Customer satisfaction with the Bulgarian tour operators and tour agencies' websites

The goal of this study is to analyse the e-tourism development in Bulgaria, and particularly customer satisfaction with the quality of the tourism companies' websites. A total of 249 firms' websites have been evaluated by tourism master students according to selected indicators. The conceptual model contained 10 indicators as antecedents for customer satisfaction. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis confirmed the positive influence of the website quality on customer satisfaction in terms of playfulness, navigation, trust, variety of destinations abroad, online transactions, and information quality. Four website dimensions (responsiveness, personalization, diversity of tourism products and services, and variety of destinations inside the country) were not supported, which can be explained by the stage of the tourism companies' e-development and the specific segment of customers. The findings suggest that the firms are underperforming in terms of providing web quality dimensions that enhance the young and well educated customers' satisfaction. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.