Following and Belonging to an Online Travel Community in Social Media, its Shared Characteristics and Gender Differences

This paper examines the characteristics of social media consisting a sense of belonging and following an online community in the context of tourism. A representative stratified sample of 301 respondents of foreign arrivals of tourists in the Athens airport, Greece in 2014 collected in June and July 2014 was employed. The sense of belonging was measured when following an online travel community. Results illustrated a statistically significant difference between men and women regarding how important it is for them to belong to an online travel community. In addition, research illustrated and described the shared characteristics of an online travel community. Essential features such as language specification requirements, the association of ideas, the exchange of comments and experiences among members are examined for the first time to date in this context in order to identify the framework of this relation. The paper describes the abovementioned characteristics in regard to belonging to an online travel community. The implications of the findings for companies, authorities and Destination Marketing Organizations concerning the shaping of their marketing and communication strategies and the opportunities that are created are further presented