Travel Web Site Service Improves
October 8 2003
The Customer Respect Group, specialist in researching how corporations treat their customers online, today released the results of its Summer 2003 Study of top Airline, Travel and Hotel/Resort/Casino firms. Among the headline findings, travel sector Web sites show a big improvement while airline and hotel sites have lost ground compared to their winter performance.
The Online Customer Respect Study covers companies among the US' largest 1000 and operating in these sectors. The top rating in each sector was achieved by:
- airlines - Northwest Airlines
- travel firms - Orbitz
- hotels/resorts/casinos - Wyndham and Marriott
At the other end of the scale were Southwest Airlines; Carlson Wagonlit; and Boyd Gaming, Mandalay Resort and Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts.
The study measures corporate performance from an online customer's perspective, assigning a Customer Respect Index (CRI) to each company - this incorporates both qualitative and quantitative factors.
Since the Winter 2003 wave of the study, ratings have moved as follows:
- travel firms' CRI has risen from 6.5 to 8.0, with a full 3 point big rise in the Responsiveness CRI. Last time around, 35 percent of travel firms did not respond to online enquiries, whereas this time there was 100% response.
- airlines' overall CRI declined from 8.1 to 7.4. Response to enquiries remained at 100%, but the number doing so within 48 hours fell dramatically from 88% to 38% (half took more than 72 hours to respond).
- Hotel, casino and resort CRI scores fell to 6.8 from 7.5. The decline was spread among several areas.
Customer Respect Group CEO Donal Daly describes the improvement and scores among travel firms as 'impressive... Studies show that online customers make purchasing choices based on how they are treated. Airlines and hotels/resorts/casinos should take note and make changes to increase their potential share of online business. Almost all firms are now responding to online inquiries and have tackled simplicity issues, but most can improve in how quickly they respond and treat personal information'.
Airline sector Summer 2003 ranking | Airline | | Overall |
| Northwest Airlines Corporation | | 9.1 |
Alaska Air Group, Inc.
| | 9.0 |
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
| | 8.8 |
American Airlines
| | 7.4 |
UAL Corporation
| | 7.3 |
America West Holdings Corp.
| | 6.9 |
US Airways Group, Inc.
| | 6.8 |
Continental Airlines, Inc.
| | 5.8 |
Southwest Airlines
| | 5.7 |
| Industry Average | | 7.4 |
Airlines generally score well for Simplicity (8.4 out of ten) and worst for Principles (6.2). Some 75 percent of these firms use Autoresponder technology, in which emails are automatically sent back to users to confirm the receipt of their inquiry and let them know when they should expect a response. Of these, all followed with a full response. 89% of companies provide email forms for online inquiries and 11% email addresses. 67% percent provide a keyword search function on their site.
Travel sector Summer 2003 ranking | Travel Firm | | Overall CRI |
| Orbitz | | 9.7 |
Expedia
| | 9.5 |
Travelocity
| | 9.0 |
Hotwire
| | 8.8 |
Priceline
| | 8.8 |
Hotels.com
| | 8.3 |
Cheaptickets.com
| | 8.2 |
WorldTravel BTI
| | 6.4 |
| GetThere | | 6.3 |
Carlson Wagonlit | | 5.3 |
| Industry Average | | 8.0 |
As with airlines, surveyed firms receive the best overall rating (CRI: 8.6) for Simplicity and the worst (CRI: 7.4) for Principles. Only 40% use Autoresponder technology. 80% provide email forms for online inquiries and 20% email addresses. 30% provide a keyword search function on their site.
Hotel/Resort/Casino sector Summer 2003 ranking | Hotel/Resort/Casino | | Overall CRI |
| Wyndham Hotels & Resorts | | 9.0 |
Marriott International, Inc.
| | 9.0 |
Park Place Entertainment Corporation
| | 8.5 |
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
| | 8.5 |
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts
| | 8.4 |
Radisson Hotels & Resorts
| | 7.1 |
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc
| | 6.1 |
Hilton Hotels
| | 5.8 |
| MGM Mirage | | 5.8 |
| Boyd Gaming Corporation | | 4.3 |
| Mandalay Resort Group | | 4.3 |
| Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, Inc. | | 4.3 |
| Industry Average | | 6.8 |
Once again, the highest rating overall was for Simplicity (CRI: 7.7) and the worst (CRI: 6.3) for Principles, joined for this sector by Responsiveness (ie also 6.3). Nine percent did not respond to online inquiries. 33% of these sector firms use Autoresponder technology, and only 50% of these followed with a full response. 84% of companies provide email forms for online inquiries, 8% email addresses and 8% 'phone numbers or postal addresses only. Only 33 percent provide a keyword search function on their site.
For each company the report gives recommendations for improvements, comparative data from competitors' sites, best practices, and industry analysis. More information, including subscription costs, is available from
www.CustomerRespect.com or by calling 425-454-4151 or emailing
info@customerrespect.com .
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
