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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 March 2019

Betsy Stringam and John Gerdes

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how well hotel website load time performance compared against customer expectation benchmarks. In a competitive market, service…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how well hotel website load time performance compared against customer expectation benchmarks. In a competitive market, service interactions are important. As customers move to mobile devices, the time to load a website is a critical part of the service delivery. Long load times can lead to poor service experiences, customer frustration and lost business. Hotel website load times on both mobile and desktop devices were examined and compared to service expectations.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used an online service to assess and compare website load performance using both desktop and mobile devices for 259 international hotel company and sub-brand websites.

Findings

The time to load hotel websites was significantly slower on mobile devices compared to desktops. Load times on both platforms exceeded 3 s, which is considered best practice. Long load times represent a service gap and can cause dissatisfaction resulting in a potential customer abandoning the website for a competitor’s site, thus affecting sales.

Research limitations/implications

While the population for the study was robust in size and contained most of the major hotel companies worldwide, it was not exhaustive. Data also represent a snapshot and will change over time. Load times vary based on test location, access device and network traffic. Additionally, web page load times and customer expectations will change as technology evolves.

Originality/value

Increased use of mobile devices for hotel reservations increases the importance of mobile service delivery. This is the first known study to measure hotel website load times for mobile devices, and to examine both mobile and desktop performance against best practice. The results of this study highlight a service gap, which can lead to loss of business. Given the consistency of the results, the authors suspect that this is an issue that has not been recognized within the industry. This study is valuable because it exposes an issue of website design not generally addressed in the hospitality industry, even though tools are available to monitor site performance.

Details

International Hospitality Review, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-8142

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 August 2019

Karol Król

Until recently, a large number of owners of small agritourism farms in Poland, for promotional purposes, used the (“abandoned”) websites made in an amateur manner at the lowest…

Abstract

Purpose

Until recently, a large number of owners of small agritourism farms in Poland, for promotional purposes, used the (“abandoned”) websites made in an amateur manner at the lowest possible cost. The main purpose of this study is to characterize these websites. To achieve this goal, an attempt was made to evaluate the quality of these sites.

Design/methodology/approach

Two sets of websites were studied: the set of archaic sites (n = 282) and the set of modern sites (n = 282). The study consisted in the evaluation of selected attributes of the website development technology. The obtained results were normalized using the method of zero unitarization. Subsequently, the value of the aggregate variable was determined, which made it possible to describe each website with one synthetic quality index (SQI).

Findings

“Abandoned websites” do not perform marketing and sales functions. Owing to the frequent lack of content, they also lack an informative function. These websites have documentary value, as well as a historical function.

Originality/value

The paper presents the assessment of websites using one of the unification methods and the SQI. It has been shown that websites, in addition to having typical functions such as information, marketing or contact, may also have a historical function.

研究目的

直至近来, 荷兰一些小型农业旅游私营主们为了推广目的, 使用(”被废弃”)的网站, 这些网站使用低价格采用业余的技术制作而成。本论文的研究旨在归纳这些网站的特性。为了达到这个研究目的, 本论文对这些网站的质量做了评估。

研究设计/方法/途径:两套网站为研究样本

套古老网站(n = 282)和一套现代网站(n = 282).本论文评估了网站发展技术的特性。此外, 本论文还决定了其统一特性价值, 使得归纳出一套形容每个网站的合成质量索引(SQI)。

研究结果

”被废弃的网站”并不能达到营销和销售的作用。由于这些网站往往缺乏内容, 所以这些网站不具备展示信息的功能。这些网站有记录价值以及历史功效。

研究原创性/价值

本论文使用统一方法和SQI来评估网站。研究结果表明网站除了特有效用, 比如信息性、营销性、或者联系, 可能还有历史功效。

关键词

历史功, 被遗忘的互联网, 被废弃的网站, 推广农业旅游, 农业旅游网站

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-9880

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Data-driven Marketing Content
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-818-6

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