Impact of promotional tools on reservation channels management: a descriptive model of Italian accommodation facilities

Digital evolution has greatly affected the tourism industry, bringing new challenges and opportunities to accommodation facilities. Literature confirms that new technologies allow building personal and interactive relationships with customers, but also cause tourism service providers to interface with new intermediaries, especially the Online Travel Agencies. However, there is a lack of empirical studies showing which marketing activities are helpful to engage customers and overcome the difficulties highlighted by scholars. This paper aims to bridge the gap, by assessing the relationship between promotional tools used by accommodation facilities and the percentage of bookings received through direct channels, digital direct channels and Online Travel Agencies. Hypotheses are tested through a GLM model with data from 1194 accommodation facilities distributed on the Italian territory, interviewed in the summer 2015. The paper contributes on two levels: by showing which tools, primarily digital, are statistically significant to decrease the dependence from Online Travel Agencies in favor of direct bookings and by highlighting the relevance of the cooperation with destinations. Implications for further research are discussed.