Title: Towards online content classification in understanding tourism destinations' information competition and reputation

Authors: Alessandro Inversini, Lorenzo Cantoni

Addresses: Webatelier.net Laboratory, Universita della Svizzera Italiana, Via G. Buffi 13, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland. ' Webatelier.net and NewMinE Laboratory, Universita della Svizzera Italiana, Via G. Buffi 13, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland

Abstract: Destination managers are investing considerable efforts to market their destinations on the internet, often without considering the fact that unofficial information sources are gaining popularity among internet users. Long tail players (such as blogs, wikis, reviews, etc.) are starting to appear in the rankings of search engines, spreading almost the same content as the official sources, but with very different practices, goals and styles. The study analyses the online tourism domain representation given by search engines (Google and Yahoo!) of a given destination, Ravenna (Italy). A content analysis study has been performed on search results in order to examine topics and arguments of the retrieved results, which are leading to online information competition and creating the web reputation of the destination. The article shows that destinations need to manage their online reputation holistically, by listening to online discourses, and leveraging on the users| online contributions for marketing and reputation purposes.

Keywords: tourism destinations; information competitors; web reputations; web 2.0; eTourism; electronic tourism; e-tourism; tourists; competition; online content; content classification; destination managers; unofficial information; information sources; long tail players; blogs; wikis; reviews; rankings; search engines; content spreading; online tourism; domain representation; websites; Google; Yahoo; Ravenna; Italy; content analysis; search results; holistic management; online discourses; user contributions; leverage; internet marketing; advertising; world wide web; electronic business; e-business; digital marketing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMA.2011.038240

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 2011 Vol.6 No.3, pp.282 - 299

Published online: 26 Nov 2014 *

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