Investigating the role and impact of geovisualisation and geocollaborative portals on collaborative e-learning in tourism education

As geodata are the lifeblood of tourism, the representation of tourism resources on maps (geovisualisation) and the wide use of web 2.0 for creating and discussing geovisualised data (geocollaboration) are heavily adopted in tourism. Consequently, managing geodata needs to be incorporated into tourism curricula and pedagogies to assist graduates with career options. Although research in geovisualisation has examined the impact of geoportals on team-working and cognitive processes, research in education has not examined the implications of geocollaboration on collaborative e-learning. After reviewing the literature, the paper develops and applies a model that exploits geoportals for designing collaborative e-learning in a tourism course. Implications and trends for tourism educators and policy makers are discussed.