An analysis of the key factors affecting the success of a re-launched destination marketing website in the UK

Business Information Systems e-Commerce/e-business Computer Appl. in Social and Behavioral Sciences Marketing Information Systems Applications (incl. Internet)This paper presents a case study of the re-launch of a DMO website in the UK. It evaluates the perceived usability of the new website and identifies the key factors affecting customers’ intention to use the new website. A large-scale online survey was developed to understand a number of issues relating to usability (e.g. aesthetics, effectiveness) and psychological and behavioural indicators (e.g. perceived trustworthiness and intent to use). Both quantitative and qualitative data was analysed to understand users’ perceptions, behaviour and attitudes towards the re-launched website. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was developed to identify the factors affecting their intention to use the new website. The SEM model identified the impact of a variety of factors on intention to use and the descriptive analysis, using both qualitative and quantitative data, highlights further areas of research

Show Me What You See, Tell Me What You Think: Using Eye Tracking for Hospitality Research

Identifying precisely what consumers are looking at (and by implication what they are thinking) when they consider a web page, an image, or a hospitality environment could provide tremendous insights to the hospitality industry. By using eye tracking technology, one can almost literally see through the eyes of the customer to find out what information is examined at various points during the hotel search process or to assess which property design features attract guests’ attention. When eye tracking is immediately followed by interviews that review a graphical representation of the consumer’s eye movements, the thought processes behind consumers’ visual activity can be uncovered and explored. In this paper we explain how eye tracking works and how it could apply to hospitality research. Today’s eye tracking systems are easy for researchers to set up and use and are virtually transparent to the participant during use, making eye tracking a valuable method for examining consumer choice or facility design, or to develop employee training procedures. We argue that eye tracking would provide rich results and deserves to be considered for a wide range of hospitality applications

Understanding of online hotel booking process: A multiple method approach

With the development of information technology, online travel agency has become an important information and communication source in the hospitality industry. The previous studies assessing the online hotel decision-making behaviours, however, mainly focused on behavioural intentions as well as identifying factors that directly influence the transactional behaviours, which rely on a static approach rather than employing the holistic viewpoints. Thus, this research adopted the choice-set model as a theoretical lens to explore online hotel booking behaviours by using multiple methods (i.e. observation and survey methods). The findings of this research shed light on the dynamic patterns of online hotel decision-making process and identify important factors (i.e. internal and external information sources) across sequential stages of the choice-set model. Therefore, this research provides useful implications to online hospitality marketers

A Bibliometric Study on Eye-Tracking Research in Tourism

The purpose of this paper is to determine the position of eye-tracking studies in the tourism literature and to provide a panoramic perspective of social and intellectual structures of eye-tracking studies in tourism. Bibliometric methods have been used to analyze 64 studies published from 2013 – 2019. Descriptive, network, and cluster analyses were applied in the R statistics program. The annual growth rate on eye-tracking research in tourism was 38.31%. Most of the authors preferred to cite articles from tourism journals. Effective researchers preferred to use "eye-tracking" and "visual attention" as author keywords in their research. Most of the studies took place in a laboratory environment. The studies discussed many dimensions such as culture, language, website design, advertising strategies, satisfaction, and usability. However, the effect of marketing and behavior studies is remarkable. Institutions and countries with close geographical links tended to publish together, but countries such as the USA, the UK, China, and Australia come to the fore in the collaboration network. Scopus-indexed English publications, most of which are articles, and proceedings were analyzed. Future studies may use different academic databases and publication types. This study is one of the first bibliometric analyses of eye-tracking studies in tourism

Los focos de atención en las webs de turismo y su implicación en el seguimiento ocular

Este estudio proporciona una revisión de los focos de atención en las webs de viajes, alojamientos y restaurantes sobre la base del seguimiento ocular para medir el nivel de enraizamiento, densidad y coocurrencia de las categorías en las webs de turismo. Con base en la teoría fundamentada, se aplicó el método de comparación constante y el uso del software Atlas.ti como práctica analítica cualitativa. Tras la revisión, se define que las estructuras categóricas que más llaman la atención en los visitantes son las imágenes, la función de búsqueda y el texto; por su parte, el precio es el dato más sensible y el menos observado

Los focos de atención en las webs de turismo y su implicación en el seguimiento ocular

This study provides a review of the focus of attention on travel websites, accommodations and restaurants based on eye tracking, to measure the level of rootedness, density, and co-occurrence of these categories on tourism websites. Based on the grounded theory, the constant comparison method, and the use of the Atlas.ti software as a qualitative analytical practice were applied. After the review, it is defined that the categorical structures that most attract attention in visitors are the images, the search function, and the text, while the price, is the most sensitive data and the least observed.Este estudio proporciona una revisión de los focos de atención en las webs de viajes, alojamientos y restaurantes sobre la base del seguimiento ocular para medir el nivel de enraizamiento, densidad y coocurrencia de las categorías en las webs de turismo. Con base en la teoría fundamentada, se aplicó el método de comparación constante y el uso del software Atlas.ti como práctica analítica cualitativa. Tras la revisión, se define que las estructuras categóricas que más llaman la atención en los visitantes son las imágenes, la función de búsqueda y el texto; por su parte, el precio es el dato más sensible y el menos observado

Agencias de viajes online. Análisis de conocimiento y uso de las agencias de viajes sorpresa = Online travel agencies. Knowledge and use analysis of surprise travel agencies

El turismo y la manera de viajar han cambiado mucho con el paso de los años, aportando a los clientes mayor libertad a la hora de organizar sus viajes. Ya no es necesario acudir a una agencia de viajes física, en un horario concreto y optando únicamente a la oferta turística que tenga esa agencia. Esto ha sido posible gracias a la tecnología y a la aparición de las agencias de viajes online, en las que el usuario puede analizar la multitud de ofertas de las que disponen estas webs y escoger aquellos servicios que mejor se ajusten a sus necesidades. En la actualidad, ha aparecido un nuevo estilo de agencias, éstas son las agencias de viajes sorpresa en las que el cliente reserva un viaje sin conocer el destino del mismo hasta escasa horas antes de partir. Esto ha supuesto una revolución en la forma de viajar y es el reflejo del continuo cambio y avance de este sector para conseguir sorprender a sus clientes. En el presente trabajo se llevará a cabo una investigación para conocer de primera mano el perfil general del usuario de las agencias de viajes sorpresa y otros muchos aspectos relacionados con las mismas