Research Article

Tour guide performance through the eyes of tourists: An analysis of user-generated reviews on Expedia

Volume: 10 Number: 1 April 8, 2025
TR EN

Tour guide performance through the eyes of tourists: An analysis of user-generated reviews on Expedia

Abstract

This research aims to evaluate the impact of tour guides on the overall tour experience and to improve the destination experience for tourists by measuring tour guide performance. As a research pattern, a case study of qualitative research and web content analysis method was applied in the study. The analysis was conducted based on 260 comments related to tour guides. Content analysis was conducted according to 2 main themes (personality traits and guiding skills) and 18 sub-themes determined by reading the comments. Word clouds, word frequencies, theme and sub-theme frequencies, and percentages were utilized in the analysis. The content analysis showed that tour guides had comprehensive professional knowledge, were friendly and helpful towards tourists, and were also proficient in the language they spoke, which in turn contributed to a more satisfying tour experience. The research highlights the significant impact of tour guides' behavior on the overall tour experience and the importance of measuring their performance to enhance the destination experience for tourists and explores the use of User Generated Content (UGC) on Expedia to achieve this.

Keywords

Guided Tours , Tourist Guides , User Generated Content (UGC) , Expedia

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APA
Yılmaz, N., Özsoy, A., & Demirel İli, N. (2025). Tour guide performance through the eyes of tourists: An analysis of user-generated reviews on Expedia. Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Tourism, 10(1), 65-78. https://doi.org/10.31822/jomat.2025-10-1-65