A hybrid multi-criteria decision making model to evaluate hotel websites

Purpose: The main purpose of the study is to develop a robust and reliable model which evaluates the quality of hospitality websites, or more specifically, hotel websites. Design/methodology/approach: The literature is deeply overviewed and an advisory board is consulted for determination of the critical factors affecting the quality of a hospitality website. Appointed criteria are organised as a hierarchy according to their orientation. A hybrid model including two multi-criteria decision making approaches, namely the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Preference Ranking Organisation Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE), is proposed to achieve the purpose of the study. The AHP is utilized to weigh the criteria, and, ranking of the alternatives are provided via PROMETHEE. For the case study, websites of five-star hotels in Ankara, which is the capital city of the Republic of Turkey, are evaluated. Findings: Encouraging results are obtained for the case study by the proposed model. Originality/value: The proposed model provides reliable and robust results for any qualitative or quantitative criteria to evaluate hospitality websites which is a very important task for both customers, and enterprises, even for governments. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.