A comparative analysis of information on Cambodia as a tourist destination published on official tourism websites and amateur travel blogs suggests that there are substantial differences in the way Cambodia’s destination marketers and commercial enterprises promote the destination and the way travel bloggers perceive it and write about it. Cambodia’s projected online image elicited through the analysis of official tourism websites consists of mainly cognitive image elements (knowledge and beliefs about Cambodia), whereas its perceived image obtained from amateur travel blogs contains both cognitive and affective (feelings and attitudes towards Cambodia) image elements. Furthermore, the ‘friend’-style relationship that the reader develops with the travel blogger can be attributed to personal projections and thus induces an element of trust not established between the reader and the websites. Findings suggest that a lack of perceived trust among destination marketers and an increased level of trust among authors of user-generated content (UGC) and their readers has led to destination marketers being at a distinct disadvantage compared with their blogging colleagues. The use of affective evaluations of destinations by bloggers alongside their perceived credibility is likely to weigh more heavily in consumer’s decision-making process than promotional material presented by the likes of tourist boards and commercial enterprises. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.

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There is evident lineage between the concepts of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) and tourism, represented through evocative marketing material, the commoditisation of the TEFL product, teacher motivations and experiences. Yet, to date there has been little attention paid to this relationship. The amalgamation of the two concepts brings rise to the introduction of the niche form of tourism 'TEFL tourism', where the tourist travels outside of their usual environment to teach English as a foreign language and whose role shifts between tourist, educator and educatee at various points in their trip. The TEFL tourism phenomenon is explored through the use of a two-phase research approach employing the qualitative examination of blogs written by TEFL teachers and quantitative surveys. Drawing parallels with associated tourism forms including volunteer, education and philanthropic, it is concluded that TEFL tourism is an entity in its own right, with unique characteristics and motivations presented by TEFL tourists. The use of logistic regression facilitated the analysis of TEFL teacher types, presenting a typology classifying tourists as leisure-minded; philanthropy-minded; career-minded; expatriate-minded. This case-study examination facilitates initial comprehension of the TEFL tourism industry, providing basis for subsequent research to be undertaken to enable enhanced sustainable management of the TEFL industry worldwide.

Ideological foundations of TEFL threatened in exchange for commercialisation • Triangulated review of TEFL agency websites, blog analysis and survey data • 'TEFL package' facilitates the consumption of a post-modern tourist experience • Sustainability concerns are highlighted

Social researchers have been required to consider the potential ethical implications of their research since research began. Recently however, the importance placed upon research ethics has undoubtedly increased, evident through the formation of additional ethic committees, the production of various ethical guidelines and the increased number of publications addressing the concept. However, with the emergence of new and diverse research approaches, it can be suggested that there should also be the development of new and diverse ethical approaches. In this article, we consider the ethical stance taken when undertaking travel blog analysis and argue that due to the diverse and continuously evolving nature of travel blogs, the blanket approach that is so frequently adopted by researchers is not sufficient. We reflect on the ethics of utilising travel blog content as a method of data collection by considering the importance of whether the blogger is viewed as a human subject, whether data collected from blogs are public or private, the need for informed consent and whether the blogger should be viewed as an author or a respondent. We then proceed to contribute to the body of existing ethical research by proposing a set of broad ethical principles that can be applied for those undertaking travel blog analysis.