Actually, I lied. I didn’t find it. Google did. Or more precisely this post on TripAdvisor and from there I found the author’s Travel & Web 3.0: Overview. Interesting stuff there. One thing I’ve definitely taken away from this class is how much larger the reach of the internet and social media in the hospitality and tourism industry is.

I think there’s still significant room for growth, however it’s hard to identify a baseline when there is such a discrepancy between levels of adoption.

Web 2.0′s Impact: The Tourism Industry

It’s not optional anymore. I think I’m going to be using a lot of this mentally for my ASP.

• tracking social media/alternative exposure for CultureFest 2007. That’s been an interesting project because, unlike traditional media, there isn’t a standard list of places to check. Each time I do even a preliminary Google search I come up with venues I’ve never heard of – let alone having thought to check there.
• I can say some of the same for this semester’s consulting project with Hershey. While I can’t go into details, it too involves social media. At the outset of this project I realised how little I knew about social media. With regard to tourism and hospitality, TripAdvisor, Going.Com, WeJustGotBack, Facebook, MySpace, etc. are only the tip of the iceberg – to say nothing of the numerous blogs!

I’ve got my work cut out for me, but I’m really enjoying it. It’s also inspired me to get back into Wikipedia. While I’m not sure about the accuracy of Wikipedia in general, although the Nature article reproduced on Wikipedia sheds some light on the research that went into the study, I think it is a good starting point. I often turn to it when I have no idea where else to start on a topic and its citations can point me in the right direction – much like encyclopedias of my elementary and middle school days. A quick look at the YHA and backpacking articles showed me another fun project and reminded me of another project with good intentions. Memo to self: I don’t need another idea for a financial techniques/advanced projects idea. More on both of those later. 

I do look forward to following the authors’ blog. More on the book itself when I have free time and a few non-fried brain cells.

Another week down at school and work. To be honest, I’m finding it hard to get into this semester. At least, and I hope I won’t be cursing myself for saying it, it’s a lot easier than last semester. Over the hump? I do have 24 credits done, which is past the halfway point. Hmmm.

Work is going really well. I love what I’m doing, even if I’m not 100% sure of what I want to do. Working on CultureFest has been a lot of fun and I like the research side of things as well. Makes me wish I had unlimited time and money to attend all the programming I learn about.