Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.37741/t.69.2.4
One-Day Cultural Tours in Bulgaria: A Netnography Study of Customer Satisfaction
Ilinka Terziyska
; Department of Tourism, South West University Neofi t Rilski, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Abstract
The aim of this study is to identify the salient attributes of one-day cultural tours provided by ground operators. The research is based on the netnography approach, using as a main data source user-generated content (UGC) on TripAdvisor. A total of 233 reviews were processed applying thematic analysis through the R package for Qualitative Data Analysis (RQDA). Following an open coding procedure, five dimensions of service experience, possibly connected to tourist satisfaction were identified – the quality of tour guiding, the overall organization of the trip, sites visited, comfort of transport vehicles, and value for money. In practical terms, the findings will be of use to tour operators for designing a competitive product. As research on customer satisfaction regarding organized tours is limited, especially when one-day tours are concerned, this paper contributes to better understanding of the factors that affect it. The study complements existing knowledge of tourist satisfaction by providing insight and a model specifically tailored to one-day cultural tours, which are a growing segment in tour operator activities. The main limitation of the study is connected with the method used – it identifies salient attributes and prioritizes them, but cannot describe the nature and strength of the impact.
Keywords
day tours; salient attributes; satisfaction; netnography; cultural tours; thematic analysis; Bulgaria
Hrčak ID:
259222
URI
Publication date:
21.6.2021.
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