ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a critical assessment of netnography in tourism by presenting and discussing the different levels of immersion produced by online platforms. The different stages of development of the World Wide Web over the last two decades – from Web 1.0 to Web 5.0 – are presented. The implications of the evolution of the Web are discussed from the perspective of the different stakeholders of the tourism industry, such as tourists, tourism service providers, programmers and tourism researchers. Overall, the chapter highlights the limitations of the existing netnographic approaches in tourism due to the emphasis placed by tourism scholars on textual analysis and Web 2.0 platforms. As such, this conceptual work calls for more netnographic studies in tourism that go beyond Web 2.0 platforms. Moreover, it encourages tourism scholars to consider the implications of the evolution of the Web not only for tourists but also for other stakeholders of the tourism industry. The points discussed in this chapter may also have implications for the tourism industry as they suggest ways of blending virtual and non-virtual experiences to enhance tourists’ experiences. In this regard, the discussions presented in the text highlight the important role of netnography in exploring netizens’ tourist and leisure experiences in both cyberspace and mixed realities environments.
