Analyzing the usability of travel web sites in Hainan, China: The perspectives of e‐buyers and e‐lookers
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
ISSN: 0959-6119
Article publication date: 10 July 2009
Abstract
Purpose
This study sets out to investigate the perceptions of e‐buyers and e‐lookers in Hainan, China on usability performance of China‐based travel web sites, an emerging sector of the tourism industry in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collection was conducted in Hainan, a province in Southern China, in December 2007. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the views of users on different usability dimensions and attributes on China‐based travel web sites.
Findings
Empirical findings indicated that respondents who only viewed China‐based travel web sites had an average usability performance. More importantly, there was no significant difference between e‐buyers and e‐lookers.
Research limitations/implications
The major limitations of the study are the non‐random selection of respondents and that the respondents were from one province in China.
Originality/value
With the views of 489 respondents, research findings should provide an overview for tourism practitioners to allocate their limited resources on e‐business development appropriately.
Keywords
Citation
Law, R., Cheung, C. and Hu, T. (2009), "Analyzing the usability of travel web sites in Hainan, China: The perspectives of e‐buyers and e‐lookers", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 21 No. 5, pp. 619-626. https://doi.org/10.1108/09596110910967845
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited