Tourism and online photography

Iris Sheungting Lo, Robert Douglas McKercher, Sau Yee Ada Lo, Yuk Yim Cheung, Chun Hung Roberts Law

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

256 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper documents the use of online travel photo-sharing technologies among Hong Kong residents. The advent of Web 2.0 is changing fundamentally the tourist information search and destination choice process. Yet, to date, no study has documented Web 2.0 usage levels and preferences for certain media for posting travel photographs across an entire community. This study reveals that some 89% of pleasure travelers take photographs and that 41% of them posted their photographs online. Social network sites (SNSs), instant messaging, online photo albums and personal blogs were the most popular media used. In general, people who post photographs online tend to be younger, better educated, and earn a higher income than those who do not. The study determined that most people also use multiple media platforms to disseminate their images. Cluster analysis based on the four major styles of online platform identified five cohorts of users who differed in number and type of media used, demographic profile and travel motive. Implications for destination promotion are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)725-731
Number of pages7
JournalTourism Management
Volume32
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2011

Keywords

  • Blogs
  • Online photo albums
  • Photo-sharing media
  • Social network sites
  • Travel photography

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Development
  • Transportation
  • Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
  • Strategy and Management

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Tourism and online photography'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this