In the research field of approaches to tourism, the originality of this new journal is the result of four fundamental choices.

– The choice of interdisciplinarity and multilingualism: everyone can write in his/her native language, which allows for the expression of more nuance than in a more or less well controlled foreign language, and yet be read in a great number of countries. Indeed, to be published in German, Catalan, Spanish, French, Italian or Portuguese, as well as in English and in a third language is an exceptional opportunity that this journal offers. Our objective of a better distribution of works of research in a field too exclusively dominated by the use of English. The Anglo-American world will gain access to an often ignored literature and to other ways of thinking which, in the field of humanities and social sciences, can only improve the quality of research and the objective of general interest.

– The choice to think about tourism as both an intercultural object and a means to access the central dimension of interculturality in the context of globalization: basing itself on the structure of an already well established international network of collaboration, as well as on its interdisciplinary and multilingual dimensions, Via @ intends to advance our knowledge of tourism and its societal implications. The collaborative production of a dictionary of the words of tourism, with translations and correspondence in different languages and cultural areas, should be a logical consequence.

– The choice of using the possibilities of the electronic format of Via@ in several ways: first, rather than proposing the contents of thematic issues fixed as soon as they are published, we will keep thematic records open for a certain period, to reflect the dynamics that the on-line format can allow. Then we will exploit the collaborative possibilities of web 2.0, which is especially interesting in research fields where interactions can carry both meaning and innovation. In doing so, Via@ wants to offer its Internet readers – especially to young researchers – through pre-registration, the possibility to contribute directly to the journal in different ways, either by sending critical reviews of publications or by creating communities of exchange on issues of common interest. In some cases, this interest could result in thematic records whose impetus and power of which would come from the readers themselves

– The choice of a journal that is both free and representative of a new system, open, collaborative, and transparent, escaping the logic of the market, as well as divisions of schools of thought or narrow specializations. This is why Via@ is sustained by universities from different countries together in an original partnership, each contributing to the collective project considering its own choices, its means and its ambitions. The list of partners of the journal is not closed because it is possible to open it to other countries and other continents.