This study examines the relationships between tourists’ purchase decision involvement and their information search behaviours. The behaviours include their information preferences as measured by perceived value of different types of information contents, and their use of the internet as an information channel. The relationships are presented in a proposed conceptual framework of the tourist information search process, and tested through two hypotheses using a survey sample. The findings reveal that tourist information preferences significantly differed from one level of purchase decision involvement to another in seven out of 13 instances. It is also found that there are significant differences in using the internet as a destination information channel from one level of purchase decision involvement to another. The findings are discussed in the context of developing effective destination marketing strategies.

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The internet is playing an increasingly important role in destination marketing. To explore the current situation of online marketing in major destinations, this study compared destination marketing organisation (DMO) websites in the USA and China. By applying a modified balanced scorecard approach, website marketing strategies, web page designs, marketing information and technical qualities were evaluated. The main purpose was to determine similarities and differences among the official DMO websites in the USA and China. Four tiers of DMO websites were evaluated: state tourism offices and convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) in the USA, and provincial and city tourism administrations in China. US DMO websites were found to be superior to those in China in terms of marketing strategies and information, and US CVB sites received the highest evaluations. Based on the evaluation results, recommendations were made on how DMOs can improve their websites to develop them into more effective destination marketing tools.

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