Analysis of the Perception of Accommodation Consumers on the Use of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

Abstract When booking accommodation, there are several factors that influence consumers, such as previous experiences, and acquired information, which over time become increasingly sophisticated. In this way, the present study aimed to analyze consumer perception on the use of Online Travel Agencies (OTA) to book accommodation. Consumers’ profile was described, as well as, use frequency of OTAs according to type of travel, comparing their perceptions of factors that influence the choices made. This research is characterized as descriptive, and exploratory with a quantitative approach. Other previous studies carried out in other countries were used to support this research, such as Law (2009) and Del Chiappa (2013). In the final data collection, 131 questionnaires were obtained with hotel guests in Natal, RN. Data analysis was performed through descriptive statistics, as well as means comparison (ANOVA) to analyze the objectives outlined in the research. Tukey test was used to verify if there were any differences between the means of the studied groups. Among the main results, it was found that most respondents (59%) are occasional consumers of OTAs, followed by moderate users (30.6%), and a small number (9.9%) are frequent OTAs users. Regarding the type of travel, it can be concluded that domestic and leisure travel are the most targeted by accommodation consumers when booking through OTAs. These results provide managers of tourism enterprises, whether traditional or online travel agencies, with useful information on users of online reservations.