An evaluation of Spanish hotel websites: Informational vs. relational strategies

The websites of many hotels are beginning to incorporate new online tools such as social media in order to maintain closer relationships with clients and, possibly, investors. The objectives of this study are to identify the strategies pursued by Spanish hotel websites and to analyze the relationship between the size of the hotel and website strategy. The results show that Spanish hotel websites are primarily built for customers and that the information oriented toward investors is relatively scarce. Further, there is a significant positive relationship between the size of the hotel and the information provided in two of the perspectives studied, those of the investor and presence on social media. Lastly, significant relationships were identified between the customer, marketing, Web 2.0 and social media categories. However, significant relationships were not identified between the investor perspective and any of the other four categories investigated.

► Spanish hotel websites strategies and the relationships with the size of the hotel were analyzed.
► Spanish hotel websites are primarily built for customers and the information oriented toward investors is relatively scarce.
► A significant positive relationship between the size of the hotel and the information provided to investor and presence on social media was found.
► Significant relationships were identified between the customer, marketing, Web 2.0 and social media categories.