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The Customers’ Perspective on Presenting Visual Hotel Information Online

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Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2013

Abstract

The use of visual presentation formats (VPFs) on the web enables services to appear more tangible. However, it is not known how customers perceive the potential of different VPFs for the purpose of communicating certain items of visual hotel information. An explorative study, by means of a written survey of potential hotel customers, examined which information attributes best lend themselves to being visually communicated, and with which VPF. The results show that the information attributes most relevant to the customers are the setting of the hotel, bathroom fittings, type of bed and leisure and catering facilities. Most information should be displayed using static pictures or text. Only the room layout of hotel bedrooms and the overview of the hotel complex can be captured better by virtual tours. Videos, on the other hand, are not perceived superior to other VPFs at all.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Information Systems, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Marcel Grüter, Vanessa Schneider & Thomas Myrach

Authors
  1. Marcel Grüter
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  2. Vanessa Schneider
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  3. Thomas Myrach
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marcel Grüter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Faculty of Communication Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Via Giuseppe Buffi 13, Lugano, 6904, Switzerland

    Lorenzo Cantoni

  2. , College of Merchandising,, University of North Texas, Union Circle 1155, Denton, 76203-1100, Texas, USA

    Zheng (Phil) Xiang

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Grüter, M., Schneider, V., Myrach, T. (2013). The Customers’ Perspective on Presenting Visual Hotel Information Online. In: Cantoni, L., Xiang, Z. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2013. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36309-2_33

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