Uses of the Internet in the global hotel industry

Abstract

This article discusses a study carried out among the membership of Global Hoteliers, an organization of executives in the international hotel industry. The study looked into the uses of the Internet, such as the World Wide Web and E-mail, and at any organizational and geographical influences on those uses. Hotel size, star rating, and hotel type were among the organizational factors which had some significant effect on certain aspects of the information hotels posted on the Web and on the use of E-mail. Similarly, the geographical location of hotels was also found to have a significant effect. The similarities and differences of the use of the Internet among global hotels call for future research into the relationships between market segmentation, organizational buying behavior, hotel operations and information technology.