Representation of Destination Cultural Factors on Hotel Websites: Content Analysis of Beijing Hotel Websites

The extant tourism literature contains virtually no studies examining the issue of destination culture in the context of hotel website evaluations. The research presented herein examined 168 Beijing hotel websites. Content analysis of these websites was carried out using 12 destination cultural factors identified by the researchers. The aim was to examine whether the performance of the hotel websites under investigation differed in terms of these factors by hotel category. The results indicate that the majority of Beijing hotels do not include destination cultural factors on their websites. Although the websites of privately owned, chain, and international hotels, as well as those with higher star ratings were found to feature more of these factors, the differences were not statistically significant. Among the 12 destination cultural factors identified, Forbidden City was the most commonly included on the hotel websites, and Temple Fair and Pet Birds were completely absent.