Majority of tourists appreciate Macau’s historical center

An academic study conducted by researchers from the Faculty of Humanities and Arts of the University of Science and Technology (MUST), in collaboration with a researcher from the School of Landscape Architecture, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, has found that a large majority (85.45%) of the tourists visiting Macau’s historical center have positive comments about it, while negative sentiments represent 5.76%.

The study, titled “Visual Analysis of Social Media Data on Experiences at a World Heritage Tourist Destination: Historic Centre of Macau,” analyzed the frequency of the words used by netizens to describe their experiences in Macau.

The study found that the image of the Historic Centre of Macau as a tourist destination comprises four primary dimensions: cultural (16.02%), landscape (30.85%), emotional (16.97%), and local (36.16%). Tourists report perceiving the Historic Centre of Macau as a “blend of dynamism and tranquility, tradition, and modernity.”

In their emotional evaluations, the Historic Centre of Macao, was evaluated primarily positively as a tourist destination.

Negative sentiments were said to result from recurring themes about overcrowding, high prices, a lack of interactive experiences at attractions, excessive commercialization, and insufficient public rest facilities.

Researchers noted that the findings “offer valuable directives for the future planning and development of tourism in Macau, a city recognized for its World Heritage status.”

The study concluded that the thematic image of the Historic Centre of Macao is considered to be authentic, romantic, and commercialized.

The study employed Python 3.12.3 software to scrape web text data between January 1, 2020, and June 30, 2023, concentrating on core keywords such as the Historic Centre of Macao, Ruins of St. Paul’s, and Senado Square. Data collection focused on mainstream travel websites, including Ctrip and Mafengwo, the researchers explained in the methodology section.

The researchers also justified the choice of Ctrip and Mafengwo Tourism Network for data collection, noting that the first is “China’s leading mobile transaction platform for travel bookings” and was selected due to its expansive market share and diverse traveler demographics, while the second is a “prominent online tourism review community in China, chosen for its comprehensive travel information and broad user base.”

A total of 3,855 valid text data points were collected and optimized for this analysis.

The study acknowledged methodological limitations, including the fact that the analysis was focused only on data collected from Ctrip and Mafengwo, “neglecting other platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Douyin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TripAdvisor, which could offer more diverse textual data for future studies.”

Another limitation noted by the authors that could improve the quality of future studies was the lack of incorporation of image and video content from sources such as video bloggers to further enrich the results of the textual analysis. The authors also noted that the study’s timeframe could potentially introduce bias, as Macau was under severe restrictive measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic during most of the period under analysis.

Despite these limitations, the researchers noted that analyzing tourist reviews offers valuable insights into tourist cities. They reaffirmed that “by understanding tourist needs and expectations, cities can enhance tourism facilities, enhance service quality, and strengthen tourist satisfaction.”