Approaches to Quantifying the Role of Nature for Tourists Using Social Media Data – From Regional to Global Scales

Abstract Nature-based tourism is a rapidly growing subsector of the global tourism industry. Traditional data sources often fall short in capturing the full scope of nature's importance to tourists. This paper presents ways of quantifying nature’s importance to tourists at regional and global scales. By employing place-based, content-based, and user-based analyses, the research highlights the overarching importance of nature for tourists while uncovering varying geographic patterns. The findings underscore the crucial role of nature in tourism and the potential of social media data to inform tourism and conservation planning.