5

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This part of the paper consists of various related literature and studies about resort
website. It includes articles (both published and unpublished materials), books as well as
internet sources.

A. Related Literature

The proponents gathered materials in order to get some ideas and information that
will serve as a reference to their study. All these information helped the researcher in
solving out the problems and arrived to a proposal of a new system.

1. Foreign Literature
In the article entitled Resort Internet Marketing; How to Market
Resort Hotels written by Duran Inci (2012) stresses that Resort Internet
Marketing is an essential factor in attracting customers to exotic resort locations.
Since 2009, online marketing spending has climbed almost 15 percent each year.
On the other hand, traditional marketing and print media expenses have been
steadily declining at the same time. How are companies making a success of
online marketing?
Many resorts have relied on brochures and pamphlets for years. While
these tools are still effective ways of reaching some customers, the Internet has
become the first place travelers look for information on vacation lodgings. This
alone is a serious reason for resort owners to reexamine their existing marketing
strategies.
One of the most excellent reasons to start marketing a resort online is the
low cost of entry. Thanks to intuitive productivity tools and reliable hosting
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services, getting a website up and running is affordable and easier than many
imagine. Additionally, strategies to get a resort’s website listed costs a lot less
than buying advertising time or other traditional media.
Since many social media websites are now becoming integrated with
search engines, wise resort owners will also work to establish a presence within
social networks like Facebook and Google Plus. These sites can lead to free word-
of-mouth advertising and better search engine rankings. The same strategies apply
to creating YouTube videos or podcasts. Creating this type of content provides
value to potential customers and also increases a resorts ranking naturally.
Internet marketing also provides greater flexibility to advertisers. The
Internet has a broader creative license. There are less format restrictions,
regulations and time constraints than advertising on television, radio or other
media outlets. This means it’s even easier to create relevant advertising online
than it ever has been through traditional channels.
Search Engine Optimization tools are available to help track how users are
arriving at the resort’s web page. These systems allow the resort owner to see
what strategies are working and to identify possible new keywords that directs
more traffic to the site (http://www.optimum7.com/).
According to the article entitled Hotel Website Will Help You Boost
Your Hotel Worldwide a hotel website will only give you lots of advantages
towards promoting your hotel more. Some of the advantages include: a hotel
website will offer all the information to its customers including the hotel’s room
specifications and services provided. If the hotel website is updated regularly, one
can find up-to-date information about the respective hotel. Usually hotel websites
will have their street map marked on their website so the hotel will be found
easier. Communication can easily be made online via a contact form. A hotel
website will also have various hotel pictures including that of the rooms and of
the hotel facilities. Pictures help one to can make an idea of how the hotel looks.
Some hotel websites also have a walk-through which allows an online visitor to
‘walk through’ the hotel. A walk through is like a video and this video will show
 7

you the hotel from the inside including hall, corridors and rooms. Hotel bookings
can be made online which is most of the times faster and cheaper.
A hotel website can boost and increase bookings with an online booking
system. This system will increase sales. It is worth spending some money on a
good hotel website and implementing an online booking system.
Hotel website prices depend on the website features, information and
characteristics. The more the features the website has, the higher the website’s
price.
It is very important to make your website as user friendly as possible. The
more beautiful the website is, the more visitors you’ll have thus resulting to
greater exposure and greater sales.
On the other hand, if one cannot afford a large characterized website for
his/her hotel, one can create an online blog which is usually free.
Hotel websites may also promote their hotel on other online applications
like Facebook and Twitter. Facebook and Twitter have become very popular
towards the promotion of hotels. These applications allow you to input regular
updates and they can serve as a great marketing tool since it targets thousands of
people worldwide.
Thus investing in a good hotel website can only help your hotel’s
marketing and generate more sales which would relatively lead to greater
productivity and income (http://www.prlog.org).
The article Upcoming Thailand Resort Promotes Site Online stated that
back in August, digital marketing provider buuteeq launched MGM Grand Ho
Tram Beach's website and online presence using the company's cloud-based
Digital Marketing System. Four months later, more than 500,000 visitors viewed
the luxury resort's website, despite still being several months away from opening
its doors.
The Ho Tram, a luxury beach resort and entertainment destination in
Vietnam, is taking advantage of buuteeq's full Cloud DMS offering, which
includes: a content management system for marketing assets; developing and
publishing the property's Web, mobile and social sites; streamlined content
 8

publishing to external booking sites; SEO optimization; detailed online marketing

analysis reports and more.
The Ho Tram signed on for buuteeq's services in July, and buuteeq
launched the hotel's full online footprint less than one month later. By getting the
Ho Tram's website, social media presence and SEO efforts up so quickly and all
in sync, the hotel was able to receive thousands of visitors to the site daily. Within
two months, there were more than 5,000 daily unique visitors to the hotel's online
properties, and by November, traffic was consistently hitting 10,000 daily unique
visitors and is continuing to climb. This put the Ho Tram well ahead of the
awareness curve for its upcoming opening, which in turn helped drive crucial
early bookings.
"It's great to see MGM nailing their digital marketing right out of the gate
with the new Ho Tram hotel and domain name. The buuteeq powered desktop and
mobile sites are quickly being linked to by popular sites and directories through
referrals, and all this activity is helping to improve the long-term SEO prospects
of the hotel," commented Brian Saab , buuteeq co-founder and chief marketing
officer. "The data shows us there's an incredible opportunity for hotels to spread
awareness and bookings by establishing a complete digital footprint early on,
including mobile and SEO optimization. Putting up a simple static landing page
or overlooking multi-screen optimization in the early days can cause operators to
lose out on hundreds of thousands of opportunities to engage with potential guests
as they work toward market entry." (http://www.hotelmanagement.net/)

2. Local Literature
In the article Amanpulo Resort Palawan directed that Amanpulo was
created for travelers seeking the idyllic beauty of an exclusive tropical island.
Situated on the private island of Pamalican, 200 km east of Palawan in the
Philippines, the 220 acre isle is surrounded by white sand, crystal clear sea and
well preserved coral reefs (50-300 m. offshore). Guests arrive from Manila by
chartered plane which lands directly on Pamalican
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2006 Zagat Survey of Top International Hotels, Resorts and Spas has
named Amanpulo resorts the world's leading international hotel group. Top
ratings were also received by individual Aman resorts worldwide. East Bali's
Amankila is rated Asia's top Resort and first in the survey's Dining category.
Amanpuri in Phuket claims the region's top Service position. Amanjiwo in
Central Java places first for Rooms as well as Public Spaces & Facilities. Top
Destination Spa rating goes to Amandari.
An idyllic, tropical haven for the beach lover, Amanpulo is set on its own
private island surrounded by white-sand beaches, turquoise waters and a coral
reef. All manner of watersports are available including diving, fishing and sailing.
Enjoy some Romance or an Underwater Experience. From 1 September - 31
October, 2006, enjoy a three-night offer which includes a complimentary tennis
session with Amanresorts' resident tennis professional.
Be it destination or activity driven, Amanresorts provides a choice of 12
countries across four continents for an Aman Experience.
More than just a beach resort, Amanpulo (peaceful island) is set on a
coralline island all its own. Pamalican floats in the brilliant-blue waters of the
Sulu Sea. Seven square kilometers of reef rim the island. Beyond are sandbanks
and a channel, where whales, dolphins and sea cows have been known to stray. At
its widest point, the 5.5-kilometer island of Pamalican is only 500 meters across.
Located among the Quiniluban group of the Cuyo Islands, Pamalican is one of
nearly 1,800 islands in the province of Palawan. The largest province in the
Philippines, Palawan is about 600 kilometers south and southwest of Manila.
Truly Amanpulo is one of the best resorts in Palawan if not, in the world
(http://www.palawan-resort.com).
According to the article Resort in Negros Occidental in Booking
Website's Top 10 Eco-Friendly Hotels written by Lago ( 2012) said that
Nature's Village Resort in Talisay City, Negros Occidental is among the top ten
environmentally friendly hotels in the world, based on the 2012 list released by
top Asian hotel booking website Agoda last October 31.
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The resort, which is a few kilometers away from Bacolod city, scores 7.6
out of 10 based on customer reviews, and ranks highest in areas of food and
dining, and hotel cleanliness. It has four out of five stars under the website's star
ranking system
Other hotels on the top ten include Six Senses Ninh Van Bay in Vietnam,
URBN hotel in China, Philea Resort and Spa in Malaysia, The Tongsai Bay in
Thailand, and The Park New Delhi Hotel in India which all have five stars.
Alto Hotel on Bourke in Australia, and Casa Camper in Spain which both
have four stars also made it to the list, along with Borneo Highlands Resort in
Malaysia and the Bangkok Tree House in Thailand, which have three stars each.
“Hotels that once considered ‘eco-friendly’ to mean a small environmental
footprint and conservation of resources are now taking things a step further,
cleaning up trash, investing in best-practices, actually improving the sustainability
of the communities that surround them.” Robert Rosenstein, Agoda CEO, said in
a press release.
“Whether in big cities or remote resort islands, our customers love these
eco-friendly resorts,” he added (http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/).
Another article entitled Where Each Bali Luxury Villa is a Sanctuary
Unto Itself stated that escape and retreat is best and in luxury villa in Bali at
AYANA Resort and Spa. Designed to ensure maximum seclusion for every guest,
our 78 free-standing, cliff-top Bali luxurious villas are set in traditional Balinese
compounds with private pools surrounded by tropical gardens. You will feel like
the only people on earth. If you do decide to venture out of your luxury private
villas, you enjoy convenient access to all AYANA Resort and Spa Bali facilities.
http://www.ayanaresort.com
These terms govern the use of the Sunset View Resort website
(alaskasunsetviewresort.com, or under any other URL owned by Sunset View
Resort). By accessing this website or any of its pages you agree to be bound by
these Terms of Use.
 11

This website has been established by Sunset View Resort, for the purpose
of conveying information about the community and information about its general
accommodation services and lodging services.
The Sunset View Resort website may contain links to other websites
outside of its control, and Sunset View Resort is not responsible for the content on
any website other than its own. Visitors to this website assume all responsibility
when they visit other websites via the links on this website.
Sunset View Resort will use reasonable efforts to ensure that all
information displayed is done so accurately, but makes no warranties of any kind
regarding the products and services linked by or advertised on this website.
Sunset View Resort expressly disclaims any representation and warranty, express
or implied, including, without limitation, warranties of merchantability, fitness for
a particular purpose, suitability, and the ability to use this website without
contracting a computer virus, malware, adware, or spyware infection
(http://alaskasunsetviewresort.com/index.html).

B. Related Studies

The proponents gathered related researches and studies that will serve as a guide
to their study. All these information were used in the development of the new system.

1. Foreign Studies
According to the study entitled An Examination of Consumer Opinions
Regarding Hotel Websites by Burnett (2003) postulated that Internet
reservations are a growing portion of the distribution channels in the hotel
industry. With this growing area of marketing and sales of hotel rooms comes a
need for clarification of the needs of both the hotel and the consumer. This study
examines consumer preferences and opinions about the features and functions
available on hotel websites with respect to the type of website used by the
consumer. Two researcher developed survey instruments were used in this study.
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The first survey process identified and refined the features and functions to be
examined through a series of interviews with users of online travel products. The
second survey instrument elicited information from consumers of hotel website
products and services. This instrument was posted to the World Wide Web and
responses were solicited via e-mail in an attempt to garner responses from
individuals familiar with the internet. The focus of the research was to find out if
users of five distinctly identified types of websites showed any associations with
or differences among their opinions and preferences and the type of website they
primarily used. With few exceptions, the consumers showed no association with
or differences among their opinions and preferences with respect to the type of
website they primarily use. The exceptions, though few, primarily related to a
function of either the technology as it related to the type of website or the
business model of the site type. This finding provides early guidelines for
developing successful websites.
The results of the inferential statistical analysis of the responses showed
that very few of the questions presented before the respondents exhibited ties
between the question’s content and the type of website primarily used to research
or book hotel rooms. While not yielding statistically significant differences, this
finding is still significant. This would suggest that consumer preferences stay
fairly consistent across the various types of websites used to book hotel rooms.
The exceptions being those identified by the analysis in the prior chapter
(http://195.130.87.21:8080/dspace/bitstream/123456789/676/1/An%20examinatio
n%20of%20consumer%20opinions%20regarding%20hotel%20websites.pdf.).
In the study of Determinants of Online Travel Purchases fromThird-
Party Travel Web Sites by Powleya, Cobanoglua, Cummingsa initiated that
Internet resources and Web sites have become a form of advertising for products
and services in the past decade. The purpose of this study was to investigate
customers’ intentions to buy travel products from online travel agencies. A
regression analysis was conducted to find determinants of online travel purchases
from third party online travel agents. “Enjoyability”, “confidence”, “safeness”,
and “complexity of choices” factors have been found to be significant in the
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prediction model. The factor analysis explained 56.73 percent of the total
variance. There were 26 variables about Web site quality used in this study. The
contents of the five factor dimensions were analyzed and named as follow:
efficiency, Web extras, speed and quality of design, convenience and
attractiveness. The efficiency factor had the highest Eigen Value, 6.25, and
represented 22.34 percent of the explained variance. The second highest Eigen
Value was the Web extras factor. This value of 3.53 represented 12.61 percent of
the explained variance in the sample. The speed and quality of design factor had
an Eigen Value of 2.36 and represented 8.44 percent of the variance in the
sample. The convenience factor had an Eigen Value of 1.99 and represented 7.11
percent of the variance in the sample. Finally, the attractiveness factor had an
Eigen Value of 1.74 and represented 6.05 percent of the explained variance. The
efficiency factor included the following attributes: “convenient to use,”
“usefulness,” “online reservation via Web site,” “clarity,” “finding companies
general information,” “guaranteed accurate information,” and “multimedia
effects.”
The Web Extra factors included attributes such as “VIP membership,”
“auction,” and “personalization.” The speed and quality design factor included the
following attributes: “quick downloads,” “2-3 clicks for needed information,”
“speed of loading,” and “finding customer support.” The convenience factor
included the following factors: “product organization,” “easy to sign up,” and
“chat rooms.” Finally, the attractiveness of Web site factor included two attributes
which were “colorful Web sites,” and “attractiveness”
(http://www.ifitt.org/admin/public/uploads/cobanoglufinal.pdf).
Another study entitled Online Reservation System of Hotel White
Palace Swat by Ahmad (2009) proposed that the study is aimed to provide guests
with a place to stay for a certain amount of time for a certain amount of money
and to direct his/her working staff in a positive and professional manner. Making
sure staffs are getting paid and well cared for: (1) Promote international, regional
and domestic tourism, (2) The objective of Hotels in Galicia is to offer you the
most complete source of hotel accommodation possible in this beautiful region of
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green or Swat, (3) The management Of White Palace Believe in an exceptional

workface to provide world-class services to their customers. They want to ensure
that not only they satisfy their customer but also delight
them(http://www.scribd.com/doc/23750635/Online-reservation-for-hotel-white-
palace).

2. Local Studies
In the study entitled Thesis of the Villa Consorcia Resort &
Restaurant by Rodillado (2010) said that the aim of this study is to develop a
Website for Villa Consorcia Resort and Restaurant which promote the Resort in
the World Wide Web. Specifically the study aims (1) to encourage tourist to visit
the Villa Consorcia Resort and Restaurant. By advertising the resort in the web, it
can help encourage tourist to visit the Villa Consorcia Resort and Restaurant; (2)
increase Customers for Villa Consorcia Resort and Restaurant. By developing a
Website for Villa Consorcia Resort and Restaurant, it can attract persons from
other country to visit the resort and it will increase the customers of the said
resort; (3) maintain the popularity of the resort. By the use of publishing the
Website it will help the resort to maintain its own popularity; (4) easy way to
know the resort. Searching in the internet, browsing the website, it can help
people to know the resort in the fastest way. Base on the outcomes obtained from
the study, are the following conclusion were drown; (1) the proponents concluded
that the proposed Website was much faster reliable and convenient to use; (2) the
proponents concluded that building a Website is a one way of helping the
government in their campaign of increasing the tourism in Villa Consorcia; (3)
the proponents concluded that developing a Website with inquiry form can also
help the costumer easy to reach the management for their comments and
suggestion; (4) the proponents have come up a conclusion, that developing a
Website featuring a certain place is a good way to make it famous and be access
by the people (http://rikzricci.wordpress.com/).
Another study entitled Development of Catering Services Website for
MinSCAT Bongabong Campus by Aranda and Claveria (2010) pointed out that
 15

the general objective of the study was to develop a website of the MinSCAT
Bonagbong Campus Catering Service. Specifically, the study aimed to create a
website of MinSCAT catering services and evaluate the developed website.
Conclusion, the researcher developed a website for MinSCAT Bongabong
Campus Catering Services. The website can be designed using notepad
application and macromedia dreamweaver. The website is accurate, objective,
usable, recent and specific (Aranda, Pamela R. and Claveria, Ramil M. 2010,
Development of Catering Service Website for Minscat Bongabong Campus,
MinSCAT Bongabong Campus).
In the study entitled A Proposed Website for Capiz Bay Resort by Dela
Cruz, Espino, Lorenzo, and Vullag, (2010) said that the aim of this study is to
develop a website for the Capiz Bay Resort, which will promote the hotel in the
World Wide Web. Specifically this study aims to (1) encourage the visitors of the
website to come and visit the Capiz Bay Resort. Because of the website, the hotel
will become popular not only in the province of Capizbut also worldwide; (2) to
give an accurate information to the visitors of the website of the Capiz Bay
Resort. Through the use of the website, internet users and viewers can get the
exact and accurate information about the hotel which will be useful in such
manner; (3) to advertise Capiz Bay Resort not only in mass media but also in the
World Wide Web. The website Capiz Bay Resort will be advertised in the internet
through the use of the World Wide Web.
In today’s, generation most people are dealing with computers, such as
school, business, companies & establishments. Therefore, the Capiz Bay Resort
having this website could help to make customer easy to communicate. It could be
useful for the clients/customers for it is a good example of an official website that
processes online transactions. Using this website client/ customers where no
longer spent more time and money to traveled just to see the hotel. The
information of the hotel will viewed fast the costumer and minimizes its
difficulties (http://thesiswebpage.blogspot.com).