Abstract
Researchers argue that the debate around the topic of disintermediation and reintermediation (both offline and online) is still open and needs further analysis. This study was therefore carried out, with a representative sample of 1,461 national and international tourists who visited Sardinia (Italy) in 2012. Its aim was to investigate how tourists book their holidays and whether significant differences exist in their channel strategy (online versus offline intermediation) based on: their socio-demographic characteristics; the type of tourism product they bought; their prior experience of travelling to the destination; the geographical distance they travelled; and the length and the time (low or high tourism season) of their stay. Findings reveal that all but four variables (gender, income, median length of stay and prior experience of travelling to the destination) are influencing their actual buying behaviour. Managerial implications are discussed and suggestions for further research are made.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anckar, B. (2003). Consumer intentions in terms of electronic travel distribution: Implications for future market structures. e-Service Journal, 2(2), 68–86.
Anderson, C. K. (2009). The billboard effect: Online travel agent impact on non-OTA reservation volume. CHR Report. The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University 9(16).
Beldona, S., Morrison, A. M., & O’Leary, J. (2005). Online shopping motivations and pleasure travel products: A correspondence analysis. Tourism Management, 26(4), 561–570.
Bennet, M. M., & Buhalis, D. (2003, January). Tourism and travel distribution, the travel agency perspective, Insights. English Tourism Council D25-30.
Bennet, M. M., & Lai, C. K. (2005). The impact of the Internet on travel agencies in Taiwan. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 6(1), 8–23.
Beritelli, P., Bieger, T., & Laesser, C. (2007). The impact of the internet on information source portfolios: Insight from a mature market. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 22(1), 63–80.
Buhalis, D. (1998). Strategic use of information technologies in the tourism industry. Tourism Management, 19, 409–421.
Buhalis, D., & Law, R. (2008). Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research. Tourism Management, 29(4), 609–623.
Card, J., Chen, C., & Cole, S. (2003). Online travel product shopping: Differences between shoppers and non shoppers. Journal of Travel Research, 42(2), 133–139.
Chu, R. (2001). What online Hong Kong travelers look for on airline/travel websites? International Journal of Hospitality Management, 20(1), 95–100.
Dabs, S., & Manaktola, K. (2007). Managing reservations through online distribution channels: An insight into mid-segment hotels in India. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 19(5), 388–396.
Del Chiappa, G. (2012). User generated content and its influence on tourists’ choices: How do tourists make hotel reservations online? Turistica: Italian Journal of Tourism, 1, 39–50.
Del Chiappa, G. (2013). Internet versus travel agencies: The perception of different groups of italian online buyers. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 19(1), 1–12.
Del Chiappa, G. & Balboni, B. (2013). Travelers’ choice of information sources and information channels for national trips: An investigation in the context of Italy. In Proceedings from X Convegno SIM: Smart Life. From Technology Innovation to the Market. Milano: University Milano-Bicocca.
DÃaz, E., Blázquez, J. J., & MartÃn-Conseguera, D. (2012). European tourist destinations on the internet search engines. European Journal of Tourism Research, 5(2), 171–175.
Econsultancy. (2011). Three quarters of travel research takes place online survey. Retrieved from http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/8275-three-quarters-of-travel-research-takes-place-online-survey.
eGlobal Travel Media. (2012). US studies indicate travel agents are making a comeback. Retrieved from http://www.eglobaltravelmedia.com.au/2-headline-news/us-studies-indicate-travel-agents-are-making-a-comeback.html. Accessed September 20, 2013.
eMarketer. (2012). Mobile subscriber growth stagnates, but mobile Internet users are set to reach critical mass. Retrieved from http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1009020&ecid=a6506033675d47f881651943c21c5ed4. Accessed September 20, 2012.
Fodness, D., & Murray, B. (1999). A model of tourist information search behavior. Journal of Travel Research, 37(3), 220–230.
Grønflaten, Ø. (2011). Predicting travelers’ choice of information sources and information channels. Journal of Travel Research, 48(2), 230–244.
Ho, C. I., Lin, M. H., & Chen, H. M. (2012). Web users’ behavioural patterns of tourism information search: From online to offline. Tourism Management, 33, 1468–1482.
Internet World Stats. (2013). Internet users in the world: Distribution by world regions—2013 Q4. Retrieved from http://www.Internetworldstats.com/top20.htm.
Ip, C., Lee, H. A., & Law, R. (2012). Profiling the users of travel websites for planning and online experience sharing. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 36(3), 418–426.
IPK International. (2011). Global travel trends 2011/2012. Retrieved from http://www.ipkinternational.com/uploads/media/IPK_PR_ITB_2012.pdf.
ISNART. (2013). Indagine quantitativa sui comportamenti turistici degli italiani. http://www.ontit.it/opencms/export/sites/default/ont/it/documenti/files/ONT_2013-07-23_02982.pdf.
Jones, C. (2010). Weary of online booking, clients return to travel agents. Retrieved from http://travel.usatoday.com/news/2010-11-16-travelagents16_CV_N.htm.
Jun, S. H., Vogt, C. A., & Mackay, K. J. (2007). Relationships between travel information search and travel product purchase in pre-trip contexts. Journal of Travel Research, 45(3), 266–274.
Kim, W. G., & Kim, D. J. (2004). Factors affecting online hotel reservation intention between online and non online customers. Journal of Hospitality Management, 23(4), 381–395.
Ku, E. C. S., Wu, W., & Lin, A. (2011). Strategic alignment leverage between hotels and companies: The buyer-supplier relationship perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30(3), 735–745.
L’Echo touristique (2012). 17,2 millions de Français ont préparé leurs séjours en ligne. Retrieved from http://www.lechotouristique.com/article/17-2-millions-de-francais-ont-prepare-leurs-sejours-en-ligne,52003.
Law, R., Leung, K., & Wong, J. (2004). The impact of the internet on travel agencies. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 16(2), 100–107.
Law, R., Qi, S., & Buhalis, D. (2010). Progress in tourism management, a review of website evaluation in tourism research. Tourism Management, 31, 297–313.
Lorenzo-Romero, C., Del Chiappa, G., & Constantinides, E. (2014). Analyzing the user-generated content on disintermediation effect: A latent segmentation study of bookers and lookers. In F. F.-H. Nah (Ed.), HCIB/HCII 2014, LNCS 8527 (pp. 754–764). Switzerland: Springer.
Morrison, A., Jing, A., O’Leary, J., & Cai, L. (2001). Predicting usage of the internet for travel bookings: An exploratory study. Information Technology and Tourism, 4(1), 15–30.
Park, Y. A., Gretzel, U., & Sirakaya-Turk, E. (2007). Measuring web site quality for online travel agencies. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 23(1), 15–30.
Pearce, D. G. (2008). A needs-function model of tourism destination. Annals of Tourism Research, 5(1), 148–168.
Pearce, D. G., & Schott, C. (2011). Domestic vs outbound booking and channel choice behavior: Evidence from New Zealand. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 5(2), 112–127.
PhoCusWright. (2011). Social media in travel 2011: Traffic, activity & sentiment. Retrieved from http://www.phocuswright.com/products/2689.
Qi, S., Law, R., & Buhalis, D. (2013). Who booked five-star hotels in Macau? A study of hotel guests’ online booking intention. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 20, 76–83.
Ramkissoon, H., & Nunkoo, R. (2012). More Than just biological sex differences: Examining the structural relationship between gender identity and information search behavior. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 36(2), 191–215.
Stankov, U., Lazić, L., & Dragićević, V. (2010). The extent of use of basic Facebook user-generated content by the national tourism organization in Europe. European Journal of Tourism Research, 3(2), 105–113.
Stuart, P., Pearce, D., & Weaver, A. (2005). Tourism distribution channels in peripheral regions: The case of Southland, New Zealand. Tourism Geographies: An International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment, 7(3), 235–256.
Tsai, H. T., Huang, L., & Lin, C. G. (2005). Emerging e-commerce development model for taiwanese travel agencies. Tourism Management, 26, 787–796.
Werthner, H., & Ricci, F. (2004). E-commerce and tourism. Communications of the ACM, 17(12), 101–105.
Williams, J., & Lawson, R. (2001). Community issues and resident opinions of tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 28(2), 269–290.
Woodside, A. G., & Ronkainen, I. A. (1980). Vacation travel planning segments: Self planning vs users of motor club and travel agents. Annals of Tourism Research, 7, 385–393.
Yung, C. Y. (1997). Internet marketing: the perception of travel agencies in Taipei, Taiwan. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 2(1), 67–74.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Regione Autonoma della Sardegna under Grant [LR7 2011, Project F71J11000980002].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Del Chiappa, G., Zara, A. (2015). Offline Versus Online Intermediation: A Study of Booking Behaviour of Tourists Travelling to Sardinia. In: Tussyadiah, I., Inversini, A. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14343-9_51
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14343-9_51
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-14342-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-14343-9
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)