Abstract

Tourism plays an important role in economy of Mediterranean countries. Year after year, more and more people spend or like to spend their vacations (and money) in the Mediterranean region. Hiring private apartments or houses by individual persons for themselves and their families becomes more and more popular way of vacation arrangement and, in the result, constitutes an important factor of the countries' incomes. Versatile and rich offers of private accommodations are available for e-booking and e-reservations via numerous tourist oriented websites, covering most of individual customers' needs and requirements. The paper makes an attempt to comprise and analyse the features of tourist websites which influence their credibility and attractiveness, and in result increase their effectiveness and profitability. Two representative instances of tourist websites are presented, considered, and to some extent, compared: Croatian tourist agency Adriatic.hr and French agency Gites de France. The instances are analysed with respect to the characteristics of the counties, however some general conclusions are derived. The main goal is to identify and characterise the website features which determine individual customer decisions toward e-reservation and finally e-payment. Special attention is focused at credibility aspects in the Internet scope: offers' presentation, customer's opinions and forums, early reservations, payment policies, insurance and cancellation options, language coverage and its quality, as well as at direct customer services like: phone hot line and e-mail contacts. The importance of the first impression before the first visit in a country is spotlighted. Potential development perspectives of tourist websites are also presented.

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