Network Science and e-Tourism

Abstract

This chapter provides an introduction to network science and its applications within e-tourism research. In the first part, an overview of network science as a continuously growing scientific field is given. Network science provides various concepts and methods for the analysis of the structure and dynamics of all kinds of networks such as social networks, information networks, and economic networks. Afterward, popular software and tools to model, analyze, and visualize network data are briefly discussed. In the third part, an overview of research in e-tourism that utilized network science methods is provided. In existing studies, different types of networks were constructed and analyzed, in particular networks of travelers, networks of tourism websites, networks capturing behavioral patterns of travelers, or text networks of travel-related posts. Furthermore, it is briefly discussed, which data sources are typically used in the literature. Finally, the main points are summarized and conclusions are drawn.