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Common practices in destination website design

2012; Elsevier BV; Volume: 1; Issue: 1-2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jdmm.2012.08.002

2212-5752

Cuauhtémoc Luna‐Nevarez, Michael R. Hyman,

Technology Adoption and User Behaviour

The Internet has become a key marketing channel for tourist destinations. To identify typical features of destination websites, a content analysis of websites for top global destinations—by number of international arrivals—was conducted. Six factors were evaluated: primary focus, navigation and interactivity, visual and presentation style, textual information, use of advertising, and use of social media and travel aids. In addition, a cluster analysis was conducted to identify homogeneous groups of websites in the sample. The findings revealed three naturally occurring groups. Inter-cluster differences suggest that DMOs use different approaches to target potential visitors, as evidenced by websites ranging from purely informative and simply designed to highly commerce-oriented and visually alluring. Based on the exploratory analyses, a conventional wisdom for destination website design is proposed.