Perceptions and Trends of Booking Online Payments in Tourism

Abstract

Online booking services for accommodation have gained increasing importance in the tourist services provided by tour operators. This study intends to identify the main dimensions that characterize each of the payment methods and, for each of them, seeks to characterize the tourists' perception of the main advantages and limitations associated with them. This study adopts a quantitative analysis methodology through the use of an online survey. A final sample of 238 responses was considered. The data were explored using Stata software and adopting statistical inference methods based on the analysis of variance. The findings allow us to conclude that cash payment is the payment method that simultaneously presents better availability and easiness. However, it is also the most insecure of the considered payment methods. For its part, the debit card is considered the safest method. This study didn’t intend to analyze the evolution of these payment methods over time. Furthermore, other emerging payment methods such as NFC, QR codes, mobile wallets have gained recent relevance and may be interesting their inclusion in future studies. The results are mainly relevant for tourism agencies and demonstrate that tourists’ perception is conditioned mainly by their age and the number of performed trips.