The use of photos of the social networkis in shaping a new tourist destination: analysis of clusters in a GIS environment

Abstract

The use of new photo-sharing services in social networks has favoured a perception of the interests of locals and visitors. The photos presented in these networks are geocoded by the users, residents or visitors, allowing extensive databases to be obtained. The research that was conducted between 2015 and 2016 followed an essentially quantitative approach. Based on the georeferenced photos on social networks, the main distribution patterns of places of interest to tourists, visitors and residents were analysed in a rural emergent tourist destination in northeastern Portugal. We used geographical information systems (GISs) to apply various spatial and statistical analysis techniques. One the main conclusions was that there is a high number of natural and cultural heritage locations with tourism potential, and, in some cases, their accessibility standards make them favourable destinations for tourists.