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Background: Nowadays, virtual methods are among the most important and influential marketing instruments in various industries, such as medical tourism. This study aims to investigate the quality of Iranian hospitals' web pages and their association with the province's share of the medical tourism industry in Iran and the ownership type of hospitals. Methods: In this analytical cross-sectional study, the quality of hospitals' websites was investigated through a 36-item self-administered questionnaire which was validated, and its reliability was verified (Cronbach's alpha = 74%.). The questionnaire was categorized into three sections: hospital services and facilities, hospital's medical tourism-related services, and tourism information of the destination province. The census method was used for data collection. Data analysis was performed using the independent t-test and analysis of variance in SPSS software (version 25), and a P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of, 102 hospitals with an IPD (International Patients Department) were included in the study, and 21.6% did not have an English-language page and were excluded from the study. The mean total score was 47 ± 7.5, indicating low-quality content. Public hospitals had lower quality scores than semi-private and private hospitals. The total quality score, information about the hospital and its services, and the score of information about medical tourism-related services were associated with the province's share of national medical tourism. Conclusion: According to the obtained results and the possible role of website quality in increasing provinces' medical tourism development, the IPD page on hospital websites should be revised and regularly updated to make them more informative for prospective medical tourists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to determine the role and importance of the tourist information and promotin centers from Bihor county taking into consideration the economic, social and cultural influence of tourism worldwide. These centers were established to provide tourists with the necessary and updated information regarding the tourist destination, thus to become a major part in the promotion of tourist attractions. The implemented methodology based on questionnaires helped us assess the role of these centers in the shaping of Bihor county tourist destination and the analysis of the existent web sites (8 out of 13 tourist centers have got one) gave us an insight into the significance of internet promotion as a powerful marketing tool of the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Applying Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools such as TrafficEstimate and Twitter Search, Google Trends, Alexa, SimilarWeb, SEMRUSH, SEO Analyzer, and Moz-Open Site Explorer; this research comparatively evaluates tourism websites of the government of India and of five Indian states. The criteria for selecting state websites are the number of Foreign Tourists Arrival (FTA). Using each SEO tool, individual rank is given first and then the mode of ranks is taken to give the final ranking to six tourism websites. Though there is literature available on evaluating Indian government (central or state) run tourism websites, there is no research available on comparing and ranking state government tourism websites in the Indian context, using Search Engine Optimization tools presented in this research. The result shows that the government of India's website www.tourism.gov.in ranks fourth. Tourism websites of three states i.e. Delhi, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu ranks first, second, and third respectively. Highlights • There is no prior study on applying Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools to evaluate and compare tourism websites. • Government Tourism department's websites are informative but not as popular as privately run tourism websites such as www.tripadvisor.com • Out of six tourism websites evaluated, Delhi tourism website ranks first on selected SEO parameters. • West Bengal state tourism website ranks sixth while the Government of India's tourism website ranks fourth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical Tourism is any kind of travel to make a person or a member of his family healthier (Raj, 2006). The word Medical Tourism was coined when people started looking outside west for cheaper medical treatment with international quality. It can be broadly defined as provision of 'cost effective' private medical care in collaboration with the tourism industry for patients needing surgical care and other forms. Kerala has become one of the leading Medical Tourism destinations of India and gained international attention for health tourism and is becoming a popular health tourism hub. There are a number of speciality hospitals in Kerala that offer specialized care for complex medical conditions. Patients from all over the world are becoming medical tourist in Kerala for low cost and health restorative alternative treatments. Speciality hospitals in Kerala are at the forefront of Medical Tourism. Many of the hospitals offer a complete package that includes consultancy with a medical specialist, diagnosis, appropriative medical treatment, pre and post operative care etc. The quality of health care offered by the doctors, nurses and support staff, makes Medical Tourism in Kerala the preferred choice of patients seeking healthcare solutions in World. Kerala has an excellent track record in the fields of tourism and health care. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has declared 2006-2007 as Medical Tourism Year in Kerala and they organized an International conference and exhibition on Health tourism in 2013 at Kochi, Kerala. According to the CII-Mc Kinsy report Medical Tourism industry in Kerala is expected to be worth $4 billion by 2017. Confederation of Indian Industry along with Kerala Government is organizing an International Conference on Health Tourism 2015 at Le Meridian, Kochi, Ernakulam on 30-31of October 2015. The event aims to promote Kerala as the hub for Medical Tourism in the country by 2020. The competitiveness of Kerala in health tourism is enhanced by the attractiveness of the alternative systems of medicine, especially ayurveda, for the foreign tourists. Kerala is also known as land of Ayurveda for its traditional medicines which aim at providing rejuvenation, longevity and relaxation to stressed and strained. More over Kerala has a potential to attract tourists around the world due to its cultural diversity, perfect beaches and fabulous cuisine mixed with a pinch of oriental mysticism. Kerala and Ayurveda have virtually become synonymous with each other. World-class facilities are also available in the other traditional forms of medicine as well as modern medical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Website evaluation has been studied extensively in Information Systems and Tourism literature; but few studies combine information system issues with the Tourist decision making perspective. In this research we evaluate websites on a comprehensive set of criteria, based on five factors of website effectiveness. A Content analysis of official tourism websites of top ten tourist attracting nations was done and data was analysed using Correspondence analysis and weighted mean scores. Findings reveal that websites need to improve on certain factors, the two most important being Security and Responsiveness. In addition to this, websites should include features that support decision making at different stages of travel which would enhance website effectiveness. The study also discusses the implications for tourism organisations for developing websites that create destination image and attract tourists across the globe. The research contributes to the website evaluation approaches by developing a set of criteria using a tourist decision making perspective, rather than only technical, for evaluating website effectiveness. The research employs a novel approach of analysing cross national websites unlike other studies that have generally evaluated websites from a single country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This paper assesses the quality of official tourist destination websites offered by Spain's regional tourism boards. Methodology: The system of assessment was designed by the research group Comunicación online de los destinos turísticos (Online Communication for Destination Brands, CODETUR) in the form of a template combining 12 parameters and 127 indicators to calculate a web quality index for each website and identify its strengths and weaknesses. Results: The quality of tourist destination websites offered by S pain's regional tourism boards was observed to be slightly above average, with an overall web quality index of 0.51 in which Galicia scored the highest (0.66) and Extremadura scored the lowest (0.33). Taken together, the Spanish websites scored highest in those areas the researchers had defined as technical, (0.75 for the parameter Usability and accessibility, 0.73 for Positioning and 0.69 for Web architecture) and scored lowest in those areas defined as relational (0.27 for Mobile communications and 0.28 for Interactivity) or as persuasive (0.29 for Commercialization). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Wide Web has become the primary instrument used by tourists in order to search for information. As a result, tourism websites pertaining to destinations need to be appealing and must convey their brand image in an appropriate, effective manner. However, there is no methodology in place to assess the quality and communicative effectiveness of destination websites that is scientifically sound and universally accepted. The development of such a methodology is one of the tasks we have proposed within the framework of the research project: "New strategies for advertising and promoting Spanish tourism brands online" (CSO2008-02627), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Method: The project team has developed an interdisciplinary, all-embracing analysis template combining certain automated analyses with other qualitative and quantitative ones. The template comprises a total of 12 subject areas and 154 indicators prepared on the basis of contributions from prominent experts in each of the fields of work. This article sets out the analysis methodology drawn up and possible applications are given. Results: The primary aim of the project is to provide an assessment methodology that would make it possible to optimise destination brand websites, thus providing a tool to support the work of public tourism destination managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of the rapid development of information technology, the functions of tourist websites and tourists' needs are undergoing corresponding changes. It is of great significance to grasping the trend of the changes for the development of tourist websites. The paper makes a survey of 100 tourists and 75 China's 5A-rated websites in tourist attractions in 2005 and 2010 so as to obtain tourists' perceptions of the changes of evaluation indicators as well as changes of websites. Based on this, the authors analyze the changes of tourists' needs about tourists websites in tourists attractions and changes of websites applying internet technologies. Meanwhile, the paper, through the interrelative comparison of IPA method, makes an analysis of the changes of the development of tourist websites that keep pace with tourists' expectations and those that do not conform with their expectations. The paper furthermore elaborates problems existing in China's tourist websites in the past five years and future orientation for improvement. Finally, the paper also discusses the prospect for the application of these study results among academia and industrial circle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]