Internet usage for travel and tourism: the case of Spain

Teresa Garín Muñoz ^[1] ; Teodosio Pérez Amaral ^[2]
1. [1] Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
  
  Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
  
  Madrid, España
2. [2] Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  
  Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  
  Madrid, España
Localización: Tourism economics: the business and finance of tourism and recreation, ISSN 1354-8166, Vol. 17, Nº. 5, 2011, págs. 1071-1085
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- The importance of the Internet for the travel and tourism industry has increased rapidly over the past few years. Understanding how travellers behave is of critical importance to travel suppliers and tourism authorities for formulating appropriate marketing strategies to exploit the full potential of this channel. This study explores the factors influencing Internet usage for travel information and shopping by analysing representative annual panel data on the 17 Spanish autonomous communities from 2003 to 2007. The results indicate that Internet usage for information depends basically on the ICT penetration level in the regions and the demographic characteristics of the population. However, when considering Internet usage as a product-purchasing tool, variables related to the characteristics of travel are also relevant.