The social web is defined as the social part of the Internet that enables (personally unknown) people to socially interact with each other in order to cherish friendships and make new acquaintances. The social web’s current significance exceeds this initial focus, by also encompassing corporate and commercial activities. Nadine Chehimi examines to what extent the social web influences the information process of German hotel guests. In addition to the presentation of the social web’s development and current state of use, general and tourist information processes as well as the German hotel market are described. With the help of a standardized guest survey, the author presents the exact role the social web currently plays in the tourist information search.

Nadine Chehimi is currently working as project manager for Customer Relationship Management for a hotel chain.