Why destinations should research both visitors and non-visitors

Oct 28, 2026 · Danny Cohanpour, CEO and Founder, Trove Tourism Development Advisors

Trove has published a white paper on TroveSentiment, Trove's visitor and market perception research service. TroveSentiment surveys people who have visited a destination and people who have never been, then tracks what travelers say about the destination on social media and review sites.

What visitors tell a destination

Past visitors know the destination firsthand. They can tell a destination team what they valued, what frustrated them and whether they plan to come back. Trove asks visitors about:

• Trip purpose, party size and length of stay

• Attractions visited and month of travel

• Lodging choice, satisfaction and issues raised

• Daily spend and how price shapes when they travel

• Likelihood to return and to recommend

• Destinations they would consider instead

What non-visitors tell a destination

Non-visitors show how the wider market sees the destination before anyone arrives. Their answers help a destination set brand positioning and aim campaigns at new travelers. Trove asks non-visitors about:

• How familiar they are with the destination

• Which attractions they have heard of

• Expected cost compared with similar places

• Why they have not visited yet

• What would make them consider a trip

• Likelihood to visit in the next two years

Asking both groups the same questions

Trove asks visitors and non-visitors the same core questions, so a destination can see where firsthand experience changes perception. For Explore Branson, Trove asked both groups: "Do you believe Branson offers experiences that appeal to travelers under 50?" of visitors said yes, compared with 58% of non-visitors.

How TroveSentiment works

TroveSentiment combines survey research with social sentiment tracking. Surveys capture what travelers think when Trove asks them directly. Social listening captures what they say when nobody is asking.

Survey research. Trove designs one questionnaire with two paths. Screening questions confirm age, residency, leisure travel habits and whether the respondent has visited. Trove recruits respondents through a Qualtrics panel, by market and distance from the destination, and invites past guests from the client's own visitor lists. Trove merges and weights both sources into one dataset, then breaks results out by market, distance, age and household income.

Social sentiment. TroveSentiment runs on an AI and machine learning platform that reads public posts, comments and reviews on Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, X, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews and travel blogs. The platform labels each mention positive, negative or neutral, flags the conversations with the most reach, spots emerging complaints and charts when conversation rises and falls. A live dashboard shows the results to the destination team at any time.

What clients receive

• A live sentiment dashboard for the full program

• Monthly sentiment reports with a written report and presentation

• Survey design and methodology, agreed with the client before fieldwork

• A full insights report, plus 25-page and 5-page editions for boards and partners

• A presentation of findings and prioritized recommendations

• Weighted survey data in CSV files

Where Trove has run TroveSentiment

Trove has run TroveSentiment programs in the United States, the Caribbean and the Pacific, and has analyzed more than 660,000 social media conversations across them.

• Explore Branson, Missouri: a visitor and non-visitor survey across 16 U.S. states, with six months of social sentiment tracking

• Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority: an International Traveller Survey and a Resident Pride and Place Survey, with social sentiment analysis, for the national brand

• Southwest Business Improvement District, Washington, DC: monthly social sentiment tracking for the district's waterfront, venues and attractions

• Barbados Ministry of Tourism and International Transport: visitor research across 240 attractions, as the ministry's visitor research agency of record
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Download the White Paper Below!