Despite the growing importance of mobile tracking technology in urban planning and
traffic forecasting, its utilization in the understanding of the basic laws governing
tourist flows remains limited. Knowledge regarding the motivations and spatial behavior
of tourists has great potential in sustainable tourism studies. In this paper, we
combine social media (Twitter) and mobile positioning data (MPD) in the analysis of
international tourism flows in Szeged, a secondary urban center in Hungary. First,
the content of geotagged and non-geotagged Twitter messages referring to Szeged in
a six-month period of 2018 was analyzed. In this way specific events attracting foreign
tourists were identified. Then, using MPD data of foreign SIM cards, visitor peaks
in the investigated period were defined. With the joint application of the social
media and mobile positioning analytical tools, we were able to identify those attractions
(festivals, sport and cultural events, etc.) that generated significant tourism arrivals
in the city. Furthermore, using the mixed-method approach we were also able to analyze
the movements of foreign visitors during one large-scale tourism event and evaluate
its hinterland. Overall, this study supports the idea that social media data should
be combined with other real-time data sources, such as MPD, in order to gain a more
precise understanding of the behavior of tourists. The proposed analytical tool can
contribute to methodological and conceptual development in the field, and information
gained by its application can positively influence not only tourism management and
planning but also tourism marketing and placemaking.
