Online communities have been increasingly recognised as important information sources for consumers and as an effective marketing channel for marketers. It is critical therefore to understand what actually makes members participate in online communities. Accordingly, the fundamental benefits of online community members and how those benefits influence the level of participation and attitudes in the online community were examined in this study. Using the data collected by an online survey, three main benefits were identified, namely: information acquisition, socio-psychological, and hedonic. It was found that online community members perceive functional benefits, including information acquisition and experience sharing, as the most influential element on level of participation and attitude. This study also provides managerial implications regarding how to utilise and operate an online travel community whilst providing significant inspirations for future study.