Impact of electronic word of mouth on hotel sales

Abstract

The Internet’s impact on the sales and marketing of hotels and their services is wellknown. The recent advent of Web 2.0 is reshaping the impact of the Internet in all sectors including hospitality. Just like the impact that traditional word of mouth (WOM) has on sales, Web 2.0 has transformed WOM to electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in influencing consumers’ choice of hotels. A study was conducted with this in mind to explore the impact of eWOM on travelers’ hotel choice. This paper, based on a street survey containing 128 responses, notes that consumer online reviews indeed have an impact in influencing tourists’ hotel choice.