Relevance of the features regarding the performance of booking websites

• Diana Foris ^[1] ; Alina Simona Tecau ^[1] ; Madalina Hartescu ; Tiberiu Foris ^[1]
  1. [1] Transylvania University of Brașov

     Transylvania University of Brașov

     Rumanía

     
• Localización: Tourism economics: the business and finance of tourism and recreation, ISSN 1354-8166, Vol. 26, Nº. Extra 6, 2020 (Ejemplar dedicado a: e-Tourism economics), págs. 1021-1041
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Nowadays, the tourists increasingly prefer to plan their travels using online search engines, to thedetriment of classical travel agencies. A well-designed and well-managed booking website can satisfythe tourists’ needs, whereas a less intuitive one can make them dissatisfied. The search enginedevelopers cannot develop an effective and efficient booking website which satisfies the users’ needs,creates a favorable experience for them, and influences their intention to purchase, withoutunderstanding the users’ needs regarding the search engines attributes and features. This studyapplies a quantitative research, collects primary data, and investigates how booking websites canmove from a basic to a sophisticated online presence. The aim of the analysis is to provide an insightregarding the tourists’ preferences and their interface needs, as well as the filters and the options thatmay help them find the most relevant results for the chosen destinations. The study develops acomprehensive performance evaluation model for booking websites using specific attributes andfeatures of the tourism industry. This model includes usability and functionality dimensions that havebeen identified by analyzing six booking websites, three used at the international level (Booking,Priceline, and Hotwire) and three used only in Romania (Vola, Infoturism, and Carta), and correlatedwith the customers’ needs regarding booking websites and hotel website evaluation. The results areuseful for booking website developers and can be used to adapt their user interfaces, making them farmore user-friendly. Suggestions are made regarding how to improve the performance of bookingwebsites and potential ways for future research are discussed.