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La crisis provocada por la pandemia de la Covid-19 y las medidas gubernamentales tomadas a raíz de ella han tenido un efecto directo en la industria turística. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo conocer cómo las Oficinas Nacionales de Turismo (ONT) de varios países de Asia (Corea del Sur e India) y de Europa (Alemania y España) gestionaron su comunicación de crisis ante la Covid-19. El estudio se realizó analizando el contenido de los mensajes publicados en las cuentas de Twitter de las ONT desde el inicio o la detección del primer paciente hasta un mes después de la declaración oficial de pandemia por parte de la Organización Mundial de la Salud. Los resultados no permiten establecer modelos de gestión de la comunicación de acuerdo a las áreas geográficas ni a las decisiones de los gobiernos. Sin embargo, los datos revelan que las ONT asiáticas analizadas reaccionaron más rápidamente y fueron más activas en su comunicación al comienzo de la crisis en comparación con las europeas. También muestran que los tuits alusivos a la Covid-19 generaron la mayor cantidad de reacciones entre los usuarios, a pesar de no ser los más publicados por las ONT. Este estudio contribuye a la gestión de los países de la comunicación relacionada con el turismo ante las crisis de la pandemia, ya que proporciona conocimiento sobre el uso de Twitter en las comunicaciones por parte de varias ONT, lo que puede servir como referencia para la adecuada comunicación digital de las crisis en este tipo de situaciones. que no se dañe la imagen de los países como destinos.

Chatbots are transforming tourism communication and have been quickly adopted in the tourism industry. But despite its implementation in the sector, there are no studies that analyze the effectiveness of its use in the organization of trips. For this reason, this study measures the tourists’ perceptions during the use of the chatbot "Victoria la Malagueña" through the attributes: informatividad, empathy, accessibility and interactivity. In data processing, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used. The findings suggest that informatividad and empathy are the chatbot attributes most valued by users. Los chatbots están transformado la comunicación turística y han tenido una rápida adopción en la industria del turismo. Pero a pesar de su implementación en el sector, no hay estudios que analicen la efectividad de su uso en la organización de viajes. Por ello, este estudio mide la percepción del turista durante el uso del chatbot “Victoria la Malagueña” a través de los atributos: informatividad, empatía, accesibilidad e interactividad. En el procesamiento de datos se utilizó el análisis factorial exploratorio y confirmatorio. Los hallazgos sugieren que la informatividad y empatía son los atributos del chatbot más valorado por los usuarios.

Chatbots are an emerging technology that is disrupting the tourism industry. Despite their implementation in companies and at destinations, there is little research that evaluates chatbots’ smart t...

We have examined retracted publications in different subject fields and attempted to analyse whether online free accessibility (Open Access) influences retraction by examining the scholarly literature published from 2000 through 2019, an incidence of the recent 20 years of publications. InCites, a research analytics tool developed by Clarivate Analytics®, in consultation with Web of Science, PubMed Central, and Retraction Watch databases were used to harvest data for the study. Retracted ‘Article’ and ‘Review’ publications were examined concerning their online accessibility mode (Toll Access and Open Access), based on non-parametric tests like Odds Ratio, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, Mann–Whitney U Test, Mann–Kendall and Sen’s methods. The Odds for OA articles to have retraction are about 1.62 as large (62% higher) compared with TA articles (95% CI 1.5, 1.7). 0.028% of OA publications are retracted compared with 0.017% TA publications. Retractions have occurred in all subject areas. In eight subject areas, the Odds for retraction of OA articles are larger compared with retraction of TA articles. In three subject areas, the Odds for retraction of OA articles are lesser compared with the retraction of TA articles. In the remaining 11 subject areas, no significant difference is observed. Post-retraction, though a decline is observed in the citation count of OA & TA publications (p

Expectations about a destination influence the tourist experience during the travel process stages. In the post-COVID-19 normalcy, people are adjusting their priorities and social values. Therefore, it becomes crucial to identify tourists’ expectations before traveling. The objectives of this research were: (a) identify the preferences of tourists; (b) establish the attitudes of tourists; and (c) determine the expectations of tourists for post-COVID-19 destination selection. The study analyzed a sample of 491 people during pandemic lockdowns in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Statistical techniques such as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used in data analysis. The results show that after the pandemic, tourists prefer urban tourism, followed by cultural tourism and traveling with relatives. It also shows a more responsible and supportive attitude when traveling. Likewise, the results support the dimensional structure that explains a set of post-pandemic tourist expectations. Five factors were identified: Smart Care, pricing strategy, safety, comfort, and social distancing. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications of the results that will guide for tourism destination managers were discussed.

Instagram permite a los usuarios compartir fotografías y vídeos y es una herramienta clave para crear imagen de los destinos. Actualmente los destinos compiten entre sí para tener una buena imagen y un buen posicionamiento. Por ello, los objetivos de este estudio son: analizar las publicaciones georreferenciadas de fotografías y vídeos de los usuarios de destinos, las reacciones que estas han comportado y crear un Factor de Impacto que genere un ranking de popularidad de los destinos entre los usuarios en Instagram. El estudio muestra las aportaciones del Factor de Impacto en Instagram creado para medir la popularidad de los destinos respecto a rankings anteriores y muestra también su utilidad para las Organizaciones de Marketing de los Destinos. Instagram allows users to share photos and videos and is a key tool to create destination image. Nowadaysdestinations compete among them to have a good image and a better position among publics. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to analyze the georeferenced publications of photographs and videos of users in destinations, the reactions they have generated among them and to create an Impact Factor that generates a popularity ranking of the destinations on Instagram. The study shows the contribution of the created Impact Factor in Instagram to measure the popularity of the destinations with respect to previous rankings andtheir usefulness for the Destination Marketing Organizations.

Since the emergence of Online Travel Reviews (OTRs), the collective co-creation of a destination brand image has been more evident than ever before. Stories and emotions expressed in these platforms by experienced tourists can significantly influence other users’ intention to visit. This study explores the extent to which political matters like the incidents that occurred during the last quarter of 2017 related with the Catalan independence process may have a negative impact on the brand image of a destination. This paper has used a specific methodology for content analysis of social media in the field of tourism to study the worst rated OTRs (one-star) of seven different attractions of Barcelona in three social media platforms that are able to geolocate places (TripAdvisor, Google Maps and Facebook) to determine the nature, discourses and the emotions raised. Although most complaints refer to the intrinsic problems of the attractions like high entrance prices and long queues due to tourism overcrowding, results reveal that OTR platforms also include tourists’ personal opinions on such issues as politics and religion. The originality of this research paper is that it delves into users’ co-creation of destination brand image through the analysis of negative OTRs and the emotions expressed in their comments.

The study analyses the searches for digital tourist information that different types of tourists, with different characteristics and connectivity preferences, make at destinations on the main topics they may require, allowing to know which digital sources they use, but also at what moment and in what situation. The study was based on an online survey that asked users about searches for tourist information they made at the destination during their last trip. The results show that tourists increasingly seek more tourist information at the destination, and search differently depending on the topic and their connectivity preferences in the different digital channels and locations. The results will allow Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) to provide tourists with suitable information, at the time and place they so require.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the destination marketing organizations (DMOs) of Barcelona and Cambrils communicated information about the terrorist attacks they suffered and what they have done to recover their image. The tweets posted on the Barcelona and Cambrils profiles were examined following a content analysis method focusing on three categories of communication: (1) the terrorist attacks, (2) the actions by the DMOs to manage them, and especially (3) the tourism-related decisions that were taken in order to recover the image of the destinations. The results reveal that to a great extent the destinations focused their communication efforts on managing the attack and to a lesser extent on messages to promote tourism in the region as a way to recover their image.

The aim of this article is to verify how the Destination Management Organizations of Barcelona and Cambrils managed their crisis communication following the attacks of August 2017 via their Twitter platforms. To do so, an analysis template was created from the field of public relations and a content analysis was performed on the tweets published on the official accounts of these organizations during one month after the terrorist attacks. The results show that, despite the great communication potential of Twitter during crises following terrorist attacks, only Barcelona Turisme published a high volume of tweets in the first days after the attack. However, the content of the tweets by Barcelona Turisme and Cambrils Turisme focuses mainly on how the attack was dealt with, the actions they took to protect the stakeholders, and the promotion of their tourist attractions. The tweets reported to a lesser extent on what had happened during the attacks and the security measures adopted after the attacks. The study has shown the need for public relations and crisis communication by Destination Management Organizations when terrorist attacks take place. This article involves the creation of a highly useful methodology to analyse crisis communication management after terrorist attacks at tourist destinations.

In this paper, the communication of destination brands through social media (Twitter and Facebook) is investigated with a focus on the use of emotional adjectives. Based on ten of the most popular destinations in Europe, more than 15,000 tweets and 6000 Facebook posts and users’ reactions to those messages were analysed. The study shows that DMOs are active and communicate using various emotional values about their brands on both platforms. The most popular emotional brand values for Twitter are ‘glamorous’ and ‘happiness’, while ‘honest’ and ‘trendy’ appear most frequently on Facebook. Interestingly, besides the fact that users actively engage on both platforms, significant differences were detected based on the values that users respond to as opposed to those that destinations use in their communication. Users respond much more strongly to messages that contain values related to the adjectives ‘sentimental’ and ‘happiness’ on Twitter, whereas on Facebook, adjectives such as ‘getaway’ and ‘young’ generate better responses. The study demonstrates that destinations can improve user reaction rates on social media and facilitate a positive destination brand image through the use of specific emotional brand values. Overall, the findings provide valuable as well as directly applicable implications for DMOs to use different values that align better with user expectations of the destination, which will ultimately lead to more effective online marketing strategies and stronger competitive profiles. This is an extended version of a conference paper entitled “Do DMOs communicate their emotional brand values? A comparison between Twitter and Facebook”, previously published in the proceedings of Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2018 Conference (ENTER 2018) held in Jonkoping, Sweden, January 24–26, 2018.

Terrorist attacks have a negative impact on destination image, affecting their tourism demand and generating a crisis in the tourism sector. The objective of this article is to investigate how the Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) of London, Manchester and Paris managed the crisis during and after the terrorist attacks of 2017 from a Public Relations perspective. A content analysis method of the tweets published in the official account profiles of said destinations was carried out during the 30 days that followed the terrorist attacks. Based on the existing literature on crisis communication, an analysis template was developed that analysed the timing, format and content of the tweets, as well as the reactions they generated in the public. The results indicate that the 3 DMOs focused their communication efforts on the dissemination of messages to promote tourism in the region in order to manage the crisis, but despite the fact that the public want to be informed when an attack occurs to understand what happened and feel safe, DMOs communicated little or nothing about what happened in the attack. In addition, the tweets that reported on the management of the attack carried out and the protection of stakeholders were the ones that obtained the greatest reactions among the public. The main contributions of the study are the analysis template created for the analysis of destinations’ crisis communication and the fact that public value the information received about the attack and the protection management carried out by the DMOs Los atentados terroristas suponen crisis para los destinos turísticos. Por ello, el objetivo de este artículo es verificar cómo las Organizaciones de Marketing de los Destinos de Londres, Manchester y París (OMDs) gestionaron dicha crisis durante y después de los atentados en 2017, desde una perspectiva de las Relaciones Públicas. Para ello, se realizó un análisis de contenido de los tuits publicados en las cuentas oficiales de los destinos a lo largo de 30 días tras los atentados terroristas. Los resultados muestran que las 3 OMDs centraron sus esfuerzos comunicativos en la difusión de contenidos de promoción turística para gestionar la crisis, pero comunicaron poco o nada lo ocurrido en el atentado. Asimismo, las Organizaciones de Marketing de los Destinos apostaron por imágenes fijas y textos como recursos de información para difundir sus contenidos Os atentados terroristas supõem um impacto negativo na imagem dos destinos, que afeta a sua demanda turística e gera uma crise no setor turístico. Por isso, o objetivo deste artigo é verificar como as organizações de marketing de destinos (OMD) de Londres, Manchester e Paris gerenciaram essa crise durante e após os atentados em 2017 a partir de uma perspectiva das relações públicas. Para isso, realizou-se uma análise de conteúdo dos tuítes publicados nas contas oficiais dos destinos ao longo de 30 dias depois dos atentados terroristas. A partir da literatura existente sobre comunicação de crise, elaborou-se um formulário de análise que analisou o timming, o formato e o conteúdo dos tuítes, bem como as reações que geraram nos públicos. Os resultados mostram que as três OMD centraram seus esforços comunicativos na difusão de conteúdos de promoção turística para gerenciar a crise, mas, apesar de os públicos desejarem estar informados quando acontece um atentado para entender o ocorrido e se sentirem seguros, as OMD comunicaram pouco ou nada sobre o tema. Além disso, os tuítes que informaram sobre o gerenciamento do atentado realizado e a proteção aos stakeholders foram os que obtiveram maiores reações entre os públicos. As principais contribuições do estudo são o formulário de análise criado para a análise da comunicação de crise dos destinos e ter demonstrado que os públicos valorizam a informação recebida sobre o atentado e o gerenciamento de proteção realizada por parte das OMD

This study analyzes how the national tourism organizations (NTOs) of Spain and Italy managed their crisis communication to deal with Covid-19. The study examines the messages published by the Twitter accounts of the NTOs from the beginning or the detection of the first patient until one month after the official declaration of the pandemic by the World Health Organization. The results reveal two different ways of managing crisis communications in the face of Covid-19, both in the treatment of the topics and in the timing of publication, at the same time generating different reactions and engagement among users. The Agenzia Nazionale Italiana del Turismo was faster and more active in the first moments of the health crisis compared with the Oficina de Turismo de España. This study can contribute to the development of communication strategies on social media by NTOs during different periods of such crises as well as communication actions to enhance the touristic image of their destinations. Resumen La crisis sanitaria de la Covid-19 está afectando a diversos sectores económicos, especialmente al turístico. Esta investigación persigue conocer cómo las oficinas nacionales de turismo (ONTs) de España e Italia gestionaron su comunicación de crisis ante la Covid-19. El estudio se llevó a cabo mediante el análisis de contenido de los mensajes publicados en las cuentas de Twitter de las ONTs desde el inicio o la detección del primer paciente hasta un mes después de la declaración oficial de pandemia por la Organización Mundial de la Salud. Los resultados revelan dos maneras distintas de administrar la comunicación de crisis ante la Covid-19 tanto en el tratamiento de los temas como en los tiempos de la publicación, que a la vez generan distintas reacciones y engagement entre los usuarios, siendo la Agenzia Nazionale Italiana del Turismo más rápida y activa en el primer momento de la crisis en comparación con la Oficina de Turismo de España. Este estudio es una contribución para las ONTs de los países que sufren crisis sanitarias en la creación de sus estrategias comunicativas en los medios sociales, tanto en los diferentes períodos de la crisis como respecto a las acciones comunicativas para recuperar la imagen turística de los destinos.

Since the development of mobile technology, the growth of live videos has been a social and economic phenomenon in recent years (Hu et al., in Comput Hum Behav 75:594–606, 2017). Seeking to analyse their potential in the field of tourism, this paper aims firstly to find out the reactions of users towards different live videos, and secondly to find out how users’ live videos and stories influence their opinions and behaviours. The results show what kind of effects live videos and stories can have in communicating authenticity/proximity, to generate tourist experiences, to make a destination more attractive, and to create an enticing destination image. This has some implications for academics, because it is an advance in the knowledge on this type of videos, their characteristics and applications; and has also implications for tourism businesses and Destination Management Organizations, which must take into account this type of videos and stories in order to improve their attraction and image.

El objetivo de este articulo es estudiar el uso que los turistas hacen de los medios sociales oficiales de los destinos turisticos cuando buscan informacion durante las tres fases del viaje (antes, durante y despues) y el grado de credibilidad que los turistas conceden a estos medios sociales. Se plantea una combinacion de tecnicas metodologicas cuantitativas y cualitativas, en concreto, una encuesta sobre los habitos de consumo de informacion turistica 2.0 de los espanoles; y un grupo de discusion, con viajeros que utilizan los medios sociales. Entre los resultados, destaca que los usuarios confieren mas credibilidad a Tripadvisor, a la pagina de Facebook oficial de un destino y a blogs de viajeros, porque incluyen opiniones y experiencias de otros usuarios.

Airbnb is one of the most transformative developments in the traditional accommodation system. Due to the social impact it entails, Airbnb is currently a present topic in the press, although studies on how Airbnb is treated in the press are very scarce. Thus, this article aims to analyse the treatment of Airbnb controversial issues in the press and its evolution. The analysis method is first to follow the evolution from 2016 to 2018, second, to conduct a computerised quantitative content analysis, and finally to analyse the importance of information published through compositional data analysis. Results show that topics appearing most in the news are legal issues and regulations followed by gentrification, new forms of tourism and sharing economy, mainly being treated from a negative perspective, although are evolving towards a more positive vision. Results can be useful for local and national authorities to understand and manage this phenomenon.

Destination image is a key factor for attracting tourists and wealth to destinations. With the spread of Web 2.0 and traveller-generated content, destination management organisations do not control the information regarding destination image formation through its cognitive, affective and conative components. The aim of the study is to analyse, using natural language processing techniques, whether the terrorist attack of August 2017 and the Catalan sovereignty process, which took place during the last quarter of 2017 in Barcelona, harmed the online destination image perceived and transmitted by tourists, through language recognition, frequency analysis and term categorisation of more than 150,000 online travel reviews, written in English, Spanish, French, German or Italian, posted on a shared-lodging platform. The findings show that visitors did not fear for their personal safety despite the seriousness and immense international media coverage of both events. The opinion of tourists, shared through online reviews, can help companies to improve the supply of goods and services.

With the aim of communicating their identities and brands, tourist destinations have started to use social media. However, many do not know very well how to manage them in order to improve their online communication. Several studies have shown that a high level of interactivity generated with users in social media leads to greater engagement and a better brand image. The aim of this study is to analyse the brand contents that generate the most reactions among users and to ascertain if the communication of the brand image and its emotional values also generates reactions. Results show that the most identifying or destination-specific themes/attributes are the ones that trigger the most reactions (interactivity), although very often generic attributes are also communicated. Moreover, this study shows that the communication of emotional brand values also generates reactions, although emotional values are rarely communicated by tourist destinations. The brand values and attributes that trigger the most user reactions do not usually coincide with the most mentioned ones by destinations in their posts.

The following study analyzes the emotional brand communication of the 10 most popular DMOs in Europe according to TripAdvisor (2017) by observing user responses across Facebook and Twitter. The paper presents a matrix of successful and promising values that DMOs should integrate into their social media communication strategies regarding their destination brands. Furthermore, the study visualizes a set of values that DMOs should either not include or try to avoid when aiming to successfully engage with their users. In addition to the differences between the two platforms, the type of engagement that DMOs should aim for is also examined. Overall, the paper provides DMOs with guidelines on how to effectively communicate their brands using specific emotional brand values on social media.

There are three phases in the use of online social media by tourists: before, during and after the trip. The aim of this study is to determine what social network users use to find information before and during the trip, the type of information they search, and where they share information. The study also identifies the relationship this has with the trustworthiness social networks provide them, especially distinguishing the social networks managed by the destination organizations. Therefore, we conduct a survey of 800 tourists who are social network users. Results show that social networks are not a major source of information before or during the trip but are very important for sharing contents after the experience, and that the most searched information concerns the main attractions of the destination. Moreover, there is a relationship between the use of social media and their perceived trustworthiness. In this case, for those who use social networks managed by destinations, these give them greater confidence. Existen tres fases en el uso de los medios sociales en línea por parte de los turistas: antes, durante y después del viaje. El objetivo de este estudio es determinar qué red social es la más utilizada por los usuarios para encontrar información antes y durante el viaje, qué tipo de información buscan, y donde comparten información. El estudio también identifica la relación que esto tiene con la confianza que las redes sociales les aportan, distinguiendo especialmente las redes sociales gestionadas por las organizaciones de destino. Para ello, se administró un cuestionario a 800 turistas que son usuarios de medios sociales. Los resultados muestran que las redes sociales no son una fuente principal de información antes o durante el viaje, pero sí son muy importantes para compartir contenidos después de la experiencia y que la información más buscada concierne las atracciones principales del destino. Además, hay una relación entre el uso de los medios sociales y la confianza percibida por los usuarios. En este caso, para aquellos que utilizan las redes sociales gestionadas por los destinos, estas les aportan mayor confianza. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness [Grant id.: TURCOLAB ECO2017-88984-R] and by the earlier competitive project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [Grant id.: CSO2012-34824 “Uso e influencia de los social media y la comunicación 2.0 en la toma de decisiones turísticas y en la imagen de marca de los destinos].

El objeto de este estudio es el análisis comparado de cómo los destinos turísticos utilizan los medios sociales y qué contenidos publican en su estrategia de comunicación; y cómo y qué buscan los usuarios cuando planifican un viaje. Las metodologías utilizadas son: entrevistas a directores de comunicación de destinos, encuestas a gestores de medios sociales, análisis de contenido de las publicaciones de los destinos y una encuesta a usuarios. Los resultados muestran ciertas diferencias en los medios sociales utilizados por ambos y en los contenidos publicados por los destinos y buscados por los usuarios, lo cual supone una interesante aportación para la comunicación de los destinos turísticos. ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is the comparative analysis of how destinations use social media and what contents publish in their communication strategies and how do users use these social media and what do they look for in there when they organize a trip. The used methodologies are: interviews with communication directors of destinations, surveys to community managers, content analysis of the publications of the destinations and a survey to users. Results show some differences among social media used by both and among the contents published by destinations and looked for users. These results provide interesting insights for the communication of tourist destinations.

Communication through social media is an effective way to position a destination brand. In particular, the emotional values of a brand trigger a positive reaction from potential visitors. It is important for destinations to align their emotional communication strategies on different social media platforms to enhance their online image. The lack of comprehensive research in this area led this study to analyse the usage of the two most used social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) among popular European tourist destinations. The study shows how destinations communicate their emotional values differently in Facebook and Twitter. The methodology of analysis allows destinations to compare the values they communicate with those of their competitors, so that they can improve their positioning and present a distinctive attractive personality of their destination.

In order to provide recommendations for improving the way in which destinations use social networks in their communication strategy, Facebook and Twitter accounts of important Spanish tourist destinations were analysed, using online measurement tools. The results show that these destinations neglect to build a place-identity brand on the social networks and that interactive potential is largely wasted, especially in Facebook . The recommendation is to enhance user engagement by posing questions to them or posting photos, as well as focusing on brand communication, not only on disseminating tourist information.

Videos are influential image creators and video-sharing sites like YouTube offer new opportunities to DMOs to communicate the identity and the brand of the destinations they represent. The aim of this article was to gain an insight into how Spanish DMOs use YouTube to communicate their promotional videos and to study whether these videos communicate brands through two main elements: attraction factors and emotional values. The research methodology combined an analysis of two important communicative variables of the official YouTube channels (interactivity and visibility) of the analysed destinations with a content analysis of the last 25 videos uploaded to those channels by the DMOs. On the one hand, results showed that the usage of YouTube by Spanish tourist destinations was widespread but with some limitations. The contents of the videos were mainly informative, and this helped to communicate attraction factors rather than emotional values. On the other hand, the presence of brand values is usually related to good results in terms of visibility and interactivity. The article contributes to good practices and recommendations to communicate territories’ brands via YouTube Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad | Ref. CSO2012-34824

espanolLa adopcion de la tecnologia en el turismo ha cambiado la comunicacion de los destinos y ha creado la aparicion de un nuevo concepto: Smart Tourism Destinations (STDs). Los STDs son un tema de investigacion de creciente relevancia. Sin embargo, su novedad, junto con los cambios rapidos en el campo del turismo, causa dificultades a los investigadores y a los responsables politicos. Este trabajo presenta un marco de analisis de los STDs, lo prueba en dos destinos con diferentes caracteristicas, y especifica que dimensiones son mas importantes y dificiles de implementar por los STDs. Los resultados muestran que los destinos grandes y pequenos se enfrentan a diferentes desafios. Los aspectos mas importantes del marco de analisis son la accesibilidad y la gestion. Algunas cuestiones, como la disponibilidad de wi-fi, sitio web de turismo, aplicaciones moviles y transporte publico se consideran las caracteristicas basicas para cualquier destino dispuesto a ser inteligente. EnglishThe adoption of technology in tourism has changed destinations� communication and created the emergence of a new concept: Smart Tourism Destinations (STDs). The growing trend of STDs has been an increasingly relevant research topic. However, its novelty, together with rapid changes in the tourism field, has caused many difficulties to researchers and policy-makers. This paper aims to present a framework of analysis of STDs, afterwards, to test it in two destinations with different characteristics and level of smartness, finally, to specify which dimensions are more important and difficult to implement by the STDs. The results show that big and small destinations are facing different challenges in their smart tourism plans. The most important aspects of the framework of analysis are accessibility and management. Some issues, such as the availability of wi-fi, tourism website, mobile applications and public transportation are considered the basic features for any destination willing to be smart.

Tourist destinations convey content through social media to communicate their identity and brand. Therefore, based on Spanish destinations, the aim of this paper is to use content analysis to determine if they communicate both their attraction factors and their emotional values via the different platforms, and if different contents are communicated and different communication strategies exist for the different social media. In general, the results show that destinations largely convey their attraction factors, using specific communication strategies according to the type of destination, and that neither strategies for the differential communication of emotional values that distinguish or identify the destinations nor different communication strategies through different social media are observed.

This editorial provides an introduction to this special issue on tourism, place brands and reputation management. It explains the themes addressed in the following collection of articles and briefly locates the emerging field of place brand studies and identifies its origins in the place promotion literature. The issue is conceived as a kind of open-ended exchange of ideas between scholars interested in tourism, place brands and cultural and communication studies in their widest sense, with the central focus being the further conceptualization and practical understanding of the nature of place brands. The second part of the editorial briefly introduces each of the following articles that attempt to make progress in engaging with some of these important issues.

Study of ranking in Google and Yahoo of big Spanish municipal corporation websites while searching by city tourist brand. Analysis of whether city tourist brands are promoting properly in the internet. Results of the daily ranking monitoring in Google and Yahoo are shown, for the searches made in 2009 by touristic brands of Spanish provincial capitals. The results show that 66% of official websites are situated after number 40 and, also, that in 46% of the searches made by touristic brands of province capital there is an official website within the top 10 positions. Empirical evidence about the weight of backlinks and keywords for SEO has also been detected. Se estudia el posicionamiento en Google y Yahoo de las sedes web de las grandes corporaciones municipales/nespañolas en búsquedas con la marca turística de la ciudad. Se analiza si se están promocionando de forma adecuada/nestas marcas en internet. Se presentan resultados del seguimiento diario del posicionamiento en Google y Yahoo durante/n2009 de las búsquedas por las marcas turísticas de las capitales de provincia españolas. Los resultados indican que un/n66% de las sedes web oficiales están posicionadas después del número 40 y que en el 46% de las búsquedas hay una sede/nweb oficial entre las 10 primeras posiciones. Se han detectado evidencias empíricas sobre el peso de los enlaces entrantes/ny de las palabras clave para las estrategias de posicionamiento en buscadores.

Although there are ever more weblogs on the Internet, this is an area that has been little researched in public relations, and where they have been analyzed it has been as a tool for communication rather than a primary information source in the public relations body of knowledge. This paper provides an exploratory study of the structure and content of 67 blogs on public relations to determine what issues they deal with and whether they are a tool for the theoretical development of the field. In addition to their content we have looked at the structure, usability and interactivity of the blogs.

In this qualitative study conducted at the Rovira i Virgili University we show that there are clearly two speeds for the implementation of public relations in Spain: one in the big cities (basically Madrid and Barcelona) and one in the smaller cities or regions of secondary economic importance, such as Tarragona, where the degree of professionalisation is noticeably lower. The medium-sized universities located outside the metropolises have an important role to play for three reasons. First, to homogenise professional practices and achieve a standard level of quality across the board. Second, to ensure that the profession achieves universal recognition. And third, to promote territorial equilibrium by improving the activities carried out by companies and institutions located outside the great urban centres.