Tourism Extranet Acceptance in the Cruise Distribution Chain: The Role of Content, Usability, and Appearance

Travel agencies remain the most popular distribution channel for cruises and a major determinant of passengers' postvacation evaluation. Our starting point is that cruise operators' extranets can contribute to their relationship with travel agencies, while improving the evaluation of cruise services. Within e-tourism research, the B2B dimension and the utilization of extranets is underrepresented, especially within the cruise domain. Consequently, this article seeks to contribute to a better understanding of travel agents' requirements on cruise/tour operators' extranets. A Web-based survey of 260 German, Austrian, and Swiss travel agents, selling cruise holidays, was conducted in order to examine the role and significance of content, usability, and appearance for the acceptance of tourism extranets. The results of the survey revealed that question items related to the content dimension were more significant that the items associated with usability and appearance. Following a discussion of the findings, further research and practical implications are outlined