Virtual vs Digital: Examples of Netnography and Digital Ethnography in Tourism Studies for a Comparison between Methods

With this paper our goal is to formalize the main differences between the applications of ethnographic techniques when they are framed in Virtual or Digital Methods. To be more systematic in presenting these differences, a synoptic table is offered. This table examines the main breaking points between the methods and is used to organize a marked comparison between two tourism studies chosen as being representative; one for the ethnographic application of Virtual Methods, and one for the ethnographic application of Digital Methods. In addition to testing the effectiveness of the proposed classification scheme, the purpose of the comparison conducted between the two tourism studies is to highlight where the changes that have occurred can lead to advances in the method and where these changes have become new limits on which it is necessary to continue to reflect in order to develop the methods involved and place them clearly in line with the evolution of the digital scenario.