Shaping the online destination image of Venice: Comparative perspectives of international and domestic tourists

Little has been recorded so far about the influence of flagship events on tourists’ online images of an urban destination. The current chapter compares international and domestic tourists’ interpretations of Venice, based on the online posts exchanged during the Venetian carnival period, using machine learning algorithms. To this end, 4928 online posts – two sets of 2452 online posts of international tourists and 2476 of domestic tourists, respectively – were collected and then analysed via sentiment and automatic content analysis. The carnival event dominates tourists’ communications, both international and domestic ones, as city’s major attraction. Findings also reveal the unique city architecture and the world renown carnival events as the main similarities between the two tourist segments. International tourists focus on carnival too, yet they seem to prioritize over local cuisine, representing a major difference between the two groups in shaping destination images. For domestic tourists, safety and security measures are of utmost importance. The results contribute to the literature on the formation of online urban destination images via further clarifying its constituent elements as these are indicated by two diverse tourist segments. Managers would also benefit from it.