Beyond Europe’s famous capitals lie coastal villages, mountain towns, and hidden gems that rarely make the headlines. Drawing on millions of TripAdvisor reviews, this study reveals who visits these overlooked places, how travel patterns changed during COVID-19, and why the periphery might just be the future of sustainable tourism.
Premise
When we think of tourism in Europe, we often imagine Parisian boulevards, Roman piazzas, or Barcelona’s bustling Rambla. Yet, much of Europe’s cultural and natural wealth lies outside these hotspots—in the peripheries. These areas, while rich in heritage, often escape the radar of official tourism statistics.
In our recent study published in Tourism Economics, we use over 12 million TripAdvisor reviews (2016–2022) to map tourism in ten peripheral regions across Europe, from Sicily’s coastal towns to Sweden’s islands. Our goal: to understand who visits these areas, how travel patterns have evolved, and what this means for sustainable regional development.
Figure 1: This map shows the location of all attractions on Tripadvisor and located in both the ten peripheral regions studied and their neighboring regions.
Our Empirical Evidence
Validating the Data: We first tested whether TripAdvisor (TA) reviews track actual tourism flows by comparing monthly review counts with Eurostat arrivals. The patterns match closely, both for domestic and foreign tourists. We validate the use of TA reviews both graphically and econometrically to reveal a new granular, daily-based and user-level data which can provide insights of tourism in peripheral regions in real time.
Mapping Where Visitors Come From: By combining TA reviews with users’ self-reported locations, we are able to gather where each tourist comes from, and we classify tourists as local, domestic, European, or global. Patterns vary: in Portugal’s Algarve, European visitors dominate, while in France’s Nièvre region, domestic tourism is the lifeblood.
Figure 2: Travel patterns of visitors to Sicily, Italy, and its neighboring regions. Panel (a) shows patterns from all over the world, Panel (b) from Europe, Panel (c) domestic travel and Panel (d) local travel. This Figure represents an example of what we do with every region in the study.
The COVID-19 Shock: Tourism time series shows that the activity plunged in early 2020, especially from abroad. An interesting domestic effect is observed when comparing the activity drop between different tourist origins: domestic travelers partially filled the gap in most locations, particularly in Spain, Ireland, and Sweden.
Figure 3: The black line represents the number of reviews in Granada, Spain and its surrounding regions. The COVID-19 shock is noticeable after 2020. The back colors represent the share of reviews by their origin: after 2020, it can be seen how local and domestic visitors increased their share, partially palliating the COVID-19 shock. This Figure represents an example of what we do with every region in the study.
Periphery vs. Core: A final comparison between peripheral vs total tourism in all countries in the study shows that regions selected attract different levels of tourism. In France, Greece and Italy (Sicily), the fraction of reviews out of the national level is very low, reaching shares below 10% of all reviews in the country. On the other hand, in Sweden, Albania and Slovakia, the proportion of reviews in the peripheral areas is quite high, surpassing levels well above 50% of all reviews. Portugal, Spain and Italy (Tuscany-Emilia) are somewhere in between, with levels around 15%–25%.
Policy Implications
Our findings highlight three takeaways for policymakers and cultural tourism planners:
1. Real-time monitoring is possible: TripAdvisor reviews offer a timely, granular tourism indicator.
2. Target the right audience: Domestic tourists respond better to campaigns about hidden gems; international visitors often seek iconic sites.
3. Peripheries as strategic assets: They can relieve pressure on crowded hubs and promote sustainable tourism.
Concluding Thoughts
Peripheral regions are not just the scenic backdrop to Europe’s main attractions, they are destinations in their own right. By leveraging big data, we can finally put these areas ‘on the map’ in tourism research and policy.
About the article
Borowiecki, K. J., Pedersen, M. U., & Palomeque, M. (2025). Putting the periphery on the map: Tourism activity measured with big data. Tourism Economics, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13548166251355678
About the authors
Karol J. Borowiecki, Professor of economics at the University of Southern Denmark, is renowned for his innovative research methodologies and societal impact. He published >40 items, including in the Journal of Political Economy, a textbook with Cambridge University Press, and a co-edited volume on cultural heritage. He sits on the editorial boards of Tourism Economics and the Journal of Cultural Economics. As President of the Association for Cultural Economics International and a top cultural economist, Karol collaborates with premier European institutions, shaping policy and advancing cultural and tourism economics.
Maja U. Pedersen, PhD degree in economics, currently Assistant Professor of economics at the University of Southern Denmark. Published 7 items on different topics, including economic growth, financial history and globalization. All published in various peer-reviewed journals.
Marco Palomeque, Assistant Professor of economics at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Specialized in Cultural Economics, focuses his research on innovative methodologies and creative research questions, applying Data Science techniques into economic problems. Besides his short career, his research has demonstrated its societal impact with several interviews in international media. His research also highlights in the scientific community, with relevant recognitions such as the President’s Prize of the 2023 Conference of the Association for Cultural Economics International.
About the image
Photo by Callum Hilton from Pexels. Photograph of the Algarve region in Portugal.
