Using Log File Analysis and Website Assessment to Improve Hospitality Websites

This paper proposes a reactive website design strategy based on two complementary website analyses. An analysis of 15 Swiss hotels' combined log files — 345'440 web site visits and 2'107'397 page views — combined with content analysis of the same hotel websites illustrate practical insights on how consumers find and navigate hotel websites, as well as academic insights on the use and limitations of the former behaviour-based measure. This innovative analysis of combined log files, complemented by website assessments, suggests that most website visitors were familiar with these hotels but that the hotels could reorganise their sites better, especially with easier access to information on transactions.

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