, 2006 ). The verifiability and reliability of tourist mobility studies can be improved through quantitative analysis; however, the results of quantitative analyses are highly dependent on the scales on which their studies are used (Jin et al., 2018 ; Zhang et al., 2023 ).

Some intra-destination mobility studies have conducted analyses at the individual level. For instance, Fennell ( 1996 ) examined tourist movements on the Shetland Islands using measures of space, time, perception, region, and core-periphery. Lew and McKercher ( 2006 ) used an inductive approach based on urban transportation to identify explanatory factors that influence tourist mobility within a destination. Early research favoured abstract methods based on fundamental tourist proposals. There is a general approach for modelling tourist mobility that is easy to reproduce, namely, the Markov model. Xia et al. ( 2009 ) used Markov chains to model tourist mobility as a stochastic process and calculated the probabilities of tourists’ movement patterns on an island. As a more practical and useful approach, using semi-Markov models is effective in deriving the probabilities of both tourist movement and the attractiveness of specific attractions (Xia et al., 2011 ). Furthermore, time geography is a conceptual framework used to describe and understand tourist mobility. Integrating time geography with geographic information systems tools, Grinberger et al. ( 2014 ) clustered tourists based on the time-space allocation measures of their behaviour to reveal tourists’ choices and the strategies they implemented within the constraints of time and space.

There is an increasing trend involving the aggregation of individual-level mobility data into networks as the basis for analysing the topological structure of attraction systems (Smallwood et al., 2011 ). Mobility patterns can be viewed as a network and are therefore subject to network analysis (Shih, 2006 ). Based on a core-periphery analysis of attraction networks, Zach and Gretzel ( 2011 ) analysed the structure of attraction networks and provided a strong and practical basis for technology design and tourism marketing. Leung et al. ( 2012 ) applied social network and content analyses to examine the most visited tourist attractions and main tourism movement patterns in Beijing during three distinct periods. Additionally, network methods are often used in conjunction with other analytical methods. For example, Liu et al. ( 2017 ) applied a quadratic assignment procedure to an attraction network to test the relationship between proximity and the attraction network determined by tourists’ free-choice movements. Another example is Mou et al. ( 2020a ), who integrated social network analysis with traditional quantitative methods to develop a novel research framework. Indicators such as the Annual Gini Index and Pearson correlation coefficient can also be helpful when analysing tourists’ spatiotemporal behaviour (Zheng et al., 2021 ).

Motif discovery algorithms are commonly applied to gene regulation networks, electronic circuits, and neurones (Yu et al., 2020 ). However, studies using motif discovery methods to examine study tourist mobility are limited. It is worth mentioning that there are studies that examine travel motifs (which are extended from topological spaces to temporal and semantic spaces) to ascertain tourist mobility patterns (Yang et al., 2017 ). In fact, the variation in travel mobility patterns depends not only on tourists’ different lengths of stay and the topological structures of travel mobility but also on the relative proportions of each travel mobility type (Park & Zhong, 2022 ). However, travel motifs can only reflect the movement patterns of individual tourists rather than the movement patterns at the aggregated-individual level, let alone serve as the basis for analysing the topological structure of an attraction network (Jin et al., 2018 ). To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has used network motifs to examine tourist mobility at the individual-aggregation level. Only Lozano and Gutiérrez ( 2018 ) applied the network motif analysis tool offered by UCINET 6.0 to analyse the top three global tourism flows. Therefore, this study argues that the use of network motif analysis not only fills a research gap regarding tourist mobility at the aggregation level but also provides theoretical support for planning and the design of tourist attraction networks.

Methodology

We selected Suzhou, China (Fig. 1a ) as the study area. Suzhou is located in eastern China, west of Shanghai, and has a population of five million residents. With its plentiful tourism resources, Suzhou received more than 100 million domestic visitors annually before the COVID-19 pandemic. Suzhou is well-known for its cultural and historical heritage. The most popular attractions in Suzhou are its classical gardens, which were included in the World Heritage List of the previous century. Suzhou’s ancient city attractions cover an area of 14 km 2 . In addition to these historical attractions, Suzhou has a natural landscape with lush mountains and gleaming lakes.

a The location of attractions in Suzhou b The geo-tagged microblogs in Suzhou.

Data collection and preprocessing

Social media data were primarily collected from location-based mobile phone applications. Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, is the most popular social media platform in China, with over 500 million active registered users who post 300 million microblogs daily (Kim et al., 2017 ). We used the application programming interface provided by Sina Weibo to crawl posts made in Suzhou from 12 April, 2012 to 31 October, 2016. The posts we crawled from the application programming interface contained various data about the users, including post identification (ID), user ID, post text, pictures, location information (longitude and latitude), and post time, as shown in Fig. 1b . Based on the user ID, we were also able to acquire users’ profile information while remaining compliant with user privacy regulations. User profile information includes registration location, gender, age, number of posts and fans, and ‘follows.’

However, only a portion of users were involved in tourism activities. We assumed that these tourists were not locals and that they had to return to their cities of residence after their trip. Referring to the double-filtration approach proposed by Su et al. ( 2020 ), we first filtered out local users based on the locations registered in their Weibo user profiles. In this study, the time difference between a user’s first and last post is defined as their length of stay. Referring to previous studies (Girardin et al., 2008 ; García-Palomares et al., 2015 ), we filtered out users who stayed longer than one month.

The purpose of tourism activities can be entertainment or relaxation; however, they can also be a part of official or business visits. Although official/business visits may also involve tourism activities, only visitors travelling to Suzhou of their own accord were considered tourists in our study. Therefore, during data preprocessing, we defined only users who posted microblogs within the tourist attractions shown in the Suzhou Tourism Bureau’s official list ( http://tjj.suzhou.gov.cn/ ) as tourists. Specifically, we used the coordinates recorded in the geo-tagged microblogs to determine whether a user had visited one of the attractions on the official list. After filtering out individuals based on the criteria described above, 234,049 Weibo microblogs were obtained from 54,712 tourists. Sorting these microblogs by time gave us the of tourists’ trajectories within the city. As a result, we could map these trajectories to the directional connections between attractions to establish, a network of attractions (Fig. 2 ).

Framework of the network motif analysis.

Extracting attractions’ connection patterns using network motif analysis

Just as attractions are represented in networks as nodes and flows as edges, tourist mobility patterns can also be transformed into complex networks (Schneider et al., 2013 ). Therefore, we discovered all recurrent mobility patterns related to the motifs appearing in the tourist flow network. To accomplish this, we introduced a new algorithm (Kavosh) designed to find k-size network motifs with less memory and CPU time than those required for other algorithms. The Kavosh algorithm is based on counting all k-size subgraphs of a given graph (directed or undirected). As shown in Fig. 2 , the Kavosh algorithm consists of three steps: enumeration, random network generation, and motif identification. First, the algorithm enumerates all possible mobility patterns related to the subgraphs in the original network. The Kavosh algorithm groups the isomorphic subgraphs using the NAUTY algorithm. This optimisation enhances the overall process efficiency and minimises pattern redundancy. As not all patterns bear significance, the algorithm generates a large number of random networks and compares the frequency of occurrence of these patterns in all random networks. Lastly, the significance of each pattern in the input network is calculated for motif identification. Here, some statistical measures that generate probable motifs in the original network are introduced.

This is the simplest method for estimating the significance of a motif. For a given network, we assume that G p is a representative of an isomorphism class involved in that class. Frequency is defined as the number of occurrences of G p in the input network.

This measure reflects how randomly the class occurred in the input network. For the assumed motif G p , this measure is defined as:

This measure indicates the number of random networks in which a motif, G p , occurs more often than in the input network, divided by the total number of random networks. Therefore, the P -value ranges from 0 to 1. The smaller the P -value, the more significant the motif.

Therefore, the motifs found in the input network are available, including some related statistical measures. As mentioned in the previous step, three different measures are used in this algorithm. There are no exact thresholds for these measures to distinguish motifs; the more restricted the thresholds, the more precise the motif. According to previous experimental results (Milo et al., 2002 ), the following conditions can be used to describe a network motif:

Using 1000 randomised networks, the P -value is < 0.01.

The frequency is larger than four.

Using 1000 randomised networks, the Z-score is > 1.

According to the above conditions, aiming to be as precise as possible, the patterns with significant measures are those that describe the network motifs.

Extracted motifs of the tourist attraction network

The Sina Weibo data analysed in this study encompassed 104 attractions within Suzhou City (Fig. 1a ). According to the processing method described in the previous section, the data from Sina Weibo constituted a total of 2171 edges of the tourism network. When searching for k-motifs, the frequency of (k-1) motifs in the original network should be the same as that in the randomised network (Yu et al., 2020 ). In this study, motifs with more than four nodes did not meet the requirements for extraction; therefore, we extracted motifs with three and four nodes. We determined that a motif appeared in the network based on the criteria mentioned in the previous section. Consequently, we extracted three motifs for three-node motifs and six motifs for four-node motifs, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 .

Topological types of tourism network motifs.

Frequency and Z-score of tourism network motifs.

Under each motif in Fig. 3 is the proportion of that motif within the network, while the ID of that motif is in the top-right corner of each cell. Each node in the graph also contains a corresponding label, as shown by the IDs of motifs 1 and 4. The node labels of the other motifs are similar. Therefore, we did not label them all to ensure the figure remained concise. Referring to the classification of motifs in previous studies (Costa et al., 2007 ; Yang et al., 2017 ), we divided motifs into four base classes: chain, mutual dyad, double-linked mutual dyad, and fully connected triad. The chain-class motif refers to tourists visiting three attractions sequentially without returning. Similarly, a double-linked mutual dyad motif means that tourists flow in both directions between two pairs of attractions. The fully connected triad motif refers to a pair of three attractions with any two pairs flowing in both directions.

Among them, the mutual dyad, double-linked mutual dyad, and fully connected triad have uplinked and downlinked variants in their main categories. For example, if node A of the mutual dyad sends tourists to another attraction, we use the term ‘uplinked’ to describe this motif, whereas if node A receives tourists from another attraction, we describe the motif as ‘downlinked’. By analogy, these naming rules can be extended to double-linked mutual dyads and fully connected triads. The centrally linked mutual dyad and fully connected triad with a mutual dyad are two more specific variants. The centrally linked mutual dyad is based on a core attraction surrounded by three nodes with mutual circulation; however, none of the three attractions are connected to each other. A fully connected triad with a mutual dyad constitutes one fully connected triad in which one node forms another mutual dyad.

Among the abovementioned nine motifs, those with IDs 1, 2, and 3 are three-node motifs, accounting for 37.61% of the total number of network subgraphs. This indicates that the flow of tourists between any three attractions in the tourism network is dominated by chaining. This suggests that there is an order for most connections among the three attractions’ patterns. The remaining six motifs of the four nodes accounted for 29.67%, with three motifs (those with IDs 4, 5, and 6) forming around the centre point in the lower left corner. The centrally linked motif corresponds to a movement pattern referred to as a ‘basecamp’ in previous studies (Lau & McKercher, 2006 ; Lue et al., 1993 ; Oppermann, 1995 ), in which tourists establish one attraction as their basecamp and leave to visit other places, only to return later. In the downlinked variant, this base camp appeared as a gateway attraction for visiting attractions B and C. The motifs with IDs 7, 8, and 9 were mainly structured as a fully connected triple attraction, which comprised three closely linked attractions where tourists can move freely. In addition to this triple attraction, we also identified a relationship between one attraction and one of three attractions, exhibiting relationships of receiving, conveying, and circulating with each other. Therefore, regarding the connection patterns of the four attractions, the function of the key attractions in it is both specific and vital.

Motif interpretation: Specific attractions

In this study, all calculated motifs were the local mobility patterns of tourists that occurred at high frequencies in the original tourist network. The following analysis was performed for the distribution of attractions on each node of the extracted motifs. We selected the node with the highest degree for each motif and counted the attractions appearing in that node for all subgraphs in the tourist network. The top three attractions with the highest frequency on the highest-degree node were selected according to their frequency, as shown in Table 1 . In the table, the highest-degree nodes are shown in orange.

Table 1 shows that the attractions Guanqian Street, Jinji Lake, and Pingjiang Road are the most highly placed nodes in the subgraph, indicating that these three attractions are in a relatively central position in the whole network. In other words, the network is organised around these three attractions, forming the vast majority of the local tourist movement patterns. Additionally, attractions such as Zhouzhuang and Hanshan Temple also play a key role in the local network. Zhouzhuang appears in the nodes of the motif as an attraction en route to other attractions, acting as a gateway. Generally, in motif patterns 3 and 9, tourists do not return after visiting Zhouzhuang but continue to visit attractions interconnected with Zhouzhuang, which is attributable to the long distance between Zhouzhuang and the urban area of Suzhou. The opposite is true for Hanshan Temple, whose corresponding motif patterns (2, 4, and 7) tend to be the attractions that tourists visited before they went to B through other attractions, implying that tourists all converged at that attraction before visiting other attractions. We further determined the top three attractions in node B: Tongli National Wetland Park, China Flower Botanical Garden, and Dabaidang Ecological Park. The common characteristic of these three attractions is that they all have multiple varieties of flowers with ornamental value and rich vegetation coverage, making them good places for hiking during spring.

Motif interpretation: Types and titles of attractions

In addition to exploring the nodes with the highest degree of motifs, this study examines the types and titles of attractions on each node. According to the classification proposed by another study in Suzhou (Xue & Zhang, 2020 ), attractions can be classified into natural, cultural, and commercial, according to their landscape type; they may also be classified as 5A, 4A and others according to their title (A tourist attraction with a ‘5A’ score implies that it has the most beautiful scenery, the best service and perfect facilities). Fig. 5 shows the distribution of attraction types on the nodes, Fig. 6 shows the distribution of attraction titles on the nodes, while the node labels in the lower right corner of each figure are used to refer to the relative positions of the nodes on each motif. We refer to these node labels in the subsequent paragraphs.

The attraction type of motif nodes.

The attraction title of motif nodes.

Figures 5 and 6 show that the types of attractions on each node differ; however, the differences in the types of node attractions between each motif in each major category are relatively insignificant. This indicates that each major category of attraction connection pattern summarises a common class of tourists’ local movement patterns, while the attributes of each attraction in this movement pattern are fixed.

Types of attractions

In Fig. 5 , the distribution of the attraction types of the nodes differs insignificantly in the type of attraction for the chain-type motif. Regarding the mutual dyad type, the types of node A are still relatively balanced, whereas the types dominated by nodes B and C are different and exactly opposite. Specifically, node B of motif 2 is dominated by natural-type attractions, whereas node C has more than 50% cultural attractions. Conversely, motif 3 shows the opposite pattern. The double-linked mutual dyad exhibited more obvious characteristics. First, we observe that the proportions of nodes C and D attraction types of the three motifs are identical, with the main differences appearing in nodes A and B. Second, for IDs 4 and 5, node A’s commercial attractions exhibit a significantly high proportion, which highlights their role in aggregating tourists in the local network. In contrast, for motif 6, node A primarily serves as a transit node from B to C and D, while its proportion of commercial attractions is not notably high. Lastly, in the fully connected triad, the proportion of interconnected nodes in the three motifs remains consistent. Nodes C and D are dominated by cultural attractions, whereas node A, acting as a communication hub for other attractions, exhibits a more balanced distribution of types.

Titles of attractions

In Fig. 6 , the percentages of 5A and 4A attractions on nodes without attraction titles are significantly lower than those on nodes with famous attraction titles. Specifically, considering the percentage of attraction titles on each node, the difference in the percentage of B and C node levels for the chain-type motif is insignificant. Moreover, they are dominated by unpopular attractions. However, the percentage of A as a transit node for famous attractions is significantly higher than that of B and C. The situation of node A in the mutual Dyad type is similar to that of the chain type, with a higher percentage of famous attractions, whereas the situation is different for nodes B and C. Nodes B and C have the opposite ratio: when node B has a higher proportion of famous attractions, node C is dominated by non-famous attractions, and vice versa. Regarding the double-linked mutual dyad type, the proportion of famous attractions in node A is significantly higher than that in the other nodes. However, there is no significant difference in the percentage of attraction titles in the other nodes, regardless of whether it is a bidirectional flow with node A, and all of them are dominated by non-famous attractions. When there is a fully connected triad in the motif, the proportion of the three nodes that are fully connected as attractions with titles is very high, indicating that the flow of tourists between the 5A and 4A attractions is considerable. In contrast, most of the B nodes that are only connected to A nodes comprise non-famous attractions, indicating that attractions without good titles cannot establish a better connection with 5A and 4A.

We applied network motif analytics as a novel approach for exploring the local structure of tourist networks, based on social media data. The overall structural features of the network emerged from the local relational features. To comprehend the principles of tourist network formation, it is essential to consider not only the overall network perspective but also local network connections. The results showed that attractions play an important role in local networks and that this role is related to the type and level of attractions. Therefore, enhancing the future development of tourism in Suzhou hinges on strategically guiding attractions to fulfill their appropriate service functions within the destination city.

Tourist mobility patterns

This study employs the theory of motifs, which originated from complex network science, as an innovative approach to investigating tourist mobility patterns. Originally used in the field of biology, the network motif algorithm for complex networks was applied in this study to examine the relationships between overabundant tourism mobility patterns and the corresponding attractions. Unlike previous methods for mining travel motifs, the analysis results of motif analysis in the network cannot directly extract tourists’ travel itineraries in the city. The motif-based analysis method focuses more on the movement patterns of groups of tourists between several strongly associated attractions. Based on this characteristic, network motif analysis is more suitable for observing local phenomena.

For tourist movement in urban tourist destinations, a large directed graph can be constructed for tourist movement between attrations according to the concept of network science theory. By applying the motif extraction method to this graph, we can find that it is these simple repeating topologies that make up the overall network (Fig. 7 ). In this study, four classes and nine motifs effectively summarised the diverse mobility patterns. This implies that despite the diversity of their travel history, humans follow simple reproducible patterns (González et al., ( 2008 )). Understanding tourist mobility patterns enhances the comprehension of city destination systems and provides vital insights into city destination planning and development (Ashworth & Page, 2011 ).

Motifs in attraction network.

Connection patterns between attractions

This study examines a tourist network’s connection patterns to identify attractions with distinct roles, including core, transit, and gateway attractions. Tourist attractions within destinations vary in significance, while the hierarchical structure of urban destination systems differs based on their appeal to tourists (Golledge, 1978 ). From a product-marketing standpoint, these findings help marketers understand the function of attractions in tourists’ travel itineraries and establish a foundation for the development of targeted tourism products. For example, for the core attractions, overall tourism planning should be carried out around them; for the identified transit attractions, more transportation routes should be planned for these attractions; for the gateway attractions, the hotel reception services and tourist guide services around these attractions should be enhanced. Nevertheless, the results underscore that the crucial nodes within the nine motifs are almost always composed of a few of the most renowned attractions. From a risk management perspective, an excessively concentrated destination may cause ‘overtourism’ (Peeters et al., 2018 ).

Implications for tourism management

Understanding tourists’ movement is essential for tourism managers to plan and implement effective sustainability strategies (Shi et al., 2017 ). The tourist network examined in this study reflects the movement of tourists among attractions, provides a novel approach to analyse tourist movement patterns within destinations and accurately depicts tourists’ digital footprint within destinations (Fan et al., 2024 ). The results show that although tourists’ detailed movement patterns among destinations are highly complex, local attractions’ connections in the network can be grouped into several patterns. This suggests that although tourists differ in preferences, there are also commonalities in their overall spatial behaviours, which helps enrich the group user profile of visiting tourists. Therefore, destinations can develop attractions and alternative attractions based on the analysis of tourist movement patterns by capturing popular travel routes (Vu et al., 2015 ).

Conclusions

As cities become centres of economic activity, new forms of urban tourism are becoming popular, while an increasing number of tourists are choosing cities as destinations to pursue novel, diverse, and personalised travel experiences (Füller & Michel, 2014 ). This study employs motif analysis in complex network science to elucidate tourist mobility patterns and depict the interconnections between attraction systems in Suzhou, China. We innovatively used actual attractions as network nodes and focused on attraction connection patterns to provide practical implications for destination management. The main conclusions are summarised as follows:

Referring to the motif discovery method known as Kavosh, we extracted nine motifs from a tourist network in Suzhou. These nine motifs can be categorised into four main classes: chain, mutual dyad, double-linked mutual dyad, and fully connected triad.

Specific attractions represented by nodes in the motifs are explored comprehensively. Suzhou’s network is organised around three attractions, namely, Guanqian Street, Jinji Lake and Pingjiang Road, which form most of the local attractions’ connection patterns. Attractions such as the Zhouzhuang and the Hanshan Temple perform specific functions in the network.

The types and proportions of attractions were investigated by visualising local tourist mobility patterns in the network. The results showed that nodes with a higher degree of motifs were generally well-known attractions with titles such as 5A or 4A and were dominated by cultural and commercial attractions.

These results provide a new analytical methodological framework for examining connection patterns in local attraction systems, as well as a basis for the management of attractions within urban tourism destinations.

Despite the theoretical insights and practical applications of this study, there are some limitations that must be acknowledged. For example, social media data are prone to various biases—e.g. the popularity of specific platforms among users—while the amount of data may vary by country, year and population. The bias associated with highly engaged users can result in the overrepresentation of such populations (Encalada-Abarca et al., 2023 ). Additionally, the data used in this study mainly reflect tourists’ spatial behaviour within a city. Because tourists’ spatial behaviour patterns within different destinations differ, it is necessary to use tourism networks within multiple destinations to establish comparisons in subsequent studies, which could help generalise this study’s findings. Future work could further explore the mechanisms of attraction selection by the mobility motifs, such as the fact that tourists are looking to maximise satisfaction when planning their itineraries.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Prof. Yang Xu for his advice in writing and conceptualization. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant [number 41830645] and Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Project at Southwest United Graduate School [number 202302AO370012]. The first author - Ding would like to thank to his fiancée, Lanqi Liu, for her help in coding and figure drawing. And her encouragement during Ding’s hard time was key to the final publication of this paper.

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Ding Ding: Conceptualization of this study, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Visualization, Writing - Original Draft. Yunhao Zheng: Conceptualization, Methodology, Visualization, Writing - Reviewing and Editing. Yi Zhang: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Validation, Writing - Reviewing. Yu Liu: Resources, Writing - Reviewing, Project administration, Supervision, Funding acquisition.

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Ding, D., Zheng, Y., Zhang, Y. et al. Understanding attractions’ connection patterns based on intra-destination tourist mobility: A network motif approach. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 636 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03093-3

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Guided tours and tourist attractions in the postpandemic world: thematic evolutions and spatial changes

International Journal of Tourism Cities

ISSN : 2056-5607

Article publication date: 18 September 2023

Issue publication date: 22 November 2023

The purpose of this paper is to widen the understanding of the shifts the tourism industry experienced as it went though the Covid-19 pandemic. To contribute to this question, an empirical comparison is made between the supply of guided tours and sights at an urban destination in the pre- and postpandemic eras, thus gauging the changes in the guiding tours industry after the pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

By conducting a convenience data gathering and a double-level analysis (tours analysis and sights analysis) on the tours and attractions supply at an urban destination, underlying trends come to light, related to the changes in the postpandemic era. This empirical comparison (2019 vs 2022) allows the authors to assess what has and has not changed in the postpandemic context.

Guided tours and attractions supply are evolving in the researched destination, but at a slow pace. Therefore, we conclude that long-term processes in destinations prevail over short-term disruptions, no matter how strong these disturbances are.

Practical implications

The results are of interest to practitioners as they facilitate a better assessment of the impacts of a crisis and greater awareness of the evolution of attractions in urban tourism. While the “staple tours” in a destination are always there, practitioners should keep an eye on new spaces in the city which the sector is opening up and also new touring trends.

Originality/value

This study is one of the few to empirically compare a pre- and postpandemic situation, as far as city-guided tours are concerned. It helps practitioners and authorities in urban destinations to assess the new trends that have emerged in the postpandemic era, and offers a two-level tool for tour analysis that could be applied to any urban destination.

• Guided tours
• Tourist attractions
• Destination management
• Destination evolution

Bassols i Gardella, N. (2023), "Guided tours and tourist attractions in the postpandemic world: thematic evolutions and spatial changes", International Journal of Tourism Cities , Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 960-973. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-08-2023-0149

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Copyright © 2023, Narcís Bassols i Gardella.

Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial & non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

1. Introduction and research question

As the tourist industry has gone through the Covid-19 pandemic, practitioners and researchers are discussing to what extent it has shifted. In looking for opportunities to contribute to the debate, this paper researches the impacts of Covid-19 in the guided tours sector in an urban context.

Some authors stated that urban guided tours are a reliable proxy of shifts and evolutions in destinations ( Paulino, Domènech, & Bassols, 2022 ). Furthermore, the guided tours sector was proven highly vulnerable during the pandemic (see Subsection 2.1), with virtuality emerging as a strong alternative. Generally speaking, much less research has been devoted to the guided tours compared to other sectors ( Zhao & Timothy, 2017 ), such as the hotel industry, so there is a need for further research in this subsector.

At the beginning of Covid-19, most pandemic-related research was mainly descriptive or prescriptive ( Sigala, 2020 ), and this trend persisted throughout the pandemic ( Huang & Wang, 2022 ), highlighting the need for sound research in the current postpandemic era; hence, an empirical approach for this paper was chosen. In fact, it was discovered that only very recently, works have emerged empirically comparing the state of the pre-pandemic times with the current moment of “tourism restart.” Indeed, comparing data from said periods may help the research community to assess whether tourism has evolved into more sustainable forms. This is a promising research line to which this article aims to contribute.

The need to deeply understand the impacts of the pandemic brings us to the recent theories explaining shifts in the destinations, such as Richards (2018) as well as Sanz-Ibáñez & Anton Clavé (2015) . The former posits an evolution of attractions in destinations, from basic assets to more complex ones. The latter argue within the economical evolutionary geography framework that, in their evolution, destinations tend to “upgrade” themselves looking for more added value. As our contribution toward theory, both frameworks are to be assessed with our field work based on the supply of the tours and sights at an urban destination.

How has the supply of attractions and guided tours in cities shifted over the pandemic era, and what are the consequences of these shifts in spatial and thematic terms?

Thus, the central contributions of this paper are a deeper understanding of the impact of Covid-19 on urban tourist places, as well as into the potential development of new spatialities and themes in urban tours.

2. Literature review and conceptualization

This section reviews the literature regarding the impact of Covid-19 on the tours industry, and then conceptualizes the “de-centering” of tours to understand the spatial notions in this research.

2.1 Guided tours in the aftermath of Covid-19

Although the guided tours sector has received less attention than other components of the tourist system ( Zhao & Timothy, 2017 ), it has long been acknowledged as an essential element in destinations ( Canani, 1999 ). Traditionally, it has been seen as a crucial factor in connecting visitors to the destination’s attractions and introducing them to the local culture ( Pu, Cheng, Samarathunga, & Wall, 2022 ), which eventually influences their behavior toward sustainability ( Bachmann-Vargas, Van Koppen, & Lamers, 2022 ; Pereira & Mykletun, 2012 ; Sangpikul, 2020 ). Guiding is also seen as a proxy on how well organized a destination is ( Hu & Wall, 2013 ; Rutledge, 2022 ; Zhao & Timothy, 2017 ) and plays an important role in visitor satisfaction and loyalty ( Galí & Aulet, 2019 ). As guiding provides a richer experience of the place, it may be the “door opener” or the “gateway” to the destination, as it has been shown that a destination’s experience differs when intermediated by guides ( Weng et al., 2020 ). Sometimes, though, guides may be seen as “gatekeepers” standing between the visitors and the place ( Zerva & Nijkamp, 2016 ). In recent years, tours have been regarded as a “cocreating” possibility ( Weiler & Black, 2015 ; Buzova, Sanz-Blas, & Cervera-Taulet, 2022 ) as locals become part of the guiding process.

Two main aspects have come to the fore in the guided tours sector during the pandemic. The first one is the increased “virtuality,” with different kinds of online or virtual tour environments emerging. Lu et al. (2022) underscored the opportunities of this tourism modality, especially as a marketing tool. They specifically stated that virtual tourism has the potential “to aid the recovery of the tourism industry” (p. 442). There is a certain consensus over virtual tours as marketing tools, as stated by El-Said & Aziz (2022) while studying push factors for virtual tourism. On the contrary, some authors see a form of solidarity and equity in this trend toward virtual tourism ( Nauttiyal & Polus, 2022 ).

The other aspect that has come to the fore is the social one. Nazli (2022) was among the first to analyze the consequences of the pandemic on guides, based on an international sample. The solutions he proposed were along the lines of collaboration among professionals and the destination stakeholders at large. Ren & Wong (2021) wrote that the guided tours sector has been “one of the most impacted groups in the industry,” and set out to find the “mitigating factors” that were determining for Macao’s guides during the pandemic. Both these papers show similar conclusions and recommendations. Galí (2022) also sees the “fragility of the profession” with a large number of her Catalan guides sample as passive; however, she also uncovers a group of innovative and resilient professionals among her respondents. Galí’s findings are echoed, to a significant extent, by Carvalho (2020) for the case of Portugal.

So, according to the above, research has been produced on the social aspects of the tours industry and the virtuality, but no research has considered the supply of tours and sights to see the changes from the pre-pandemic era to the current situation.

2.2 Conceptualizing “spatial de-centering” in destinations

An important feature of tourism is its trend toward centering : places designated as “central” or “enclaves” strongly determine the location of modern-day tourism attractions and activities in many destinations, especially in urban destinations. This was noticed half a century ago by Stansfield & Rickert (1970) as they put forth the concept of “Recreation Business Districts,” an idea further developed by Burtenshaw, Bateman & Ashworth (1991) and, specifically for heritage cities, by Getz (1993) – hence the talk about “resorts” and “tourist areas” that started back in the 1980s. A logical consequence of “centering” is that only selected portions of a place (or even highly localized sites) are activated for tourist uses ( Judd & Fainstein, 1999 ; Saarinen, 2017 ). In developed countries, the “nicely set” tourist areas are the ones most prone to overtourism ( Milano, Novelli & Cheer, 2019 ), especially so in heritage cities. As these areas become thematized, residents avoid them, leaving visitors just interacting among themselves. In emerging countries, investing in a shiny urban tourist area often means neglecting investment in public infrastructures in the other neighborhoods, thus producing a dual city: the “nice one” (for tourists) and the “ugly one” (for most residents). In Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, our study case, a public discourse came up some years ago legitimizing these “Two Cartagenas.” “Centering” seems, therefore, an inherent trend to many tourism developments. So, we define “spatial de-centering” in a destination as an even distribution of the share of benefits of tourism (and also the share of burdens) toward all spaces in a destination and their residents.

Spatial de-centering is a growing trend in city tourism: in recent years, “off the beaten track” areas or sights have been increasingly sought after in urban settings by certain groups of tourists, questioning more static spatial divisions ( Quaglieri & Russo, 2010 ). Examples of this are the growing interest in urban liminal spaces ( Muldoon, 2020 ) or in urban and peri-urban green spaces ( Johnansson & Nilsson, 2022 ). Maitland (2019) studied this issue in London, stating that, though suffering from a negative image, the city’s suburbs are the stage of authentic everyday life. A possible research line here is understanding how much centering and de-centering trends are in a destination, and how do they coexist.

Pushing for “de-centering” means thus expanding the range of tourist activities out of the enclave zones in the city to reach most parts of the destination and its residents, which takes pressure away from the tourist areas and helps to distribute visitors and economic benefits (as well as social and environmental burdens) more evenly across the place. This paper examines the matter of “spatial de-centering” in terms of concentration versus dispersion of the sights and the guided routes in the destination Cartagena, Colombia. However, as Mansilla & Milano (2022) pointed out when studying the de-centering of Barcelona’s tourism toward some neighborhoods in recent years, this may become a predatory practice if not controlled, as it may reproduce the same problems seen in tourist enclaves. This happens when tourism development is only about “enlarging” the central tourist area, so equaling de-centering to more sustainable practices is not a straightforward matter, as this should be considered on a case-specific basis. In the particular case of the destination Cartagena, we consider that, at this moment, a certain level of de-centering is beneficial as it might balance the destination as a whole.

3. Research context

The chosen field work for this research is the city of Cartagena de Indias, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It is considered to be the most important holiday destination in the country and also a “multifaceted” one as it possesses different attraction typologies (built heritage, beaches, nature and intangibles related to the local culture). A multispatial city and multifaceted destination such as this one is especially interesting for our research purposes, as eventually new attractions may emerge and others may be left in the background because of different dynamics, so these are worth monitoring. For more contextual information about Cartagena de Indias’ tourism development, see Piñeros (2018) and Bassols (2019) .

A first overview of the supply of guided tours in the city is provided by the official tourism statistics portal “Por tu Colombia” ( www.portucolombia.mincit.gov.co ). This portal reveals that guiding was a growing sector year by year in Cartagena before the pandemic in terms of numbers of agencies. These numbers shortly diminished in 2020, but since 2021, they have bounced back and, in fact, it is a strongly growing sector, even outperforming the growth of other tourist sectors in the city: it has gone from 240 enterprises in 2019 to an astonishing 403 mark in 2022.

A report worth mentioning about Cartagena’s guided tours industry is FONTUR [Colombian Vice-Ministry of Tourism] (2015) . This report makes some recommendations in operational terms for improving the destination’s guided tours, such as the need for more training and controls and more efficiency in the task of guiding. Crucially, it points to the need of more segmented, specialized and experiential tours. As the report is from 2015, it serves as a good basis to see whether the city’s tours have evolved in the suggested directions, which we will determine in this research.

As for the post-Covid-19 situation in the destination, it is been “back to regular business” long ago, much earlier than in Europe. So, the pandemic is perceived to be past and over, with some stakeholders openly taking a boosterism approach in the current postpandemic era. For example, statements by the director of the Cruisers’ Terminal suggest the need to increase the number of visitors without taking much into account their impact ( Mundo noticias, 2022 ).

4. Methods and data gathering

As stated and justified further above, our methodology empirically compared the supplied tours and sights in two different periods, in spatial and thematic terms. The data for the pre-Covid-19 period were collected in December 2019 and the data for the post-Covid era were gathered in July 2022, in both instances via a nonprobabilistic sampling. Thus, we compared two different temporary marks with two levels within each of these (tours and sights). To put it in Wall’s (1997) terminology, we compared two sets of “lines” (guided tours) against each other and we did the same with the “points” (supplied sights). In both instances, the same steps were followed to get two comparable data sets: finding the companies, collecting and standardizing their tour data and comparing these data. In the process, the following caveats and procedural questions are important:

4.1 Finding the guided tour companies in Cartagena

This was done via the publicly available database RNT (National Tourism Register) from the Colombian Government. Using official data meant we were definitely considering only legally operating companies. For 2019, we found 240 enterprises in the “Guides and Tours” section of the RNT for Cartagena. For 2022, we found a set of 403 enterprises.

In a first selection, we discarded wrong entries (geographical mis-locations, not local enterprises, enterprises no longer operating according to the RNT and companies not offering tours or with their online outlets shut down). Further selection discarded those companies not offering enough information about their city tours, or offering only excursions to nearby or distant beaches, islands and nature sites. The companies admitted in both data sets of 2019 and 2022 had to be local companies producing or reselling city tours – multisite enterprises were also accepted as long as they ran an office in Cartagena. However, companies reselling products from other parts of Colombia or abroad were not entered into the database, otherwise the search work would have expanded too much and the “local” point of view would have been lost. It is important to underscore that both tour producers and resellers were entered into the database so as to account for the most exact number of times a guided route or a sight are offered.

This finally amounted to 64 enterprises admitted to the data set of 2019 and 93 companies in 2022.

4.2 Collecting and standardizing the supplied routes and sights

This was done via internet-scraping, mostly from the companies’ websites, though in some instances from the company’s Facebook pages when a company had no website of their own. The collecting process was quite tedious, as it had to be done manually on an Excel spreadsheet. Furthermore, some enterprises would give ambiguous information or not inform enough about their products, so some assumptions had to be made by the researcher. In some instances, the names had to be standardized as some tours would name the attraction in different ways (e.g.: San Felipe's Castle vs San Felipe’s Fortress).

This means that, in some occurrences, the author had to make his best guess in an effort to group the tours, so as to understand how many unique tours were offered by a company, and how many times a tour is resold. It was a hard, cumbersome work to effectively understand whether two (highly) similar tours being sold by two different companies were actually two different products or were the same product being resold by these companies. It cannot be excluded that some errors may have slipped into the tours’ database in the process.

Only tours that were clearly informed and implied mobility were considered; therefore, “experiential” standalone products like cooking, painting or dancing were not entered into the database as these do not imply any mobility from one place to another and their focus is not the city sights. Neither were sports activities. “Gourmet tours” or “bar roaming” tours were counted as long as it was informed which points the tour touched on. Furthermore, we abstracted from the time factor if informed (i.e. for how long a point would be visited or the total duration of a tour), as the most crucial data to the present experiment was to understand the number of unique routes and sights supplied, and the times each one is of them is supplied.

Having completed all this, for 2019 we came to a total of n = 244 offered tours, out of which n = 82 were unique tours. For 2022, we found n = 356 tours, out of which n = 123 were unique tours. As for the sights, in 2019 there were n = 88 unique sights supplied at least once, in 2022 this figure had fallen to n = 77.

The tours (and all the sights within a tour) were extracted and tagged in terms of theme and space. A “centered” tour in this context is one taking place in the most “usual” and tourist places in the city, such as the historic center or the most salient monuments outside it. By the same token, a “shifted” tour is one that includes sights other than the historic monuments, which have been consistently consumed as main sights in Cartagena for the past decades.

5.1 Tours’ general figures comparison

The overall numerical comparison of tours in 2019 vs 2022 shows a considerable increase in their supply, both in the numbers of the overall supplied tours (+46%) as well as in the unique tours (+50%). In principle, both figures are consistent with the increase in numbers of the guiding enterprises (+68%). Comparing the number of companies admitted to the database with the total supplied tours, we see that, both in 2019 and 2022, any given company would offer on average 3.8 tours, so the general capacities have remained unchanged in the postpandemic era.

With the figures of supplied tours versus unique tours of any given year, we see a “magnification factor” of tours and sights, i.e. the multiplying factor between a unique tour (or sight) supplied and the number of times this tour (or sight) is supplied via reselling. For the supplied tours in Cartagena in 2019, this factor averages x 2.98 and for the tours in 2022 this factor is x 2.89. Again, this value has remained practically unchanged in the postpandemic era, so there are as many produced and resold tours before and after Covid-19.

5.2 Tour thematic focus

When comparing the contents of the tours from 2019 to the ones from 2022, it is noticeable that the tours related to build heritage have lost their pulling power to a significant extent: out of the 149 most supplied tours in 2019 ( Table 1 ), 102 tours were related to the city’s history, monuments and built heritage. This figure decreases to 62 out of the 194 most supplied tours in 2022.

Although in 2019, there was already an offer of natural tours (many of them to nearby islands), these are on the rise in 2022. In fact, there is a growing amount of companies only bringing tourists to areas outside the city and completely forgetting the city’s tourist area and its cultural assets. Nautical tourism, which includes boat or catamaran tours in the Bay, as well as mangrove tours (done on boats), is also on the rise, perhaps as a result of public bodies’ promotion of nautical tourism in recent years.

Niche and segmented tours have slightly augmented. There are several new photo tours, graffiti tours or culinary tours. There are also a couple of segmented new tours for families with children or for handicapped people in 2022. Some tours related to the local culture are novelties in 2022: a tour devoted to the local writer, Nobel laurate García Márque, a “Slave Tour.”. Some of these new tours use theatralization techniques or sell themselves as bringing tourists in contact with locals to experience “authentic” Cartagena.

Moreover, there were some 60 tours supplied only once or twice in 2019 as well as around 90 tours supplied once or twice in 2022, thus clearly showing a growing “long tail” in the tours supply (see also Subsection 5.5 further below). The most innovative tours are included in this “long tail”: treasure search tour, museums’ tour and the ones mentioned in the above paragraph.

5.3 Tours’ spatial de-centering

There has been some de-centering of the tours in the two compared periods. As mentioned in the previous section, in 2022, the “sea-side” of the destination (previously consumed only by upscale visitors in expensive boats) has become hugely popular. The new tours make it easy for everyone arriving in Cartagena to literally “embark” on a sea tour in the Bay or in the mangroves. There is also an increase in long-range excursions to close or distant islands or to other destinations alongside Colombia’s Caribbean coastline. In the particular case of Cartagena, there has always been a number of companies devoted only to island tours in the nearby natural park Islas del Rosario. Thus, in 2022, there were 43 tour enterprises just offering islands and nature tours and not considering any city tours in their operations (against 93 that include at least one city tour in their offer). Furthermore, though very niche in numbers, some tours in the city bring visitors to “off the beaten track” urban locations such as the neighborhoods of Getsemani and San Diego or to the local market in Bazurto.

Finally, it is significant to notice that the timeframe for the tours has been enlarged and diversified, with a growing number offered at night time, so the night has also become a possible operations time for the guiding enterprises.

5.4 Mobility in the tours

Table 3 shows that “chivas” are the absolute mobility winners, being the preferred vehicle in the two studied periods. However, compared to 2019, in 2022 the sea-related tours experience an extraordinary growth (10 vs 59). Some other tours like carriage tours or the double-deck bus maintain their supply at approximately the same levels. The loss of the trolley tours in 2019 is more than compensated by the Segway in 2022.

Leaving aside the “chiva” (which, as a typical means of transportation, is surprising to visitors and a “must” in the city, and therefore well-supplied) and the strongly emerging maritime transportation, most tourists move around in the city mainly by walking plus using a support vehicle, both in 2019 and 2022. When considering all the supplied tours, we find that the most common land tour will bring visitors in buses (or vans, or upscale cars with driver) to the outer monuments in the city and complement this with a walk in the historic center (where no cars or buses are allowed), perhaps with an opportunity for shopping at the end. This mobility and route are quite the standard in both eras (19 tours in 2019 and 41 tours in 2022). As the historic center is pedestrians-only, there is a growing offer of only-walking tours there, sometimes including adjacent areas (25 tours in 2019 and 40 tours in 2022).

As for multimodal tours, there is the same proportion in multimodality for both eras. As for the choice of vehicles, this increases from 12 in 2019 to 16 in 2022, with some exotic additions such as an upscale “chiva” and electrical rollers or scooters.

5.5 Sights’ figures and thematic comparison

In 2019, 88 unique sights were supplied, in 2022 this figure went down to 77 ( Table 1 ). In both instances, a low number of sights were in high supply, whereas the majority of the sights in the destination had a comparatively low supply. Again, as with tours, this gives rise to a “long tail.” This statistical effect is defined by Lew (2008 , p. 409) as “the far ends of a normal statistical distribution. In a normal bell curve, the highest frequency occurrences appear at the center of the distribution and then gradually taper off at the high and low extremes.” Figure 1 compares the sights offered in 2019 and 2022 and shows the ensuing “long tails.”

In both instances, similar “long tails” are formed when pitching the supplied attractions’ list ( x -axis) to the times each of these is supplied ( y -axis), overlapping on several instances. However, the 2022 tail is taller and shorter, which means there is a concentration of the sights, i.e. less sights, supplied more times each. Table 2 below shows the most supplied sights for 2019 and 2022 and their typologies.

Notice the large amount of colonial architecture on offer on both rankings, as they take up two thirds of each column. Some less space is given to 19th or 20th century modern monumentality. Seaside and beaches are given a very low interest. The souvenir shop area of Bóvedas Plaza remains clearly present in the supply for both eras. The top two pull attractions are the same for both years, they even have been supplied more in 2022, and 10 out of 12 sights are on both rankings, with more or less the same values, except for Bolívar Park. While thematically very similar, the 2022 data shows a bit more de-centering than the 2019 data: if we consider the total times the sights in the historic center are supplied versus the times attractions outside it are supplied, we get 123 times (2019) versus 139 times (2022), an increasing of 13% in de-centering.

Finally, in Table 3 , the “end of the tail” is studied. We offer a typological classification for all the sights we found offered once or twice in the tours, i.e. the least supplied sights.

While “historical built heritage” is still a dominant theme here, other typologies emerge, such as nature and beaches, as well as intangible heritage, the latter growing in supply in 2022 to the detriment of the former.

6. Discussion

6.1 unchanged business capacities by a growing number of companies.

A first point to discuss touches on Covid-19 and its impact on enterprises: The numbers of enterprises, overall supplied tours and unique tours have experienced an enormous growth in less than three years – and, surprisingly, this has taken place amid the Covid-19 pandemic. While in Cartagena, the number of guided tours businesses went slightly back in 2020, in the subsequent two years it grew hugely, as if there had been a pent-up supply. If post-Covid-19 equals restarting growth in numbers, we can say that the pandemic was over in the destination by mid-2021, an early rebound. A closer look at the companies’ database reveals that most of the large or well-established guiding tour companies in 2019 are still there in 2022, with relatively similar offers, so the changes in the landscape are due to new entrants. The most noticeable move to report is the arrival at the destination of nautical enterprises specialized in all types of sea experiences, which have provided broad segments with something that until recently was reserved for bigger budgets: experience the city from the sea. This growth in numbers of enterprises poses a challenge to most research about Covid-19, as it usually points to a decrease in the number of enterprises, and a particularly sharp one in certain destinations.

In terms of production capacity, the postpandemic seems to have left the companies’ capacities unaltered, as on average, each company offered 3.8 tours before and after the pandemic. The relation among the uniquely produced tours vs the resold tours (what we have called the “magnification factor”) remains almost unchanged: 2.98 vs 2.89. Therefore, we confidently say that the capacities in the sector remained unchanged in the studied period. This is a clear assessment that contradicts some results by other researchers who see diminishing capacities in many destinations.

The study of mobility trends reveals mixed shifts and evolutions: new types of vehicles are supplied with a number of tours offering combined transportation. However, there is room for growth in multimodality in the destination, particularly in the land–sea mobility. Maritime destinations with built heritage like Cartagena deserve being seen from land and from sea. While multimodality is sometimes difficult to set up because different transport companies have to cooperate, this would be an interesting added value for the destination – this is a business tip for the practitioners.

6.2 From supplying “lines” to supplying “areas,” the slow thematic progress and the centering trends

As for the tours’ themes, it is noticeable that the tangible culture, especially embodied in the architecture of the historic city center and the fortresses and walls, has lost much of its appeal ( Table 1 ). However, it still retains its interest if we look at the level of the supplied sights ( Table 2 ), so the historic center maintains a “pull effect.” Figure 1 also reveals a trend toward a numerical concentration of the sights across the whole supply market. All these effects are mainly due to the massive deployment of a new offer in the destination: the maritime tours. As these do not specify points in their offer (or very few), their massive presence in the 2022 data has some remarkable side effects, such as there being less sights on offer in 2022 by a huge increase in the overall number of tours. This is a biasing but interesting effect: having a good share of maritime tours and more experiential tours in the destination offering the market “areas” rather than “lines” [also in the terminology introduced by Wall (1997) ]. This supply shift is also communicated accordingly by the companies, which in 2022 no longer promote tours as a group of points to be visited but rather as areas or experiences to be lived, compared to 2019 where many tour points would be listed exactly. This all reinforces the supply of “areas” as opposed to the supply of “lines,” and it is an interesting trend to watch in the future because the marketing of areas is quite different from the marketing of lines or points.

Another related issue is whether the destination has become more experiential, as recommended by the report FONTUR [Colombian Vice-Ministry of Tourism] (2015) . And here we must say that progress has been slow. The repetitive “staple tours” connecting the “famous” sights in the city have even grown in 2022 (see Subsection 5.4). This comes at the detriment of the supply of other types of more innovative tours, such as the ones in Table 3 . Save for maritime tours, the other new themes in the tours and sights are low in numbers, emerging only slowly as mainstream. This is a slow trend that has been observed for some years in Cartagena and confirms previous findings about the difficulties in shifting or changing a destination’s main attractions ( Bassols & Leicht, 2021 ). This slow evolution has long been known to exist from the consumption side, and our study extends this to the supply side. Paulino et al. (2022) noticed repetition patterns in tourist behavior in the city, due to partial coupling of supply and demand; with our research we can clearly ascertain that this behavior is promoted, among other things, by a certain type of “centered” supply which is sustained over time.

A concurrent phenomenon is to notice here: The low numbers in supplied sights (less than 100, both in 2019 and 2022) compared to the total number of officially designated sights in the destination (over 300, see FONTUR [Colombian Vice-Ministry of Tourism], 2013 ). Many studies remark on this effect from the consumption side, and we reveal it from the supply side: Following a worldwide trend ( Donaire & Galí, 2011 ), in Cartagena, there is a limited supply and consumption of sights, which promotes spatial centering ( Saarinen, 2017 ) and this, at the level of sights, has not been changed by Covid-19.

6.3 The trends toward spatial de-centering

Opposite to the aforementioned trends toward centering, we also must notice other tendencies toward spatial de-centering in the tours, which have increased during the pandemic years. This de-centering actually takes place in two directions: inwards to “off the beaten track” areas in the tourist zone (such as the neighborhood of San Diego within Cartagena’s historic city center or the city’s Bay thanks to the new boat tours) and outwards toward other landscapes far away such as coral islands or archipelagos. This is a double process of “inward-pushing” and “outward-pushing.” At the level of sights, de-centering is up to 13%.

Spatial de-centering necessarily means discovering and promoting new attractions to supply, to the detriment of the attractions located in the central areas, so in the mid-term, the shifts in Table 1 should also be visible in Table 2 . Furthermore, more research is needed to assess whether de-centering means more opportunities and equality in the destination or it is simply a “devouring” process ( Mansilla & Milano, 2022 ).

Finally, the field work has also uncovered a trend toward “temporal de-centering,” i.e. supplying tours or activities outside “regular” times. There has always been a busy nightlife in Cartagena, which seems reinforced by these new night tours focusing on themes other than partying. The question is whether this is an opportunity for sustainability in the city or merely represents just another effect of predatory tourism, perhaps just as annoying to residents as often happens in any city’s nightlife [see most contributions to Smith & Eldrigde (2021) ]. Future research may also look into the relationship of temporal and spatial de-centering to ascertain how interrelated they are.

7. Conclusions, limitations and further research

7.1 answering the research question and theoretical contributions.

As a response to the RQ, we state that the pandemic represented a moderate push toward spatial de-centering in the researched city tours and so for the themes and topics of these tours, but that was by no means a land-sliding process: city tourism has evolved through Covid-19 slower than most predicted at the beginning of the pandemic.

Relating these findings to general frameworks in the Introduction, it must be stated that, while evolutionary geographies assert that destinations progress by looking for more added value ( Sanz-Ibáñez & Anton Clavé, 2015 ), this a process running quite deep in the places’ dynamics. Apparently, the Covid-19 disturbance has only touched the “surface” of the researched urban destination, so it has not been a major “juncture” point after all. The evolution trend posited by Richards (2018) from basic to tangible to intangible attractions in destinations is also followed here, but at a very slow pace. This all confirms that, notwithstanding big disruptions such as Covid-19, the evolution of a tourist (urban) destination is a mid- to long-term process, in line with previous literature ( Bassols & Leicht, 2021 ).

7.2 Practical implications

The supply of attractions in urban settings has also been found slightly shifted after the pandemic; however, trends persist such as the low numbers of the actually supplied sights or the repetitive patterns of many city tours. These trends (both in spatial and thematic terms) remain quite strong in the postpandemic era in city tourism. It will be a challenge to content with when managing tourist cities in the future ( Saarinen, 2017 ; Donaire & Galí, 2021 ).

Even though this paper did not set out to propose any methodological tools, we think the developed analysis method and the proposed tools are interesting to urban tourism authorities and practitioners. The proposed double-level analysis helps in uncovering differences between lines/tours and points/sights ( Wall, 1997 ) in city settings, revealing trends which would go unseen in a one-level analysis. Likewise, analyzing “long tails,” a practice long known in tourism, though mostly applied to consumption analysis ( Lew, 2008 ; Donaire & Galí, 2011 ), points to interesting latent tendencies in a city tourist offer. Furthermore, the uncovered trend of communicating “areas” instead of “lines” in urban tourism must be closely followed in the future, as it has the potential to create new forms of marketing for the guided tours industry.

7.3 Limitations and further research

It is noticeable that this study is not correlational nor causal, so the link connecting both moments pre and post is not a strong one. We are also cautious when it comes to transfer this paper’s findings to natural guided tours, as our frameworks and field work were developed within an urban tourism mindset. While our results are fundamentally valid for urban destinations, more research and reflection are necessary to see how far these can be applied to guiding in natural settings.

Notice also that trends toward both centering and de-centering coexist in the urban setting we have studied, as revealed in the Section 6. Some unexpected growing dynamics might take place in harsh times, such is the case for nautical tourism in Cartagena, developed over the pandemic era, this latter finding challenging much of the conventional research about the pandemic. All these matters warrant further research.

Studying the supply side (as opposed to the much-more researched consumption side) in a tourist city has proved to be highly insightful. Particularly, the tensions arising from an undersupply of attractions favoring concentration versus other forces pushing for de-centering (both in spatial and thematic terms) create interesting place and industry dynamics which have been laid out and explained here.

The supply of sights in 2019 and 2022: attractions vs number of occurrences

The most supplied tours in 2019 and 2022

Source : Created by author

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Acknowledgements

The author is thankful to Jarkko Saarinen (Oulu Yliopisto, Finland) for discussion and suggestions.

Corresponding author

About the author.

Narcís Bassols i Gardella holds an MA in modern languages and philosophy (Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany), a BA in hospitality management (ESTHSI Barcelona) and PhD in tourism and geography (Univ. Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona). He has been a lecturer for five years at Colombian universities, first at the Univ. Autónoma del Caribe, on the Caribbean, then at the Univ. Externado de Colombia in Bogotá. He currently teaches sustainable development and tourism at Uppsala University. His research interests revolve around the sustainable management of tourist places, consumer behavior and city tourism.

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Tourism and COVID-19: Impacts and implications for advancing and resetting industry and research

The paper aims to critically review past and emerging literature to help professionals and researchers alike to better understand, manage and valorize both the tourism impacts and transformational affordance of COVID-19. To achieve this, first, the paper discusses why and how the COVID-19 can be a transformational opportunity by discussing the circumstances and the questions raised by the pandemic. By doing this, the paper identifies the fundamental values, institutions and pre-assumptions that the tourism industry and academia should challenge and break through to advance and reset the research and practice frontiers. The paper continues by discussing the major impacts, behaviours and experiences that three major tourism stakeholders (namely tourism demand, supply and destination management organisations and policy makers) are experiencing during three COVID-19 stages (response, recovery and reset). This provides an overview of the type and scale of the COVID-19 tourism impacts and implications for tourism research.

1. Introduction: Setting the necessity and parameters for tourism COVID-19 research

The COVID-19 (declared as a pandemic by WHO, 12 March 2020) of significantly impacts the global economic, political, socio-cultural systems. Health communication strategies and measures (e.g. social distancing, travel and mobility bans, community lockdowns, stay at home campaigns, self- or mandatory-quarantine, curbs on crowding) have halted global travel, tourism and leisure. Being a highly vulnerable industry to numerous environmental, political, socio-economic risks, tourism is used to and has become resilient in bouncing back ( Novelli, Gussing Burgess, Jones, & Ritchie, 2018 ) from various crises and outbreaks (e.g. terrorism, earthquakes, Ebola, SARS, Zika). However, the nature, the unprecedented circumstances and impacts of the COVID-19, demonstrate signs that this crisis is not only different, but it can have profound and long-term structural and transformational changes to tourism as socio-economic activity and industry. Indeed, the global and huge scale, the multidimensional and interconnected impacts challenging current values and systems and leading to a worldwide recession and depression are the most distinctive characteristics of this pandemic.

COVID-19 tourism impacts will be uneven in space and time, and apart from the human tool, estimates show an enormous and international economic impact: international tourist arrivals are estimated to drop to 78% causing a loss of US$ 1.2 trillion in export revenues from tourism and 120 million direct tourism job cuts representing seven times the impact of September 11, and the largest decline in the history ( UNWTO, 2020 ). Being one of the most important global employer (1 in 10 jobs are directly related to tourism, UNWTO, 2020 ) and the major GDP contributor for several countries, tourism and COVID-19 are the epicenter of all international discussions and economies.

Within the burgeoning industry discussions and research about tourism and COVID-19, there is an unanimous call to see and use the pandemic as a transformative opportunity ( Mair, 2020 ). Industry should not only recover but also reimagine and reform the next normal and economic order ( McKinsey, 2020 ), while researchers should not solely use COVID-19 as another context to replicate existing knowledge for measuring and predicting tourism impacts ( Gössling et al., 2020 , Hall et al., 2020 ). Although such studies are important for managing the pandemic, they do not advance knowledge and/or guide the industry to a step beyond. Moreover, because of the interlinked socio-cultural, economic, psychological and political impacts of COVID-19 of this magnitude, unforeseen trajectories instead of historical trends are expected and the predictive power of ‘old’ explanatory models may not work. Moreover, there is enough evidence to claim that both the tourism industry and research have matured to a good extent providing sufficient knowledge about how to study and effectively: (1) design and implement crisis recovery and response strategies (e.g. McKercher & Chon, 2004 ); (2) build resilience to address future crises ( Hall, Prayag, & Amore, 2017 ). What is still lacking is knowledge about how crisis can foster industry change, how companies can convert this crisis disruption into transformative innovation and how to conduct research that can enable, inform and shape the rethinking and resetting of a next normal.

Crises can be a change trigger, but none crisis has been so far a significant transition event in tourism ( Hall et al., 2020 ). Crises have also been used as a political tool to stabilize existing structures and diminish the possibility of collective mobilization ( Masco, 2017 ). As change can be selective and/or optional for the tourism stakeholders (e.g. tourists, operators, destination organisations, policy makers, local communities, employees), the nature and degree of crises-led transformations depend on whether and how these stakeholders are affected by, respond to, recover and reflect on crises. Consequently, to better understand, predict but also inform and shape change, tourism COVID-19 research should provide a deeper examination and understanding of the tourism stakeholders’ (behavioural, cognitive, emotional, psychological and even ideological) drivers, actions and reactions to their COVID-19 impacts. Research should also examine and understand the stakeholders’ lived and perceived COVID-19 experiences as well as their consciousness, mindfulness, capabilities and willingness to understand and act (pro-actively and re-actively) to the pandemic, as all these can equally influence their attitudes, behaviours and change potential.

COVID-19 tourism research should also advance our knowledge for informing, fostering, shaping or even leading such crises-enabled transformations. Otherwise, we will simply experience one crisis after the other ( Lew, 2020 ). Responding to the mushrooming euphoria of COVID-19 tourism related research, Gretzel et al. (2020) also plead for transformative e-tourism research that can shape tourism futures by making value systems, institutional logics, scientific paradigms and technology notions visible and transformable. To achieve scientific paradigm shifts, e-tourism research should embrace historicity, reflexivity, transparency, equity, plurality and creativity ( Gretzel et al., 2020 ). To avoid the bubble of the COVID-19 research orgasm and advance tourism research, others have also suggested to adopt inter-disciplinary ( Wen, Wang, Kozak, Liu, & Hou, 2020 ), multi-disciplinary ( Gössling et al., 2020 , Hall et al., 2020 ) or even anti-disciplinary ( Sigala, 2018 ) research to enable out-of-the-box, creative and flexible thinking that challenges and goes beyond existing pre-assumptions and mindsets.

To address these needs and gaps, this paper aims to critically review past and emerging literature to help professionals and researchers alike to better understand, manage and valorize both the tourism impacts and transformational affordance of COVID-19. To achieve this, first, the paper discusses why and how the COVID-19 can be a transformational opportunity by discussing the circumstances and the questions raised by the pandemic. By doing this, the paper identifies the fundamental values, institutions and pre-assumptions that the tourism industry and academia should challenge and break through to advance and reset the research and practice frontiers. The paper continues by discussing the major impacts, behaviours and experiences that three major tourism stakeholders (namely tourism demand, supply and destination management organisations and policy makers) are experiencing during three COVID-19 stages (response, recovery and reset). This analysis is useful because it provides an overview and understanding of the type and scale of the COVID-19 tourism impacts, while it also demonstrates that the way in which stakeholders and researchers understand, react and behave in each stage may form and set the next (new) normal in the post COVID-19 era. Responding to the call for transformative research, discussions are developed based on the rational that tourism research should go beyond replicating and reconfirming existing knowledge within the COVID-19 context; instead tourism COVID-19 research should see new things and see them differently to inform and guide tourism futures. Hence, the paper suggests potential new research areas and theoretical lenses that can be used for advancing and resetting industry practice and research. The paper does not aim to provide a fully comprehensive and inclusive analysis of all the impacts, theories, topics and tourism stakeholders that COVID-19 tourism research can examine. Instead, it aims to provide practical and theoretical implications on how to better research, understand, manage and transformative valorize COVID-19 tourism impacts.

2. COVID-19 circumstances and tourism: Shifting the research focus to challenge, reset and contradict institutional logics, systems and assumptions

Research investigating, measuring and predicting the COVID-19 tourism impacts is important in order to eliminate ‘casualties’, draft, monitor and improve response strategies (i.e. you cannot manage what you cannot measure). However, research focusing on the features and impacts of crises instead of their structural roots tends to conceal and stabilize the conditions and corollary social structures through which crises are produced ( Barrios, 2017: 151 ). Investigating the real roots of COVID-19 may go beyond the boundaries and scope of tourism research. Yet, the latter needs to look into and challenge the tourism ‘circumstances’ and structures that have enabled and sometimes accelerated the global spread and impact of COVID-19. Unfortunately, the economists downplay the pandemic as a purely natural event originating and operating outside of the economic system ( Nowlin, 2017 ). But, treating COVID-19 as an exogenous shock and phenomenon that has nothing to do with socio-economic structures and values, can perpetuate and strengthen the pandemic roots during the post COVID-era as well as constrain change and transformational processes.

COVID-19 is a crisis of the economized societies rooted in the growth-paradigm ( Ötsch, 2020 ). COVID-19 is also a result of the intersection of broader processes of urbanisation, globalisation, environmental change, agribusiness and contemporary capitalism ( Allen et al., 2017 ). The nature of tourism (requiring traveling) and its evolution and growth paradigms are a significant contributor to such circumstances and the current socio-economic system accelerating the spread and impact of this contagious and infectious virus. Tourism is a result but also responsible for: our highly interconnected and global world; pollution, waste and climate change; global, national and regional economic development and growth; superiority of capitalism values in people’s and business decision-making but also policy and politics formulations. As climate change increases the frequency of pandemics and outbreaks, pandemics are expected to become more common in the future ( World Economic Forum (2019) (2019), 2019 ), which in turn highlights the interwoven nature and vicious circle forces between the biological, physical and socio-economic systems.

Moreover, the economic system and mindset contributing to the COVID-19 has also been guiding and shaping the COVID-19 response and recovery strategies of governments, institutions, businesses and people alike. This can significantly perpetuate and repeat crises as we are treating their symptoms and not their roots. For example, economic priorities for maintaining business continuity and jobs, resume and recovering to the old ‘economic success growth’, have been driving governments’ policies and practices such as: economic support (e.g. subsidies, tax reliefs) to tourism businesses and employees; debates for relaxation of restrictions for re-opening and re-starting economies at the expense of a second way and human lives. Similarly, people have engaged in panic buying and (over)-consumption of online experiences (e.g. virtual entertainment, dining, drinking, traveling) during lock-downs, that demonstrate their persistence, preference and fear of loosing to their ‘consumerism’ traditional lifestyles deemed essential for their success and happiness. Early COVID-19 tourism research also reinforces a similar mindset, e.g. many studies trying to measure the economic impacts of COVID-19 trading them off to socio-cultural and biological impacts, studies aiming to predict and measure when tourists will start traveling again and when we can reach the old tourism targets. As governments race to minimise economic losses, and be the first to reopen borders and (tourism) businesses, and financial markets, investors, cash liquidity and financial survival are equally pressing multinational and small tourism enterprises, they are all also looking for tourism research that can ‘feed’ and ‘reconfirm’ their mindset and help them resume operations based on the old paradigms and business models they are founded. Debates and research are based on trading between economic benefits and losses in exchange of human rights, lives, morals and ethics. There is no discussion why trade-offs are the best methodology and mindset to decide, no one has re-imagined ‘solutions’ enabling co-existence or regenerative forces between these concepts.

Overall, research, education and our socio-economic and political system (which they shape and are shaped by each other), have all framed our mindset on how we research, measure, understand, respond and aim to recover from the COVID-19. Consequently, we have converted COVID-19 from a biological virus contagion to a financial crisis contagion and recently, an economic race to re-build our old financial competitiveness. To avoid such perpetuations, tourism research should assume more responsibility in informing, driving and leading sustainable futures. To that end, COVID-19 tourism research should not be solely seen, conducted and used as a useful tool to help resume old states. Instead, COVID-19 tourism research should also challenge our growth-paradigms and assumptions that have led to the current situation and enable us to reimagine and reset tourism (e.g. Ioannides and Gyimóthy, 2020 , Gössling et al., 2020 , Hall et al., 2020 , Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020 ). To achieve this, COVID-19 tourism research should criticize ontological and epistemological foundations and assumptions that underpin the current science and growth paradigms ( Brodbeck, 2019 ). It should also deconstruct and challenge the mechanisms and systems that sustain the deleterious unsustainable tourism evolution ( Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020 ). But to regenerate and transform tourism and its socio-economic system, tourism research should not only support new ways and perspectives of researching, knowing and evolving. COVID-19 tourism research should also inspire, motivate and inform all tourism stakeholders alike to adopt new ways of being, doing and politicising. For example:

At a macro-level, COVID-19 tourism research should generate dethinking, rethinking and unthinking of pre-assumptions and mindsets including ( Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020 ): globalisation as an unstoppable force; neoliberal capitalism as the best system and decision-making tool for organizing and allocating resources; growth as the sole way for development and success. It should also challenge the ‘surveillance capitalism’, whose institutionalisation and normalisation is perceived as inevitable and unstoppable because of forces including ( Zuboff, 2015 ): institutionalised facts (e.g. data collection, analytics and mining); leading tech and disrupting companies being respected and treated as emissaries of a better future solving the “faults of capitalism” (e.g. sharing economy platforms ‘democraticing’ micro-entrepreneurship); and people seeing technologies as a necessity requirement for social and civic participation, securing employment and addressing the increasingly stressful, competitive, and stratified struggle for effective life. The COVID-19 is accelerating the institutionalisation and acceptance of this algorithmic governance, management and society, previously contested as violations of human rights, privacy and laws ( Zysman, 2006 ), but now becoming normalised in the name of health and common good.

Technology is at the core of solutions for combating the COVID-19 and re-opening tourism and the economy (e.g. mobility tracing apps, robotised-AI touchless service delivery, digital health passports and identity controls, social distancing and crowding control technologies, big data for fast and real time decision-making, humanoid robots delivering materials, disinfecting and sterilizing public spaces, detecting or measuring body temperature, providing safety or security), while technology is seen as a panacea to our COVID-19 driven-needs to normalise surveillance, to ensure health and safety, to collect and analyse personal data for fast decision-making. Although COVID-19 tourism research cannot stop these technological advances, it should fight this digital trojan horse from the inside by questioning and resetting their purposes, designs and affordances, interpretations and application ethics. Technologies are constituted by unique affordances, whose development and expression are shaped by the institutional logics in which technologies are designed, implemented, and used ( Zuboff, 2015 ). COVID-19 tourism research could simply investigate and advance our information and technological capabilities to collect, analyse and use (big) data for better knowing, predicting, controlling, and modifying human behavior (e.g. tourists and employees behaviour) as a means to produce revenue and market control ( Zuboff, 2015 ). But such research will simply further support the making of everydayness qua data imprints an intrinsic component of organizational and institutional life and a primary target of commercialization strategies ( Constantiou & Kallinikos, 2015 ). Technologies have always been an enabler, a catalyst of innovation and change, a disruptor of tourism, as well as a tool to build tourism resilience in crisis ( Hall et al., 2017 ). The COVID-19 has further enhanced the role of technologies in the recovery and reimagination of tourism, while it reinforces existing paradigms in the e-tourism evolution. Developmental trends and adoption of smart destinations and tourism services, AI, robotics and other digital advances are now accelerated to combat the COVID-19 tourism implications. COVID-19 tourism research should reimagine and re-shape the purposes, usage and means of such technological advances that significantly form how our societies and economies are being transformed, how tourism is being practiced, managed and evolves with the help and/or because of the COVID-19.

At a micro-level, COVID-19 tourism research should question and reset why tourism is viewed, practiced and managed as a way to ‘escape’, ‘relax’, ‘socialise’, ‘construct identities/status’, ‘learn’ and reward themselves from a routine, unpleasant and meaningless life. Why tourism should be researched and practiced as an escape from a boring life, instead of life being rewarding and meaningful itself? Why people have to travel thousands of miles away from home to ‘learn’ and ‘be happy’? Why companies have to commercialize and commoditize communities, people and their tangible and intangible resources as tourism attractions ‘please’ the tourists’ needs and drive economic development? Tourism paradigms and mindsets like this, have led and intensified crises like COVID-19 and this cannot be sustainable for much longer. Consumerism and tourism should not be seen as the sole way to achieve happiness, self-expression, and (economic) development. COVID-19 tourism research should inspire tourists, businesses and destinations alike to re-imagine and reset new mindsets, frontiers and behaviours such as: how to use and develop tourism to valorize and not consume tourism resources, to generate well-being, sustainability and transformational learning; how to study and practice environmental/sustainable management not as a legal necessity for lobbying and formulating policies, not as marketing tool to build brands’ and people’s identities, not as an expense to be minimized, but as a mindful business investment and personal lifestyle for a responsible future.

Overall, COVID-19 tourism research should not only be the mean to overcome the crisis and resume previously chartered economic growth trajectories. It should lead the refocusing, repurposing, reframing and re-interpretation of research questions, methodologies and outcomes, so that tourism stakeholders can in turn re-direct their actioning, conduct and evolution. To that end, COVID-19 tourism research will be benefited by embedding, adapting, reflecting and expanding the theoretical lenses and perspectives of a much greater plurality of disciplines and constructs to guide and implement research. Transformative (service) research, philosophy, criminology, ethics, law, anthropology, behavioural and religious studies, political science and diplomacy, governance, bioethics, rhetoric. Researching within unchartered waters, COVID-19 tourism research may also need to apply new methodological approaches and tools that are capable to combat roots and not symptoms of tourism crises and use the latter as transformational opportunity to reset research agendas and re-imagine and re-shape unthinkable tourism futures. Due to the newness of the field qualitative approaches such as (cyber)ethnography and the need for urgent, fast and real-time research processes and outcomes, COVID-19 tourism research may also need to intensify and advance “new” methods of (big) data collection, analysis and interpretation/visualization, such as participatory sensing (i.e. using tourists as sensors for data collection).

Paradox research, as a meta-theory and/or methodology, can also be very instrumental for informing and supporting COVID-19 tourism research. Originating in philosophy and psychology (e.g. Aristotle, Confucius, Freud), paradox research (also frequently requiring multi-disciplinarity) has helped to inform, advance and transform management science research ( Schad, Lewis, Raisch, & Smith, 2016 ) and organisations ( Cameron & Quinn, 1988 ) alike. As a meta-theory, paradox research offers a powerful lens for enriching extant theories and fostering theorizing processes in management science, because it provides deeper understanding and conceptualisation of constructs, relationships, and dynamics surrounding organizational tensions. By investigating contradictions between interdependent elements that are seemingly distinct and oppositional, one can better unravel how one element actually informs and defines the another, tied in a web of eternal mutuality. As a methodology, the paradox lens encourages researchers to approach organizational paradoxes paradoxically ( Cameron & Quinn, 1988 ). Incorporating paradox research into COVID-19 research may also be inevitable, as the COVID-19 circumstances, impacts and debates have uncovered and intensified existing paradoxes, but also generated new ones. Paradox research is also paramount to COVID-19 tourism research, if the latter is to become innovative and transformative. These are because (adapted by Schad et al., 2016 ):

• • Interruptions in socio-economic life can reveal structural contradictions and paradoxes, and by studying and understanding them, one can make the crisis positive and transformative
• • paradoxes intensify, grow and intensify, as contemporary organizations and their environments become increasingly global, fast-paced, and complex; the evolution and circumstances of tourism and COVID-19 are a strong evidence of a highly interconnected, fast paced and complex world
• • paradox is a powerful meta-theorizing tool: opposing theoretical views may enable vital insights into persistent and interdependent contradictions, fostering richer, more creative, and more relevant theorizing
• • paradox identifies and challenges our pre-assumptions: as antinomies, theoretical paradoxes remain perplexing, even paralyzing, when researchers are confined by the past and/or assumptions
• • paradox help us think creatively and out-of-the box, because contradictions provoke established certainties and tempts untapped creativity

Paradox research is limitedly used within tourism research, but its applicability, versatility and value are shown already in investigating: macro-level tourism and destination management issues ( Williams & Ponsford, 2009 ); business operations ( Sigala, Airey, Jones, & Lockwood, 2004 ) and tourism demand ( Mawby, 2000 ). However, as the present and post COVID-19 era is a fertile ground of persistent and new paradoxes in tourism, tourism researchers should seriously consider adopting a paradox lense. For example, the circumstances of COVID-19 (e.g. stay at home lockdowns, social distancing) have necessitated and accelerated the use of technologies by both tourists (e.g. information about travel restrictions, online crisis communication, online COVID-19 alerts and hygiene measures) and businesses (e.g. online food delivery, virtual dining, virtual wine experiences, festivals/events, virtual visits of museums, destinations). However, persistent ‘paradoxes’ (e.g. increase use of social media and loneliness, democratisation of information accessibility and information darkness, technology and (small) business empowerment/equalizing competition rules) are questioning the effectiveness of such technology solutions and have fuelled debates on whether they are a ‘cure’ or a ‘fertiliser’ and “diffuser’ of the pandemic. Not everyone has access to technology and those that they have do not necessarily have the capabilities and knowledge to effectively use the technology tools and information. The persistent digital divide found in consumers and businesses (which mainly represents a socio-economic divide of citizens and size of businesses), has converted the pandemic to an infodemic (e.g. lack or mis-information, diffusion of fake COVID-19 news and advices, emotional contagion of global depression and mental health) and a tool deepening the economic divide and competitive gap between larger and smaller tourism operators. Digital inequalities in tourists potentiated their vulnerability to COVID-19 (e.g. putting themselves and their loved one in health risk while traveling or willing to travel during and after the COVID-19), while COVID-19 vulnerability potentiate to enlarge the digital inequalities [e.g. those who have the tools and means to easier go through the COVID-19 impacts will also be the only ones who can pay and access virtual tourism experiences, who will be well informed on how, where and when travel and who will be able to afford to travel in the future, as increased (hygiene and technology) operating costs and transportation oligopolies may increase costs of tourism]. Similarly, digital inequalities in tourism businesses potentiate COVID-19 vulnerability (as larger operators that were technology ready and ‘inherited’ by size resilience, were the first and maybe the only ones to be able to virtualise operations and experiences for maintaining business liquidity, surviving, re-opening and recovering post COVID-19), while COVID-19 vulnerability increases digital and economic inequalities in the tourism competitive landscape (e.g. larger companies/destinations which are characterised by greater cash liquidity, know-how, technology readiness and resilience and so, have lower COVID-19 vulnerability, will be the ones to survive and thrive post COVID-19). Paradox research that can investigate such contradictions between the abovementioned distinct and oppositional, but also elements interdependent elements can better define, understand, manage and address their concepts and the dynamics of their web of eternal mutuality.

The COVID-19 fortified and generated many other paradoxes, which are also identifiable at all tourism management levels (macro, meso and micro) and COVID-19 tourism research can investigate for advancing and transforming research. Table 1 provides some ideas for applying such paradoxes in COVID-19 tourism research.

Paradox Research: advancing and transforming COVID-19 tourism research.

3. COVID19: Dismantling and re-mantling tourism in three stages

It is widely accepted that crisis management needs to be implemented before, during and after a crisis. Table 2 provides an overview of the impacts and implications of COVID-19 on three major stakeholders (tourism demand, tourism operators, destinations and policy makers) under three stages (representing the respond, recovery and restart stage from the pandemic) to incorporate a transformational stage envisioned in the post COVID-19 era. COVID-19 tourism research does not have to address issues in the last stage in order to be transformative. It can equally be transformative if it re-examines ‘existing’ issues and relations but through new theoretical lenses and/or methodological approaches by embedding a plurality of ‘new’ disciplines into the research designs. By doing this, one can significantly unravel unknown issues and dynamics, provide a better explanatory power and understanding of concepts and relations as well as identify and test new ‘remedies’.

COVID-19 and tourism in three stages: major impacts and some ideas for future research.

3.1. Tourism demand

Tourists have experienced themselves, through their loved ones and/or through the shared experiences of others (e.g. user-generated-content) significant disruptions and health-risks in their travel and bookings plans. The tourists’ experiences and/or exposure to others’ experiences (that are also magnified through the emotional contagion and information diffusion of the social media) can have a significant impact on their travel attitudes, intentions and future behaviours. Psychiatric research investigating the impact of traumatic experiences on people’s life, behaviours and experiences of places and services (e.g. Baxter & Diehl, 1998 ) can provide a useful theoretical lenses for understanding the travel behavior and attitudes of tourists that have been exposed to own or others’ COVID-19 travel trauma. Tourism research has mainly focused on studying how tourists develop their perceived risk and the impacts of the latter on tourists’ decision-making processes, future intentions and segmentation profiles (e.g. Dolnicar, 2005 , Aliperti and Cruz, 2019 , Araña and León, 2008 ). Others have also examined the impact of the tourists’ perception of crisis management preparedness certification on their travel intentions (e.g. Pennington-Gray, Schroeder, Wu, Donohoe, & Cahyanto, 2014 ). Such research is important, as risk perceptions are important for predicting future tourism demand and drafting appropriate recovery strategies ( Rittichainuwat & Chakraborty, 2009 ). It is also relevant for COVID-19 tourism research because of the new COVID-19 standards and certification rules that companies are now required to adopt. Research has shown that perceptions of risks may differ between tourists with different origin-country, final destination, age, sex and the typology of travel ( Rittichainuwat & Chakraborty, 2009 ). However, the impact of crisis communication and social media on perceived risk has been totally ignored. Some research is done for examining the impact of social media use on tourists’ mental health ( Zheng, Goh, & Wen, 2020 ) and crisis information systems and communication – social media ( Sigala, 2012 , Yu et al., 2020 ), however, given the increasing role and impact of social media on crisis communication and people’s health and risks perceptions, this is an area where more research is granted. As a vaccine for COVID-19 may take long to be developed and travelers may need to live with it, tourism research might benefit from medical and health research investigating how people behave, live and cope with chronic and lifestyle-related diseases (e.g. AIDS).

During lockdowns, people have experienced and become familiar with virtual services and tourism experiences. Research in technology adoption would claim that increased technology familiarity and trialability will increase its adoption. But will this apply for the controversial technologies introduced by COVID-19? Political economy and law research explaining how people react and accept human rights ‘violations’ (e.g. surveillance measures, freedom of speech, lockdowns) under conditions of ‘state of exception’ like terrorism or the COVID-19 ( Carriere, 2019 , Bozzoli and Müller, 2011 , Scheppele, 2003 ) can provide a new lenses for studying adoption of the COVID-19 controversial technologies and restrictions Research on political ideologies could further enlighten why people’s ideologies and political values may further perplex their reactions and behaviours to such interventions in their human rights.

It is claimed that while experiencing low pace, new lifestyles and working patterns, people are reflecting and recalibrating their priorities and social values. Is that true in relation to their travel behavior? Would people require and expect greater responsibility and sustainability from tourism operators and destinations? Would they be motivated to travel more but for a meaningful purpose? Or would people go back to their previous travel behaviours and preferences? Past research ( Pieters, 2013 ) has shown that consumers face a “material trap” in which materialism fosters social isolation and which in turn reinforces materialism. This might explain why during lockdowns people increased their online shopping and consumption of virtual entertainment and probably they might not have reflected and reset their values. Is that true and what is its impact on tourists’ behaviours? Consumer psychology and behavioural science explaining how people wish to align the time they spend with their values (congruence theory) can provide useful insights into such investigations. In addition, religion and spirituality studies can further enlighten the impact of COVID-19’s living conditions on tourists’ tourism sustainability preferences and attitudes as well as responses to tourism operators’ and destination sustainability practices and communications. This is because religion and spirituality is found to play an important role in influencing individuals’ thoughts and behaviors ( Laurin, Kay, & Fitzsimons, 2012 ).

Social distancing imposed by COVID-19 includes actions such as, reducing social contact, avoiding crowded places, or minimizing travel. Social distancing can significantly impact how people experience and evaluate leisure and travel activities like hiking, outdoor activities and nature-based tourism or even personal services like spas, dining, concierge services. Social distancing or better physical distancing may influence tourists’ perceptions of health hazards, insecurity and unpleasant tourism experiences. But how ‘far’ away is enough for tourism employees and other customers to be from each other without compromising sociality, personal service and perceptions of social distancing measures? Social distancing has not been studied before in service provision, while law and criminology research on ‘sexual’ consent may provide a different perspective on how people define social space and the ‘invasion’ or not of others into it.

Tourism is heavily a hedonic and sensorial experience. Servicescape design plays a major role in tourism experience by influencing customers’ emotions, behaviors, attitudes and service evaluations. However, COVID-19 operating standards require servicescapes to be redesigned eliminating or inhibiting sensorial elements and ‘changing’ tourism experiences, e.g.: smell of cleanliness instead of fragrance; social distancing and number of co-presence of clients in restaurants, festivals and other tourism settings will influence new standards of psychological comfort and acceptable levels of perceived crowdness; raised voices may generate a wider “moist breath zone” increasing viral spread; warmer temperatures create relaxing environments encouraging customers to stay and spend more, but poorly ventilated or air-conditioned indoor spaces may spread COVID-19. Would tourists and tourism firms change their behaviour and attitudes towards these new COVID-19 servicescapes? What new service etiquettes, customer expectations, behaviours and experiences would COVID-19 determined servicescapes and operational procedures may generate?

These and many other fields of research have been raised due to COVID-19 conditions, and as explained a plurality of theoretical lenses can be beneficial to provide a better understanding of these new concepts introduced in tourism research.

3.2. Tourism supply – Businesses

Tourism businesses have been racing to ensure the safety of their employees, customers, brand image and cash liquidity. To re-start, tourism companies are re-designing experiences (e.g. winery experiences, museum visits, tours, sports events, in-room dining and entertainment instead of hotel facilities) to feature smaller groups of tourists, outdoor activities and/or private experiences complying with social distancing and gathering restrictions and travellers’ expectations. Tourism companies have already upgraded their cleaning procedures by adopting new standards and restraining staff. Many of companies promote their hygiene certifications accredited by health expert associations. Tourism professionals are being trained to become ‘contact tracers’ obtaining relevant certifications confirming their skills to identify cases, build rapport and community with cases, identify their contact and stop community transmission. Restaurants, hotels, airports, public spaces are re-engineering their operations to make them contact-free or contactless. Mobile apps (for check-in, check-out, room keys, mobile payments, bookings-purchases), self-service kiosks, in-room technologies for entertainment and destination e-shopping (e.g. virtual reality for destination virtual visits to museums, attractions and destinations, movies), robots (for reception and concierge services, food delivery museum guides), artificial intelligence enabled websites and chatbox for customer communication and services, digital payments (e.g. digital wallets, paypal, credit cards). In addition, the new operating environment enforced by COVID-19 measures require firms to adopt new technologies and applications to ensure management of crowds and number of people gathered in public spaces (e.g. airports, shopping malls, museums, restaurants, hotels), human disinfectors and hand sanitiser equipment, applications identifying and managing people’s health identity and profiles.

Research can conduct a reality check and benchmarking of the effectiveness of the various respond and recovery strategies adopted by tourism operators. Research can also investigate the role and the way to build resilience to fast develop and implement such strategies. However, such research is useful and important but probably not enough for investigating the resetting of the next tourism industry normal. Transformative COVID-19 research should help industry to reimagine and implement an operating environment that is human-centred and responsible to sustainability and well-being values.

3.3. Destination management organisations and policy makers

Governments and destinations have been providing stimulus packages and interventions (e.g. tax reliefs, subsidies, deferrals of payments) to ensure the viability and continuity of tourism firms and jobs. Governments have intervened in mobility restriction and closures of businesses. Because of these, COVID-19 has resulted in a greater intervention of governments in the functioning and operations of the tourism industry. The government has also become a much bigger actor in the tourism economy (e.g. re-nationalisation of airlines and other tourism firms and tourism infrastructure like airports). This is very unique for COVID-19, as previous crises have generated research and institutional interest, but they did not have policy impact, specifically in tourism ( Hall et al., 2020 ). Would such government interventions and role sustain in the future? How will this influence the structure and functioning of the industry at a national and global level? Debates have already started questioning the effectiveness of such interventions, their fairness and equal distribution amongst tourism stakeholders ( Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020 ), their long-term impacts in terms of austerity and cuts of public expenditures. Future research looing into these issues is highly warrantied. In their CIVID-19 reactions and responses governments and destinations seem to have acted individually and nationalistic and recently selectively (e.g. bilateral and multilateral agreements amongst tourism bubbles). However, systems theory and crisis management, would argue that crises need to be addressed collectively. What would be the impact of such governmental behaviours on the future of tourism and destinations tourism policy making and strategies? As it seems, COVID-19 has raised political, geopolitical and governance issues that frameworks and concepts from these disciplines would need to be used to enlighten such research.

4. Conclusions: What is more and what is next

COVID-19 resulted in numerous socio-cultural, economic and psychological impacts on various tourism stakeholders, some of them for years to stay. Consequently, the pandemic has created a ‘fertile’ new context whereby tourism researchers can conduct research with valuable end-user benefits. However, COVID-19 tourism research should try to avoid the ‘publish or perish’ old mantra that has been driving and mushrooming tourism research ( Hall, 2011 ). Although studies conducting a reality check of impacts, predicting tourism demand, and benchmarking good and best practices are very useful and contextually interesting to assess COVID-19 impacts on various geographies sectors and stakeholders, they potentially offer limited scope to advance our knowledge on crisis management as well as to potentiate the pandemic’s affordance to reset our research agendas and expand the contribution and frontiers of tourism research and industry. It is the aim of this paper to inspire tourism scholars to view and use the COVID-19 as a transformational opportunity for reforming their mindsets in designing and conducting research and for the tourism institutions to reset their standards and metrics for motivating and evaluating the purpose, role and impact of tourism research. In addition, crises also accelerate technology innovation and change ( Colombo, Piva, Quas, & Rossi-Lamastra, 2016 ). However, these should not be viewed as inevitable, unquestionable and impossible to re-shape and re-adjust to serve real needs and meaningful values. It is the responsibility scholars to ensure that COVID-19 tourism research can ensure the latter.

The present analysis is not exhaustive in terms of the COVID-19 impacts, while impacts may not be uniform across all the actors of the same tourism stakeholder group. For example, the COVID-19 has different impacts on tourism operators based on their characteristics such as, the nature of the tourism sector (intermediaries, event organizers transportation, type of accommodation or attraction provider), their size, location, management and ownership style. Similarly, the highly heterogenous tourism demand (e.g. leisure and business travelers, group and independent tourists, special interest tourists such as religious, gay & lesbian, corporate travelers) also means that different COVID-19 impacts and implications are anticipated and worthy to be investigated for different market segments. COVID-19 tourism research should not only disclose such differentiated COVID-19 impacts, but it should also provide an enriched explanatory power about the roots of such disparities with the scope to envision and/or test any suggestions on how to address any inequalities and disadvantages that they may cause to various groups of tourism stakeholders. The analysis did not also include other major tourism stakeholders such as tourism employees, local communities, tourism entrepreneurs and tourism education (scholars, students and institutions alike). Recent developments and pressures faced by some of these tourism stakeholders were further strengthen by the COVID-19, which in turn place them in a more disadvantaged situation. COVID-19 research related to these stakeholders is equally important.

For example, COVID-19 has worsen the already difficult situation (e.g. high labour flexibility but at the expense of low salaries, lack of job security, insurance and other benefits) faced by an increasing number of tourism micro-entrepreneurs (e.g. food delivery people, ‘Uber taxi drivers’, “Airbnb hoteliers”) ( Sigala & Dolnicar, 2017 ). Algorithmic management, increased pressure and work stress are some of the negative impacts of the gig economy, which become more evident and fortified due to the COVID-19 (e.g. food delivery employees have no health insurance or coverage of lost salaries in case they get infected while working; ‘micro-hoteliers’ risk loosing their homes, as they cannot collect ‘accommodation fees’ to pay off home mortgages). Being an unofficial and sometime black economy/employment, gig tourism workers may not even be entitled to governmental subsidies provided to COVID-19 vulnerable employees or businesses. As the COVID-19 is expected to continue and reinforce contemporary paradigms and trends of this ‘causalisation’ of tourism employment (due to the upcoming economic recession and greater operating costs of tourism firms), COVID-19 tourism research needs to urgently investigate issues of employee psychological, mental and physical health, engagement, working conditions (e.g. remote working, virtual teams and virtual leadership) and other human resource issues within the COVID-19 setting. For example, traditional leadership, recruitment, management, and motivational incentives may not inspire, engage, motivate, and attract employees who have recalibrated their personal values and priorities during the COVID-19 lockdown and remote working.

The COVID-19 impacts on tourism employment create further pressures on tourism education that has severely affected by the pandemic. Apart from the virtualization of teaching and learning processes, tourism students and graduates have to also address the halt of industry interships, recruitment and questionable career paths. Tourism programs and universities are faced with reduced students’ intakes, industry and government sponsorship and research funding. Tourism researchers need to find new ways and sources for conducting research addressing social distancing, respecting the mental health and privacy issues of COVID-19 affected stakeholders. Investigating pedagogical issues such as how to make the design and delivery of tourism curricula more ‘resilient’, agile and updated to develop graduates with flexible and transferable skills to other industries is also equally important. For example, new online and offline courses and certifications have already emerged training graduates to become professional ‘contact tracer’ possessing the technical, emotional/social and ethical skills to manage customers and employees in situations of contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine (e.g. how contact tracing is done, how to build rapport with cases, identify their contacts, and support both cases and their contacts to stop transmission in their communities ( https://uh.edu/medicine/education/contact-tracer/ , https://www.coursera.org/learn/covid-19-contact-tracing?edocomorp=covid-19-contact-tracing , https://sph.uth.edu/news/story/trace ). However, is that just an opportunistic educational offering and/or a new ‘skill and qualification standard’ that tourism industry and demand would expect alike?

Many other specialized topics also warrant research within the domain of COVID-19. For example, the social entrepreneurship has been booming in tourism during the last decade ( Sigala, 2019 ) for several reasons including the 2008 economic recession. COVID-19 has boosted such tourism social ventures aiming to create social value, solve social problems created by the COVID-19 and provide help to people in need (e.g. marketplaces enabling the repurposing of various tourism unutilized resources such as labour, hotel and function space, food, cleaning material, e.g. HospitalityHelps.org ). The mushrooming of COVID-19 related tourism social ventures provides many opportunities to study and better understand this phenomenon within new and various ecosystems, stakeholders and circumstances.

Marianna Sigala is Professor at the University of South Australia and Director of the Centre for Tourism & Leisure Management. She is an international authority in the field of technological advances and applications in tourism with numerous awarded publications, research projects, keynote presentations in international conferences. In 2016, she has been awarded the prestigious EuroCHRIE Presidents’ Award for her lifetime contributions and achievements to tourism and hospitality education. She is the co-editor of the Journal of Service Theory & Practice, and the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management. Professor Sigala was also appointed as CAUTHE Fellow in 2020.

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20 Ways to Research a Travel Destination Before You Go

Travelling to a foreign country is exhilarating – and a little bit intimidating too. You are venturing somewhere completely new and you really don’t know what things will be like there when you arrive. It’s always a massive learning curve when you leap into the unknown (which is why it’s important to research a travel destination before you go.)

When you are planning your trip you’ll have so many questions. What will the climate be like? What kind of clothing is appropriate to wear? Will people speak English? What is the food like? What is the public transport like? How much will things cost? What local customs should I be aware of? How difficult will it be to meet people and make friends ? These are so many important things to figure out before you board that plane.

This information is all out there, but the key is knowing where to find it. The good news is that these days there are so many ways to research a travel destination before you go. The guide book isn’t the only source of info- in fact Lee and I never use paper guidebooks as we prefer other methods.

Here are 20 ways that you can research a travel destination before you go and find out everything you need to know. Find the ways that work best for you – you’ll likely end up using several methods in order to cover everything. This can be one of the fun parts of travel – you’ll learn something new, ease your apprehension by feeling more prepared and the more you read about your destination the more you will build excitement.

1. Wikitravel Articles

Whenever Lee and I are heading somewhere new, we often like to look at the Wikitravel page first. It can sometimes be a little outdated (including prices), but most of the time it has a lot of very useful information in an organised and laid out format. For example, the Wikitravel page for a country is where I look first when I want to know how long the tourist visa lasts, whether or not I will need to apply for it and how the process works.

Wikitravel posts also contain information about things to do, places to stay, safety tips, ideas for day trips and much more. It works like Wikipedia in the sense that it can be edited by anyone. So (if you feel like it) after your trip you could contribute something you discovered to the guide and make it even more informative for the people who visit after you.

2. Read Posts By Travel Bloggers Who Have Been There

Travel blogs can be a great way to research a travel destination before you go! There are so many out there, so it only takes a quick Google search to find a blogger who has been to your destination. I like reading travel blog posts, because they offer a first hand perspective on the destination.

It helps to find a blogger who has a similar travel style, budget and interests as you do, as their recommendations will be more useful. It’s not very helpful to read about a blogger’s experience at a high end luxury resort when you will be seeking out budget accommodation on your trip. (Also, be sure to take the reviews on some travel blogs with a grain of salt, as they might be sponsored posts .)

3. Email Travel Bloggers

So you’ve found a great travel blogger who has written content about your destination, but they didn’t quite answer your specific question? Why not try emailing them? If they are not too busy, they might take the time to answer your question or point you to somewhere that has the information.

As a travel blogger there have been a few readers email me with more specific questions related to something they read on the blog and if possible I always do my best to help them. You can’t guarantee that the travel blogger will write back to you, but if they do respond it can be a very valuable way to research a travel destination before you go. 

4. Watch Videos on Youtube

Watching a video about your destination can be a way to learn things about it that are hard to express via the written word. You can see what the landscapes look like, listen to what the accents sound like and actually see footage of the attractions that you might want to visit on your trip.

There is an incredible wealth of travel content on Youtube, from travel vlogs to documentaries to footage of tours to videos from official travel brands and much more. Make yourself a cup of coffee, get comfortable, sit back and research a travel destination before you go – via video.  

5. Ask About it On Reddit

Check out forums such as /r/travel on Reddit to ask questions and research a travel destination before you go. These forums are used by a lot of passionate travellers and they often have plenty of experience to share with you. Before you start your own thread, search through to see if your question has been asked before.

Also, if you speak the language and you can find the subreddit for that country you could ask questions there. For example, if you are heading to Canada and you want to know what to expect you could make a post on /r/Canada and it will likely be answered by plenty of knowledgeable locals. Also, just reading the posts and content shared on that country-specific subreddit will give you a lot of insight into Canada.

6. TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor is another great way to research a travel destination before you go. It’s not just for hotels – you can also read reviews of restaurants, tour companies and local attractions. If you see a restaurant, attraction or a hotel mentioned while you are doing research somewhere else you can head over to TripAdvisor to see what people are saying about it. Also, you can search in TripAdvisor for the top restaurants, hotels or attractions in order to get ideas on what to do, where to stay and what to eat while you are there.

We have also found that TripAdvisor is great for choosing tour companies. If you are headed somewhere like the Amazon rainforest, you will need to hire a tour guide to take you into the jungle as you cannot visit on your own. It’s hard to find the right tour company when you are searching on their websites, as each company is going to say that they offer the best service. When you look at the reviews you will get an honest picture of what the tour was like, written by people who have actually experienced it.

A tip for using TripAdvisor: try to get the overall vibe of the reviews rather than taking very positive or negative review too seriously. Sometimes it’s important to take the reviews with a grain of salt, as they might be written by someone who is easily pleased or overly negative.

7. Read Local News Sources

If you speak the language, you could start reading local news sources from the country before you get there – such as newspapers, blogs and magazines. They will give you an insight into what is happening in the country, such as events, festivals, politics, popular culture and much more. Also, it will give you some great talking points when you are conversation with the locals, as you will be able to comment on current affairs. (although be careful what you say on hot button issues!)

8. Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is an amazing phenomenon. It’s a website that brings together travellers with local hosts who offer their spare rooms or couches for free. Lee and I used it a lot during our trip across Canada and we stayed for free with some incredibly kind and generous people.

However, did you know that even if you don’t want to stay with a local – you can also use Couchsurfing to find out more information about your travel destination? You can connect with someone who lives there and ask them questions. Also, many Couchsurfing hosts state on their profile that they are available to meet with you for coffee or a drink and show you around. What better source of insider info can you have than a local who is willing to give their time to introduce you to their home?

9. The Staff of Your Hotel

If you have already booked your hotel, the staff can be a great source of information. They will be able to tell you how to get from the airport to the hotel and they can also offer tips on how to get around the city and what to do while you are there. You can even ask them to recommend local tour companies for activities.

10. Read Guide Books

Of course, we can’t forget about the classic guide book. Thumb through a copy of Frommers, Lonely Planet or Rough Guides and you will learn a lot about your destination. These guides usually have sections on the history and culture of the country, as well as safety tips, suggestions on what to do, information about local holidays, reviews of hotels and restaurants and much more.

I personally never use guide books. I find that the information that they contain can be easily found online with a quick Google search. Also, the content in a guidebook is already several months old by the time it goes to print, while more up to date information can be accessed online.

However, many travellers I know still use guide books and find them valuable. A guide book never needs WiFi, so even if you can’t get online the information is still there. Also, there’s something about the sensation of holding a physical book in your hand and flipping through it.

11. Read Non-Fiction Books

Travel guides aren’t the only books that can help you to learn about your destination. You can research almost every aspect of the country via non-fiction books. Read about the history of the nation and you’ll have a better understanding of its politics and why things are the way they are. Read about the cuisine of the country, its economy, its environment or any other aspects of it that interest you. Read books or autobiographies of famous people who are from that country or who have spent a lot of time there.

This info might not help you to book a hotel or a tour, but it will give you a deeper insight into the country and that understanding will make your travel experience richer and more meaningful.

12. Watch Documentaries

In a similar vein, documentaries are non-fiction in video form and they can be very interesting sources of information about your travel destination. If you watch a fascinating documentary it can inform you and be a great talking point later in discussions with people you meet on your travels. Check out the documentaries section on Netflix to see if there are any films there about your destination.

13. Watch Films or TV Shows

As well as watching documentaries, what about watching fictional films that are set in your destination? They will allow you to see what the destination looks like and get a sense of the culture, scenery and other aspects.

For example, City of God is an amazing film and it also gives a glimpse into what life in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro is like. Midnight in Paris is one of my favourite films of all time and it perfectly captures the charm and elegance of the City of Light. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , another one of my favourite movies, is basically a love letter to the city of Chicago. Take a look for films that are set in the location you will be travelling to and take some time to watch them before your trip.

14. Read Novels Set in That Country

Another way to research a travel destination before you go is to read a novel that is set there. You’ll be able to feel immersed in the local culture and you’ll get a sense of what things are like. Depending on the novel you might gain some insight into the local customs, the history and the subtler nuances of life in that destination.

15. Look up Hashtags

Social media can be a great source of travel information and inspiration. Go on Twitter or Instagram and search for hashtags related to your travel destination. On Twitter you will find Tweets to articles and blogs about that destination as well as local news and media.

On Instagram you will find gorgeous photos that will fuel your travel daydreams. I like to look at the hashtag for where I am going next on Instagram so that I can get some visual inspiration of what to do while I am there.

16. Talk About it To People

Whenever someone you know asks you what’s new, you can mention the upcoming travel you are planning. When you do, they might have some suggestions to give you or they might say, “Oh that’s cool, my Aunt/Neighbour/Friend/etc has just been there, I’ll ask them if they have any tips.”

17. Read Magazines

Although magazines are a bit of an old style of media that you might not read anymore if you get most of your news online – they can still offer helpful content. Take a look for any travel magazines that feature articles about your destination.

18. Ask Someone You Know Who Has Been There

Reach out to your work, school and friend networks – there is a chance that you already know someone who has been to your destination. Whether it is your cousin, your parent’s neighbours or a friend of a friend, it can be very helpful to make a connection with someone who has already been to your destination.

You can email them a few questions or even offer to buy them a coffee in exchange for sitting down with you and talking to you about your trip. First hand experience is so valuable when you want to research a travel destination before you go.

19. Podcasts

If you are a auditory learner and you remember things better if you listen to them, podcasts can be a great way to research a travel destination before you go. There are thousands of podcasts out there covering a huge array of topics, so it’s just a matter of finding the right one.

There are podcasts that are about travel in general and you might also find podcasts related to your specific location. Here’s a list of 20 Travel Podcasts from OpenCulture to get you started.

20. Ask Expats Who Live There

Expats are people who have left their home country to live abroad somewhere else. The expats who live in the destination you are travelling to can be a great source of information, because they know what it’s like to visit that country for the first time. They have lived there for a while so they are very knowledgeable about local life.  

Whether you are visiting Thailand, Turkey, Tanzania or Texas – these are some great ways to research a travel destination before you go. With so many methods to choose from, you’ll be sure to find the info you need to prepare for your trip.

If you have any other ways to research a travel destination before you go, please feel free to share them with us in the comments!

Kelly Dunning

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46 comments.

Nice list! I admit I only use 3-4 of these tips. I still buy guide books and prefer them to online research, but WikiTravel, TripAdvisor and travel blogs are also always on my list of research sources, especially in the first stages of finding a destination and getting a general idea.

Love reading non-fiction travel books and watching travel series!

Michael Palin’s New Europe is great for anyone thinking of traveling around Eastern Europe.

Paul Theroux’s books are awesome for anywhere he’s been. Just read the Happy Isles of Oceania. I don’t have immediate plans to go there, but I could see how the book would be great preparation for visiting that part of the world.

Even though the books could’ve been written and documentaries produced 20 years ago, the cultural observations and insights of great travel writers and documentarians are timelessly valuable in preparing for a big trip.

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Similar to Steve in the comments, I love following Michael Palin’s travels and also Michael Portillo’s train journeys – they’re great for inspiration (and using the BBC or a TV channels research team can’t be a bad way of figuring out where to go!). Do you think anyone ever uses Tourist Boards or Tourist Offices anymore? No one ever seems to mention them as a source of information.

Hi Sarah, A tourist office can absolutely be a great place to get ideas for things to do when you arrive somewhere – but this article is all about ways to research your travel destination *before* you go.

Sure also trip advisor is the best way to explore the destination you wish to go

Cool list Kelly! We get so many awesome suggestions from buddies we meet on the road. Expats and fellow globe trotters clue us in to the top spots. Some well off the path and others more popular, but still gems. We have been house sitting in a village outside of Chiang Mai for 2 years now, 2 months of each year. Magical spot; big change up from the hustle and bustle of town. Super post!

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Such a cool list! Very helpful and very informative. You have mentioned some of the best information on travel places and the proper way to visit those places. I really loved all your list of advice from all the different places. So thank you for your wonderful list. Keep Posting.

Hii Thanks For sharing the information. I have always opted two tips which u have mentioned in your blog one is seeing other travel bloggers tips and other is youtube and every time it worked.

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I always check https://mapaday.com – it’s a relatively new site where experienced travelers leave travel itineraries for places they have been. Great article!

Do check out mapaday.com too for a growing number of detailed travel itineraries by experienced travelers. Thanks for the article!

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Incredible information. Thanks a ton.

Great list. This article is very informative and helpful for travelers. Will share it with all my friends. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Thanks for post!

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Hi Kelly, nice share. I like the researching idea before visiting a place. It’s always gives you an advantage to explore that particular place nicely. Specially, where to stay, where to eat, these are very important to find the suitable match that goes with your luxury.

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one of the best article on travel Destinations & Places To Visit In The World Westchester County Limo – New York Limo, USA

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Hello, when you are traveling across the country what will you notice in a hotel room for your stay? A good bedroom chandelier and bedroom chandelier can be a beautiful and functional addition to any bedroom, providing ambient lighting and decorative style. It can transform your space into a luxurious and elegant retreat, adding value and beauty.

Medical Industry: Sheet metalwork is used in the medical industry to create a variety of products such as hospital beds, medical cabinets, and surgical instruments. The metal’s durability, resistance to corrosion, and ease of fabrication make it a popular choice for the manufacture of medical equipment.

Westchester Limo provides excellent transportation services with their luxurious fleet and professional chauffeurs. Their attention to detail and commitment to customer satisfaction make them a top choice for any special occasion or corporate event.

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Hi) I am also starting to travel a little bit, your article was very helpful. But I manage to do everything only in the moment – sometimes I book a hotel at the airport before departure) By the way, I also run a travel blog .

One notable aspect is the emphasis on engaging with local communities, seeking authentic experiences, and respecting local customs. This approach fosters cultural exchange and a more profound connection with the places visited, making for a more meaningful travel experience.

“Wow, this article is a treasure trove of valuable tips for savvy travelers! Researching a travel destination before your trip is not just a task, but an exciting journey in itself. These 20 ways cover everything from exploring travel blogs and watching documentaries to connecting with locals and using innovative apps. It’s the perfect roadmap to ensure your trip is not only memorable but also well-informed. Thanks for sharing these insights – my next adventure is going to be even better thanks to this advice!”

Thank you for your article. The key to an unforgettable travel experience lies in the depth of your research. From safety considerations to hidden gems and personalized touches, each aspect contributes to a well-rounded adventure. Embrace the journey of discovery, and let your research guide you to moments of awe and connection.

Each method offers unique insights, from personal experiences to in-depth cultural understanding. Mixing and matching these resources can provide a well-rounded perspective, making your trip both enjoyable retro bowl and informed.

Nice Article!!

Great tips for researching a travel destination! I always check Wikitravel and read travel blogs. Asking locals on Reddit is smart too. Can’t wait for my next adventure! ✈️

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Europe’s most dangerous tourist spots for pickpocketing (and how to protect yourself)

Posted: May 23, 2024 | Last updated: May 23, 2024

While a vacation  is often seen  as a time to relax, some  destinations in Europe can offer the opposite experience. For instance, research by Quotezone, a travel insurance company, has shown that Italy, France, Spain, Germany , and the Netherlands are the top five most popular European countries where people are most likely to be pickpocketed.

But what can you do to protect yourself and your valuables? And which tourist spots in particular are hotbeds for pickpocketing? This gallery contains all you need to know. Click to find out more.

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Pickpocketing tricks

If you find yourself in a busy tourist hot spot, be wary of pickpocketing techniques like the jostling trick, where one or more thieves sandwich a victim in a crowd.

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Trevi Fountain - Rome, Italy

The Trevi Fountain attracts 10.5 million people each year, which works out to around 1,200 people per hour, making it a popular spot for pickpockets.

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Colosseum - Rome, Italy

The Colosseum is one of Europe's heavily pickpocketed hot spots, attracting over four million people per year.

Pantheon - Rome, Italy

The Pantheon is another popular destination in Rome where you'll experience a high likelihood of being pickpocketed.

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Duomo di Milano - Milan, Italy

Outside of Rome, the Duomo di Milano in Milan  is often reported  as having the highest volume of stolen personal items, according to online travel reviews.

Uffizi Gallery - Florence, Italy

Be careful when perusing the masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, as this is a popular pickpocketing spot.

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Eiffel Tower - Paris, France

According to research, Paris has the second-highest number of pickpocketing mentions in Europe. The Eiffel Tower is the most risky attraction for tourist theft.

Notre-Dame Cathedral - Paris, France

The Notre-Dame Cathedral is an attraction where you'll need to be extra vigilant, as pickpockets frequently target the area.

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Louvre Museum - Paris, France

Pickpocketing gangs often target the Louvre Museum in Paris. Be wary when waiting in line or while admiring paintings.

Arc de Triomphe - Paris, France

The Arc de Triomphe is another Parisian attraction with  a high number of pickpockets around it. Take care of your belongings near this area.

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Musée d'Orsay - Paris, France

The Musée d'Orsay is a popular tourist attraction that draws large crowds, making it a target for pickpockets.

Las Ramblas - Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona is notorious for pickpocketing, and Las Ramblas is infamous for its thefts, which often happen when victims  are watching  the street performers.

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Plaza Mayor - Madrid, Spain

If you're visiting Madrid, be wary when visiting the Plaza Mayor, as thieves often target this famous public square.

Alhambra - Grenada, Spain

Grenada's Alhambra is a must-visit. However, pickpocketing is common, so keep your personal belongings safe.

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Brandenburg Gate - Berlin, Germany

Berlin's Brandenburg Gate is considered the worst pickpocketing spot in Germany.

Reichstag Building - Berlin, Germany

Thieves often target tourists visiting the Reichstag Building, so keep your valuables safe when waiting in line or moving through crowds.

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East Side Gallery - Berlin, Germany

The East Side Gallery is the world's longest open-air gallery and one of Berlin's worst pickpocketing spots. Stay vigilant in this area to avoid falling victim to theft. 

Anne Frank House - Amsterdam, Netherlands

Anne Frank House is a popular tourist spot in Amsterdam where visitors should stay vigilant of pickpockets. The Red Light District is also an area to be cautious of.

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Alfama - Lisbon, Portugal

The winding, narrow streets of Alfama, Lisbon's old town, attract pickpockets. Keep an eye on your belongings and stay alert when navigating busy areas.

Sultanahmet - Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul's Sultanahmet neighborhood  is home to iconic landmarks like the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The high volume of tourists makes the area prone to pickpockets.

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Acropolis - Athens, Greece

The Acropolis of Athens, with its ancient ruins and stunning views, is a must-visit destination. However, its popularity with tourists makes it a target for thieves, so keep a close eye on your belongings, especially in crowded areas.

Oxford Street - London, England

Oxford Street, a popular shopping destination in Central London, is often targeted by thieves who ride mopeds and snatch phones from distracted tourists' hands.

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Take precautions before you travel

Ensure you have copies of your travel itinerary, passport, visa, bank information, and vaccination documents in case the originals are stolen. Consider taking out an insurance policy to protect against the theft of your phone or other valuables.

Stash your cash

Carry your money in multiple safe places, such as a money belt or a bra wallet.

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Wear pickpocket-proof clothing

Pants or jackets with zipped pockets make access difficult for thieves.

Wear your bag on your front

Wearing your bag or backpack on your front allows you to  keep a close eye on  your belongings.

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Keep priority items to a minimum

When out and about, only carry your most  important items, like your phone and wallet.

Be careful around pickpocket warning signs

If you see a sign warning about pickpockets in the area, don't touch your pockets or bag to check on your valuables. This will show watchful thieves where to target.

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Anchor your purse or backpack

Loop a strap through the leg chair, keep your purse on your lap, or place it between you and your travel companion. Don't hang it on the back of the chair, as thieves can swipe it as they walk past.

Keep cash where no one would expect to find it

Keep cash in an almost empty pill jar or hair roller. If someone goes through your purse or backpack, they are unlikely to search these items for money. Sources: (Euronews) (Quotezone) (Solo Traveler) See also: Celebrities who have been robbed

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10 sunniest places in the UK to take a holiday

Met Office data has revealed where the sun shines the longest

An analysis of Met Office data, commissioned by The Independent , found that the Isle of Wight is the only part of the UK to enjoy over five hours of sunshine per day.

Easily accessible with beautiful beaches, excellent walking and cycle paths, and diverse attractions, the Isle of Wight offers an idyllic escape on the doorstep of the British mainland.

Kent and East Sussex came in second and third place, both with over four hours of sunshine each day.

Meanwhile, West Sussex took the fourth spot, with Bognor Regis the location for maximum rays. Essex completed the top five with an average of four hours and 35 minutes.

On the other hand, Lowther Hill in Scotland is the most sun-deprived place in the UK. Derry in Northern Ireland is the second dullest city, with the sun only appearing for an average of three hours and 15 minutes per day.

A Met Office Spokesperson told Country Living UK : "We looked at the average hours of sunshine over the course of a year, over a 30-year period from 1991-2020. Those that had the highest totals according to the station data, came out as the sunniest places.

"While these long-term average figures can give an indication on where, on average, sees sunny skies in the UK in the year, it's important to remember that there's much variability year-to-year for cloud cover across different places in the UK.

"Sunshine doesn't always mean warm conditions as well, as much depends on the region the air is coming from when it comes to high temperatures. Staying up to date with the forecast is the best advice for those planning a weekend away."

Take a look at the full findings below:

The 10 sunniest places in the UK to take a holiday

1. Isle of Wight (5 hours, 8 minutes of daily sunshine)

2. Kent (4 hours, 47 minutes)

3. East Sussex (4 hours, 46 minutes)

4. West Sussex (4 hours, 42 minutes)

5. Essex (4 hours, 35 minutes)

6 = Dorset (4 hours, 34 minutes)

6 = Suffolk (4 hours, 34 minutes)

8. Hampshire (4 hours, 32 minutes)

9 = Surrey (4 hours, 29 minutes)

9 = Cornwall (4 hours, 29 minutes)

20 of the most glorious sandy beaches in the UK

Holkham Beach, Norfolk

The salt marsh, sand dunes, pine woodland, sandy beach and grazing marsh that make up Holkham is a National Nature Reserve – best known for its stunning panoramic views and varied wildlife.

Where to stay: The perfectly polished Victoria Inn has 20 rooms with a posh contemporary-cottage feel. Stroll through the walled rose gardens, feast on the restaurant's fresh shellfish and walk the few minutes to the golden sands of the beach.

Porthcurno, Cornwall

With soft white sand and turquoise sea, this west Cornwall beach is practically paradise. What's more, it's set beneath the world-famous Minack Theatre – perched high on the cliffs above.

Where to stay: Situated on the westerly point of Cornwall, Land's End Hotel sits upon Granite Cliffs overlooking the Longships Lighthouse and Atlantic Ocean. A restaurant serving local specialities is available on site, as well as a bar. The centre of Sennen is just a mile from the hotel.

Saunton Sands, North Devon

These three miles of stunning golden sand, between the villages of Braunton and Croyde, are host to some of the UK's best surf. Popular with families too, this is a fantastic swimming spot backed by the Braunton Burrows, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Where to stay: On a cliff top overlooking Braunton Burrows, The Saunton Sands Hotel features a spa, two swimming pools and a well-known restaurant. With views of Saunton Beach, its elegant rooms have a modern feel, the restaurant offers formal dining and a seasonal menu, and the casual Beachside Grill has wonderful views.

Studland Beach, Dorset

Studland is a four-mile stretch of sandy beach and heathland off the Isle of Purbeck. Here you can take part in some adrenaline-fuelled watersports, walk through woodland or simply gaze across the sea towards the Isle of Wight.

Where to stay: Knoll House is a hotel in Studland that boasts a seasonal outdoor swimming pool and tennis court. From the sea views to the hot tub, this small hotel makes a quaint base for a staycation of exploring.

Blackpool Sands, South Devon

Not to be confused with the other Blackpool, this South Devon beach has a turquoise blue sea and is set in a sheltered bay, surrounded by evergreens. Here you can hire a kayak or paddleboard and swimming in stunning clean water.

Where to stay: With a magnificent location, looking out over the harbour and the River Dart, right in the heart of Dartmouth, the 17th-century building of The Royal Castle Hotel offers bright, airy rooms, and a stylish restaurant.

Crantock Beach, Cornwall

Great for sandcastles and surfing alike, this expanse of golden sand, backed by dunes, sits at the Mouth of the Gannel estuary and is presided over by the National Trust. For far reaching views, follow the South West Coast Path.

Where to stay: Boasting a spa bath, Sunnyside Cottage , set in Crantock, features three bedrooms, a fully-equipped kitchen and a garden with a barbecue.

Summerleaze, Cornwall

One of Bude’s best-loved beaches, Summerleaze offers a thoroughly British seaside scene for a sandy beach holiday. At low tide a paddling pool emerges, as does an expanse of golden sand for walks along the coast.

Where to stay: The Beach balances style and charm with slick contemporary rooms and a traditional Victorian terrace overlooking Summerleaze beach. The restaurant showcases the best of Cornish produce, while the beach bar comes to life with live music on Sunday afternoons.

Botany Bay, Kent

Budding geologers will appreciate the chalk stacks and white cliffs of Botany Bay – a beach famed for its fossil hunting and rock pools. Smugglers were once rife here, however now you're more likely to see people relaxing on this sandy UK beach.

Where to stay: Boasting picturesque views of the English Channel and the North Sea, the charming Botany Bay Hotel enjoys an elevated position on the cliff tops in Kingsgate, near Broadstairs.

Bamburgh Beach, Northumberland

Perched proudly on a grassy hill above the sands of Bamburgh is one of the country's most iconic castles. To the other side are the world famous Farne Islands – so you won't be short of things to see on this sandy beach in Northumberland.

Where to stay: In the charming village of Bamburgh, The Sunningdale is just five minutes walk from a magnificent castle and scenic coastline. It offers a restaurant that uses local produce and bright rooms, many of which enjoy splendid views of Bamburgh Castle, the village or local farmland.

Watergate Bay, Newquay

One of Cornwall's best-known beaches, Watergate Bay is a popular surf spot but is also home to many different sporting events including the English National Surfing Competition .

Where to stay: Set just 200 yards from the beach, Beachcombers Apartments provide modern self-catered accommodation just four miles from lively Newquay. A 10 mile drive through scenic countryside brings guests to Padstow’s pretty harbour.

West Wittering, West Sussex

The whole of this sandy beach is accessible to dogs from the end of September to the beginning of May. At other times, all zones are open except between groynes 14A and 18, the area in front of the beach huts. It's a great place to take the dogs to stretch their legs – and yours. A family-friendly spot with gorgeous sand, this is one to sink your toes in.

Where to stay: Set in West Wittering, Willow House B&B has a terrace and garden views and offers guests a charming welcome and down-to-earth accommodation just a few miles from the sea.

Barafundle Bay, Pembrokeshire

A spectacular beach in Wales, Barafundle Bay caught everyone's attention when it was named one of the best beaches in the world. You can reach it by walking a scenic half-mile route from Stackpole Quay and once you land on the sandy beach, you'll find turquoise water. The crescent of sheltered cove is ideal for swimming, while the Pembrokeshire Coast Path offers plenty for walkers.

Where to stay: At sunset, the Ferry House Inn and its shore-side location are bathed in a golden glow that will set the tone for your stay here. There's a cosy bar and seasonal restaurant on site.

Whitby Sands, North Yorkshire

Just a few minutes’ walk from the town of Whitby itself, Whitby Sands is perfect for sandy beach fans, with bright beach huts and sandcastle-building opportunities in sprawling supply. Fish and chips on the beach is a must here too - the battered cod at Magpie Cafe is so good that you'll often fins queues all along the street.

Where to stay: Just 10-minutes walk from Whitby Sands itself, Bagdale Hall & Annexe is an atmospheric Georgian townhouse with easy access to the North York Moors National Park.

Scarista Beach, Isle of Harris

One of the most impressive beaches in the Hebrides, even on a cloudy day Scarista Beach will take your breath away. This sandy beach is simply spectacular when the sun appears, with its flour-soft sand and turquoise water. While it's a remote one, you'll find some top foodie trips nearby.

Where to stay: With its own sun terrace and garden, Harris White Cottage in the Isle of Harris region occupies a beachfront location second-to-none.

Durdle Door, Dorset

Around 10,000 years ago, water broke through a stack of rocks on the Jurassic Coast and started to create one of the most incredible formations in the UK. Today, Durdle Door is an iconic archway with a sandy beach that you'll find on many postcards of Britain.

Where to stay: Lulworth Lodge , just a five-minute walk from Lulworth Cove, is a coastal lodge around an eight-minute drive from Durdle Door. There are 12 stylish rooms, including two that welcome dogs. The restaurant serves up fresh local fish and the outside deck is perfect for soaking up the summer sun with some fizz.

Formby Beach, Merseyside

One of the National Trust’s fastest-changing shorelines, family-friendly Formby beach has a network of dunes which move at an alarming four metres a year. Look out to the sea for amazing views across the Irish Sea and spot some wildlife in the woodlands that back the beach, too. You might be lucky enough to see some red squirrels.

Where to stay: A 20-minute drive away from the golden sands of Formby Beach, this grade 2 listed apartment on Southport Promenade is also just 750 yards from Southport Beach. The chic three-bedroom apartment provides the perfect sanctuary to rest your salty feet.

Portstewart Strand, County Londonderry

In between the mouth of the River Bann and Portstewart are rolling dunes and pristine sands. And designated drivers rejoice: the two-mile stretch is one of the last places in Ireland where cars are still allowed to drive straight onto the beach. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s incredibly popular with families who want to picnic on the shores.

Where to stay: Situated on the stunning coast of North Antrim in the seaside town of Portstewart, Me & Mrs Jones Hotel offers a boutique restaurant & bar serving highly renowned dishes and drinks for all tastes.

Rhossili Bay, Gower Peninsula

Remote Rhossili Bay has a long list of accolades and has been named the ‘best beach in Europe’ and ‘top ten beaches in the world’. One visit here and it’s easy to see why it's an award-winning sandy beach. The steep, winding walk down to the coast from Rhossili village is stunning, with panoramic views over three miles of golden sand, and on clear days, to the coastline of North Devon.

Where to stay: Featuring sea views, Creek Cottage sleeps four and provides the perfect base for your next sandy beach break. Enjoy a fully-equipped kitchen, dining room and cosy living room, where you can spread out and relax after a day building sandcastles.

Luskentyre Beach, Isle of Harris

Visit Luskentyre out of season and you might be lucky enough to have this bright-white sandy beach all to yourself. A short drive north of Scarista, it's one of Harris’s biggest beaches, attracting seaside lovers to relax on the sand and soak up the Caribbean-like views.

Where to stay: Kirklea Island Suites is situated in Tarbert and offers self-contained units each featuring a patio, seating area, kitchen and coffee machine. Don't fancy cooking? There's an on-site restaurant that serves lunch and dinner, too.

Compton Bay, Isle of Wight

Compton Bay on the southwest of the island is popular with families, surfers and dog walkers, as everyone is welcome on the beach between Hanover Point and Brook Chine. Rising behind the coast, there are walking opportunities across acres of open downland, with stunning views out to sea from this sandy UK beach.

Where to stay: Villa Rothsay Hotel in Cowes is a boutique hotel housed in a Victorian villa. It offers views of the Solent, a comfortable drawing room and an honesty bar with Isle of Wight gin and tonic.

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Navigating Dog-Friendly Travel in 2024: Data, Insight, and Expert Tips

Sam Tetrault

May 23, 2024

We know dog owners navigate the world a little bit differently. Whether they're planning a family outing or a week-long getaway, dog-friendly travel has its challenges. That's why we've put together this dog-friendly travel report — so dog owners (and those who support them) can check in with the current state of travel with Fido.

With the majority of dog owners reporting they travel with their pets at least occasionally (over 50%), we know that dog owners have their own tips and tricks for exploring with their furry friends. We asked our audience to answer key questions about how they travel with their dogs, and we're excited to share their responses with you — along with dog-friendly travel tips from seasoned pros.

Previously, we covered:

• The Best Dog-Friendly Hotel Chains
• The More Recommended Dog-Friendly Airlines

Now, let's dive deeper into the stats behind dog-friendly travel according to the 6090 total responses from the Sniffspot community:

How Often Do You Travel with Your Dog?

How Did We Compile These Stats?

First, let's cover the background information so you understand how we created this guide to the state of dog-friendly travel. We're lucky at Sniffspot to have a community of dog experts and dog lovers willing to share their expertise.

Over 6000 users responded, covering a wide range of demographics and backgrounds. We then compiled these stats into this easy-to-digest guide. Not only is it designed to help you make dog-friendly travel plans, but it's a reminder to travel brands to consider ways to make travel more accessible to furry friends.

Through our research, we quickly learned that dog-friendly travel isn't one-size-fits-all. While the majority of dog owners in our community have traveled recently with their pets, their answers depend on:

• Their geographic location
• Their dog's reactivity/anxiety level
• Travel budget
• Age and generation
• Travel preferences

With that in mind, traveling with your dog shouldn't feel like being stuck in the doghouse. It's a chance to create new memories with this four-legged member of the family.

Generational Dog-Friendly Travel Trends

To begin, a quick breakdown of our responses shows that just about every generation likes to travel with their pets:

Dog-Friendly Travel by Generation

Of the generations above, the most likely to travel with their dogs frequently or very frequently are Millennials and Gen X , closely followed by Gen Z . Meanwhile, those of older generations are more likely to leave their pets at home.

These generations, in particular, highlight a lot of personal benefits to traveling with their pets. These include companionship, knowing their pets are well taken care of, and even saving money.

Why Do You Travel with Your Dog?

Millennials are also the most open to sharing tips about their dog's travel. Here's what a few recommended for owners looking to travel with their dogs:

"Planning ahead, thinking about what activities my dog will enjoy most, being prepared to change plans if they need it, bringing familiar things with me to help them feel more comfortable in lodging spaces." "Know your dog. If they are an anxious homebody, please find a pet sitter you trust and leave doggo home instead! Considering hotel fees and such, it likely won't be that much more expensive, and you and your dog will both be happier. If traveling, build in some fun doggo stops (like mini-hikes on the road that will be fun for everyone), and bring doggo's bed/blanket/something cozy from home."

Of course, it's not all smooth sailing. Anyone who has traveled (with or without a pet) knows that things happen. Millennials and Gen Z, specifically, highlighted significant challenges when traveling with dogs. Here's what they said:

Millennials:

• It's hard to find pet-friendly accommodations (22%)
• It's difficult to work on training when traveling (17%)
• It's hard to keep up with my dog's exercise and potty breaks (16%)
• It's hard to find pet-friendly accommodations (24%)
• It's hard to keep up with my dog's exercise and potty breaks (19%)
• I struggle to find dog-friendly transportation (16%)

Younger dog owners are also more likely to choose an alternative over a hotel. The majority of travelers who use Airbnb or VRBO with their dogs are Millennials (46%) or Gen X (28%). These younger travelers say they opt for a rental because:

• It's more private and comfortable.
• There are fewer restrictions (like on the size of the dog).
• You can find a backyard for your dog.

Which Generations Are Likely to Use a Vacation Rental?

Elder Travel with Dogs: Comfort and Convenience

Next, we want to focus on how those in older generations travel with dogs. Our key takeaway is that this group values comfort and convenience — and we can't blame them for that!

Older travelers (Silent Generation and Baby Boomers) are 5% less likely to travel with pets compared to their younger counterparts. To be specific, 28% of Baby Boomers travel rarely or less often with their pet. Only 14% of Baby Boomers travel very frequently with their pets.

What's causing those in their golden years to leave their pups behind?

• Accommodation (26%): The majority of Baby Boomers cite finding pet-friendly accommodations as the biggest hurdle to traveling with pets.
• Exercise (18%): Almost 20% of Baby Boomers struggle with getting their pets enough exercise and stimulation when they travel.
• Training and behavior (16%): Similarly, Baby Boomers worry if their pets can keep up their training and behavior needs while on the road.
• Human stress (13%): It goes without saying, but traveling with a dog is stressful .
• Transportation (13%) : Though more travel and transportation companies are creating dog-friendly policies for guests, it's still hard to make arrangements for hotels, planes, trains, and so on.

What Are Your Biggest Struggles When Traveling with Your Dog? (Baby Boomers)

Luckily, many of our trusted community members were open with their best travel tips for any age:

"Allow extra time for them to exercise and go potty. Don't rush and stay relaxed so they will be relaxed." "Make plenty of time for changes in plans! Pack your love (and a lot of patience)."

What Types of Dogs Do People Travel With?

Let's take a closer look at the types of dogs our community travels with when they hit the road. From different breeds, sizes, and temperaments, no two furry friends are exactly alike.

When it comes to traveling with pets, size matters. It's easier to travel with a small pet for practical reasons — like meeting airline or hotel room size restrictions. However, we still found that, by far, most of our readers travel with their mixed-breed dogs (39%), followed by Pitbulls, German Shepherd Dog (GSD), and Labrador Retrievers.

What Are the Most Common Dog Breeds Amongst Travelers?

Though small dogs are generally more travel-friendly, the majority of our readers reported they're comfortable traveling with their medium (30 - 50 lbs) and large dogs (50+ lbs).

What Size Dog Do You Travel With?

Additionally, we asked our audience whether they considered their dog anxious or reactive. Over half (68%) said yes, and this impacts how they approach traveling with dogs. Travelers with reactive or anxious pups are more likely to be concerned about:

• Privacy: It's important to know if/when you'll interact with other people, dogs, or animals. Reactive dog owners value privacy above all else, usually opting for road trips, private rentals, or hotels with greater space.
• Dog behavior modification: Reactive and anxious dog owners are usually proactive with their dog's training, and 13% of our travelers worry about their dog's behavior when traveling.
• Dog-friendly activities: Finally, it's a challenge to find dog-friendly activities when your pup is reactive.

Our reactive dog owners are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to traveling with an anxious dog. They share great advice:

"Don't expect your dogs to behave better or even as well as they do at home. It is very common for dogs to exhibit unwanted behaviors, anxious, reactive behaviors, destructive, stressed, protective, and aggressive behaviors when they are in unfamiliar environments, routines, smells, sounds, and energy. Prepare for the worst, protect your dog and yourself from a negative situation by being aware. Set her up for success." "Our reactive dog does SO MUCH BETTER at Airbnbs and vacation rentals. I highly recommend choosing a place with more space when traveling with your dog."

Get safe exercise for your dog by renting a private dog park near you

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Dog-Friendly Travel: The Cost

We can't talk about dog-friendly travel without talking money. We asked our community to share their experience traveling with their dog when it comes to costs.

With the average dog boarding stay costing over $50/night, it's not exactly cheap to leave your dog behind either. Despite rising boarding costs, only 3% of our community said traveling with their dog was much less expensive than traveling with their pet.

How Does the Cost of Traveling with Your Dog Compare to Traveling Without Your Pet?

As you can see, the majority of dog owners believe traveling with their pet is at least similarly expensive (92%) to boarding your pet. Because of the cost, many people have looked into alternatives like a different destination or method of travel. Of our roughly 6000 respondents:

• 36% - Chose a different destination
• 43% - Chose a different mode of transportation (airplane, car, etc.)
• 47% - Chose a different accommodation
• 39% - Chose different activities

These changes above were all due to the costs and challenges of dog-friendly travel. Only 12% reported having to make no changes to their travel plans due to the cost of traveling with a pet.

The State of Dog-Friendly Travel: When Is Fido Left at Home?

Last but not least, not all dog owners choose to hit the road with their pets. As you can see from the results above, there are a lot of costs, factors, and considerations when traveling with your pet.

Many of our community members were quick to share how challenging it is to travel with their dogs, especially when things don't perfectly line up.

"We usually have dogs with special needs so my partner and I don't travel together so one of us can stay home. We've never vacationed together in 15 years." "I don't travel with my dogs to hotels. If I do travel, it's to a family or friend's house so we all feel more comfortable."

When owners choose to leave their pets behind, where do they go? The majority leave pets with trusted friends or family (52%), followed by leaving them at a kennel (23%) or in-home professional sitter (20%).

How Do You Secure Your Pet When You Leave Them Home?

You know your dog best. Our community of experts encourages dog owners to consider their pet's comfort first and foremost.

"Plan your trip around what will actually work for your dog. Leave them home or with a sitter if it's not a good situation for them." "I've found my dogs are most comfortable when I leave them home with a sitter or friend who can exercise them and keep them in their usual routine." "Be honest about whether the trip is really right for your pup. If not, for example it's hot or you'll be driving a lot, leave them at home. They'll be more comfortable."

Get your dog the safe enrichment they need by renting a Sniffspot

Explore spots

Debunking the State of Dog-Friendly Travel

We've officially shared our insights from our 2024 state of dog-friendly travel research. These stats and figures are representative of the Sniffspot community, a passionate group of dog enthusiasts who understand that not all dogs have the same needs.

Are you thinking of traveling with your pet? We're here to help:

• Find a private dog park near your destination
• Learn how to handle separation anxiety in your dog
• Explore dog-friendly hotel chains (as rated by our readers)
• See the top dog-friendly airlines

Have you traveled with your dog? If so, how does your experience relate to the stats and figures above?

About the author

About Sniffspot

Sniffspot is a community marketplace that enables anyone to rent land by-the-hour as a safe and private dog park.

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With just a few cost-effective tuning and tweaking here and there, you can experience the Japan trip of your life to the fullest. We’re going to look at transportation, accommodation, and food, as well as some tips to save money in Japan.

Is It Possible To Do Japan On A Budget?

Make the most out of your yen with these Japan on-budget tips. Photo credit: takafumihosoya

Although it’s not impossible, with a tight budget , it takes a lot more planning and self-discipline to achieve that. And it’s one of the many hard truths about budget travelling one needs to hear before embarking on their journey. The more convenient and “within reach” everything is, the more expensive your trip is going to be.  

To stay within budget, you may have to stick to cheaper options like street food, general restaurants, and convenience stores . The same goes for accommodations. The closer to a tourist attraction or town centre you are , the more costly it is.

Another thing you need to know is that touristy places get tourist prices . Some attractions in Japan have inflated tourist prices, making it difficult to stick to a budget.

So, the bottom line is you must invest a little more time planning your itinerary. You have to be resourceful and adaptable with your options. You also must stay on track with your budget plan most of the time. After all, it’s easy to get distracted in this wonderful country.

But hey, don’t feel so down. There are plenty of ways to work our way around that. Challenging yourself to be resourceful makes your Japan trip even more memorable.

Is $100 A Day Enough For Japan?

As a budget traveller with careful planning, $100 a day is enough for travelling to Japan on a budget . Some day, you will even spend less than that. You can expect to spend around $50 on food (about 3 meals a day) and maybe $15 on transportation. Depending on your preference, you can save a lot more money if you choose free or cheap attractions.

However, keep in mind that travelling is about enjoying yourself and making the most out of what you have. Not having the thought of saving money hanging on top of your head the whole trip! So, plan carefully before you go to avoid stressing yourself out at the last minute.

Japan has many affordable alternatives to transportation and food. Photo by Natee Meepian - stock.adobe.com

A good tip is to ask the locals. Try asking for their advice or reading reviews of locals before booking anything. You can also try booking via a local Japanese website, they are a bit hassle to navigate, but maybe you can score a great deal.

Also, note that your first day is often the most expensive, as you might need to buy a SIM card and other necessities. So, expect to spend a little more money on day 1.

What Is The Cheapest Month To Travel To Japan?

The most affordable time to visit Japan is between January and February, just before Spring, the cherry blossom season. September and October are other cheap months.

• January and February (except holidays) : You can find lower prices on flights and accommodation. However, it's important to note that some businesses may be closed during this time, and the weather can be cold, especially in the northern parts of the country.
• March (shoulder season) : The period between the peak and off-seasons. The cherry blossoms start to bloom in southern Japan, but the crowds haven't arrived yet. This can be a great time to visit if you want to experience the cherry blossoms without the crowds.
• September and October (shoulder season) : The weather is usually pleasant, and the crowds are smaller than they are in the summer. You can also find good deals on flights and accommodation during this time.

Flying To Japan On A Budget

Before we get on to the sights and sounds of Japan, let’s take a look at transportation. A big part of a budget-friendly Japan itinerary relies a lot on how to get to and get around your destination.

Luckily, Japan has one of the most extensive and developed public transport systems in the world. It’s easily accessible everywhere in major cities at any time, and there are many suitable choices for your budget.

Air travel in Japan on a budget is possible. Photo by fongleon356 - stock.adobe.com

Tips For Flying For Cheap

Flying can be scary, and we’re not talking about height. It’s the cost. To fly more for less money, you’ll need to have a few tricks up your sleeve.

• Fly with low-cost airlines : There are a number of budget airlines that fly to Japan, such as Peach Aviation, Jetstar, and Spring Airlines. These airlines often have lower fares than major airlines, but keep in mind that they may also have fewer amenities, such as free checked bags and meals.
• Book in advance : to land better deals, don’t wait until the last minute to grab your tickets. However, there can be occasional sales and last-minute deals, so it's always worth checking for those as well.
• Be flexible with your travel dates : Flights are generally cheaper during the shoulder seasons (spring and fall) and the off-season (winter). Consider flying into a smaller airport in Japan, like Osaka or Fukuoka, which can sometimes be cheaper than flying into Tokyo.
• Use flight comparison sites such as SkyScanner , Expedia , and Google Flights to find better deals.
• Try travel hacking : Use credit card rewards and loyalty programs to earn discounted (sometimes free) flights, lounge access, and hotel stays.

Best Budget Airline In Japan 

Budget airlines like Peach Aviation, Zipair and Jetstar Japan have become increasingly popular with budget-conscious travellers in recent years. They are budget-friendly alternatives to the popular Japan Airlines and ANA , with much lower fares and a no-frills approach.

Here’s a little breakdown for your reference:

The only downside, which we’re sure won’t be a problem for well-prepared travellers, is that these budget airlines may not offer the luxuries of traditional airlines. This means that your ticket might not cover all the amenities, such as a checked baggage allowance. You might have to purchase these amenities separately.

Pack Light And Use Coin-Operated Laundromats

View this post on Instagram A post shared by CABINZERO (@cabinzero)

To keep your trip truly within budget, one of the smartest things to do is to get away with paying for unnecessary fees like baggage. 

Most airlines, even budget ones, allow 1 free carry-on bag of a certain weight and, sometimes, 1 personal item such as a small purse or a laptop bag. Any other baggage may be subject to additional fees. With that in mind, it’s essential that you don’t exceed the allowance.

To avoid paying extra for baggage, pack light and travel with only a carry-on if you can. You’ll need to put some extra effort into packing and choosing the right backpack. 

A good carry-on backpack should be big enough for all your essentials while still remaining cabin-sized. It should also have a smart compartment layout and comfortable straps that won’t dig into your shoulders painfully. CabinZero’s cabin-sized backpack line is a great start. They fit almost all airlines’ carry-on descriptions. 

Pack enough clothes for a week and wash them regularly; then, you can explore Japan for months on end. Laundromats are not hard to find; they are available at hotels, hostels and business hotels. If not, you are likely to see one next door; there are a lot of them around Japan. Try to put “コインランドリー” in your Google Maps and search for one nearby.

Buses, Trains Or Subways In Japan For Cheaper Travel?

When planning your route, consider these factors: fares, time of day, distance, the area you’re in (countryside or big city?), and how fast you need to get there. 

These three options are relatively some of the most affordable ways to travel within a city or town in Japan without worrying about going over budget. That’s not to mention the tourist passes you can get, which allow you to travel to a lot more places for way less than a taxi or a rental car charge.

Getting around the country doesn’t need much. Photo by f11photo - stock.adobe.com

Highway bus service is the cheapest means of transportation to get around Japan. Buses are slower than trains and subways, but they cost way less. There are night buses for longer distances. A bus ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto can cost as low as €15. Willer Express is a good place to start.

The Shinkansen is a feat of engineering and the fastest way to get around the country. However, the fare is north of hundreds of euro - up there with air fare. So you should skip them for their hefty price tag, but if you can, you should experince it once to see what it’s like.

Local trains, on other hand, is more reasonable in terms of pricing. They, along with buses, are the best options for travel around the cities. However, avoid morning and afternoon rush hours as they will be jam-packed with people leaving work and school.

If you are looking for a cheap alternative to the train, something like the Tokyo Subway Day Pass is great. For just 1,500 yen (~€9), you get unlimited access to all subway stations across the city. There are many regional day passes like this if you stick to one region at a time.

Is It Cheaper To Use JR Japan Rail Pass In Japan?

The Rail Pass is undoubtedly the most well-known. It is available for 7, 14, or 21 days. Depending on your destination, you may need to travel two round trips a day or more to pay off the pass. 

However, paying for individual tickets is better , especially after a recent price hike - up to 77% for a 7-day pass. You will still get charged the same amount for a ride, but you won’t waste the amount already paid for but couldn’t get the chance to use. 

For example, a one-way ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto costs around 16,000 JPY/reserved seat . A 7-day Tokyo-Kyoto rail pass costs 50,000 JPY (ordinary cards). If you make a round trip with an individual ticket, the total is ~32,000 JPY, which is cheaper than a JRP. 

If you still want to buy a Japan Rail Pass, keep in mind that it’s only available online at https://www.jrpass.com/ and must be purchased before going to Japan.

Individual tickets and Japan rail pass suit different travel needs. Photo by Richie Chan - stock.adobe.com

Find Accommodations For Japan On a Budget

After transportation, accommodation is the second aspect you need to plan strategically. Why? Because if you just aim at the lowest-priced option, you may have to sacrifice your comfort and convenience. 

Most rooms in Japan are on a smaller side (and are pricey, especially if you are in big cities like Tokyo). But the hygiene standard is very high. Expect to find age-old furniture, but things will be very clean.

Here’s a comparison of price for 1 night between a Ryokan, hostel’s dormitory, and capsule hotel for your reference (according to Booking.com listing).

Hostels offer the cheapest option, with dorm beds starting around ¥2,000-¥4,000 per night (€12-€30). Ideal for very budget-conscious travelers who don't mind shared spaces and a social atmosphere. Many hostels offer amenities like common areas, laundry facilities, and sometimes even free breakfast.

Business Hotels

If you want to enjoy the amenities of hotel without stressing out your pocket, try “business hotels”. Business hotels typically range from ¥4,000 to ¥8,000 per night (€30 to €60) for a single room

They focus more on travelling for business purposes rather than leisure, so they are often located near business centres and airports rather touristy spots. They are more of a place for travelling business people to crash for a night. Room rates are also lower for that reason.

They may be lacking in terms of aesthetics, but you still get a private room, breakfast, and even onsen access on a budget. Budget hotel chains in Japan include Dormy Inn, Toyoko, and more.

Capsule Hotel

Capsule hotels are generally cheaper than traditional hotels, with prices ranging from ¥2,000 to ¥5,000 per night (approximately €12-€30). If you arrive at Terminal 2 of Narita airport (one of the best airports in the world ), 9h hours Narita is worth a stay to recharger after a long flight, especially a red eye one .

Most capsule hotels offer shared facilities, including bathrooms, showers, and sometimes saunas or public baths. Some also provide lounge areas, vending machines, and laundry services. Remember to bring earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones to block out noise.

Ryokan and Minshuku

Some Ryokan, while excellent to experience, can be quite costly for budget travellers. Photo by Paolo Marzio - stock.adobe.com

If you’re looking to stay in a Ryokan for your Japan on-budget trip, the answer is that they’re not cheaper than regular hotels. They are typically in the same price range. Some high-end options can be as expensive as big chain hotels, sometimes more. 

However, since budget travel is booming, many more affordable options are popping up. If you want to stay in a Ryokan and stick to your budget, consider:

• Ryokan with fewer amenities such as meals or a private hot spring.
• Ryokan with shared facilities like a dining room and bathroom.
• Ryokan far away from city centre or attractions.

Manga Cafés and Internet Cafés

These are opens 24/7 and range from ¥200 to ¥600 per hour. However, most require a one-time membership fee (around ¥100-¥300); keep this in mind when budgeting. That said, we only recommend these places for 1-2 nights (less than 6 hours each) as they are not very comfortable and quiet compared to capsule hotels or hostels.

How Much Should I Budget For Food Per Day In Japan?

If you have a tight budget, it is recommended to spend around 3,000 to 6,000 yen, with some adjustment according to your preferences and the region you’re in. Food in big cities cost more than in rural areas. Generally, unless you visit some fancy places, each meal costs around ¥500-1,500 (€3-9).

If breakfast is not included in your accommodation, you can budget for food per day like this:

• Breakfast : 500 to 1,000 yen
• Lunch : 800 to 1,500 yen
• Dinner : 1,000 to 2,500 yen
• Snacks and drinks : 500 to 1,000 yen.

What Is The Cheapest Food To Eat In Japan?

Japanese cuisine offers a lot of options for budget globetrotters. Photo by Hihitetlin - stock.adobe.com

Japanese cuisine is fantastic and diverse. For Japan on budget travellers, even without the money to enjoy the kaisaki and omakase, there are plenty of options to choose from. And they are decent to boot. The cheapest food to eat in Japan can be found in:

• Kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi): you can pick and choose your favourite sushi dishes which are presented on a conveyor belt. 
• Ramen shops : the popular noodle soup dish is often served at affordable eateries.
• Izakaya : pub-like establishment that serves small plates and drinks 
• Fast-food chains such as Yoshinoya, Marugame, and Coco Ichibanya serve Japanese comfort food dishes, such as Gyodon (beef rice bowl).
• Kare raisu (curry rice) shops : this warm, savoury dish is filling and inexpensive.
• Famiresu (family restaurants) : these types of restaurant serve a wide range of dishes, from traditional to Western - perfect for group travelling. 
• Konbini (convenience stores) : they have ready-to-eat options such as onigiri (rice balls), bento, sandwiches, oden (hot pot), and desserts.
• Vending machines : can be found at every corner. They are convenient for grabbing drinks or snacks at any time of the day. 

Other Ways To Find Cheap Eat In Japan

At around 8pm, you’ll find 40-50% discounted bentos and ready-made foods at the supermarkets. It’s a great chance to stock up food for mid-night snacks or breakfast for the next day.

Some restaurants have both English and Japanese menus. The Japanese menu may have more affordable prices. Ask for the Japanese menu and use Google Lens to translate it for potential savings.

Eating at an department store may not sounds appealing, but the food kiosks at the basement of those stores may surprise you. The variety ranges from Japanese to Western.

Hunting for some fruits and vegetables is recommended. When you are travelling in Japan, most foods will have only cabbage, spinach, or boiled carrot. An apple or two may provide you the fiber you need for your digestive system.

Last but not least, try to spend a bit more from time to time. Japan is a haven for foodies, and you are robbing yourself of delish dishes if you try to budget all the time. We are not saying you should spend lavioursy on a meal, but a reasonable meal is worth it for soaking up the culture and atmosphere.

Cheap Activities And Attractions In Japan For Budget Travellers

Nara Deer Park is an excellent spot for your Japan on-budget trip. Photo by Ukey - stock.adobe.com

When planning your Japan on-budget itinerary, don’t forget to estimate how much you need for visiting attractions. Some grand attractions may cost a lot, but luckily, there are plenty that are affordable and free. Before adding them to your list, consider:

• Purchasing travel packages : travel sites often sell packages that include attraction tickets as well as flights for a discounted price.
• Buy attraction tickets online : some sites like Klook or Rakuten offer exclusive deals for attractions.
• Research before you visit : Some places offer early bird or student discounts. Look them up before you go so you know to book in advance or bring the necessary ID to qualify for discounts.

You can even enjoy a Japanese travel experience to the fullest without paying. There are many free attractions around Japan.

Explore Temples and Shrines

You are free to admire the architecture and peaceful atmosphere of most temples without paying a dime (Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine, Senso-ji Temple, etc.). Some temples and shrines might have inner gardens or specific buildings requiring a small admission fee (usually under ¥500/€3). They are also a good place to refill your reusable water bottle with free to use water fountains.

Visit Parks and Gardens

There are many wonderful adminssion-free options, from western to Japanese style. Ueno Zoo, Tokyo National Museum and the beautiful gardens of Ueno Park, to name just a few. Feeding and pet the lovely deer of Nara Park is one thing our team love to do.

Even for paid gardens, they are worth it and won’t break the bank. For instance, the serene Shinjuku Gyoen costs just about ¥500 (€3) for entry fee.

Ueno Park - a must visit for every Japan traveller on a budget. Photo by show999 - stock.adobe.com

People-Watching on the street

Soak in the vibrance of the country by walking the bustling streets of Akihabara or Harajuku. You can also people-watch and soak up the atmosphere. While not an official attraction, Shibuya Crossing - one of the busiest intersections in the world - is a sight to behold.

Browse Bookstores and Department Stores

A trip to Loft, Tokyu Hands and Don Quijote is amazing. These stationary and departments are on another level, you’ll have to experience to understand it. And if you are a book and/or architecture lovers, there are many places that is well worth a visit such as Daikanyama T-Site.

Catch a Festival

Visit a local festival to celebrate Japanese traditions, from cherry blossoms to arts and crafts. You can go to Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)’s website for some inspirations.

Take A Day Hike

Japan has various day hiking trails like Mount Fuji and the Japanese Alps. The vast majority of them are free to access. However, remember to budget the transportation fares and national park entrance fees.

Sing Your Heart Out In A Karaoke Room

Renting a private karaoke room is common as it is a beloved pastime in Japan. Big franchises like Karaoke Kan or Big Echo are a safe bet. You can easily find English songs, too. Expect to pay around ¥300/€1,8 per hour if you visit on weekend afternoons .

Are You Ready For Your Japan On Budget Trip?

Japan on a budget is totally possible and can be a wonderful experience, though there will be some certain challenges. 

Japan is a beautiful and vibrant country, with the perfect harmony between modernity and vintage charms. It’s easy to get distracted by all the wonderful options available. But with some careful planning, we’re sure you can bid farewell to expensive travel and say “konichiwa” to budget-friendly getaway.

If you find this article useful, don’t forget to leave us a comment or reach out to us via social media. 

Nguyen Tran Gia Khanh

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