Estimating Destination Carrying Capacity: The Big Data approach

Before the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis, forecasts of the continued tourism growth made overcrowding and related negative consequences for destination image and sustainability, the primary concerns for many destinations (Peeters et al., 2018). Although the emergency caused by the COVID-19 drastically reduced visitation of many renowned destinations, the hopes of back to normal are also associated with fears of large crowds invading touristic spots once the travel will be allowed. Accordingly, a deepening understanding of managing tourist flows and crowds appears essential for policymakers (Butler & Dodds, 2019). The present study aims at assessing social carrying capacity from the demand side (tourists). This research, combining sentiment scoring derived from TripAdvisor online reviews with official statistics about touristic flows, derived and compared two destination carrying capacity thresholds based on positive and negative emotions indices. The managerial and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed