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Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2005 pp 486–496Cite as

Travel Comparison Websites: An Old Friend with New Clothes

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Abstract

Travel Comparison Websites (TCWs) use intelligent agent technology to help their users sort the information available for a particular travel related query and make comparisons between the alternatives available before making a booking decision. Given the fact that comparison- shopping sites have grown in popularity over the past year, TCWs may become another interesting online travel distribution channel. The present study first presents a taxonomy of TCWs and using a web-experiment with 149 participants in UK and in Greece assesses the factors that influence user perception of the various types of sites and the propensity of returning to them for future travel information-seeking tasks. The study showed that users prefer well-established online brands and that price comparison is not their only concern. Portal-associated TCWs came second in user preference while the newcomers have still a lot to do in order to survive. The findings of the study may be used by various travel suppliers when considering their affiliation to particular TCWs.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Management Business School, Oxford Brookes University, UK

    Alexandras Paraskevas & Kyriakos Kontoyiannis

Authors
  1. Alexandras Paraskevas
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  2. Kyriakos Kontoyiannis
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business and Enterprise, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

    Andrew J. Frew

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© 2005 Springer-Verlag Wien

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Paraskevas, A., Kontoyiannis, K. (2005). Travel Comparison Websites: An Old Friend with New Clothes. In: Frew, A.J. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2005. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-211-27283-6_44

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-211-27283-6_44

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-211-24148-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-211-27283-1

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