LOCAL FOOD EXPERIENCES BEFORE AND AFTER COVID-19: A SENTIMENT ANALYSIS OF EWOM

Abstract

Purpose – To use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to explore how people feel and what they share online about their experiences with food. In addition, to learn how these experiences have evolved recently, differences before and during the crisis COVID-19 will be explored. Methodology/Design/Approach – A total of 35,001 reviews of restaurants and local cuisine establishments near tourist attractions in the city of Ayutthaya, Thailand, were extracted from the Google Local Guide platform. Several NLP techniques were used to analyse the text data, including sentiment analysis, word cloud analysis, and the N-gramme model. Findings – The results reveal travellers’ hidden sentiments toward dining experiences. Key attributes of experience sharing related to food activities in online reviews were identified both before and after COVID-19. From a theoretical perspective, the findings are relevant for researchers to recognise tourists’ behaviour in sharing local food experiences. From a practical perspective, decision makers will have a better understanding of tourist behaviour to develop and implement appropriate strategies. Originality of the research – This study is the first to analyse and interpret online reviews on Google Maps platform by applying text mining and sentiment analysis in gastronomic tourism research, especially in the context of COVID-19.