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Collaborative information searching is common for people when planning their group trip. However, little research has explored how tourists collaborate during information search. Existing tourism Web portals or search engines rarely support tourists’ collaborative information search activities. Taking advantage of previous studies of collaborative tourism information search behavior, in the current paper the purpose of this paper is to propose the design of a collaborative search system collaborative tourism information search (ColTIS) to support online information search and travel planning.

ColTIS was evaluated and compared with Google Talk-embedded Tripadvisor.com through a user study involving 18 pairs of participants. The data included pre- and post-search questionnaires, web search logs and chat history. For quantitative measurement, statistical analysis was performed using SPSS; for log data and the qualitative feedback from participants, the content analysis was employed.

Results suggest that collaborative query formulation, division of search tasks, chatting and results sharing are important means to facilitate tourists’ collaborative search. ColTIS was found to outperform Tripadvisor significantly regarding the ease of use, collaborative support and system usefulness.

The innovation of the study lies in the development of an integrated real-time collaborative tourism information search system with unique features. These features include collaborative query reformulation, travel planner and automatic result and query sharing that assist multiple people search for holiday information together. For system designers and tourism practitioners, implications are provided.

This article proposes a theory of direct and indirect inf luences of the Olympic Games on international tourism behavior and presents test results of the theory using a quasi-experimental research design and visitor exit data (n = 3,875 useable surveys). Key finding: among prior visitors to Australia, the share searching for information nearly doubles (from 30 to 59 per cent) in comparing visitors reporting no change in awareness to substantial increase in awareness of Australia as a vacation destination due to hosting the Olympics. Conclusion: hosting international mega-events may result in substantial increases in activities and expenditures by visitors but such impacts occur through increases in visitors' search for information.

This study aims to develop a conceptual model demonstrating the antecedents and outcomes of consumers’ online tourism information confusion.

A deductive approach was utilized to propose eight variables as antecedents of online confusion and five confusion reduction strategies as outcomes of consumers’ online tourism confusion. The underlying mechanisms in which these variables might lead to consumers’ online tourism information confusion are elaborated using elaboration likelihood model (ELM) (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986) as the major theoretical underpinning.

The model indicates that consumers could experience overload, similarity and ambiguity confusion when the information acquired is too much, too similar and/or too vague. In addition, as suggested by the ELM (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986), online users who are low in learning orientation, price consciousness, cognition need and Internet experience and high in ambiguity tolerance are more likely to experience confusion because of their lower motivation/ability to process external stimuli.

One limitation of this study is the lack of empirical test of the proposed model. Another limitation is that only five individual characteristics that might make online consumers prone to confusion were included. Other variables related to individual differences that could influence confusion should be explored as well.

This paper provides valuable implications for online tourism marketers to address consumers’ confusion during information search process. Five individual characteristics proposed as important antecedents of consumers’ confusion can be utilized by online tourism marketers to develop customized online communication strategies for different segments.

This paper is one of the few studies that connect the concept of consumers’ confusion to the online tourism field as well as discuss the concept of consumers’ confusion through the integration of information provider and recipients’ perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to use a familiarity and psychological distance framework to investigate the effects of psychological distance (responsibility distance and temporal distance) and destination familiarity on electronic-word-of-mouth (eWOM) consumption in the tourism context. The performance of eWOM is compared with that of traditional-word-of-mouth (tWOM) and the web site of the destination marketing organisation (DMO).

An experiment approach was used to collect the relevant data. For each of the eight scenarios generated by varying psychological distance dimensions and destination familiarity levels, 200 participants rated the extent that they would use eWOM, tWOM and the DMO web site to search for attraction and local transport information. The data were analysed using 2×2×2 within-subject ANOVA and t-test.

The analysis highlighted the versatility of eWOM in different psychological distances and familiarity levels. By and large, eWOM performs better than the DMO web site but is on par with tWOM. The advantages of eWOM over tWOM are meaningful under certain circumstances. Despite sharing a common psychological basis, psychological distance dimensions affect information search differently, and the effects are shaped by the types of tourism products being searched. When psychological distance, destination familiarity, tourism products and information sources are considered in totality, a complex picture of their relationship with intensity of information search is shown.

This study bridged the research gap by increasing our understanding of the performance of eWOM under different psychological distances and familiarity levels. The study also provides some suggestions for DMOs to leverage on eWOM and to improve the standing of DMO web site as a tourism information source.

Collaborative information search (CIS) is a growing and significant research area. Query formulation and reformulation is an important search strategy in information search. However, limited research has investigated query behavior during CIS. The purpose of this paper is to characterize collaborative query reformulation (CQR) by exploring the sources of collaborative query (CQ) terms and the types and patterns of CQR in the context of tourism information search.

An empirical study was designed to investigate search query reformulation as tourists performed CIS on a devised interface. A total of 36 participants (in 18 pairs) took part in the study; data were documented in pre- and post-search questionnaires, search logs and chat logs.

The findings show that participants intermixed individual search and collaborative search during CIS. Participants constructed CQ terms mainly by selecting terms from individual search queries and discussion chat logs. Eight types of CQR were identified, with specialization (82 percent) accounting for the most used search tactics. At most times, participants were found to add terms to the previous query. Findings demonstrated 27 specific CQR patterns; in excess of two-third participants (69 percent) took only one move to reformulate CQ by adding terms, or replacing/using new words.

The results of this research can be used to inform the design of search systems supporting collaborative querying in CIS.

This study is highlighting an important research direction of CQ reformulation in collaborative search while previous studies of the topic are limited, comparing to the vast body of work on query reformulation in individual information search using regular search systems.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the progress of information and communication technology (ICT) based on a review of papers published in tourism and hospitality journals between 2009 and 2013.

Based on three major databases, 107 journal papers were retrieved and reviewed. The papers were grouped into two major categories, consumer and supplier, which generally comprise the key players in the industries.

A content analysis showed that hospitality and tourism industries use ICT in different functional units and for different applications. This, in turn, indicates their wide adoption in the industry. Industrial implications are discussed.

On the basis of the content analysis, industry practitioners can learn about up-to-date practices and decide how to take advantage of recent technological developments.

A major contribution of this paper is the comprehensive review of recently published papers in tourism and hospitality journals from the perspectives of consumer and supplier.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the information search behavior of visitors according to various socio‐demographic and travel‐related variables regarded as a criterion for market segmentation.

The data were based on a survey carried out with the cooperation of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the State Institute of Statistics in 2001. The study findings were analyzed by employing two statistical techniques: χ² and a correspondence analysis.

An overview of the study findings indicates that the individuals visiting Turkey are provided with information from a range of sources. The information sources accessed seem to vary according to the level of the respondents' education level and purpose of their visit.

Through the research findings, it cannot be denied that the information sources have an impact on visitors' decision‐making process in choosing the specific place or facility to spend their limited time. This impact may vary from one person to another according to their different social groups.

Based on six groups of external information sources, the study provides marketing implications for the tourism authorities to segment their target markets.

The paper suggests that, in addition to other social and psychological factors, service providers can also segment their customers and tailor their marketing strategies based on visitors' intentions of using information sources prior to, or during, their vacations.

The study intends to develop guidelines for the communication and marketing policy of Swiss tourism service providers aiming at targeting the future senior citizen market. It is of an exploratory nature, and based on interviews with current senior citizens in Switzerland and a Delphi study with 30 experts from the Swiss tourism and hospitality sector, as well as specialists from senior citizen associations and research institutes. The results show the importance of the increasing request by senior citizens for learning experience through holidays. The different marketing strategies aimed at such clientele will be increasingly profiled according to the specific motivation and preferences of this clientele.

The purpose of this paper is to expand and empirically test a model of tourist external information search behaviour.

A conceptual model was developed based on the “three‐pronged approach,” an approach that is used to cross validate among the results from literature review, expert interviews, and an exploratory field study in order to confirm and propose a reliable conceptual model. A confirmatory factor analysis was then performed to ensure that the constructs were valid and reliable. Structural equation modeling was used to test the conceptual model and its hypotheses.

The results revealed six variables that are significantly related to tourists' external information search behavior. Four of these variables had not been identified previously. These are as follows: information sources usefulness and accessibility, subjective norms, perceived personal risk, and ability to search.

The issue of model generalization should be taken into account because the samples were limited to non‐group tour and first time visited tourists. Further research should consider other tourist groups.

The results from this study provide useful information for both government and tourism‐related businesses in planning marketing communication strategies to help promote Thailand as a travel destination.

By proposing a managerial modeling based on theoretical foundations and methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative approaches, this study is among the first that expands the model of tourist external information search behavior by fully exploring the determinants of external information search behavior and integrates the theory of planned behavior into the model.