The Web Portal as a Collaborative Tool

Discussion of portals and their relevance to destination tourism is the main focus of this chapter. Traditional definitions of portals have focused on intraorganisational information sharing. Here a broader interorganisational view of portals is adopted. Information sharing beyond organisations via portals renders them a collaborative tool, which is of real benefit to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This applies equally to tourism destinations which are typified by many small and medium tourist enterprises (SMTEs) (Braun, 2002). In addition to the traditional view of portals, portals have a collaborative function, and this is considered along with the phenomenon of collaborative commerce (c-commerce). Here critical elements underpinning successful c-commerce adoption are identified and their application to tourism destinations via collaborative portals are explored. It is posited that the role of a champion, community, social identity, and collaborative behaviour are important to successful collaborative portals and so, to destination marketing.