Intra-destination Travel Behaviors Analyses using Social Network Analysis Method among FITs from China, Japan, and North Americans to Seoul, South Korea

Intra-destination Travel Behaviors Analyses using Social Network Analysis Method among FITs from China, Japan, and North Americans to Seoul, South Korea

Purpose - This study aims to compare intra-destination travel behavior among Chinese, Japanese, and American international inbound tourists to Seoul, by means of social network analysis (SNA) using 2015 International Visitor Survey data. Design/methodology/approach - The raw data were converted into social network data and then social networks among the sub destinations were constructed using UCINET software for SNA. Findings - Results indicate that first, the density indices contrastingly differ across three intra-destination travel networks and the different destinations of high normalized centrality indices were also identified in the networks. Second, different attractions of high scores in terms of frequency and normalized centrality indices were identified. Lastly, this study discovered that three nationality-based networks have a contrastingly different network structure through Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) analysis. Research implications or Originality - Marketing and planning implications for practitioners were also presented along with suggestions for future research venue.