A Study on the Online Sales Efficiency of Upscale and Luxury Hotels in Germany, Switzerland and Austria

Abstract

While prior research on websites has largely focused on service quality perception by customers, little research has gone into the investigation of the specific sales function of the website. A survey of 111 German, Swiss and Austrian four and five star hotels was designed to test the responsiveness of hotels to reservation inquiries made through the options offered by the companies’ corporate websites (e.g. e-mail, online booking forms, request for proposal forms etc.) and to evaluate the hotels online sales performance in terms of the technical and process quality while dealing with a typical reservation request. The current study found that many hotels missed the opportunity to increase sales by failing to respond adequately to electronic reservation inquiries.

Citation

Gardini, M.A. (2007), "A Study on the Online Sales Efficiency of Upscale and Luxury Hotels in Germany, Switzerland and Austria", Chen, J.S. (Ed.) Advances in Hospitality and Leisure (Advances in Hospitality and Leisure, Vol. 3), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 173-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1745-3542(06)03010-4