Travel Information Search on the Internet

Using a trip planning exercise, this research intends
to investigate: (1) the process of travel information
search and trip planning on the Internet; and (2)
users satisfaction, through different semantics of
tourism. The results showed that travelers used a
variety of web sites to search for information and
they had different semantic mental models regarding
the same destination. They searched for information
hub pages which contain a list of links to different
attractions or accommodations. Their information
search process can be broken up into different
episodes and each episode is targeting at a specific
aspect of trip planning. Several episodes constitute
a chapter which is one facet (accommodation, dining,
attraction or transportation) of a travel plan. The
results also showed that users satisfaction is not
only determined by the efficiency of finding relevant
information; the travel information searchers are
also looking for exciting and novel information which
is beyond their semantic mental models and their
initial expectation. The theoretical contribution of
this study and implications for designing better
information technology for the tourism industry are
discussed.

Autorentext

Dr. Bing Pan is currently Assistant Professor and Head ofResearch in the Office of Tourism Analysis in the Department ofHospitality and Tourism Management at the College of Charleston.He has a Ph.D. in Tourism Management from the University ofIllinois at Urbana-Champaign and worked as a postdoc at CornellUniversity Information Science Program.

Klappentext

Using a trip planning exercise, this research intendsto investigate: (1) the process of travel informationsearch and trip planning on the Internet; and (2)users' satisfaction, through different semantics oftourism. The results showed that travelers used avariety of web sites to search for information andthey had different semantic mental models regardingthe same destination. They searched for "informationhub" pages which contain a list of links to differentattractions or accommodations. Their informationsearch process can be broken up into differentepisodes and each episode is targeting at a specificaspect of trip planning. Several episodes constitutea chapter which is one facet (accommodation, dining,attraction or transportation) of a travel plan. Theresults also showed that users' satisfaction is notonly determined by the efficiency of finding relevantinformation; the travel information searchers arealso looking for exciting and novel information whichis beyond their semantic mental models and theirinitial expectation. The theoretical contribution ofthis study and implications for designing betterinformation technology for the tourism industry arediscussed.