Are Social Media Data Pushing Overtourism? The Case of Barcelona and Chinese Tourists

Overtourism spoils the good economic and social results produced by the tourism sector, causing reductions in the quality of service of the tourist destination and rejection by the local population. Previous literature has suggested that social networks and new electronic channels could be accelerators of the process of overcrowding destinations; however, this link has not been established. For this reason, in this exploratory study, the influence of social networks on overtourism is analysed using Barcelona as a base, as Barcelona is a massively popular destination in the country that is second in the world in reception of tourists to Spain. This study is also focused on Chinese tourism, which brings large numbers of tourists and presents great economic potential. Two types of study have been used: big data techniques applied to social media with sentimental analysis, and analysis of travel packages offered in China to travel to Spain. Relevant results are obtained to understand the influence of social networks on the travel behaviour of tourists, possible contributions to overtourism, and recommendations for the management of tourism.