Website Development and Evaluations in Tourism: A Retrospective Analysis

This paper reviews the published articles on website development and evaluations in ENTER Conference Proceedings and the journal Information Technology & Tourism from 2000 to 2004 to indicate that not only the importance of analyzing information on websites has long been recognized, but also various approaches have been initiated to evaluate tourism website development.

Abstract

The present business enterprises largely adopt e-commerce to achieve different business goals, and for this reason, the process of maintaining a high quality and effective website is vital for a business to strengthen its customer relationships and to excel in business transactions. In the context of travel and tourism, the information intensive and customer oriented nature of the industry appears to be particularly suitable for the adoption of e-commerce. Many studies have been reported about tourism enterprises utilizing the Internet for information search, business transactions, and relationship building. This paper reviews the published articles on website development and evaluations in ENTER Conference Proceedings from 2000 to 2005 and the journal Information Technology & Tourism from 2000 to 2004. Findings of the study indicate that not only the importance of analyzing information on websites has long been recognized, but also various approaches have been initiated to evaluate tourism website development. The paper concludes with business implications and future research opportunities.