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Indian Journal of Marketing

ISSN: 0973-8703 Frequency: Monthly Peer Review: Double-blind Published since: 1968 Language: English
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Original Article

Subscription Original Article

Post-Encounter Tourism Experience in Saudi Arabia : Sentiment Analysis of Online Reviews

Tasneem Alsaati1

1 Ph.D. Candidate, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22480 Riyadh 11495

Volume 55
Issue 6
Pages 48–63
Year 2025
Received: July 25, 2024 Accepted: May 15, 2025 Published: June 15, 2025
Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to identify the key themes present in the consumer online reviews for carefully selected sites in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to highlight the key aspects that tourists and visitors experience and express at the post-encounter stage of their tourism experience, and the factors they relied on when they evaluated their experience.Design/Methodology/Approach : This research applied the approach of sentiment analysis to online review text extracted from Google Maps for the top tourism sites in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In this study, the top 1,000 high-rated and low-rated reviews for each tourism site were extracted and analyzed descriptively by using the NVIVO software.

Findings: The results revealed five themes present in both high and low-rated reviews, namely consumer experience, service elements, location, consumer characteristics, and future intentions.Managerial

Implications: Managers would be able to develop effective strategies to leverage the positive impacts of online reviews, the business outcomes, and to help tourism site managers in allocating resources to improve ratings and tourists’ comments.Originality/

Value: As consumers increasingly rely on online resources to formulate their purchase decisions, researchers and marketers need to understand the consumer experience expressed through consumer-generated content (online reviews). Given the growing attention towards tourism in Saudi Arabia, the issuance of tourism visas, and the race to accomplish the agenda of the Saudi Vision 2030, it becomes highly important to carefully assess the consumer experiences in this domain.

Keywords sentiment analysis online reviews Riyadh tourism consumer experience consumer-generated content
How to Cite

Tasneem Alsaati (2025). Post-Encounter Tourism Experience in Saudi Arabia : Sentiment Analysis of Online Reviews. Indian Journal of Marketing, 55(6), 48–63. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2025/v55/i6/175110

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