1. Assistant prof.Silvena Dencheva Ph.D. in E-commerce

2.  The Internet has revolutionized all the world including business too. It has transformed the way business was conducted. In this regard, Puri is speaking about a global revolution in communication, administration and level of data access, removal of market barriers and enabling rapid globalization are all what the dot com phenomenon is all about.

3.  Customers have become more informed as they have full access to information.(Bellman et al, 2006). They are the leading part in the relationship with the company, as they decide which websites to visit, from where to purchase. They can make easily decisions as they can use the help of intelligent search engines and metacrawlers, thus potential customers are able to find enormous amount of knowledge.

4.  The first definition of a virtual community was given by Rheinhold (1993), which explains it as an aggregation of people who are able to exchange ideas, believes, experiences, etc. online through space and time. In this regard, Wang et al (2002) defines the following four main components that compose a virtual community:  (1) The users who interact online with a mutual interest to satisfy their needs;  (2) A purpose for a certain information exchange;  (3) Guiding principles that compile a communication policy;  (4) Network facilities that work as an intermediary in the communication process.

5. Components: UsersUsers PurposePurpose PrinciplesPrinciples FacilitiesFacilities

6.  Customer gets everything in one place (reviews, photos, hotels…)  Saves time by purchasing a trip.  Usually when you book online travel communities can offer lower price than usual travel agencies  When you book earlier-you pay less.  Booking online allows customers to compare prices with other websites  Hospitality companies gain a lot from travel online communities too. They get advertising, they can increase their sales through the websites and they can get the primary feedback about the company via reviews in travel online communities.

7.  Incomplete, incorrect or outdated information.)  If the potential tourist does not know where to search for a good offer, it can take a lot of time surfing the net.  It is very uncomfortable to book online when the internet of user is slow.  The interface of the travel online community can be not usable enough  People are suspicious to buying online and providing websites with numbers of their credit cards.  Low cost offerings might be tricky as well.

11.  Purpose - common interests such as travel, golf etc.  Place – Extent of technology used  Platform - In virtual communities interaction can be either synchronous (e.g. chat rooms) or asynchronous (bulletin boards, listservs, newsgroups).  Population Interaction Structure - Interaction pattern in the online community is related to the group structure and type of social ties.  Profit Model - tangible economic values

12.  Social, professional and commercial  Relationship building communities  Entertainment communities  Learning networks  Expert networks  Business-to-Business or B2B  Business-to-Consumer or B2C  Profit earning  Internet Service Providers, E-shops and E-free providers.