Predictors of Customers’ Hotel Booking Decisions in Thailand

This research paper investigates the factors that influence hotel booking decisions of customers in Thailand, one of the fastest-growing tourism destinations worldwide, due to its affordability and varied tourist attractions. It focuses on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), studying the effects of review volume, valence, and website quality on the booking intentions of tourists. Online reviews have been identified to play a critical role in the literature review for building trust, signaling service quality, and influencing the course of hotel marketing strategies. The research identifies the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the travelers, showing how those traits interact with various digital influences on their booking choices. This research employed a quantitative approach through surveying a large respondent base to bridge existing gaps in research within the Thai hotel industry context. The findings will hopefully provide some useful insights for hotel management in helping them improve their digital strategies to develop customer trust and improve their booking rates in the competitive market.