In today's dynamic global environment, understanding how travelers acquire information is important for marketing management decisions and designing effective marketing communication campaigns and service delivery. Understanding the information search behavior of key current and prospective markets can help destination managers and marketers develop target-marketing communications more effectively, because information search represents the primary stage in which marketing can provide information and influence travelers' decisions. Application of basic market segmentation techniques, using travelers' information source utilization patterns as either a segmentation base or descriptor, enable focused positioning and media selection. Certainly, understanding external information source utilization can help marketers effectively tailor the promotional mix.

Dr. Dogan Gursoy is the Taco Bell Distinguished Professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management at Washington State University and the editor of Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. His area of research includes travelers' information search behavior, tourism marketing, tourism impacts, mega events and generational leadership.