Tourist Sentiment in Bali Before and During COVID-19: A Spatial-Temporal and Thematic Analysis Using Twitter Data

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted global tourism, impacting visitor perceptions and destination reputations. To quantify the impacts for the Indonesian tourism centre Bali, this study examines 3.98 million georeferenced Twitter posts from 2019 to 2021, analysing temporal shifts, spatial distribution, and thematic associations across key tourism topics. Using a RoBERTa-based sentiment classification model, we identify variations between domestic and international tourists, revealing a dominant but fluctuating positive sentiment that declined among international visitors during the pandemic. At key phases of the crisis, tourist sentiment became more aligned, reflecting heightened uncertainty. Spatially, Kuta, Denpasar, and Ubud remained central hubs for both positive and negative sentiment, with persistent concerns regarding waste management and traffic congestion. Topic-based analysis highlighted strong positive sentiment toward ‘Attractions’ and ‘General’ tourism aspects, while ‘Accessibility’ and ‘Amenities’ received more criticism. Additionally, sentiment trends varied by nationality, with UK and US tourists expressing more negative sentiment, while Singaporean and Filipino visitors remained consistently positive. These insights offer valuable guidance for Bali’s post-pandemic recovery, emphasising sustainable tourism management, targeted marketing, and infrastructure improvements.