| Author: | Qi, Wenqian |
| Title: | Exploring the critical factors and underlying mechanisms making up hotels’ display orders on Chinese leading online travel agency platforms’ city listing page |
| Advisors: | Leung, Daniel (SHTM) |
| Degree: | DHTM |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Subject: | Travel agents -- China Tourism -- Computer network resources Hospitality industry -- Computer network resources Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | School of Hotel and Tourism Management |
| Pages: | 1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Online travel agencies (OTAs) are playing an increasingly important role in tourism products’ distribution because modern customers now highly rely on them to research and reserve tourism products. Tourism businesses can also reach and sell their products to global customers via collaborating with OTAs. However, there are very limited studies focusing on factors and underlying mechanism making up hotels display orders on OTAs’ city listing pages. Although some studies discussed the correlation between variables and hotel’s sales generated from online distribution channels, past studies were mostly conducted from the hoteliers’ and consumers’ perspectives. Limited studies have researched this topic from the perspective of online travel agencies. To address this research gap, this research aims to complement the past literature by exploring the critical factors and underlying mechanisms making up hotels’ display orders on Chinese leading OTA platforms’ city listing page. Furthermore, this research also explores whether the factors and mechanisms reported by hoteliers are congruent (or incongruent) with those reported by informants from OTAs. To achieve the first objective, eleven interviews with informants working in five Chinese leading OTA platforms (including Ctrip.com, Tongcheng Elong, Meituan Dianping, Qunar, and Fliggy) were conducted. The findings show that there are two major sorting conditions under OTA platforms’city listing page, namely the default sorting and intelligent sorting. Under the default sorting, hotels display orders’ are generated from three mechanisms: (1) OTAs’ commission system, (2) OTAs’ hotel performance evaluation system, and (3) the advertising position system. Among them, OTAs’ hotel performance evaluation system is the core and it is constituted by 58 factors under 3 categories (basic factors, awarding factors and penalty factors). Based on the display order result of default sorting, the algorithm of intelligent sorting correlates the characteristics of customers and hotels together to form a result that can reflect customers’ preference of hotels. To achieve the second objective, this study also assessed 21 hoteliers’ knowledge about factors and mechanisms that affect hotels’ display orders on OTA’s city listing page. Among all the identified factors by hoteliers, the room rate advantage, room type availability and the percentage of guaranteed room are three of the most frequently discrepant factors comparing with answers from OTA informants. This research also distinguishes the hoteliers into five types based on the degree of discrepancy with the standard answers and hotels’ management structure of online distribution, namely: the over-thinkers, the veterans, the amateurs, the budget players and the illiterate players. In the end, the study also puts forward the proposition that the hotelier’s display order knowledge has a positive correlation with hotel’s room number and star level. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6792.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 1.49 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Copyright Undertaking
As a bona fide Library user, I declare that:
- I will abide by the rules and legal ordinances governing copyright regarding the use of the Database.
- I will use the Database for the purpose of my research or private study only and not for circulation or further reproduction or any other purpose.
- I agree to indemnify and hold the University harmless from and against any loss, damage, cost, liability or expenses arising from copyright infringement or unauthorized usage.
By downloading any item(s) listed above, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the copyright undertaking as stated above, and agree to be bound by all of its terms.
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/200/12344