Travel Information Search on the Internet: A Semantic.

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.

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