Understanding the perceived capital of a travel destination: a theme-based corpus analysis of an online destination forum

Abstract As an empirical investigation of naturally-occurring self-initiated posts in a destination forum on one of the world’s most popular travel websites Tripadvisor, the present study identifies the key themes in forum posts generated by travelers worldwide about Hong Kong SAR, China (hereafter Hong Kong), one of the world’s most visited city. Incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches, it examines the dominant discourses in the forum posts through a combined thematic and keyword corpus analysis. In addition, Bourdieu’s tripartite notion of capital is employed to provide insights into the main resources that travelers to Hong Kong associate with or ask about the city. Four dominant patterns of discourse, namely the discourse of mobility, pleasure seeking, convenience, and budget orientation, have been identified, suggesting that Hong Kong is constructed discursively through its built economic capital in the forum, with little regard for its cultural or social capital. Findings from the study not only provide a window into the qualities, attributes and identities of the city as perceived by the forum users, they also point to the underlying assumptions and expectations that users have about a place, and to the preferences and attitudes which shape the identity of the forum users themselves.