Spatial visitation patterns and its features on nature-based tourism are difficult to assess using only a field-based survey, which is costly and labor intensive. However, understanding of a protected area's visitation status is critical, as it can strongly influence the sustainability of natural resources. Hence, it is important to identify ‘where people visit’ and ‘why people visit,’ to evaluate the features attractive to tourists. In this regard, we proposed and applied social big data to investigate nature-based tourism in an ASEAN Heritage Park. Overall, our research was able to effectively illustrate spatial patterns of visitation using 10 years of Flickr geo-tagged photographs. Hotspots of high visitation were identified, while revealing the local spatial impact of distributed attributes. This study offers insights into the applicability of social big data to protected-area management and its potential in reinforcing existing field-based participatory approaches. •Provided first study on the applicability of social big data for tourism management in ASEAN Heritage Parks.•Geotagged photographs shown to be a powerful tool to evaluate spatial patterns in visitation.•Impact of attractions and supporting artifacts on visitation were identified.•Potential and limitations of using social big data in management were suggested.•There was complementarity among big data and field-based approaches.