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Thanks to artificial intelligence, chatbots have been applied to many consumer-facing applications, especially to online travel agencies (OTAs). This study aims to identify five quality dimensions of chatbot services and investigate their effect on user confirmation, which in turn leads to use continuance. In addition, the moderating role of technology anxiety in the relationships between chatbot quality dimensions and post-use confirmation is examined. Survey data were gathered from 295 users of Chinese OTAs. Partial Least Square (PLS) was used to analyze measurement and structural models. Understandability, reliability, assurance, and interactivity are positively associated with post-use confirmation and technology anxiety moderates the relationships between four chatbot quality dimensions and confirmation. Confirmation is positively associated with satisfaction, which in turn influences use continuance intention. This study examines how chatbot services in OTAs are considered by users (human-like agents vs. technology-enabled services) by investigating the moderating role of technology anxiety.

It is stated that tourism has greatly grown in Portugal. Thus, one must ponder if the Portuguese use traditional travel agencies or online travel agencies. As such, the main objective of this study is to characterize the Portuguese’s behavior towards travel agencies, hence the use of a quantitative methodology. Gender, income, and promotions influence the Portuguese’s decision on whether to purchase in a specific type of travel agency, being that price is not the most relevant factor. While this study is relevant to the current lack of literature, there must be further studies on this theme. Se afirma que el turismo ha crecido mucho en Portugal. Por lo tanto, hay que reflexionar si los portugueses utilizan las agencias de viajes tradicionales o las agencias de viajes online. Por ello, el objetivo principal de este estudio es caracterizar el comportamiento de los portugueses hacia las agencias de viajes, de ahí que se utilice una metodología cuantitativa. El género, la renta y las promociones influyen en la decisión de los portugueses sobre la compra en un determinado tipo de agencia de viajes, siendo el precio el factor menos relevante. Si bien este estudio es relevante para la actual falta de literatura, deben realizarse más estudios sobre este tema.

PurposeWith the explosive growth of the Internet, online travel agents (OTAs) have gained an increasing market share in the online booking market. However, OTAs are facing fierce competition from hotels' direct booking channels, as well as competition among themselves. Therefore, there is a need for an understanding of the evolution of the OTA market from a dynamic perspective. The purpose of this study is to investigate the long-term effect of OTAs on the hospitality industry and to find whether an equilibrium of this effect exists in the context of e-commerce.Design/methodology/approachTo gain a better understanding of the OTA market process, a mathematical framework is constructed on the basis of four assumptions. NetLogo 5.1.0 is used to perform a series of numerical simulations.FindingsThe results indicate the following: (1) the development of the OTA market helps to improve net social welfare, but hotels (especially economy hotels) have suffered as a result; (2) clever exploitation of both online and offline channels that are based on hotels' historical data may improve hotels' performance; (3) a scale-priority strategy can be more helpful than a profit-priority strategy for enabling OTAs to maintain their long-term competitiveness; (4) the timing of participation in online-channel competition is a crucial factor in determining whether OTAs can achieve business success.Social implicationsIn this study, it is shown how consumer habits have changed since the development of OTAs. The online channels provided by OTAs create a convenient, low-cost user experience, and they consequently improve the net welfare of customers. OTAs should be encouraged appropriately, although some economy hotels may suffer from the rise of OTAs.Originality/valueIn this empirical study, a mathematical framework is developed to describe the process of evolution in the OTA market, and it uses simulations as a means to validate prior research findings. Unlike previous studies, a dynamic perspective is used in this investigation to interpret the emergence of OTAs and to analyze their enormous impact on the hospitality industry. Thus, the findings of this study capture the competitive characteristics of online and offline channels in a network context and indicate potential strategies for the development of OTAs and which hotels may use OTAs to achieve better performance. In addition, the study findings could be easily extended to explain many of the classical economic phenomena regarding firms with intangible products.

PurposeThis study examines the vital factors that influence digital marketing adoption among small travel agencies (brick-and-mortar) and the impact of digital marketing adoption on organizational performance modeled as a formative-formative HOC.Design/methodology/approachThis empirical study builds on diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory and technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework to identify the factors of digital marketing adoption by small travel agencies. Data were collected from 226 small travel agents in India using purposive and snowball sampling. Partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is used to analyze the reflectively and formatively measured constructs.FindingsThe findings reveal significant constructs of digital marketing adoption by small travel agencies. The study also establishes the positive impact of digital marketing adoption on organizational performance. Trust partially mediates the impact of technological factors (relative advantage, security concerns) and organizational factor (knowledge) on digital marketing adoption.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides methodological contribution to the literature by applying confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) approach in PLS-SEM. The study contributes to the literature by integrating DOI theory and TOE framework. The study enriches the literature on trust as it recognizes the crucial role of trust as a mediating construct.Practical implicationsThe study provides useful implications to marketing practitioners of small travel agencies. The study shows strong predictive capacity and can be generalized throughout diverse samples.Originality/valueThe study adds value to the literature as it explores the digital marketing adoption among the under researched small travel agencies by integrating DOI-TOE theory. The study uniquely proposes and validates organizational performance as a formative-formative higher-order construct.

The Internet has brought consumers increased access to information to make purchase decisions. One of the expected consequences is an increase in the price elasticity of demand, or the percent change in demand caused by a percent change in price, because consumers are better able to compare offerings from multiple suppliers. In this paper, we analyze the impact of the Internet on demand, by comparing the demand functions in the Internet and traditional air travel channels. We use a data set that contains information for millions of records of airline ticket sales in both online and offline channels. The results suggest that consumer demand in the Internet channel is more price elastic for both transparent and opaque online travel agencies (OTAs), in part, because of more leisure travelers self-selecting the online channel, relative to business travelers. Yet, after controlling for this channel self-selection effect, we still find differences in price elasticity across channels. We find that the opaque OTAs are more price elastic than the transparent OTAs, which suggests that product information can mitigate the price pressures that arise from Internet-enabled price comparisons. We discuss the broader implications for multichannel pricing strategy and for the transparency-based design of online selling mechanisms.

With the integration of ict in the distribution channels, the client is increasingly independent and autonomous in obtaining tourist services and products. The covid-19 pandemic and global physical distancing policies reinforced this, detrimentally for traditional travel agents, who have been forced to migrate totally or partially to an online business model. However, working online is not enough since it is necessary to have online collaboration strategies that facilitate the positioning of each participant in a hostile competitive environment. The research is developed through a bibliometric study, using the information obtained in the Scopus database to establish the state of knowledge about online collaboration in travel agencies. Various Excel, Bibexcel, EndNote x20,Pajeck, SciMath, and VOSViewer software were used to analyse indicators and map bibliometric networks. The results show that the state of cooperation between travel agencies as a factor of advantage in the new tourist environments is characterized by fierce competition and the strong impact of the digital age, which constitute the main innovative contribution of the study. It is also determined that the research topic has not had high productivity in the database. Among the main research gaps identified are online collaboration in traditional travel agencies and the impacts of cooperation on customer perception and cybersecurity. The study identifies the field’s most influential authors, journals, publications, key themes and trends that have emerged over time. By identifying the critical success factors and challenges of online collaboration in the travel industry, this study can help organizations to improve their collaboration practices.

With the rapid development of e-commerce, an increasing number of online travel agencies (OTA) have combined traditional channels with opaque channels to maximise revenue, by implementing a price-discrimination strategy. Based on posted-price (PP) mechanism, this study reviews variable opaque products (VOPs) that allow travellers to change the opacity of an opaque channel to avoid unsatisfactory hotels. The purpose of the study is to determine how to optimise OTA revenue. Using a variation of the Hotelling model, this study examines the behaviour of travellers whose reservation values are relatively low. Additionally, we determine the optimal pricing strategy, which changes with the opacity of the opaque channel. The study shows that when the proportion of high-value travellers is low, OTA should decrease the price of transparent hotels; however, when the proportion is high, OTA should set a high price in the traditional channel, so that high-value travellers buy in the traditional channel, while low-value travellers buy in the opaque channel. And when the valuations differ greatly, OTA tend to increase the price of transparent hotels. Finally, when the number of travellers is constant, revenue increases when hotels increase, though there is an upper limit, and revenue decreases when the market expands. The results provide significant implications.

This study aims to investigate the influence of online consumer reviews on the sales of Umrah travel agencies, with the Umrah package price serving as a moderator. The sample included 82 of the 296 registered Malaysian Umrah travel agencies. Secondary data on online consumer reviews were obtained from the Google Reviews and matched with the 2019 sales data of these agencies. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was applied for data analysis. The results reveal that the reviewer expertise positively influences the sales of Umrah travel agencies. Surprisingly, identity disclosure was found to be insignificant. Additionally, the findings demonstrate the positive moderating effect of Umrah package price on this relationship. This study suggests that Umrah travel agencies encourage past customers to leave feedback on Google Reviews to increase the presence of expert reviewers. Additionally, leveraging online consumer reviews can help agencies engage with consumers, particularly when promoting premium Umrah packages.

Generation Z have become hugely important travellers in recent years. They are transforming the way accommodation is chosen through Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), which means it is important to understand their preferences. As a result, this paper focuses on the scoring systems of the OTAs and examines the priorities of this generation, with the view to improving the rating procedures and facilitating the selection of accommodation. For this purpose, the paper presents a new approach that combines decision-making procedures and compositional data analysis to examine the preferences of this type of traveller. Likewise, this contribution explores the environmental awareness of young people through Expedia's eco-friendly criterion, it being the first OTA to incorporate environmental aspects into its scoring system.

Purpose This study aims to test a theoretical model of co-creation dynamics, service innovation and competitive advantage. The authors explore the dynamics of collaboration between travel agents and their suppliers in co-creating value for their customers. A research model is proposed to examine the relationship among six co-creation elements (co-creation dynamics), service innovation, competitive advantage and two antecedents: technology adoption and environmental change and the moderating effects of trust. Design/methodology/approach An empirical survey was performed based on travel agencies in Taiwan and Malaysia. A total of 105 valid responses from Taiwan and 102 valid responses from Malaysia were received. SPSS and partial least square were used to analyze the data. Findings A new six-element construct of co-creation dynamics was suggested. All the proposed effects were found significant in which trust enhanced the effect of elements of innovation for Taiwan travel agencies. However, in contrast to the proposed hypotheses, technology adoption had no direct effect, whereas trust had no moderating effect for Malaysia travel agencies. Practical implications This study suggests that managers should include co-creation approaches with partners and customers while developing new services. The identification of areas that may be lacking can allow managers to develop capabilities to improve business co-creation competency. Originality/value This study links the relational view with service-dominant logic that emphasizes business co-creation and service innovation as operant resources and a key fundamental source for competitive advantage. This study also looks at interpreting business co-creation and discusses whether business co-creation affects service innovation in the hospitality and tourism industry.