Maturity and development of high-quality restaurant websites: A comparison of Michelin-starred restaurants in France, Italy and Spain

High-quality restaurants have become key assets in the economies of many countries and are often considered attractors of tourism in themselves. Therefore, the aim of this study is to propose a model to evaluate the development and maturity of restaurant websites. The model consists of a progressive analysis of the restaurants' websites, which starts with a content analysis, and continues with the application of the eMICA model to identify each website's level of maturity. It finishes with a PCA integrating both methods. This model is applied to 980 Michelin-starred restaurants in France, Italy and Spain to determine whether their websites facilitate efficient communication and are adapted to e-commerce. Results show that website maturity and content development are positively related, and that the aforementioned restaurants are not taking advantage of the opportunities that the Internet offers, and show different progress depending on the country where they are located and the category.