Cultural destinations decision of solo-traveler: A network analysis at Dalat City

Abstract

Studying the network about the ability or the trend of cultural destination selection will help to better view the reality and needs of tourists regarding cultural tourism products and services, the routes the most popular tour, or the “forgotten” destinations. This paper investigates survey results from two hundred solo-traveler, and Gephi 9.2 software to figure out the values of nodes, edges, and level of connectivity between cultural destinations of Dalat. Among the eight tourist attractions with the characteristic of being the most prominent heritage destination of Dalat, only four of the most popular tourist attractions include Space of gong culture, Bao Dai Summer Palace 3, The Lycée Yersin, and Lam Dong Museum. Heritage tourism routes that formed through the choice of visitors are the linking of the following hot spots, namely, Space of gong culture, Bao Dai Summer Palace 3, The Lycée Yersin, Lam Dong Museum, and Cathedral of Dalat Diocese. The combination of destination information promotion in the media and cultural events is seen as the solution for attracting the attention of solo tourists. Furthermore, the development of special tourism promotion programs aimed at these customers must consider package product packages, and promotional opportunities to spread the opportunity to reach the destination more effectively. These can be seen as key recommendations for increasing tourist attraction to Dalat’s cultural tourism in the near future.

Keywords

• cultural destinations
• dalat
• network analysis
• popular tourist routes
• solo-traveler