According to a study released by Prophis eResearch, it is estimated that 19 million online Americans have visited one of the top ten travel 2.0community sites, such as TripAdvisor, in the past 12 months.

Long gone are the days of depending on glossy brochures and stunning websites as the sole means of attracting travelers. Even word of mouth information has shifted in that, less people go to their friends for advice and more are using sites that focus on creating online communities where travelers can share stories with each other – the ultimate research tools, people who have “been there and done that.”

An online study conducted under 7000 Tripadvisor users supports the increasing role of online travel communities in the holiday planning process. The study shows 82.5% use the Internet as their primary information source for booking a holiday. 57.5% of the participants read online reviews to narrow down their choices, 75% of whom regard reviews as highly influential to their choices. (Gretzel, 2007).

Another chapter opens for travel businesses and internet marketers, one where the return on ad spend cannot be trended and tweaked. The questions are the same; when, where, how and what. Here are my responses to those questions:

When = now

Where = social networking sites (Contiki and STA Travel pages on Facebook, for example, are very popular)

How = create a forum with resources (resources being access to information, space to upload user generated content and also a place to research ticket prices and room rates)

What will the future bring = a change in the way people research and dream up places to go.