Data Analysis Projects
Boston History Company
For two years, I worked as a tour guide for the Boston History Company (BHC). In November, 2024, the company asked me to investigate why their TripAdvisor ranking was comparatively low, and why their bookings had not increased despite earning consistently excellent reviews. I also examined the effects of weather and other factors on tour size. I undertook this project on a volunteer basis in lieu of an internship. Here are some of my findings, along with a testimonial from BHC CEO Daniel Berger-Jones.
TripAdvisor Ranking
The Boston History Company began booking tours through TripAdvisor (parent company: Viator) in 2021. In November, 2024, BHC’s Freedom Trail tour ranked 19th among walking tours in Boston, despite earning four or five stars on 98% of tour reviews. Rank is important because potential guests are not likely to scroll through a long list of options – the higher the ranking, the more likely a site visitor will see and perhaps book a tour.
Both page views and bookings are factors in TripAdvisor’s ranking algorithm. The two are also correlated – any changes that result in more page views should lead to more bookings (and a higher ranking). I suggested several easy fixes designed to improve the company’s click-through rate. As of March, 2025, the company’s Freedom Trail listing has jumped seven spots to become the 12th highest-ranked walking tour. More information can be found on the project details page.
Weather Factors
The company was interested in finding out whether fewer people sign up for tours on exceedingly hot or rainy days. Consequently, I located a set of historic Boston weather data and examined the effects of various phenomena on group size.
I found that adverse weather conditions can indeed reduce the average number of guests, though perhaps not as much as expected. It’s nice to know that rainy days see a 4% increase in cancelled bookings, but unless everybody cancels, the information is not necessarily useful. On the contrary, I found that some guests will turn up for their tour even on days that see two inches of rainfall – or temperatures approaching 100°F.
Most tour companies do not cancel tours due to inclement weather, except in the most extreme conditions. Therefore, the main takeaway seemed to be this: expect people to come, rain or shine. Please refer to the project details page for more information.
The Red Sox Effect
I wanted to test the theory that more people will sign up for a Freedom Trail tour on days when the Red Sox are playing a game at Fenway Park. And in general, I found that was true – but only on weekends. Weekday home games had no affect on the average number of guests.
Even on weekends, tours during home stands only averaged 1.6 more guests. Night games made the difference: they accounted for about three additional guests per tour, while day game averages remained about the same as non-home game weekends. Exact numbers can be found on the details page.
Other Cancellation Factors
Viator tracks whether a tour booking is confirmed, cancelled, or amended, so I decided to look for additional factors that could result in the loss of a booking. One possible indicator is the gap between booking date and tour date: on average, this gap is twice as long for cancellations (36.36 days) as opposed to the average gap for all bookings (17.24 days).
Also (and somewhat surprisingly), bookings whose members included senior citizens were more likely to be cancelled or amended than bookings for adults and/or children. See the project details page for additional insights.
Word Clouds
Using the TripAdvisor review data (see the details for this section), I created word clouds for the Freedom Trail itself, the Boston History Company, and for each BHC tour guide mentioned by name. Word clouds are fun, and can occasionally lead to unexpected insights. For example, the company may wish to compare the tour guide clouds to seek out common themes as well as individual strengths. The leadership team also indicated that they intend to incorporate the most commonly found words in future marketing efforts.
Testimonial
“Rick offered us a sweep of reviews and our online presence. I was dumbfounded by how many useful details he unearthed which directly and immediately impacted our marketing strategies. From small adjustments to overhauls, some of the data he showed us put our whole reputation into perspective and helped us to focus laser-like on what we were succeeding at. Improvements in online rankings, SEO, and messaging were immediate. I had not expected anything more than an interesting afternoon of corporate fortune-telling. I feel ashamed of that viewpoint now, and am a zealous convert to the usefulness and intelligence of data analysis, at least in the hands of Rick Taylor. Thanks, Rick, for the work and insight.”
—Daniel Berger-Jones, CEO, Boston History Company