E-commerce Impact on the Hotel Industry

This assignment delves into a quantitative research study examining the positive effects of Information Technology and e-commerce adoption within the hotel industry. The research utilizes quantitative methods and data analysis to explore the relationship between technological integration, operational efficiency, and overall hotel performance. The findings provide valuable insights for hoteliers seeking to leverage e-commerce strategies for success in the competitive hospitality market.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Impact of e-commerce in hotel industry
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Abstract
The purpose of this report is to analyze the impact of online technologies in the hotel industry.
The research proposal has been developed based on the qualitative method. The sample hotels
have been selected and then the statements of the managers have been analyzed. The medium of
the online technologies that are used by the hoteliers are also discussed in the result indicators.
Philosophy is to be determined by the in the appropriate way that affect the parameter of the
research. The factors that are affecting the ecommerce sector are discussed in the chapter. The
adoption process and how they have lead to success of some of the hotels are discussed.
Furthermore, the discussions based on the result suggest that there is a positive relation in the
performance indicators of the hotels and usage online technology in this regard.

2RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Literature review..............................................................................................................................3
Methodology....................................................................................................................................5
Research philosophy........................................................................................................................5
Research approach...........................................................................................................................5
Research design...............................................................................................................................6
Data collection process....................................................................................................................6
Results and Analysis........................................................................................................................7
Discussion & Conclusion..............................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................13
Appendices....................................................................................................................................15

3RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Literature review
Communication and iinternet has made companies very efficient. In internal and external
operations, companies uses the electronic medium. The transaction part of business is more
affected by the e commerce industry. The World Wide Web has brought immense opportunity to
increase the opportunity for business-to-business e-commerce in hotel industry. ICT has
specifically enhanced the global business community that is rapidly moving forward.
Ecommerce in hotel industry has also increased the demand and supply scenario (Šerić et al.
2014). The online transportation system influenced the company in diverse functions of
management as well as increasing the knowledge. Telecommunication has also increased its
utility in service of the company. There are two billion internet user worldwide and purchasing
behavior of the consumers has also increased (Hua et al. 2015). The inter-company functions,
negotiations, and transaction as well as other aspects of the ecommerce industry in Bangladesh
compares with all other countries usage in the ecommerce. Apart from the usage of internet in
marketing, the hotels also used the PC and laptop, wifi internet, digital satellite for internal
purposes of the hotel functions. The functions that indicate the awareness of the technology
being used are hotel booking, e-leaflets, web community, transactional process and payment
system, loyalty programs social networking, blogging, booking system through online payments
and other several functions (Law et al. 2014). The increasing number of user of mobile services
is very important for the company to keep the track of. There are 1 million mobile users in the
country and 100 crores of transactions take place (Šerić et al. 2014). Boundaries between
conventional and electronic medium will become blurred in the near future. The most important
factor of the process is generating sales growth through online marketing. Different levels of
online strategy have been implemented in the process. For example, internet, satellite, TV, CD

4RESEARCH PROPOSAL
and DVD, personal digital assistance are also utilized in incorporating online strategy. Major
Ecommerce websites are www.akhoni.com, www.bikroy.com, www.tortobangladesh.com,
www.tripadvisor.com, www.nijhoumtrours.com (Ayob et al. 2017). The government site is
visitbangladesh.gov.bd. However, it has been proved that only having internet is not enough. To
take advantage of this opportunity people must be aware of the utilization process.
Understanding the cost-benefit aspect of the company will be useful in adopting this practice.
The 10 million of the user base of Bangladesh has shown a 7% increase in the percentage and
user population penetration in the country (Šerić et al. 2014). The internet service providers’
numbers are increasing with the change of services. A major service of the companies is very
much influenced by the company. Again, the volume of the ecommerce transaction takes place
in Bangladesh is also important to consider in the business. Encouraging the customization of the
software and day-to-day operation of the must be incorporated. According the statistics, out of 64
districts 12 districts are facilitated with the advantages of the ecommerce (Ayob et al. 2017). The
barriers in implementing ICT in every district is minimum number of website user in
Bangladesh, poor communication structure of telecommunication in various area, high price of
hardware and software technologies, lack of technical person and educational awareness in
people, expensive services, lack of internet usage in Governmental functions and bureaucratic
complexities (Hua et al. 2015). Most of the technologies that are taken for marketing strategies
of the hotels are based on increasing the brand identity of the hotels. The technologies that are
adopted in the hotels and the number of hotels that have adopted the technologies are given
below. In spite of various barriers, the potential of the company is very important in the country
(Ayob et al. 2017). The policies related to this sector in the country also affect the very
utilization process.

5RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Methodology
The research methodology is process is to conduct the research. This report contains the
method outline of the research question that is gathered in the previous task. The research aims
and objectives are to analyze the adoption process of ecommerce industry in Bangladesh (Leung
et al. 2015).
Between the two processes the qualitative and quantitative way of research, this particular
proposal is entirely based on quantitative way of research. The reliability. Consistency, validity
of the research is maintained in the research (Taylor et al. 2015).
Research philosophy
Research philosophy is to be determined by the in the appropriate way that affect the
parameter of the research. The factors that are affecting the ecommerce sector are discussed in
the chapter. The adoption process and how they have lead to success of some of the hotels are
discussed. The propensity of the hoteliers and companies, how consumers have stimulated them
to adoption of the process and success of e-commerce have been taken into consideration while
doing the research (Leung et al. 2015). The implementation strategies that have helped the
population and their e-readiness are the enduring theme of the research (Silverman 2016).
Research approach
The research approach for analyzing the impact of the ecommerce in this industry is done
through inductive method. The deductive way of research is not taken in this particular research
method. The qualitative way of research is done through analyzing different perspective of this
research (Taylor et al. 2015).

6RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research design
The research design of this research proposal is to consider the explanatory or descriptive
way of research. Main idea is to reach the answers that have been formed in the beginning of the
research proposal. Among the exploratory, explanatory and descriptive way of research the
background information is must for building the foundation of the research. The descriptive way
of research is chosen for this research proposal while relating it to the aims and objective of this
research (Silverman 2016).
Data collection process
The data collection process is includes primary and secondary way of data collection.
This research is based on secondary data collection approach.
The process here also includes the survey method and phenomenological approach to
data interpretation and content analysis. The existing 50 hotels industry in Bangladesh will be
taken as sample and then the content of the companies and their appearances and online
approaches for different department’s function will be analyzed. Especially their approach
increases the online visibility and methods to increase their online marketing approaches (Berné
et al. 2015). The hotels managers and employees in the marketing department will also be
surveyed for further analysis of the impact of ecommerce on the company. The six groups of
questionnaires are formed and the set of questions are referred to the application of e marketing
in the hotel industry (Mackey and Gass, 2015). The interval scale is formed to measure the
attitude of the group of managers selected. The statements are also prepared for ensuring the
standardization of the comments.

7RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Results and Analysis
The implementation of e marketing was calculated in the 5 point scale of the respondents
from 1(strongly negative) to 5(strongly positive). The marketing practices of the 50 hotels are
gathered and the other methods of marketing are discussed in the number of hotels that have
implemented the strategies are numbered. From the given chart below, it can be said that the
most of the adopted technologies in hotel industries are direct marketing or email marketing. The
following is the loyalty programs and different online vouchers and discount programs are
second to the most used method of online utility in marketing (Flick 2015).
It was also confirmed from the managers that the companies used different e-techs to
maintain the customer relationship management. This also helps them in maintaining the client
needs as well as enhancing employees satisfaction (Mackey and Gass, 2015). For promotional
purposes, the respondents used CD/DVD, online reservation and face book marketing was
preferred for increasing the success of their company (Flick 2015).

8RESEARCH PROPOSAL
The approach to e-marketing and their items that have been confirmed by the company
managers are

9RESEARCH PROPOSAL
 Most of them uses internet for marketing strategy – 89%
 Having their own website is helpful for the company in optimizing their operational
process – 56%
 Newsletters are effective in registering purposes through email marketing - 77%
 The intermediate website contributes to the expansion of the customer acquisition
strategy – 67%
 The database of the clients helps in cross selling and up selling the necessary and
potential client acquisition – 85%
 The return of investment and generating new leads through the internet is helpful – 78%
 The return on investment is higher compared to direct or through the medium of
traditional marketing approaches – 65%
 Internet marketing leads to competitive advantages of the hotels and reduces expense in
investment on different print media - 69%
 It is easier to convert the online visitors to convert them in customers – 85%
The essential part of the research has been objectified, as the statements have been coordinated
with the research question. There is a major influence of online media in the hotel business. The
online booking and commercial purpose are served in the process marketing. The manager’s
statements have confirmed the application of ICT (internet and communication technologies)
(Mackey and Gass, 2015). It was also indicated by the hoteliers that they are aware of the
advantages of the internet marketing in their industry. Therefore, the affect of usage of internet in
their business has affected their performance. The subjective assessments of the companies has

10RESEARCH PROPOSAL
shown average of 70% of the surveyed companies are aware, satisfied and using the internet for
commercial purpose as well as increasing the marketing (Šerić et al. 2014.).
The business performance indicators that have been identified to be influenced directly or
indirectly are
 Acquisition of new customers
 Retention of existing customers
 Sales growth
 Market share
 Profitability
 Revenue maximization
 Customers satisfaction

11RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Discussion & Conclusion
The research in the e-marketing impact on hotels of Bangladesh has shed light on the
aspects of the business that are influenced by the online technologies. There has been a positive
attitude towards online technologies that affected the business. There is also evidence in the
results that there is a positive connection between e marketing and performance of the business.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the hotel management industry Bangladesh is seeing
some shift in their operations due to the emergence of online technologies and information and
communication technologies have affected the function of marketing vastly. The issues related to
the conduction of the process are summarized according the percentage. The survey has been
conducted on the hoteliers of Bangladesh and the statements have been investigated of the
managers and their attitude towards the online media expansion in their business. Therefore, it
has been seen that there is a small gap in the adoption. The applications of the technologies are
used to maximize the revenue. The influence is positive in the matter and further attention in this
media is required to be correctly explored.

12RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1. What study relates to? - analyzing the impact of the ecommerce in this industry
2. Is hypothesis clearly stated? - yes
3.What researchers looking to examine? - is there positive effect of adopting Information
technology and ecommerce in hotel industry.
4. Did they found/supported what they wanted? - Yes
5. is the research qualitative or quantitative. – Quantitative (Mackey and Gass 2015)
6. What method researcher used and was it appropriate?- Quantitative and yes (Flick 2015)

13RESEARCH PROPOSAL
References
Ayob, F., Wilson-Evered, E. and McGrath, M., 2017. An empirical study of the web presence
model to evaluate the web features of Small-and-Medium-Sized Hotels (SMHs) in the Malaysian
hotel industry. CAUTHE 2017: Time For Big Ideas? Re-thinking The Field For Tomorrow,
p.205.
Berné, C., García-González, M., García-Uceda, M.E. and Múgica, J.M., 2015. The effect of ICT
on relationship enhancement and performance in tourism channels. Tourism Management, 48,
pp.188-198.
Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Hua, N., Morosan, C. and DeFranco, A., 2015. The other side of technology adoption: examining
the relationships between e-commerce expenses and hotel performance. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 45, pp.109-120.
Law, R., Buhalis, D. and Cobanoglu, C., 2014. Progress on information and communication
technologies in hospitality and tourism. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 26(5), pp.727-750.
Leung, D., Lo, A., Fong, L.H.N. and Law, R., 2015. Applying the Technology-Organization-
Environment framework to explore ICT initial and continued adoption: An exploratory study of
an independent hotel in Hong Kong. Tourism Recreation Research, 40(3), pp.391-406.

14RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Mackey, A. and Gass, S.M., 2015. Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge.
Panneerselvam, R., 2014. Research methodology. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
Šerić, M., Gil-Saura, I. and Ruiz-Molina, M.E., 2014. How can integrated marketing
communications and advanced technology influence the creation of customer-based brand
equity? Evidence from the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 39, pp.144-156.
Šerić, M., Gil-Saura, I. and Ruiz-Molina, M.E., 2014. How can integrated marketing
communications and advanced technology influence the creation of customer-based brand
equity? Evidence from the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 39, pp.144-156.
Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.

15RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Appendices

16RESEARCH PROPOSAL