UGCs and wellness touristic image: the Spanish case

Abstract

[EN] The purpose of this paper is to analyse the characteristics of the projected image of wellness tourism by studying memorable experiences transmitted through user-generated content (UGC) in eight Spanish tourist destinations. To achieve this objective the methodology employed has been a netnographic and framework analysis applied to a UGC dataset collected from Airbnb Experiences in eight main Spanish tourist destinations. Based on the keyBERT value, the dimensions and elements that characterise wellness tourism were identified, and a correlation analysis was carried out. Based on the dimensions and the UGC of each destination, the wellness tourism image of each destination was identified. The main result is that the image of a tourist destination can be established on the basis of the UGC, with the Spirit dimension standing out as the most relevant in the image of the destination when we talk about wellness tourism. Likewise, the existence of strong linear correlations, both positive and negative, between the wellness dimensions and their elements is also observed. The interest of the work lies in the use of data from sources that have been little exploited scientifically in order to test their validity as a source of projected tourist image of different destinations, applied to wellness tourism. Furthermore, it seeks to confirm the validity of the set of keywords found in order to create a valid library for future studies on wellbeing based on UGC analysis.