TOURISM WEB SITES AND VALUE-ADDED SERVICES: THE GAP BETWEEN CUSTOMER PREFERENCES AND WEB SITES' OFFERINGS

Authors: NYSVEEN H.¹; METHLIE L.B.¹; PEDERSEN P.E.¹

Source: Information Technology & Tourism, Volume 5, Number 3, 2003 , pp. 165-174(10)

Publisher: Cognizant Communication Corporation

Key:

- Free Content

- New Content

- Subscribed Content

- Free Trial Content

Abstract:

The purpose of this article is to report on a study of 1) what kind of value-added services offered by tourism businesses' Web sites are perceived the most important by customers, and 2) a comparison between customers' preferences for and the actual offerings of value-added services by tourism businesses' Web sites. A survey among customers of online tourism businesses shows that search engines, service integration, and personalization are the most preferred value-added services by the customers. In addition to the survey among customers, a survey was undertaken among tourism businesses to reveal the level of value-added services offered on their Web sites. By comparing the results of customers' preferences for value-added services and tourism companies' offerings, it is found that tourism businesses should provide more value-added services on their Web sites in order to fill the gap between customers' preferences for such services and the companies' actual offerings.

Keywords: Tourism; Internet; Value-added services

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration

The full text electronic article is available for purchase. You will be able to download the full text electronic article after payment.

$25.00 plus tax Refund Policy