Customer satisfaction with the Bulgarian tour operators and tour agencies' websites ☆ Zhelyu Vladimirov ⁎ Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Bulgaria abstract article info Article history: Received 13 April 2012 Accepted 18 July 2012 Keywords: Customers Students Satisfaction Websites Tourism companies Bulgaria The goal of this study is to analyse the e-tourism development in Bulgaria, and particularly customer satisfac- tion 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 in- side 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. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction During recent years the ICT related tourism innovations have led to dramatic changes in the tourism sector. The tourism supply chain became more complex due to new online intermediaries (Buhalis & Licata, 2002, p. 218; Kracht & Wang, 2010, p. 743). Consumer behav- iour also changed as the internet became one of the most influential information sources for travel: “A new type of user is emerging, one who acts as his or her own travel agent and builds a personalised travel package” (Werthner & Ricci, 2004, p. 101). The web environ- ment has empowered consumers on three levels: (1) to make in- formed purchases; (2) to “join forces” with other customers and exchange opinions; and (3) to communicate with tourism companies interactively in order to receive tailor-made products (Niininen, Buhalis, & March, 2007, p. 266). The Internet was also transformed into an important channel for online transactions — 10% of EU travel- lers in 2008 bought their holiday travels from online tour agencies (EC, 2009, p. 39–40). Similarly, 63% of leisure travellers and 65% of business travellers in the USA have used the internet to find price in- formation on travel and hotels (Lee & Morrison, 2010, p. 50). For the 2002–2008 periods the growth of the tourism market was due mainly to its online component (EyeforTravel Ltd., 2009). In com- parison with its main competitors, Bulgaria had the lowest rate of growth for the 2004–2009 period (33.2% compared to 72.3% for Tur- key and 52.6% for Greece). At the same time the major tourism mar- kets for Bulgaria (Germany, UK, Russia, and France) showed an increased volume of online sales (Euromonitor International, 2010). The competitiveness of tourism firms became strongly dependent not only on their inclusion in the online tourism market, but also on the speed of applying the new ICT and e-business innovations (Blake, Sinclair, & Campos Soria, 2006). The ICT adoption, however, requires re-engineering of the entire processes, which is particularly difficult in small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) (Buhalis & Law, 2008, p. 619). Although tourism contributes some 10% to the country's GDP, until now there has been limited research on the e-tourism develop- ment in Bulgaria (Ivanova, 2009; Kraeva, Emilova, Marinova, & Lalev, 2010, Kraeva, Gorcheva, & Bozhikov, 2009), which did not allow for regional or international comparisons. At the same time the number of country internet users has grown constantly (46.4% of the popula- tion in 2011 regularly used the internet, compared to 13.5% in 2004), particularly among those aged 16–24 years (80%) and students (94.2%). As in some other touristic countries with low e-commerce development, however, the share of online shoppers (6.7% of the pop- ulation in 2011) remained relatively small. Nevertheless, online travel and hotel reservations are in second place (30.4%) after clothing and sportswear (52.2%) among commodities purchased online (National Statistical Institute, 2012). This situation requires more attention to Tourism Management Perspectives 4 (2012) 176–184 ☆ Prof. Dr. Zhelyu Vladimirov is teaching management in the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at the Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria. He holds a PhD in philosophy and Dr. Habil in economics. His research interests are related to the small business development and the SME competitiveness in different sectors. He has published in British Food Journal, Sociological Problems, and other national journals. His latest book in Bulgarian is entitled Global Challenges to SMEs (2011). ⁎ 1504 Sofia, 15 Tzar Osvoboditel Blvd., Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Bulgaria. Tel.: +359 2 8738123; fax: +359 2 8702118. E-mail address: jeve@feb.uni-sofia.bg. 2211-9736/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2012.07.003 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Tourism Management Perspectives journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp