ABSTRACT
In the early days of the Internet, lodging Websites used the principle of “if we build it they will come.” However, with the proliferation and growth of travel Websites and consumers’ willingness to book hotel arrangements online, hotel-owned Websites are not capturing the same share of room bookings as achieved through offline distribution channels. Using proprietary Websites to attract, satisfy, and ultimately retain loyal e-consumers will become more critical in maintaining a competitive advantage in a marketplace being dominated by online travel agencies. This paper describes the importance of building e-consumer’s loyalty through the proprietary Websites of lodging brands. This paper explores hotel-owned Websites’ search engine exposure and salient factors that should be considered by the developers of hotel-owned Websites to positively impact e-loyalty of e-consumers. A framework for future empirical exploration is proffered. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com> Website: < https://www.HaworthPress.com" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://www.HaworthPress.com > © 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]
