Identifying Geospatial Priority Hotspots of Tourism Sustainability Risk using a Destination Sustainability Index (DSI) Devised from Online Tourist Dissatisfaction and Getis-Ord Gi* Statistics 10.32526/ennrj/24/20250343
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Abstract
Managing tourism sustainability effectively requires identifying specific localized risks, which remains a significant challenge for many destinations. This research aims to identify priority hotspots of unsustainability in marine and beach tourism destinations in Eastern Thailand by employing geospatial analysis and tourist-perceived data to support targeted policy decisions. Drawing from 11,047 geotagged Tripadvisor reviews as a primary data source, the methodology commenced with processing these reviews using a high-precision transformer-based (BERT) sentiment analysis model, achieving 87% precision in the negative class. This was followed by N-gram analysis to extract specific problem phrases, which were used to construct the Destination Sustainability Index (DSI) across three main dimensions: Environmental (DSIEnv), Congestion/Access (DSIAcc), and Service/Value (DSISrv). The DSI was then subjected to hotspot analysis (Getis-Ord Gi*) to confirm the statistical significance of spatial clustering. Results confirm that Environmental problems (rubbish/dirty) and Congestion/Access issues (crowded, boat) are the most frequent concerns. The analysis clearly demonstrated that tourism dissatisfaction is not randomly distributed but localized in statistically significant spatial locations. Priority hotspots showing overlapping risks in Chonburi Province require immediate intervention, while the successful management of the Koh Kood cluster offers a blueprint for sustainable development.
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