Understanding Chinese tourist mobility and consumption-related behaviours in London using Sina Weibo check-ins

Ye, Zi ORCID: 0000-0001-5190-5211, Newing, Andy and Clarke, Graham (2021) Understanding Chinese tourist mobility and consumption-related behaviours in London using Sina Weibo check-ins ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING B-URBAN ANALYTICS AND CITY SCIENCE, 48 (8). pp. 2436-2452. ISSN 2399-8083, 2399-8091

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Abstract

In this paper, we detail an individual-level analysis of under-exploited location-based social network (LBSN) data extracted from Sina Weibo, a comprehensive source for data-driven research focused on Chinese populations. The richness of the Sina Weibo data, coupled with high-quality venue and attraction information from Foursquare, enables us to track Chinese tourists visiting London and understand behaviours and mobility patterns revealed by their activities and venue-based ‘check-ins’. We use these check-ins to derive a series of indicators of mobility which reveal aggregate and individual-level behaviours associated with Chinese tourists in London, and which act as a tool to segment tourists based on those behaviours. Our data-driven tourist segmentation indicates that different groups of Chinese tourists have distinctive activity preferences and travel patterns. Our primary interest is in tourists’ consumption behaviours, and we reveal that tourists with similar activity preferences still exhibit individualised behaviours with regards to the nature and location of key consumption activities such as shopping and dining out. We aim to understand more about Chinese tourist shopping behaviours as a secondary activity associated with multi-purpose trips, demonstrating that these data could permit insights into tourist behaviours and mobility patterns which are not well captured by official tourism statistics, especially at a localised level. This analysis could be up-scaled to incorporate additional LBSN data sources and broader population subgroups in order to support data-driven urban analytics related to tourist mobilities and consumption behaviours.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Location-based social networks, Sina Weibo, Chinese tourists, London, tourist segmentation, retail behaviour
Divisions:	Faculty of Science & Engineering > School of Environmental Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	22 Jun 2022 09:24
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 08:48
DOI:	10.1177/2399808320980748
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2399808320980748
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3156968
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