Measuring tourism destinations using mobile tracking data

We develop a methodology for measuring visitor flows to destinations using space-time tracking data. Based on a review of the literature on this topic we propose that a tourism destination has five dimensions – spatial, temporal, compositional, social and dynamic – that can be measured using space-time tracking data. We analyse three of these dimensions, namely the spatial, temporal and compositional, using the mobile positioning data of foreign visitors in Estonia from 2011 to 2013. Results show that smaller destination areas can be differentiated inside the whole country by the geographical, temporal and compositional parameters of the visits. These findings demonstrate applications of “BIG” data in destination management. A monitoring tool based on this methodology and data is currently being used by the Estonian Tourist Board.