Abstract
Although smartphones are gradually becoming the primary Internet access device for travellers to research and purchase hotel accommodations, the readiness of the hotel industry to the mobile consumerism era has not been fully examined. Using hotels in Hong Kong as a case study, this exploratory study assesses the visibility of hotels on smartphones by: (1) examining the visibility of all Hong Kong hotel websites on smartphones using different operating systems; and (2) examining the availability of smartphone apps developed by all Hong Kong hotels in different smartphone application stores. The empirical findings suggest that more than half of Hong Kong hotels have optimised their websites for iOS- and Android-operated smartphones. Nevertheless, only a handful of hotels developed smartphone apps for connecting with customers. The Chi Square test results demonstrate that star rating and brand affiliation are associated with the visibility of hotels on smartphones. Managerial implications are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abrate, G., Capriello, A., & Fraquelli, G. (2011). When quality signals talk: Evidence from the Turin hotel industry. Tourism Management, 32(4), 912–921.
Adobe Systems Incorporated. (2012). Adobe 2012 mobile consumer survey results. San Jose, CA: Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Au Yeung, T., & Law, R. (2004). Extending the modified heuristic usability evaluation technique to chain and independent hotel websites. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 23(3), 307–313.
Barrows, C. W., & Powers, T. (2008). Introduction to the hospitality industry (7th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Buhalis, D., Leung, D., & Law, R. (2011). eTourism: Critical information and communication technologies for tourism destinations. In R. Wang & A. Pizam (Eds.), Destination marketing and management: Theories and applications (pp. 205–224). CAB International.
Chung, T., & Law, R. (2003). Developing a performance indicator for hotel websites. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 22(1), 119–125.
Dickinson, J. E., Ghali, K., Cherrett, T., Speed, C., Davies, N., & Norgate, S. (2012). Tourism and the smartphone app: Capabilities, emerging practice and scope in the travel domain. Current Issues in Tourism,. doi:10.1080/13683500.2012.718323
eMarketer. (2012a). Mobile powers UK internet usage growth. Retrieved August 10, 2013, from http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Mobile-Powers-UK-Internet-Usage-Growth/1008983
eMarketer. (2012b). Smartphones a primary access device in emerging markets. Retrieved August 10, 2013, from http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Smartphones-Primary-Access-Device-Emerging-Markets/1009086
eMarketer. (2012c). Tablets grab significant share of travel traffic. Retrieved August 10, 2013, from http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Tablets-Grab-Significant-Share-of-Travel-Traffic/1009973
eMarketer. (2012d). Online travel research and booking relatively flat. Retrieved August 10, 2013, from http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Mobile-Use-Spurs-Digital-Travel-Sales/1008979
eMarketer. (2013). Travelers’ mobile habits put marketers in-flight. Retrieved August 10, 2013, from http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Travelers-Mobile-Habits-Put-Marketers-In-Flight/1009817
Gil, P. (2013). How are mobile web pages different from regular web pages? Retrieved August 20, 2013, from http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/internet101/tp/How-Mobile-Web-Pages-Are-Different.htm
Han, J. H., & Mills, J. E. (2006). Zero acquaintance benchmarking at travel destination websites: What is the first impression that national tourism organizations try to make? International Journal of Tourism Research, 8(6), 405–430.
Hasan, L., & Abuelrub, E. (2011). Assessing the quality of web sites. Applied Computing and Informatics, 9(1), 11–29.
International Data Corporation. (2013). Apple cedes market share in smartphone operating system market as Android surges and windows phone gains. Retrieved August 12, 2013, from http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24257413
Kao, E. (2013). 96pc of Hongkongers use their smartphone to go online everyday. Retrieved August 22, 2013, from http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1298330/hong-kong-smartphone-use-doubles-two-years
Kenlo. (2012). Mobile operating systems compared: iOS, Android and windows phone. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Blog/Mobile-Operating-Systems-Compared-iOS-Android-and-Windows-Phone/ba-p/2776337
Klein, B., & Saft, L. F. (1985). The law and economics of franchise tying contracts. Journal of Law and Economics, 28(2), 345–361.
Kurata, Y. (2012). Potential-of-Interest maps for mobile tourist information services. In M. Fuchs, F. Ricci, & L. Cantoni (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism 2012 (pp. 239–248). New York: SpringerWien.
Lashkari, A. H., Parhizkar, B., & Mohamedali, M. A. (2010, May 7–10). Augmented reality tourist catalogue using mobile technology. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Computer Research and Development, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Leung, D., Sun, L. H. L., & Fong, L. H. N. (2013, May 21–24). Information quality evaluation of hotel websites in Macau: Model development and empirical evaluation. Paper Presented at the 11th Asia Pacific CHRIE (APacCHRIE) Conference, Macau, China.
Liu, Y., & Law, R. (2013). The adoption of smartphone applications by airlines. In L. Cantoni & Z. Xiang (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism 2013 (pp. 47–57). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer.
Lobo, D., Kaskaloglu, K., Kim, C. Y., & Herbert, S. (2011). Web usability guidelines for smartphones: A synergic approach. International Journal of Information and Electronics Engineering, 1(1), 33–37.
Morell, J. (2013). Smart Parks: How smartphones are beginning to change how the industry handles virtual queueing and in-park guest communication. Retrieved August 11, 2013, from http://www.iaapa.org
Moth, D. (2013). 85 % of consumers favour apps over mobile websites. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from http://econsultancy.com/hk/blog/62326-85-of-consumers-favour-apps-over-mobile-websites
Rasinger, J., Fuchs, M., & Höpken, W. (2007). Information search with mobile tourist guides: A survey of usage intention. Information Technology and Tourism, 9(3/4), 177–194.
Schaal, D. (2012). Tonight-only hotel deals start a smartphone app arms race, but who does it best? Retrieved August 22, 2013, from http://skift.com/2012/10/11/tonight-only-hotel-deals-start-a-smartphone-app-arms-race-but-who-does-it-best/
Siguaw, J., Enz, C., & Namasivayam, K. (2000). Adoption of information technology in U.S. hotels: Strategically driven objective. Journal of Travel Research, 39(2), 192–201.
Stehle, T. (2013). Using smartphone technology to streamline food and beverage operations. Retrieved August 22, 2013, from http://hotelexecutive.com/business_review/2339/
W3C (2013). The web and mobile devices. Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://www.w3.org/Mobile/
Wang, D., & Xiang, Z. (2012). The new landscape of travel: A comprehensive analysis of smartphone apps. In M. Fuchs, F. Ricci, & L. Cantoni (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism 2012 (pp. 308–319). New York: SpringerWien.
Wang, D., Park, S. W., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2012). The role of smartphones in mediating the touristic experience. Journal of Travel Research, 51(4), 371–387.
Want, R. (2009). When cell phones become computers. Pervasive Computing, IEEE, 8(2), 2–5.
Wisniewski, J. (2011). Mobile that works for your library. Online, 35(1), 54–57.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Leung, D., Lee, H.“., Fong, L.H.N., Law, R. (2013). Assessing the Visibility of Hotels on Smartphones: A Case Study of Hotels in Hong Kong. In: Xiang, Z., Tussyadiah, I. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2014. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03973-2_61
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03973-2_61
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-03972-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-03973-2
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)