Virtual Travel Agencies:Analysing the E-Service Quality and this Effects on Customer Satisfaction

Abstract

How firms do business in the tourism industry has changed dramatically due to advances in information technologies. The business for online reservations is worth around €5,800m in the Spanish market, and virtual travel agencies (VTAs) capture a third of this business. Competition between the VTAs is increasingly intense, and hence it is essential to understand customers’ perception of the e-service quality. The current article aims to identify the service quality dimensions of these online services and analyse their influence on the satisfaction of the potential tourist. The work also examines the strengths and weaknesses of the VTAs with respect to these dimensions in order to offer guidelines on how best to design their value propositions.