The use of Bluetooth for analysing spatiotemporal dynamics of human movement at mass events: A case study of the Ghent Festivities

In this paper, proximity-based Bluetooth tracking is postulated as an efficient and effective methodology for analysing the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of visitor movements at mass events. A case study of the Ghent Festivities event (1.5 million visitors over 10 days) is described in detail and preliminary results are shown to give an indication of the added value of the methodology for stakeholders of the event. By covering 22 locations in the study area with Bluetooth scanners, we were able to extract 152,487 trajectories generated by 80,828 detected visitors. Apart from generating clear statistics such as visitor counts, the share of returning visitors, and visitor flow maps, the analyses also reveal the complex nature of this event by hinting at the existence of several mutually different visitor profiles. We conclude by arguing why Bluetooth tracking offers significant advantages for tracking mass event visitors with respect to other and more prominent technologies, and outline some of its remaining deficiencies. ► Bluetooth tracking is employed for studying spatiotemporal dynamics of a mass event. ► The trajectories of 80,828 visitors were analysed over 10 days. ► The spatiotemporal variation of crowdedness, and visit (or) characteristics are shown. ► The used methodology offers significant advantages in the context of mass events.