Geoportals and Geocollaborative Portals: Functionality and Impacts on Travellers' Trip Panning and Decision Making Processes

As more and more travelers wish to create their personalised trip itineraries, the provision of geographical information and services is an unavoidable necessity for travel websites. The current evolution of geoportals and geocollaborative portals present numerous opportunities for making the trip planning process less complex and time consuming, more efficient, social, collaborative and enjoyable for travelers and their travel companions. This paper aimed to analyse the functionality and services of geoportals and geocollaborative portals and to thoroughly demonstrate their impacts on the trip planning and decision making processes on travelers. The discussion provides practical guidelines for designing geoportals and/or geocollaborative portals and directing future research.

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