A study of the functionality of hotel websites in mainland China and the United States

Journal of the Academy of Business and Economics, Jan, 2004 by Rob Law, Daniel Ho, Catherine Cheung

TABLE 1: A FRAMEWORK OF THE DIMENSIONS OF FUNCTIONALITY OF A HOTEL
WEBSITE

                                                             Number of
Dimension          Description                               Attributes

Facilities         General description of the hotel              11
Information        property and information on the facili-
                   ties and services available to guests.
Customer Contact   Attributes that improve direct communi-        8
Information        cation between the hotel and guests.
Reservations       Facilities and services available on          10
Information        the website in relation to making
                   reservations
Surrounding Area   Information related to the environment,        5
Information        such as sightseeing, weather, and
                   travel
Management of      Attributes to allow customers to easily        5
Website            access relevant and up-to-date informa-
                   tion

TABLE 2: IMPORTANCE RATINGS FOR ALL DIMENSIONS

                                Importance     Average Weighted Score
      Variables                 Rating Mean         % [W.sub.i]

Facilities Information             1.68                28.80
Reservations Information           2.37                24.20
Customer Contact Information       3.13                19.13
Surrounding Area Information       3.84                14.40
Management of Website              3.97                13.53

TABLE 3: IMPORTANCE RATING OF ATTRIBUTES IN FACILITIES INFORMATION

                             Importance      Average Weighted Score
       Variables            Rating (Mean)        (%) [W.sub.i]

Photos of Hotel Features         2.63                14.20
Hotel Promotions                 3.53                12.83
Hotel Descriptions               4.37                11.56
Hotel Facilities                 4.58                11.24
Virtual Tours                    4.76                10.97
Guest Room Facilities            5.18                10.33
Restaurant                       5.50                 9.85
Hotel Location Maps              7.21                 7.26
Meeting Planner/ MICE            8.00                 6.06
Frequent Guest Program           9.47                 3.83
Employment Opportunities        10.71                 1.95

TABLE 4: IMPORTANCE RATING OF ATTRIBUTES IN CUSTOMER CONTACT
INFORMATION

                               Importance      Average Weighted Score
     Variables                Rating (Mean)       (%) ([W.sub.i])

E-mail Address                    1.89                 19.75
Telephone Number                  2.58                 17.83
Fax Number                        3.44                 15.44
Hotel Address                     3.55                 15.13
Online Forum                      5.74                  9.06
Frequently Asked Questions        5.89                  8.64
Feedback Form                     6.26                  7.61
What's New / Press Release        6.63                  6.58

TABLE 5: IMPORTANCE RATING OF ATTRIBUTES IN RESERVATIONS INFORMATION

                                                   Average Weighted
                                   Importance         Score (%)
        Variables                 Rating (Mean)       ([W.sub.i])

Online / Real-time Reservation        2.47              15.51
Security Payment Systems              3.13              14.31
Check Rates and Availability          4.24              12.29
Payment Options                       4.79              11.29
Room Rates                            4.87              11.15
Check In and Check Out Time           5.11              10.71
View or Cancel Reservations           6.37               8.42
Worldwide Reservations Phone          7.34               6.65
Numbers
Special Request Forms                 8.16               5.16
Reservations Policies                 8.66               4.25

TABLE 6: IMPORTANCE RATING OF ATTRIBUTES IN SURROUNDING AREA
INFORMATION

                                                     Average Weighted
                                     Importance          Score (%)
           Variables                Rating (Mean)      ([W.sub.i])

Main Attractions of the City            1.79              28.07
Airport Information                     2.05              26.33
Transportation                          2.37              24.20
General Information on the Count        4.26              11.60
Public Holidays                         4.53               9.80

TABLE 7: IMPORTANCE RATING OF ATTRIBUTES IN MANAGEMENT OF WEBSITE

                                                       Average Weighted
                                       Importance         Score (%)
            Variables                 Rating (Mean)       ([W.sub.i])

Up-to-date Information on the Site        1.61              29.27
Search Capability                         1.82              27.87
Multilingual Site                         3.11              19.27
Site Map                                  4.16              12.27
Links to Partners                         4.32              11.20

TABLE 8: COMPARISON OF THE PERFORMANCE OF HOTEL WEBSITES

                                         Mean Score
       Variables
                           Mainland China    United States
                               n = 30           n = 30

Facilities Information         14.14             16.83
Reservations
Information                    13.04             15.78
Customer Contact
Information                     7.79              9.43
Surrounding Area
Information                     5.40              5.84
Management of
Website                         4.64              5.86
Overall
Performance                    44.99             53.68

       Variables              F-value            Sig.

Facilities Information          1.67           0.000 **
Reservations
Information                     1.46           0.000 **
Customer Contact
Information                     2.86           0.000 **
Surrounding Area
Information                     0.59           0.058
Management of
Website                         1.14           0.000 **
Overall
Performance                     3.38           0.000 **

** significant at a = 0.05