Tracking the evolution of a destination's image by text-mining online reviews - the case of Macau

It has during the last decade become a common practice for tourists to post an account of their travel experience online. This article uses text-mining techniques to investigate the evolution of the content of TripAdvisor online reviews about Macau between 2005 and 2013. In the course of this period, the number of such reviews exploded, starting from almost nothing, at the same time as Macau as a tourist destination metamorphosed itself from a quaint footnote to Hong Kong into the 'Las Vegas of the East'. Moreover, over the period, a number of new non-gambling attractions became also available to visitors. The article then compares the evolution of the user-generated online content to the one of the image of Macau as projected by the official destination promoter over the period. This comparison reveals that while the latter projects essentially the same image over time, the TripAdvisor reviews exhibit some clear trends.