Tourists' search for different types of information : A cross-national study

Although understanding information search is vital to appropriately reaching tourists, limited knowledge exists regarding how people from different countries search for information at different stages in the tourist decision process. This understanding is particularly crucial in terms of online search patterns across different decision stages. This study addresses this gap by examining the search patterns of tourists from six countries across four different decision stages. It was found that information sources used does in fact vary across both nations and decision stages. In particular it was found that the Internet is used in conjunction with offline information sources and in different combinations across the decision stages.