Pursuit of competitive advantage for online travel agencies

: driving from price to value

Abstract

The online travel industry is characterized by a fierce level of competition. Due to the design of its landscape, modern travel paradigms and touristic product’s characteristics, Online Travel Agencies strive to have the lowest price in order to attract customers and gain market share. Thus, their services became very similar and commoditized. Starting from this topic, online marketing strategies and actions aiming at the creation of value by differentiation rather pricing were investigated. To sum up these strategies, the Online Travel Agency’s online marketing role model was created. It was concluded that it is possible for Online Travel Agencies to provide a higher level of service able to provide a better brand positioning and customer loyalty that therefore might differentiate the agency from its competitors.

Date of Award	20 Oct 2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Susana Silva (Supervisor)