Tracking Tourists’ Mobility via the Internet

Tracking tourists’ mobility and migratory patterns may be conducted by collating their digital footprints via the web. Data of this sort may be sourced via apps such as Google Maps, or websites that collate IP numbers and their proximity to mobile phone towers. It may also be collected via big datasets such as ticketing websites, via mini programs such as those used by WeChat, and via non-big data sources such as blogs. This form of location-based tracking is a highly efficient and cost- effective means of understanding where consumers are located. The devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic upon the tourism industry have clearly indicated the potential for tracking via the internet to assist the tourism industry. Google’s analytical data that was released publicly in March 2020 provided an excellent example of this – both in terms of the insights that can emerge from data of this type, and consumers’ perceptions of the ethics of this form of data. This chapter will explore the technique, including the types of location-based data that can emerge from websites, the conceptual learnings that have emerged from this technique, and, importantly, the ethical implications of this form of data.