ABSTRACT
Web 2.0 as a technological platform, but also as a philosophy regarding control over content, provides important opportunities for information to be exchanged among travellers and between tourism marketers and travellers. Web 2.0 is ideologically as well as structurally built on the assumptions of collective intelligence. Most importantly, the technologies underlying Web 2.0 enable and actively encourage new ways to engage with that information as well as with other producers and consumers of travel information. Web 2.0 based travel information is easier to find than many types of traditional forms of tourism information and advertising available online. While Web 2.0 structures and particularly different social media types that emerged from it can be easily observed, very little is known about who actually takes advantage of the opportunities provided by Web 2.0. Consequently, there is a critical need for research on travellers' perceptions of information embedded in the Web 2.0 information landscape and their specific engagement with that information.
