A strategic website evaluation of online travel agencies

Online travel Web sites have been the most frequently visited online information facilities by travelers. To evaluate the effectiveness of a travel Web site, the Web site manager should regularly check whether or not it is fulfilling the objectives that were established for it. This research uses a strategic Web site evaluation framework to introduce a five-stage process for examining the consistency of Web site’s presence and its intended strategies. Two leading online travel agencies with different business strategies are selected to demonstrate methods of implementing a strategic evaluation framework and to compare the evaluation results. A hierarchical evaluation structure is introduced to explicitly delineate the two Web sites’ different strategy intentions and related evaluation criteria. Results show that an individual Web site’s strategy-inconsistent criteria can be easily identified through a gap analysis and criteria performance matrix. A strategy-inconsistent dimension can be discovered through a radar chart analysis of the 4PsC (Product, Promotion, Price, Place, and Customer Relationship) dimensions and a transaction phases analysis.     

Effect of transaction trust on e-commerce relationships between travel agencies

This study attempts to examine wholesaler construction of trust mechanism in B2B commerce in the travel industry. Eight hundred and sixty-eight travel agencies in Taiwan were surveyed, yielding 212 valid returned surveys. Results show a great difference between party trust and control trust, showing that retailers are primarily concerned with image and reputation, and less with concrete measures to enhance control trust. Finally, this study concluded with recommendations for how wholesalers can improve trust mechanisms, so as to consolidate and retain the trust beliefs and trust attitudes of the retailers for future transactions.     

Developing inter-organizational relationships with online travel agencies (OTAs) and the hotel industry

This research examines the relationship status of leading OTAs with the hotel industry in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region along with future trends in hotel distribution channels. A Delphi study was conducted with senior executives (n = 12) of leading OTAs to explore the inter-organizational relationship development between hotels and OTAs. Our results indicate that building a long-term sustainable relationship with the hotel industry requires OTAs to be innovative and capable of enhancing their value to hotels. Moreover, the future of the hotel distribution landscape in the APAC region is expected to become increasingly complex.     

Travelers’ social identification and membership behaviors in online travel community

Given the growing use of the Internet, not only for the purchasing of holidays but also for exchange of information and sharing experiences, the issue of how social identification is created in an online community assumes potential importance. This study investigates travel members’ social identification through their online community experience and its positive behavioral outcomes (i.e., membership behaviors). Data are derived from 352 respondents belonging to MSN groups and are analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results of this study show that members’ active participation fortifies their sense of belonging to the online travel community, which makes members support the community by showing several positive member behaviors such as knowledge sharing, community promotion, and behavioral changes. Travel member’s interaction levels are further revealed to strengthen the magnitudes of the proposed relationships.     

Building up a B2B e-commerce strategic alliance model under an uncertain environment for Taiwan's travel agencies

E-travel agencies adopt B2B strategic alliances in order to strengthen their competitive advantages in the e-commerce travel market and because they are an effective tool to gain wider sustainable gains. External environmental and internal organizational factors impacting the success of strategic alliances model are themselves a crucial issue. This study uses multiple methods to collect data from multiple sources and uses qualitative and quantitative surveys. A two-stage research design is adopted to explore the present strategic alliances between Taiwan's wholesaler e-travel agencies and retailer sub-agencies. The results provide an in-depth understanding into the B2B e-commerce strategic alliance model. According to this research, Taiwanese e-travel agencies consider three external environment uncertainties, five internal organization motivations, five partner selection criteria, and two performance measurements of alliance strategies. Finally, the paper proposes an optimal B2B e-commerce strategic alliance model that matches the essential development needs of B2B e-commerce and overcomes the environmental uncertainties.     

Opening the online marketplace: An examination of hotel pricing and travel agency on-line distribution of rooms

This paper studies the optimal pricing strategy of a hotel that establishes an online distribution channel through cooperation with an online travel agency (OTA). The OTA promotes the hotel and sells hotel rooms through its website and receives commission from the hotel for rooms sold. Through a sequence game model, this paper derives the optimal decision on the unit commission of the hotel and the optimal response of the OTA to that commission. The paper notes management implications, including (1) occupancy rate of a hotel before opening online marketing is an important metric for securing cooperation with an OTA; that is, a hotel with lower occupancy rates is more inclined to cooperate with an OTA to achieve an improvement in profits; and (2) a hotel is inclined to establish an online channel through an OTA with many online customers and/or few listed hotels.     

Towards understanding members’ general participation in and active contribution to an online travel community

Online travel community has been considered central to models of Internet marketing and electronic commerce in the travel industry. The successful operation of an online travel community depends on the understanding of member participation in and active contribution to the online travel community. This study evaluates an integrated model of an online travel community using structural equation modeling. The results of the study indicate that participation in the travel community is driven mainly by social and hedonic benefits, while level of active contribution can be explained by three instrumental, efficacy, and expectancy related incentives. Implications for the development of a dynamic and sustainable online travel community are discussed.     

Online distribution of airline tickets: Should airlines adopt a single or a multi-channel approach?

In today's digital world, airlines typically distribute tickets both via their own websites and through online travel agency (OTA) platforms such as Expedia and Travelocity. Although associated with higher distribution costs, selling tickets through the platforms offers airlines exposure to a broader consumer base, and potentially higher sales than selling tickets solely through their own websites. While most airlines have adopted a multi-channel approach by selling tickets through OTA platforms and their websites, some (e.g., Southwest Airlines, easyJet and Ryanair) sell only via the latter. Is one approach better than the other, and if so, under what circumstances? This study analyzes factors that affect an airline's distribution strategy by developing a decision support model. We find that airlines are less likely to use OTA platforms if they have a large loyal consumer base or if the OTA platform is highly competitive.     

Tour operators and performance of SME hotels: Differences between hotels in coastal and inland areas

This paper studies the differences in the impact of global tour operators on the management and performance of hotels in coastal and inland areas. The empirical analysis is based on a survey conducted in 2016 on 375 Spanish SMEs operating in the hotel industry. A multi-group comparison analysis was carried out using Partial Least Squares (PLS) structural modelling. This analysis reveals that dependence on global tour operators has a direct effect on the conditions under which hotel services are provided (room rates and quotas) both in coastal and inland areas. Nevertheless, the pressure from tour operators is significantly stronger on hotel SMEs located in coastal areas, where it has a negative effect on profitability, in spite of having a positive influence on firm growth (sales and employment).     

Impacts of quality certification on online reviews and pricing strategies in the hospitality industry

Certification of firm quality is an important strategic concern for industry practitioners, since it entails explicit and implicit investments in time, personnel training and finances. Since the impact of certification influences customers in various ways, the purpose of this study is to determine what impact quality certification has on both online reputation and price premiums. This study extends the scope of extant literature by including various types of accommodations beyond typical hotels. Two-stage least squares (2SLS) is applied revealing an increase in online ratings for accommodations after certification relative to before, supporting that quality certifications may improve online ratings. Using spatial two-stage least squares (S2SLS), this study demonstrates significantly higher valence in online ratings for certified relative to non-certified accommodations, as well as showing a price premium in certified over non-certified accommodations.     

Determinants of the intention to participate in firm-hosted online travel communities and effects on consumer behavioral intentions

The increasing presence of firm-hosted online travel communities is motivating significant changes in the travel industry. This study attempts to explain consumers’ intentions to participate in such communities, and other consumer behavioral intentions, on the basis of a model that integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Technology Acceptance Model, and Social Identity Theory. In addition, this research investigates the link between the intention to participate in a community and two behavioral intentions that may benefit the host firm: the intention to use the firm’s products/services and the intention to recommend the host firm. The results reveal that the chosen theories provide an appropriate framework for explaining the intention to participate; this intention in turn has a positive effect on the two other behavioral intentions. On the basis of the results, the authors propose some key conclusions and managerial implications.     

The impact of perceived security and consumer innovativeness on e-loyalty in online travel shopping

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the impacts of perceived security and consumer innovativeness on online travel shopping. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data and a total of 283 questionnaires were used for data analysis. The mechanism of perceived security and consumer innovativeness was then identified. The study results indicate that: (1) higher perceived security increases the perception of website image and trust; (2) consumers with a higher level of innovativeness tend to trust travel websites; (3) website image has a mediating effect between perceived security and trust; and (4) trust has a mediating effect between website image and e-loyalty.     

Managing business travel: Developments and dilemmas in corporate travel management

Work organizations today often depend on communication and interaction between persons working in geographically dispersed locations. As a consequence, business travel has increased considerably over the past few decades, and large companies and public authorities often employ travel managers to implement efficient travel routines. The present paper investigates the professional practice of travel management. Using interviews, policy documents and existing literature, it examines recent developments in this field and identifies a number of dilemmas and challenges that travel managers experience in their attempts to control travel behaviour and travel costs in their organizations. These dilemmas occur in travel managers’ relations with other stakeholders in the business travel process - travellers, senior managers, suppliers, and travel agents. An additional dilemma concerns the role of ‘virtual meetings’ (via telephone, video or the Web) and their potential to serve as substitutes for or complements to travel and face-to-face meetings.     

Attitude Towards Green Hotel by Hoteliers and Travel Agency Managers in Taiwan

Analysis is performed by green hotel features: energy conservation, water conservation, waste management, green purchasing, and corporate social responsibility. Questionnaires were distributed to managers of hotels and travel agencies via snowball-sampling. Findings show that hoteliers have higher green hotel attitudes than travel agency managers. By gender, female managers have higher green hotel attitudes. Managers with less work experience have higher green hotel attitudes. Managers who work for upscale hotels have higher green hotel attitudes than managers of typical hotels and travel agencies. Managers working in south or east Taiwan have higher green hotel attitudes than those in north or central Taiwan.     

An Analysis of The Lowest Fares and Shortest Durations for Air-Tickets on Travel Agency Websites

Despite the existence of numerous published articles on website evaluations, the present tourism literature has no prior studies that examined the topics of lowest fares and shortest durations for air-tickets that are offered by travel websites. This study reports the findings of a study that investigated the practices of five online travel agency (OTA) websites. In terms of lowest airfares and the shortest in-flight durations (hereafter known as shortest durations) in four destinations for travelers who originated from Hong Kong, empirical findings showed the regional OTA outperformed other global leaders in airfares. Likewise, a smaller scale OTA offered lowest-fare air-tickets with the shortest durations. Practical implications are offered at the end of the article.     

The influence of website quality dimensions on e-purchasing behaviour and e-loyalty: a comparative study of Egyptian travel agents and hotels

Websites have become a channel for tourism enterprises to market and sell their services online. These enterprises are committed to improving their online services to retain customers and improving their competitiveness. This study aims to measure the effect of website quality dimensions on customer purchasing behaviour, and how this behaviour affects customer electronic (e)-loyalty. It compares the perceptions of 275 customers of travel agencies and 355 hotels using structural equation modelling. Findings revealed that website quality dimensions significantly affect the customer purchasing behaviour. The study highlighted the dimensions with a negative effect to help managers improve their website quality.     

Improving text summarization of online hotel reviews with review helpfulness and sentiment

The considerable volume of online reviews for today's hotels are is difficult for review readers to manually process. Automatic review summarizations are a promising direction for improving information processing of travelers. Studies have focused on extracting relevant text features or performing sentiment analysis to compile review summaries. However, numerous reviews contain nonspecific or nonsentimental content, hindering the ability of sentiment-based techniques' to accurately summarize useful information from hotel reviews. This paper proposes a systematic approach that first constructs classifiers to identify helpful reviews and then classifies the sentences in the helpful reviews into six hotel features. Finally, the sentiment polarities of sentences are analyzed to generate the review summaries. Experiment results indicated that the performance of the proposed approach was superior to other methods.     

旅行社与导游委托代理模型解析

旅行社和导游之间是典型的委托一代理关系,导游的工作特征使得旅行社对其监督的成本很高,也就是说旅行社很难观测到导游的努力水平.本文根据委托一代理理论.构建经济模型说明,在这种情况下,旅行社与导游不会改变他们之间现有的报酬模式,因为这是一种满足了参与约束与激励相客约束的均衡结果.而旅游行政管理者要做的就是完善现有的导游报酬机制.特别是要通过制度设计与行政手段来解决导游监督、回扣等问题.     

Free add-on services and perceived value in competitive environments: Evidence from online hotel reviews

This study investigates how free add-on services affect customers’ perceived value in horizontal and vertical competition. We collected 349,879 reviews about over 3000 hotels in 25 U.S. cities from TripAdvisor. Using three balanced data sets generated by coarsened exact matching, the ordered logistic regressions show that free hotel add-on services (including free breakfast, parking, and WiFi) positively affect consumers’ perceived value. However, increased horizontal and vertical competition differentially weakens the positive effects of free add-on services. We not only observe a negative moderating effect of horizontal competition, but also identify three patterns of the marginal effects of these three add-ons in horizontal competition. The moderating effect of vertical competition exists from the higher-grade hotel segment to a lower-grade hotel, but such an effect is insignificant from the lower-grade hotel segment to a higher-grade hotel. Therefore, hotel managers should consider diverse external competitive environments and design appropriate differentiated service strategies.