Abstract
Recent literature has emphasized the emerging role of social media in generating a destination image. Even so, there is still no clear definition of the main actors, typologies and components prevailing in these environments or the possible differences between diverse social platforms. Specific analysis and comparison of the Barcelona TripAdvisor Forum and a traditional Destination Management Organization (DMO) website showed that actors, typologies and components are platform specific and have both similarities and differences with other sources, including DMO websites and other social media platforms.
Acknowledgements
This study was conducted as part of the research project entitled ‘Tourism, Territory and Identity: Processes of Revaluation of Spaces and Activities in the Spanish Rural Environment. A Comparative Analysis of the Cases of Catalonia, Galicia and Murcia’, in the National RDI Plan financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Reference no: CSO2009-11793
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Lluís Garay Tamajón http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4209-3319