Online Tourism Communities on the Path to Web 2.0: An Evaluation

Abstract

In recent years a technological and sociological paradigm shift has taken place in the Internet that is often referred to as Web 2.0. Companies and individuals have started to adapt existing Web sites to the new standards and principles and created new types of Web services and communities. The tourism domain is no exception to this trend new tourism communities emerged and long-established ones integrated new features to keep up with this trend. In this paper we are evaluating eight tourism communities with respect to Web 2.0. Each community is evaluated based on a criteria catalogue that draws ideas from online community studies. The findings are discussed in the context of the tourist life cycle that is structured in a pre-trip, on-site and after-trip phase. The value for the traveller is highlighted for each phase and potential problems are discussed.