Presentation done by Stefania Cerutti and Elisa Piva, during "Religious tourism destinations" workshop, of ENTER2015 eTourism conference.

1. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 1
Stefania Cerutti, Elisa Piva
University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy
stefania.cerutti@uniupo.it
elisa.piva@uniupo.it
http://www.uniupo.it
The role of tourists’ feedback in theThe role of tourists’ feedback in the
enhancement of religious tourism destinations.enhancement of religious tourism destinations.
The case of Sacred Mount of Oropa (Italy).The case of Sacred Mount of Oropa (Italy).

2. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 2
 IntroductionIntroduction
 MethodologyMethodology
 Research FindingsResearch Findings
 ConclusionsConclusions
Agenda

3. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 3
Introduction
 In recent years, tourism has faced several changes,
mostly related to the advent of the Internet and to
the development of ICT (Buhalis and Law, 2008; Fu Tsang, Lai
and Law, 2010).
 Internet has forced destinations to transform
themselves to be more interactive, innovative and
efficient as the online consumer is more active,
demanding and in control (Russel, 2010).

4. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 4
 to access
 to generate
 to share
INFORMATION
IMAGE,
REPUTATION
DESTINATION
MANAGEMENT

5. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 5
 Religious destinations should take into account the
online reviews and feedbacks, adapting their offer
according to the needs expressed by the visitors.
 The aim of the research is to assess:
 how the Sacred Mount of Oropa (Italy) is
perceived by the tourists within their comments
on TripAdvisor and
 how the local management could improve the
quality of the offered experiences through their
analysis.

6. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 6
A4
TORINO-MILANO
The Province of Biella

7. The Sacred Mount of Oropa

8. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 8
Methodology
The data analysed in this work were provided by
TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor.com)
the most prominent online travel review platform
in terms of use and content available
(Zehrer, Crotts and Magnini, 2011)

9. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 9
 The 226 reviews were posted on TA by people who
visited the Sacred Mount of Oropa.
 The data were collected on 25th November 2014
and processed on December 2014.
 The analysis of these data is interpretative.
 The research is based on a qualitative approach
which allows to understand the views, attitudes and
behavior of visitors.

10. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 10
 The methodology consists of a qualitative content
analysis.
 The study has selected a manual coding process in
order to transform non-structured information into
a format that allows analysis.
 The process has been designed to extract
information on the geographical origin of the
visitors, their motivations, the primary elements of
description and perception used to assess their
experiences.

11. Research Findings
Average
Rating
4.2/5

12. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 12
ORIGIN OF THE REVIEWERS
Foreign Visitors
Switzerland, Brazil,
Australia, Portugal,
USA, Santo
Domingo, Monaco,
Argentina, Russia,
Netherlands and
Germany

13. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 13
ORIGIN OF DOMESTIC REVIEWERS
Proximity Tourism
18%
Province of Biella
65%
Piedmont Region

14. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 14
 27% of visitors have specifically indicated a
motivational push factor for visiting the Sacred
Mount of Oropa.
 Approximately 10% of the reviewers claim to be a
repeat visitor, attracted to the site because of the
proximity and memories linked to their childhood.
 7% generally refer to a one-day trip (e.g. Sunday
trip, family tour, group excursion, etc.).
 Only 4 reviews out of 226 contain a specific
reference to religious and devotional motivations.
MOTIVATIONS

15. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 15
PRIMARY ELEMENTS OF DESCRIPTION
A list of key word
topics (nouns) was
searched in the texts,
and their frequency on
the reviews were
recorded.

16. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 16
PRIMARY ELEMENTS OF PERCEPTION
A list of key word
topics (adjectives) was
searched in the texts,
and their frequency on
the reviews were
recorded.

17. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 17
PRACTICAL INFO AND ADVICES
 About 60% of the Oropa Sacred Mount’s reviewers
enclose concrete information on the characteristics
of the destination and the services that are being
offered (e.g. large parking lot, presence of a cable way,
opportunity for excursion on several paths, presence of good
restaurants at low prices, etc.).
 32% of the tourists give useful advices to live a
better religious experience (e.g. don’t miss the old church,
we recommend a visit to the ex voto gallery, etc.) and non-
religious experience (e.g. to be visited in the summer, to be
avoided in the weekends, don’t miss the “polenta concia”, etc.).

18. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 18
Conclusions
 The local management of the Sacred Mount of Oropa should
take into consideration these reviews to improve its tourist
offer. The analysis enabled to understand that there is a need of:
 a greater range of promotion and communication activities to attract
foreign markets;
 a wider integration between the religious elements and other
proposals of the territory (e.g. gastronomy, culture, sport, etc.);
 a higher maintenance and care of the ancient buildings and the
outdoor paths of the Sacred Mount.
 The research could represent a further validation of the
importance that online reviews may have in the enhancement
and promotion of religious tourism destinations acting as a
precious source of information.

19. ENTER 2015 Destination Track Slide Number 19
Thank you!!!Thank you!!!
“We have no other choice but to
understand and manage change”
(UNWTO, 2011)