Comparing techniques for tracking: the case of Tourism Tracer in Tasmania, Australia

Many technological options now exist for tourism authorities and researchers to understand the movement of different cohorts of tourists within destinations. However, while the merits and challenges of these methods have received attention within tourism literature, the data that results from different methods have rarely been compared. This preliminary study fills this gap by examining data that emanated from two techniques for capturing tracking data: an app that could be downloaded and placed on participants' phones, and a study phone distributed to tourists that it was pre-loaded with a tracking app. The results reveal that these subtly different techniques produce widely varying results. The implications of these differences are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.