The Usage of Internet as a Distribution Channel in the Hotel Industry

• Main Authors: Hui-Shan Li, 李慧珊
• Other Authors: Chia-Yu Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2003
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/32516352891703468227

碩士 === 世新大學 === 觀光學研究所(含碩專班) === 91 === With the increasing prevalence of Internet, the tourism industry also moves into the electronic age. In Taiwan’s tourism business, travel agencies are the first batch to use Internet for sales and promotion. Given their intimate association with the travel business, hotels are now joining the trend, making the Internet one of their sales and promotion channels. As consumers develop greater demands for services and information, travel business’s style of doing business through the Internet is no longer sufficient for the hotel operators. What the hotel operators have in mind is how to extend and expand the channels of Internet to the fullest, for it is a relatively new business channel for the hotel business. In Taiwan after the implementation of two-day weekend, the domestic tourism market has been picking up momentum. With more people going online, how to effectively utilize the Internet becomes an important topic for hotel operators. This study finds that hotel operators and consumers do not agree exactly on what should be contained on a website. The former pay more attention to content that is sale-oriented, while the latter are keen on information collection when they visit a website. In the utilization of Internet, multivariate analysis also finds that men and women have varying needs that show significant difference in the aspects of promotional activity, provision of information, tour guide, and exchange of views. The study finds that men pay more attention to shopping and information guide, while women heed promotional activity and information guide. Consumers in different age group, with different educational background, living area, and occupation also display varying demands for website content. The study also learns that there is no significant disparity between the south and the north in terms of Internet use, indicating its prevalence among the general population. It is now common for hotel operators to use Internet as a sales tool. The majority of them have their own website. But their use of Internet tends to be conservative. The study learns that hotel operators are considering linkup with travel and other related websites to cut Internet advertising expenses and to effectively increase the number of their website visitors. Hotel operators should step up the interactions with consumers on their website to keep it active and effective. This study hopes that through analysis of the consumer habit of browsing the Internet and ordering hotel products online, hotel operators can make better use of Internet as the distribution channel that serves the exact needs of the consumers.