On the internet, travel regions (destinations) worldwide compete with tour operators and large service providers for the trust and attention of potential customers. Publicly funded tourism organisations and tourism marketing companies are faced with the challenge of bundling, marketing and distributing the offers of small and medium-sized tourism companies in particular under an umbrella brand.

But what reasons motivate travellers not to book with a tour operator but to actively research on the World Wide Web? What types of users can be distinguished? What range of services do websites need to offer in order for customers to make reservations or book online? Are there different needs depending on the customer's country of origin? These questions are the focus of the World Tourism Organisation's first global online survey on the subject of "User-friendliness of Internet websites at destinations".

The study is intended as a prelude to future cooperation between the World Tourism Organisation and the International Federation for Information Technology and Tourism, of which the IZT is a member, in the field of benchmarking research and service development for destinations. In the medium and long term, the aim is to contribute to the promotion of regional tourism marketing.