Pan, B: Travel Information Search on the Internet

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.