Measuring content and usability of rural tourism lodgings websites’

Abstract

Rural tourism is a significant source of income to rural economies but as a growth tool has to adapt to current market mechanisms, which are becoming competitive, and are dominated by communication and promotion techniques. The Internet and the WWW could help small business, like rural tourism businesses to set up their own websites for direct sales and to enter niche markets. The objective of the study is to analyse the websites of rural tourism lodgings in terms of content and usability, because they are important in the context of efforts to raise the attractiveness of a corporate website. Content is the key factor driving visitors to web sites, and is very important, when customers purchase product and services. Usability’s goal is to make a website more efficient and enjoyable for users to experience and is about making sure that the average person can use the site as intended. The paper measures and evaluates content and usability characteristics of the top rural tourism lodgings. The top-100 (March 2005) rural lodgings that have a website, according to allrural.com a portal for rural tourism bed and breakfast and ecotourism worldwide, were selected for analysis. It uses two frameworks supported by literature and adjusts them for the needs of the study. It distinguishes information characteristics on the Web and evaluates them using the views of potential customers and users. Although, top rural lodgings have made a substantial effort and managed to keep usability hazards low, they do not take full advantage of the opportunities that the global market space offers.