Electronic travel recommendation agents and tourist choice

The growing use of electronic communication channels such as the Internet, on-location information kiosks, and mobile telephones is increasing the information density with which tourists are faced. In the future this density is likely to increase even further, as more and more intermediaries (such as travel agents and tour operators), local tourist organizations, destinations, and transportation and accommodation firms are expanding their online presence (see, e.g., Sigala et al., 2000). Additional trends such as marketing strategies that focus on customer relationships and total experience management also generate increasingly intense tourism information environments and require more frequent information exchanges between firms and individual tourists (Minghetti, Moretti, and Micelli, 2000).