Current Dynamics and Future Growth of Online Travel Agencies

Current Dynamics And Future Growth Of Online Travel Agencies

Online travel agencies (OTAs) have a significant and transformational impact on the contemporary travel business, influencing both the experiences of travelers and travel service providers. OTAs are Web site or mobile applications specializing in selling travel-related products and services by providing consumers with ease of use and convenience (More & Thomases, 2018). They are potent channels contributing to the sales and revenues of hotels by strengthening the challenge of price and service-based competition (Caliskan et al., 2013). Besides, OTAs provide a trusted and effective platform for consumers to dream, shop, buy travels, and share information about their experiences (Carroll & Sileo, 2014); and are a valuable tool for preserving market positions, fulfilling consumer demands, and executing integrated marketing strategies (Carroll & Sileo, 2014).

There is a growing trend among consumers to rely on OTAs, such as Expedia, to organize their trip arrangements (Statista Research Department, 2024) independently. Subsequently, numerous firms are utilizing mobile apps and Web sites in this sector (Leung et al., 2018; Liu & Law, 2013). The influence of OTAs on the tourism industry and its clientele is demonstrated by prominent OTAs’ (e.g., Expedia and booking.com) substantial revenue, which exceeded 90 billion USD each in 2018 (Statista Research Department, 2024). The tourism sector has grown faster than the trade of goods and services since 2012 (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2016), and international tourism now represents close to 7% of the world’s exports in goods and services (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2019). This growth in the tourism industry can be attributed to a certain degree to the accelerated adoption of technological innovations (e.g., e-services and mobile apps) (Belias et al., 2017). These innovations and growing consumer savviness have resulted in profound and far-reaching changes in the tourism sector (Xiang, 2018).

A result of the increasing significance of OTAs in the tourism industry has been a notable increase in the number of studies exploring various facets of OTAs. These aspects include hotels’ profitability as well as performance (Caliskan et al., 2013), competition among service providers (Roma et al., 2015), and examining the impact of OTAs on customer satisfaction (Ali, 2016) and loyalty (Lee et al., 2016; Torres et al., 2013). Additionally, studies have been conducted on how OTAs enact opportunities for sustaining competitive advantages by exploiting context-aware data gathered from customers’ choices and lifestyles (Kim & Kim, 2017) and how hotels are cooperating with OTAs to increase their market share (Ling et al., 2014). While these studies have made valuable contributions to the advancement of research in OTAs, it is essential to acknowledge that the discipline encompasses a considerably more comprehensive range of topics. Furthermore, the research on OTAs has evolved in a disjointed fashion, making it challenging to discern the scope of the discipline and its advancements.