Identifying tourist route patterns using data mining techniques

• Main Authors: Warintarawej, P., Chaikong, K., Kadedaiwang, P., Onsrithong, P., Laksanajan, P., Siwyew, S.
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: G Geography (General); QA Mathematics
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/13313/1/31.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/13313/; http://www.thic-uum.com/
• Institution: Universiti Utara Malaysia

In this study, researchers applied data mining techniques to reveal tourist route patterns to popular destinations in Surat Thani Province in southern Thailand. Data mining refers to the process of discovering patterns in large data.Two data mining techniques were employed: 1) Cluster analysis was used to identify unique clusters of tourists with common behavioral trends. 2) Association rule mining was used to determine tourist route patterns.From these two data mining techniques, the researchers were able to identify unique clusters of tourists who followed common patterns of travel.The main implications of this study are: 1) that data mining may be used to explain the movement of tourists in any region in the world, and 2) that different facets of the tourism industry can use this information to understand and respond to tourists' needs and interests.