Understanding collaborative tourism information searching to support online travel planning

Abstract

Purpose 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. Design/methodology/approach 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. Findings 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. Originality/value 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.

Digital content marketing as a catalyst for e-WOM in food tourism

“…Tourism information is among the most researched topics on the Internet ( Lamsfus et al, 2015 ). Moreover, tourists' decision-making is increasingly being done via social media ( Mohammad Arif and Du, 2019 ); tourists have become more flexible, less loyal, more critical, and more willing to listen to others' voices ( Lamsfus et al, 2015 ). In fact, some scholars have identified a trend where tourists are relying more on social media to find information regarding others' experiences and to make travel decisions ( Van Laer et al, 2018 ).…”

“…In contrast, customers use mobile Internet to search for mostly informal purposes, such as life-related content, and the time spent searching is fragmented and at a various location, with apps being the primary search tool ( Wang et al, 2019 ). Regarding lifestyle content in food tourism, content is mostly searched by tourists via social media or apps during their spare time ( Mohammad Arif and Du, 2019 ). Lieb (2012) argued that DCM is neither about promotion nor sales, but a way to attract audiences using content.…”

Collaborative query reformulation in tourism information search

“…The interface of ColTIS contains ten windows: individual search, collaborative search, search results display, online chat, travel plan co-editor, map, division of search task, individual query sharing, CQ sharing, and results sharing. A full description of the system can be found in Mohammad Arif and Du (2019). Key screenshots relevant to the current study are shown in Figures 1-3 Retrieved results are shared in the results sharing window.…”

Using Social Media to Preserve Consumers’ Awareness on Food Identity in Times of Crisis: The Case of Bakeries

“…Further research also needs to delve into the placement of bakeries within the entire gastronomy landscapes of a destination, and specially within the promotion of food by local and regional DMO’s and how stakeholders’ efforts may lead to the attraction of food visitors [ 78 ]. Branding and marketing strategies must focus on the potential of food tourism drawing on: Proudness of local food, empowerment of local SMEs, and development of synergies among local food products and services [ 38 ], which also inform a sustainable food consumption strategy (see [ 119 , 120 ]).…”

“…The use of online marketing is a common avenue to reach customers. Social media is a growing platform for tourists’ decision-making [ 78 , 79 ]. Digital content marketing aims to increase interactions between customers and the brand, and add value to the service experience and promote long-term relationships [ 80 , 81 ].…”