Potential and implications for destination management of Online Travel Reviews’ argumentative analysis. The case of domestic and international tourism market in Jiuzhaigou National Park, China.

Tourists increasingly rely on eWord-of-mouth (eWOM) to make a variety of travel related decisions, thanks to their easiness of access and multiplicity of contributors. Online Travel Reviews (OTR) are the most accessible and prevalent form of eWOM in the field of eTourism (Bronner & De Hoog, 2011; Dwyer, 2007). They represent people’s wish to share their travel experiences online, recommend a tourism product or complain about it. The potential OTR have to influence tourists’ decisions shall be ascribed to their argumentative nature (De Ascaniis & Gretzel, 2013): they provide, indeed, “opinionated” information, that is information based upon personal reflection and assessment of the reviewer’s experience (De Ascaniis, Bischof & Cantoni, 2013). The arguments put forward by the reviewer to support his/her opinions may appeal to the readers in different ways: according to common knowledge, to shared as well as to personal values, beliefs, expectations, wishes. An analysis of the arguments provided by tourists in OTR when evaluating a tourism destination allows to gain a precise and deep understanding of their experience and, thus, to capture the overall perception of the destination. An argumentative analysis of a sample of OTR on Jiuzhaigou National Park in China is presented, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site often regarded as a benchmark for the management of other National Parks in China. Aim of the study was to investigate the arguments given by visitors when commenting either positively or negatively on the park, and to see if and which are the differences between domestic and outbound tourists’ perception. A particular emphasis was put on comments related to the park’s management, with the aim of highlighting if and how tourists’ perceptions of environmental-friendly solutions implemented in the park can be reflected in their reviews. Results have a number of implications for the management of the destination.