Travel and accommodation Web services are used to promote tourism services and to attract customers offering them the opportunity to book accommodation services online, to communicate and for many other tourism activities. The goals of the article are: (i) to investigate the current trends in usage of Web services for online accommodation reservation in selected European countries, and (ii) to investigate the habits and readiness of individual Croatian travellers regarding the usage of Web services for the accommodation reservation. Respondents were asked to evaluate indicators that effect on the selection of different Web services and functionalities for three Web services regarding accommodation reservation (Airbnb, booking.com, TripAdvisor). Data was collected using an online questionnaire which was distributed by Facebook, WhatsApp, and sent by email. Research results indicate that the percentage of individuals who are using the Internet for tourism services is growing through years in European Union countries, but the differences among the countries are also strongly evident. However, research results regarding individual Croatian travellers indicate that almost half of the respondents have never used the option of booking accommodation through Web services.

KEY WORDS
travel and accommodation Web services, accommodation services, internet, social media, Croatia

CLASSIFICATION

JEL:

L83, L86