eTourism Online Monitor

There is a continuous and dynamic growth in marketing tourism products over the internet and the WWW in particular. The development is astonishing, the sales volume remarkable. However, every day new challenges and barriers pave the way which impede the optimal and unrestricted usage of the internet as an information and distribution channel.



The research and development department of the Austrian National Tourism Organisation (ANTO) asked therefore the Institute for Tourism and Leisure Studies, WU Wien, to cooperate in this respect. Together they launched the idea to investigate in more detail and systematically how accommodation companies in Austria make use of this medium. In close cooperation and with substantial organizational support of the Bundessparte Tourismus und Freizeitwirtschaft of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce this study is organized on a yearly basis.



The main objectives of the eTourism Online Monitor – eTOM – are:

• to determine the share of online inquiries and reservations of the various types of accommodation companies in Austria

• to find out which internet distribution channels are used by the accommodation industry and

• to forecast the online sales volume in the near future.



The data collection is open to company owners or chief managers of hotels, pensions, apartments, apartment houses, rooms at farms and bed & breakfast facilities. Each business is invited to participate immediately. The benefit to the industry is evident: They will receive representative and compound information on the internet presence and the importance of online inquiries and reservations in the accommodation sector.