Modelling TripAdvisor satisfaction metrics to optimise wine venue experiences: the case of the Western Cape

ABSTRACT With social media ratings serving as a filter in the selection of visitor wine tourism options, we employ the 4E experiential model as a theoretical framework to explore destination activities and their link to visitor ratings; here with the aim of establishing whether high satisfaction ratings conform to the so-called 4E ‘sweet spot’. Using regression-based data from 270 wine tourism destinations in the Western Cape, results demonstrate how significant activity-mentions stemming from the immersive quadrants of esthetics and escapism increased visitor ratings, while those from the absorptive quadrants of entertainment and education decreased them. Complemented by further analysis of the upper, middle and lower ratings strata, we show that high satisfaction ratings do not necessarily incorporate experiences from all four quadrants. This refutes the 4E sweet spot idealization. As an alternative we suggest formulating optimal visitor experiences from a methodology that draws inference from highly rated activities submitted directly by the online tourist-customer.