Evaluation of Tourism Web Sites: A Theoretical Framework.

The paper outlines a theoretical framework for the discussion and identification of indicators measuring the properties of web sites. In this framework we distinguish between the web site as a medium for describing an object, the web site as an object of description and the normative judgement of a web site. The framework is the basis for a project currently carried out. It aims to establish indicators for tourism web sites and use them in an open benchmarking process to enforce the improvement of the set of independent web sites marketing a given tourist destination both individually and as a resource in the collective presentation of the destination. The case studied is the Sognefjord region in Western Norway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]