E-mail Responses of Tourism Agencies in Developing Countries

The rise of the Internet has brought significant changes and opportunities for online tourism agencies. Consumers have found new ways to research and purchase services online, leading to rising service-level expectations and transforming the industry. However, the advances in technology and rising expectations among consumers have not translated to exceptional levels of customer service from tourism site owners. The results of this study of 200 tourism agencies in eight developing countries shows a poor level of response to e-mail inquires from potential customers, with an average of only 30 percent response rate and inadequate level of feedback. The work offers a deeper picture on the lack of online customer service offered by online tourism agencies, which could lead to serious implications on potential customer perceptions of the agencies and the industry and could lead to lost opportunities and revenue. The paper presents practical managerial changes that firms could implement to improve customer service and marketing efforts.