The guide has already filtered 25 million posts, and analyzes more every day
When was the last time you bought something without first reading 200 online reviews? And the last time you booked a vacation relying solely on the travel agency ? It is obvious: we live in the age of opinion . But after several cases have been uncovered of companies that pay to get positive reviews on tourist portals , it seems difficult to know if we should continue to trust them… And that is where the new Trending Travel Guide from Virgin Holidays.
This trend guide has analyzed more than 2 5 million posts poured into social networks -and the number increases every day- to find out what is the most recommended of three of its destinations, ** New York , Orlando and Las Vegas **. Thus, there are lists with the top five of the attractions the most talked about (in New York, for example, Times Square wins and is followed by Chinatown, Broadway, Central Park and Brooklyn Bridge), of the restaurants best rated (Victoria & Albert's, Blaze Pizza, The Boathouse, Boma - Flavor of Africa and Se7en Bites in Orlando) and even from the best pool parties (which in Vegas are held at JEWEL, Omnia, Drai's Nightclub, Chateau Nightclub and House of Blues) .
“To create our guide, we scoured hundreds of the top online travel publishers and created unique profiles for each destination. These profiles make up the top four reasons people travel thousands of miles: food, nightlife, shopping, attractions, theme parks, beaches, casinos …”, explain from Virgin Holidays.
What's new in Vegas?
“Within these categories, we identified a large sample of the most talked about places and set up social media monitoring for all their related handles and hashtags. Then we identify the conversation volume in social networks for each one, taking care to filter negative and sarcastic comments and unrelated talk with the subject, of course”, they continue. "With data from more than 600,000 platforms and websites, we are left with the definitive list of the most popular and active places on social networks for each destination."
As the monitoring is daily, the guide is revised every 24 hours based on the public posts of thousands of users, so it is alive and constantly updated according to the conversation that is taking place in the networks. "If something suddenly goes viral, that location moves up on our main board. If a location closes for the end of the season, it moves down. This means you'll be able to see in real time the current trends of the destinations you love ", they explain, adding that in this way it is possible to find all the hotspots of a place in a simple way, without having to spend hours searching in obsolete guides.
Likewise, the guide also includes articles both from influencers known to be experts in a particular part of the world and from those who work in the places most valued by the community. Thus, in the case of New York, it is possible to find texts by the fashion blogger Natalie Lim Suarez talking about Eataly , of the person in charge of tourism of the brooklyn museum or the owner of the rooftop The Press Lounge . Will this new guide, made from big data, change our way of traveling?