Mapping Tourist Cognitive Perceptions and Movements in Bali’s Top-Rated Destinations

The travel and tourism industry is one of the most significant sectors in global business. Bali, a highly favored destination for tourists from both domestic and international origins, contributes approximately 50% to Indonesia’s income, amounting to around US${\$}$ 20 billion per year through foreign exchange. However, the lack of comprehensive analysis of tourist sentiment, perceptions, and movement patterns poses a challenge to the strategic development of optimal tourist destinations in Bali. This research aims to shed light on the unique characteristics and dynamics of Bali’s tourism industry, employing data analytics techniques to analyze tourist reviews and identify favorable destinations based on multidimensional cognitive classes. By analyzing tourist reviews and employing data analytics techniques such as multiclass classification, sentiment analysis, and social network analysis, it was found that tourists generally harbor a positive sentiment with a notable score of 80.16%. The analytical model utilized displayed precision with accuracy scores reaching up to 95.30% in identifying favorable destinations. A critical highlight is the central role of the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Bali’s tourism network, with degree centrality value of 4666 indicated to be the most preferred destination, emerging both as a primary destination and a significant connectivity node between various attractions. This data-driven approach offers pivotal insights for enhancing strategic development in Bali’s tourism sector, guiding it towards catering optimally to tourist preferences. The study utilizes tourist reviews obtained through chrome scrapers and offers insights into the sentiment and perspectives of tourists toward Bali’s preferred destinations.