Abstract

CERVI, Laura. Travellers' virtual communities: a success story. Universitas [online]. 2019, n.30, pp.97-125. ISSN 1390-8634.  https://doi.org/10.17163/uni.n30.2019.05.

This article aims at studying the Italian online travelers’ community Ho sempre voglia di partire, which, in only two years of life, has reached more than 540 000 followers, over 7 000 000 visits per month and over all 2 700 000 interactions, becoming —according to its creators— the largest travelers’ community in Europe. The objective is to describe the interactions that characterizes the community, to reveal the reasons why users participate, the actual and symbolical benefits they obtain, and to understand the reasons for success. Through a triangulation of methods, the article reveals how the key of all interactions is emotion and how, therefore, the benefit that the members obtain is mainly emotional.

Keywords : Social networks; on line communities; travel communities; 20 travellers; Web 20; community manager; prosumer; 20 tourism..

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