Michael Ott

The Impact of the Internet on the Marketing of Travel Intermediaries Michael Ott

Diplomarbeit, die am 01.11.1998 erfolgreich an einer Universität in �sterreich im Fachbereich Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften eingereicht wurde. Abstract: In recent years, more and more people expressed their concerns about some companies' performance. Mainly not about their financial performance, but about their social performance. About their attitude towards the environment. About the treatment of employees. Consumers, governments, environmentalists, trade unions, but also managers felt that there is a need for change in business life. This paper investigates two questions: In general, how does the marketing of travel intermediaries change when business is conducted over the internet? In detail, how can travel intermediaries build customer loyalty an the internet? Why do these two issues pose problems that require a thorough analysis? First, the internet provides a new platform for dealing with travel services. Although the internet travel market still represents only a small fraction of the total travel market, many travel intermediaries entered it in anticipation of huge profits. The number of travellers who use the internet to obtain travel services and the money they spend on-line for travel purposes is growing rapidly. But competition and marketing in the on-line travel market is strongly affected by the unique characteristics of the internet. In order to stay in business in the long run, a deeper understanding of the effects of the internet an the travel industry and an the marketing of individual travel firms is necessary. Also, the internet threatens to eliminate intermediaries by linking service providers and customers directly. Therefore, an evaluation of the marketing impacts of the internet is even more vital for travel intermediaries. Second, a key element of every on-line marketing strategy is customer loyalty: Many internet travel intermediaries are able to attract a large number of visitors to their web pages. But most of these...