Sentiment analysis of Chinese tourists to marine tourism resource in Sabah

• Main Authors: QiQi, Rosazman Hussin, Md Sayed Uddin
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH) 2024
• Subjects: G1-922 Geography (General); G154.9-155.8 Travel and state. Tourism
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42103/1/ABSTRACT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42103/2/FULL%20TEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/42103/; https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v9i7.2937

With the tourism industry's recovery, there is an increased demand for outbound Chinese tourists. With Chinese tourists as an important submarket in Sabah, a better understanding of Chinese tourists' perceptions of destination tourism is crucial for development. In this study, the representative Tanjung Aru Beach in Sabah was selected as the study case, and the review content was selected through the travellers’ reviews on China's largest travel online platform - Ctrip.com, as the study sample. Through Octopus Collector 8, the text data was analyzed for word frequency, web semantics, and sentiment using the ROST CM6 tool. The results of the study found that most of the Chinese tourists at Tanjung Aru Beach gave satisfactory comments. These positive comments focused mainly on the natural landscape and resources of the beach, the services of the Shangri-La Hotel, the ease of language communication, and the local cuisine. More often than not, Chinese tourists mentioned the beach's sunsets, evening sunsets, flaming clouds, sand, cloud formations, and sea breezes. The study also found that “beach” and “sunset” were the resources that Chinese tourists recognized for the attraction, with the majority of reviews revolving around these two themes. It should be noted that Chinese tourists showed dissatisfaction with the sanitary environment and facilities at Tanjung Aru Beach. The study concludes with recommendations for management.