online travel agencies journal

Company websites and mobile apps versus social media: which service experience creates more customer value for online travel agencies?

• Theoretical article
• Published: 31 October 2022
• Volume 16 , pages 1081–1110, ( 2022 )

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• Ja-Shen Chen   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9099-1810 1 ,
• Piyanoot Kamalanon 1 &
• Thanyamai P. Janupiboon 1  

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This paper examines the effects of online travel agency (OTA) service experience (via OTA company websites and mobile apps, and social media) on customer perceived (utilitarian and epistemic) value. The data of 404 usable responses from tourists with experience using OTAs revealed that service experience through company websites and mobile apps was only related to utilitarian value. However, service experience through social media influenced both utilitarian and epistemic value. Compared to epistemic value, utilitarian value had a larger effect on customers’ intention to book via OTAs. Political instability negatively moderated the relationship between utilitarian value and behavioral intention.

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1 Introduction

Online travel agencies (OTAs), such as Expedia, TripAdvisor, Ctrip, and Traveloka, are aggregators that offer travel-related services to prospective travelers through websites or mobile applications (hereafter, “platforms”) (Talwar et al. 2020 ). The hospitality industry has become one of the fastest growing sectors in the travel industry. In 2019, the worldwide OTA market was valued at $744.7 billion, with 7.9% annual growth since 2015. However, tourism has been one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic: The global market for OTAs dropped suddenly from $744.7 billion in 2019 to $595.8 billion in 2020, a 20% decline (GlobeNewswire 2020 ). In many countries, travel restrictions severely disrupted the tourism industry, which constitutes a significant proportion of the economy (Reuters 2020 ). The pandemic has challenged OTAs to rethink their business models and plans (UNWTO 2020 ). Accordingly, it is essential to understand consumers’ current needs and reexamine their experience using OTA platforms.

Behavioral intention is a significant aspect of the study of consumer behavior. Researchers have used the context of OTAs to examine factors related to booking online, such as attitudes, price, quality, and perceived value (Talwar et al. 2020 ). Of these, perceived value is the most interesting element. Many have investigated the antecedent roles of customer value, such as functional and emotional value, in the tourism industry (Zhou and Yu 2022 ), including OTAs (Shi et al. 2022 ). In addition, we argue that because of its global popularity, social media may simultaneously influence the customer service experience through intention to book online (Kim et al. 2019 ). Hence, we differentiate between OTA platforms and social media when evaluating service experience. We explore the influence of service experience via OTA platforms and social media on two types of customer value: utilitarian value and epistemic value. Utilitarian value focuses on functional and monetary factors (Prebensen and Rosengren 2016 ) and has been widely studied. Epistemic value concentrates on novelty and how well a service arouses a customer’s curiosity (Chi et al. 2021 ); however, it is not adequately explored in the context of OTAs. Examining the impact of different types of customer value on the intention to book online via OTAs will provide information for OTA marketers to consider in strategic planning to create customer value.

In addition, social influence determines the impact of attitudes on behavioral intention rather than directly influencing behavior (Mouakket and Al-Hawari 2012 ). Previous studies have considered social influence an antecedent of behavior (Alzubaidi et al. 2021 ). We complement the literature by examining the moderating effects of social influence; that is, we argue that social influence may moderate the relationship among utilitarian value, epistemic value, and behavioral intention. Moreover, the macro-environment, such as political instability, is an exogenous factor that negatively affects the tourism industry. Prior studies have reviewed the negative impacts of political instability and terrorism on tourism destination image and tourist demand (Ingram et al. 2013 ). Accordingly, we view political instability as a key factor moderating the relationship among utilitarian value, epistemic value, and customers’ intention to book through OTAs.

We use the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework to investigate the effects of consumer perceived value on the intention to book online via OTAs as well as to examine the effects of service experience on perceived utilitarian value and epistemic value. We put forward four research questions: (1) Do OTA platforms and social media influence utilitarian value and epistemic value? In particular, which dimension of service experience (OTA platforms vs. social media) is more influential? (2) Are utilitarian value and epistemic value related to online behavioral intention? (3) Does the interaction between social influence and customer value impact behavioral intention? (4) Does the interaction between political instability and customer value affect behavioral intention? The results will provide valuable guidelines for OTAs that wish to pursue profitable design and improve performance.

This remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section  2 presents the literature review and hypotheses development. Section  3 describes the methodology. Section  4 presents the data analysis and results. Finally, Sect.  5 discusses the contributions to theory, implications for management, limitations, and future research directions.

2 Literature review and hypotheses development

2.1 s–o–r theory.

According to S–O–R theory, proposed by Mehrabian and Russell ( 1974 ), environmental stimuli (S) influence the cognitive evaluations of organisms (O), which eventually leads to a response (R). For example, attributes of websites (S) stimulate an individual’s internal state (Zhang et al. 2014 ). The organism (O) forms cognitive and emotional evaluations (Jiang et al. 2010 ). The response (R) reflects the outcome of the stimulus and organism in the form of a decision made regarding a given behavior (Jacoby 2002 ). S–O–R theory has been widely used in research on shopping behavior, such as technological and fashion-related factors of smartwatches (Cho et al. 2019 ), and online shopping, such as impulse buying in mobile commerce (Yang et al. 2021 ).

2.1.1 Service experience as environmental stimulus (S)

Service experience refers to the technical and psychological environment related to subjective personal reactions and feelings experienced by consumers (Roy et al. 2019 ) involving interactions between customers and companies and the resulting sentiments that illustrate customers’ involvement from an emotional and physical perspective (Kabadayi et al. 2019 ). We divide service experience into two dimensions: OTA platforms and social media. The first dimension, OTA platforms, involves the technological elements of a customer’s direct interaction with any form of technology during an encounter with a company (Stein and Ramaseshan 2016 ), such as searching, browsing, selecting, evaluating information, or transacting with the firm online. In a study of collaborative accommodation platforms, a positive experience with an information portal resulted in higher satisfaction and loyalty (Cristobal-Fransi et al. 2019 ). Specifically, elements of OTA platforms in the focal study include ratings and reviews, information on accommodations, visual appeal, and service bundling.

The second dimension, social media, refers to networks that contain a large amount of information about products and firms and that help extend interactive communication between customers and firms and between customers, including a wide range of online word of mouth (WOM) (Yawised et al. 2017 ). Marketers have embraced social media as a marketing medium, given the enormous potential audience. Every facet of modern life is becoming connected to social media, with 45% of the global population being active users of social media (Lambton-Howard et al. 2021 ). Social media directly affects travel movement, customer experience, selection, and behavior. Customers tend to purchase products or services when they are engaged on social media (Appel et al. 2020 ). Accordingly, advertising through social networks has become more popular as marketers have realized that traditional communication channels are less effective at stimulating sales (Voorveld 2019 ).

2.1.2 Customer value as organism (O)

Customer value is an individual’s evaluation of products or services, and it is processed when the individual interacts with environmental stimuli (Chang and Chen 2008 ). Previous studies have identified multiple dimensions of customer value. For example, Sheth et al. ( 1991 ) divided customer value into social, functional, emotional, epistemic, and conditional value, whereas Sweeney and Soutar ( 2001 ) grouped it into functional, emotional, and social value. Previous studies have considered utilitarian (functional) value (Babin et al. 1994 ; Prebensen and Rosengren 2016 ) and hedonic (emotional) value (Chiu et al. 2014 ). Functionality is the main aspect that drives customer perceived value of and satisfaction with a service. Therefore, it is essential to consider the role of utilitarian value in influencing customers’ behavioral intention. For hedonic value, previous studies have focused on the joyfulness, fun, and relaxation associated with using applications such as social media (Ashraf et al. 2019 ) and with online shopping (Overby and Lee 2006 ). However, for OTA, instead of enjoyment, it is more practical to consider the epistemic value that represents the response to customers’ curiosity (Sheth and Sharma 1997 ). For online booking services, both usefulness and curiosity-driven factors are the main influencers. Hence, we focus on two types of value: utilitarian value and epistemic value. Table 1 summarizes the definitions of utilitarian value and epistemic value defined in previous research.

Aligning with Yang et al. ( 2021 ), we see utilitarian value as a cognitive reaction to stimuli. In this study, utilitarian value refers to consumers’ evaluation of the ability of service experience to satisfy their needs (Lo and Qu 2015 ). Similarly, Roy et al. ( 2019 ) described utilitarian value as productivity oriented. Service providers need to ensure that adequate utilitarian value is provided to customers before focusing on other aspects of development (Ashraf et al. 2019 ).

Epistemic value refers to the perceived utility gained from an alternative’s capacity to arouse curiosity, provide novelty, and satisfy a desire for knowledge seeking (Sheth et al. 1991 ) and the value derived from learning new ways of doing things (van den Berge et al. 2021 ). Interacting with a technological system (e.g., reading reviews and information and making bookings) assists an individual in gaining epistemic value, as technological features can enhance knowledge. However, epistemic value has not been widely discussed in the tourism and hospitality literature (Phau et al. 2014 ; Cranmer et al. 2020 ).

2.1.3 Intention to book online as response (R)

Individuals’ cognitive and affective reactions determine their response to environmental stimuli. Positive responses are reflected in approach behaviors, whereas negative ones are reflected in avoidance behaviors (Hsu et al. 2021 ). In this study, the response results in behavioral intention associated with customers’ revisiting and future purchases (Chi et al. 2021 ). In tourism, the behavioral intention to use information technology for travel has been associated with perceived usefulness, identifying the importance of utilitarian value (Jeng 2019 ). Thus, when customers book services online, they may consider the experience and value in their future intention. Furthermore, the epistemic value derived from customers’ experience positively affects satisfaction and the willingness to continue using online services (El-Adly and Eid 2016 ). Furthermore, technology-related studies of epistemic value have revealed its impact on behavioral intention (Um and Yoon 2021 ).

2.2 Service experience through OTA platforms

Service experience is a key strategic objective for achieving customer loyalty (Stein and Ramaseshan 2016 ; Li et al. 2021 ). Travel customers encounter many self-service technologies, such as online reservations and booking through OTAs. OTAs have been traditionally defined as travel intermediaries that book hotel rooms through their websites and receive a commission for rooms sold (Lee and Chung 2019). To develop strategies, OTAs need to determine the impact of experiential value (e.g., utilitarian and epistemic value) on behavioral intention. We separate service experience into two dimensions: OTA platforms and social media. We then identify four main elements of service experience through OTA platforms: ratings and reviews, information on accommodations, visual appeal, and service bundling.

2.2.1 Ratings and reviews

Customer reviews are critical to the purchase of experiential goods (e.g., destinations, hotels, restaurants) before consumption because they enable consumers to assess the quality of the products as related by experienced customers (Talwar et al. 2020 ). Ratings and reviews are tools sites provide that enable customers to exchange feedback, give comments, and inform others about their choices (Nam et al. 2020 ). The ratings and reviews element benefits customers by enabling them to choose the service that satisfies them and benefits hotel managers by improving customer loyalty (Ahani et al. 2019 ).

2.2.2 Information on accommodations

Information is the main factor in evaluating tourism websites (Talwar et al. 2020 ). The criteria for assessing information include adequacy, accuracy, and currentness. Information quality, including whether information is accurate, up to date, and concise, is a component of e-travel service quality for OTAs (Chen and Chang 2018 ). In addition, information on accommodations offered positively influences the perceived usefulness of these platforms, and this information should be appropriately designed and delivered by OTAs (Ye et al. 2016 ).

2.2.3 Visual appeal

Chopdar and Balakrishnan ( 2020 ) proposed that visual appeal matters when one is using an information system. Perceived visual appeal and formality (e.g., a clear design) impact the cognitive, affective, and conative responses of online customers more significantly than perceived esthetic appeal. Thus, a visually pleasant website design may attract more customers and influence impulse buying decisions (Tariq et al. 2019 ). An esthetically pleasing website may be considered superior to less visually appealing sites (Zheng et al. 2019 ).

2.2.4 Service bundling

Bundling strategies focuses on passing on product and service cost benefits on to consumers (Saini et al. 2019 ). Firms bundle services in various ways, such as by combining multiple components of services produced in house or partnering with other firms (Ranaweera and Karjaluoto 2017 ). Many top travel agencies offer package options with multiple travel-related services, including flights, hotels, car rentals, and activities (Kim et al. 2018 ). Customers who purchase bundled offerings realize monetary savings, which results in compelling reactions.

Service experience consists of service value that arises from tangible and intangible products or services during the customer experience (Tsou et al. 2019 ). This value influences customers’ evaluations of products while shopping. Thus, searching on the Internet or booking online may lead to utilitarian and epistemic value in the booking. When it comes to online shopping, a company has to design appropriate experiences that provide convenience, helpful information, visually attractive websites, and beneficial service packages to attract customers’ attention and encourage interaction with the company. We posit that when customers perceive an OTA’s services as relevant to their experience, they find the process beneficial, which helps them achieve their goal and desired outcomes. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Hypothesis 1

Service experience through OTA platforms has a positive effect on utilitarian value.

Epistemic value has been widely studied in the research on product purchases (Mäntymäki and Salo 2015 ). However, the literature on epistemic value in tourism and hospitality is limited. When consumers search for information to satisfy their curiosity about a travel destination or prospective hotels, epistemic value provided by the destination tourism site or hotels is established (Ashton 2015 ). When an OTA service is perceived as relevant to customers’ service experience, the process will arouse customers’ curiosity and interest in trying something new, learning new ways of doing things, seeking novelty, and satisfying their desire for knowledge. Consequently, positive experiences with perceived novelty and arousal of curiosity (epistemic value) can lead to feelings of pleasure in Internet users (Talwar et al. 2020 ). Hence, the following hypothesis is posited:

Hypothesis 2

Service experience through OTA platforms has a positive effect on epistemic value.

2.3 Service experience through social media

Social media is a software-based digital technology through which users can send and receive content over online social networks (Kwahk and Kim 2017 ; Appel et al. 2020 ). The most popular social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, are often used as digital marketing channels. Utilitarian consumers are concerned about finding applicable content that suits their purpose (Jung et al. 2018 ; Yang et al. 2021 ). High-quality content on brands’ social media pages increases the possibility of interaction with brand users, which leads to customer engagement, brand awareness, and future purchase intention. Utilitarian consumers concerned about upcoming purchases prefer to receive useful information by browsing social media (Ashraf et al. 2019 ). Furthermore, a utilitarian motivation to shop from retail Facebook pages influences customers’ purchase intention (Chen and Tsai 2020 ). Thus, we propose that an OTA’s presence on social media can help customers obtain beneficial information from posts. We thus posit the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3

Service experience through social media has a positive effect on utilitarian value.

Epistemic value drives customers’ online engagement (Zhang et al. 2020 ). Learning new things is one reason for followers to engage on social media (Appel et al. 2020 ). Photo or video content can provide new knowledge and satisfy customers’ curiosity. In addition, the novelty of the content or readers’ comments on the original content in a post can initiate online discussion. Thus, social media is an innovative tool that creates a variety of value for customers. We assume that social media can be a practical marketing tool for promoting OTAs via content designed by companies and comments/reviews created by others in the social network, which can arouse customers’ curiosity, provide novelty, and increase their knowledge. The following hypothesis is thus proposed:

Hypothesis 4

Service experience through social media has a positive effect on epistemic value.

2.4 Customer value and intention to book online

We define behavioral intention as the intention to revisit, purchase, or recommend (Lo and Qu 2015 ), in particular whether customers are likely to book through an OTA in the future. Previous studies have shown an association between utilitarian value from consumption experiences and positive behavioral intention, such as repeat purchases and continued use (Chen and Tsai 2020 ; Shi et al. 2022 ). In addition, the utilitarian features of online hotel booking, such as accessibility, effective information search, and comprehensive product and service information, increase customer loyalty (Jeon and Yoo 2021 ; Yang et al. 2021 ). For these reasons, perceived value positively affects customers’ behavioral intention. The following hypothesis is thus proposed:

Hypothesis 5

Utilitarian value has a positive effect on behavioral intention.

As epistemic value is positively linked to purchase intention in the tourism and hospitality industries in general, it is expected to be positively related to purchase intention in the OTA context (Talwar et al. 2020 ). Yang et al. ( 2021 ) proposed that the effect of epistemic value on Internet shopping intention can arise from curiosity and novelty along with the pursuit of knowledge. OTAs are innovative systems and services on the Internet. The desire to seek new knowledge, curiosity, and an interest in learning something new may influence customers’ behavior and their recommendations to others to try new technologies (Huang 2018 ). We therefore posit the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 6

Epistemic value has a positive effect on behavioral intention.

2.5 The moderating role of social influence

Social influence describes the effect of the people most important to an individual on that individual’s perceptions, attitudes, and behavior related to using a system such as an OTA (Alzubaidi et al. 2021 ). As social influence affects behavioral change, we aim to understand the moderating effect of social influence from important people such as family, relatives, and friends on customers’ intention to book using OTAs. A positive attitude can enable one’s behavior only when significant others approve; it has little or no impact if the social context opposes the behavior (Eagly and Chaiken 1993 ). This statement implies that social influence has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between customer value and behavior (Yang et al. 2021 ). The social environment of family and friends may critically influence a person’s behavior, and social context may act as a key variable to determine the extensiveness of Internet use (Singh et al. 2020 ). As many studies have found that social influence positively influences usage intention, we propose the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 7a

Social influence has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between utilitarian value and behavioral intention.

Hypothesis 7b

Social influence has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between epistemic value and behavioral intention.

2.6 The moderating role of political instability

Political instability occurs when a government is likely to collapse or when people’s basic needs are not being stably met (Sönmez 1998 ; Farmaki et al. 2019 ). Political instability may seriously impact a country’s image and the sales of travel companies (Seddighi et al. 2001 ; Ghalia et al. 2019 ) and may prevent customers from traveling because of insecurity or uncertainty. Hanon and Wang ( 2020 ) found that tourism demand is even more sensitive to political instability than to terrorism. Related studies have shown the impact of political instability on perceptions of destinations from both the travel agent and visitor perspectives (Perles-Ribes et al. 2019 ), on their perceptions of adopting e-commerce (Abualrob and Kang 2016 ), and on the tourism industry in a country (Ivanov et al. 2017 ). We argue that political instability impacts utilitarian and epistemic value and behavioral intention when politics are unstable where customers live. As a result, we investigate how domestic political unrest influences customers’ intention to book. The following hypotheses are posited:

Hypothesis 8a

Political instability has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between utilitarian value and behavioral intention.

Hypothesis 8b

Political instability has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between epistemic value and behavioral intention.

Figure  1 shows the proposed S–O–R model.

Conceptual research framework. OTA online travel agency

3 Methodology

3.1 measures.

We developed a structured questionnaire survey that included screening questions and questions on the variables and demographics. Items that measured relevant constructs used a typical 5-point Likert scale. The response options were 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree. Service experience through OTA platforms was modeled as a second-order construct and measured with four reflective indicators: (1) ratings and reviews, from Flanagin and Metzger ( 2013 ), Li ( 2017 ), and Sparks et al. ( 2013 ); (2) information on accommodations, from Herrero and San Martín ( 2012 ) and Gao and Bai ( 2014 ); (3) visual appeal, from Heijden ( 2003 ), De Marsico and Levialdi ( 2004 ), and Rose et al. ( 2012 ); and (4) service bundling, from Sheng et al. ( 2007 ) and Saini et al. ( 2019 ). Scales for service experience through social media were from Voorveld et al. ( 2018 ). Questions on utilitarian value were from Overby and Lee ( 2006 ) and Lo and Qu ( 2015 ), whereas questions on epistemic value were from Pihlström and Brush ( 2008 ) and Cheng et al. ( 2009 ). Measures of political instability were from Sönmez ( 1998 ) and Seddighi et al. ( 2001 ). Social influence scales were from Lu et al. ( 2005 ) and Lu ( 2014 ). Finally, behavioral intention scales were from Williams and Soutar ( 2009 ) and Lo and Qu ( 2015 ). All scales were originally developed in English in previous studies; therefore, we used the double translation protocol (Brislin 1976 ) to validate the measurement items. The original English version was translated into Thai by two bilingual professional translators. Then the two Thai versions were translated back into English by two other bilingual professional translators. Then two bilingual management professors reviewed each back-translated item to check if the original meaning was retained. After the two professors discussed the differences between the original and back-translated English versions, the items were revised accordingly. Finally, the pilot test was conducted using the revised questionnaires. There were 39 respondents and we adjusted the questionnaire based on their feedback. The English version of the questionnaire is presented in the Appendix.

3.2 Research design

We used an online survey to examine Thai customers’ service experiences booking through an OTA. Inclusion criteria included being of Thai nationality and having experience booking hotel accommodations online through any OTA platform. Then we launched the formal questionnaire via Google Forms using a snowball sampling technique. Snowball is a popular convenience sampling method that makes it easy to reach target respondents. With this technique, some groups of people are invited to participate in a survey usually by email or a social network. Each participant is asked to pass on the invitation to others who match the criteria (Heckathorn 2011 ). Generally, this study targets office workers with experience using an OTA service because of their adequate purchasing power and their information and communication technology (ICT) capability. First, we sent the link of the survey to 200 randomly selected employees who work in travel agencies in Thailand and asked them to forward the link to their friends who have experience booking via an OTA. Simultaneously, we posted the link to Facebook pages and groups related to OTA services to attract more respondents with experience using an OTA. There were no limitations in terms of age or region of residence. Ultimately, we collected 568 responses. After eliminating 160 responses from those without experience using OTAs and 4 responses with low-quality data, we had valid responses from 404 individuals. The valid response rate was 71.13%. Table 2  presents the sample profile. Most respondents were 20–29 years old (60.9%), followed by 30–39 (22.5%). In terms of frequency of visiting an OTA, the majority of respondents visited an OTA 1–5 times a month (60.6%), followed by less than once a month (26.5%).

3.3 Common method bias

Because the data came from a single source, the current study used Harman’s single-factor test to control for potential common method bias (Podsakoff et al. 2003 ). The test was conducted with all 41 items to identify the variance explained by a single factor. One factor explained 27.365% of the data, which is less than the 50% threshold, which indicates that common method bias was not a problem.

4 Data analyses and results

4.1 measurement model.

IBM SPSS 22.0 and IBM SPSS AMOS 21.0 were used for data analysis. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to assess convergent validity and discriminant validity. After the removal of seven items (RR4, SB1, SB2, SM6, UV4, UV6, and BI1), the overall model statistics satisfied the threshold values: chi-square/degrees of freedom = 1.63, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.87, incremental fit index (IFI) = 0.96, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.96, and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.04 (Hu and Bentler 1999 ).

We tested the internal reliability of the measurement model using Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability (CR). Cronbach’s alpha for all constructs exceeded the recommended level of 0.7, demonstrating high internal consistency (Nunnally and Bernstein 1994 ). CR was between 0.83 and 0.94, exceeding the recommended standard of 0.7. Convergent validity was validated, as the average variance extracted (AVE) ranged from 0.55 to 0.77, exceeding the threshold of 0.5. The square root of the AVE was greater than the inter-construct correlations, confirming high discriminant validity. Table 3 shows the results of first-order reliability and validity analyses, CR, AVE, and MSV. The overall model statistics were as follows: chi-square/degrees of freedom = 1.82, GFI = 0.85, IFI = 0.94, CFI = 0.94, and RMSEA = 0.04.

4.2 Structural model

A structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses. Figure  2 shows standardized path coefficients and the overall model fit for the direct effects model (chi-square/degrees of freedom = 2.057, GFI = 0.87, IFI = 0.94, CFI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.05). As shown in Table 4 , service experience through OTA platforms had a significant positive effect on utilitarian value (β = 0.739, t  = 5.349***), so H1 was supported. However, the path from service experience through OTA platforms to epistemic value was not significant (β = 0.038, t  = 0.717, p  > 0.05), so H2 was not supported. Service experience through social media had significant positive effects on both utilitarian value (β = 0.093, t  = 2.021*) and epistemic value (β = 0.419, t  = 7.638***). Hence, H3 and H4 were supported. Moreover, utilitarian value (β = 0.598, t  = 11.054***) and epistemic value (β = 0.174, t  = 3.869***) had significant positive effects on behavioral intention; thus, H5 and H6 were supported.

The structural model with moderating effects. Dashed lines indicate unsupported hypotheses. OTA online travel agency. *** p  < 0.001; ** p  < 0.01; * p  < 0.05

4.3 Moderating effects

As shown in Table 5 and Figs.  2 , 3 and 4 , the Social Influence × Utilitarian Value interaction had a significant negative moderating effect on the relationship between utilitarian value and behavioral intention (β =  − 0.119, t  =  − 2.965**). Therefore, H7a was not supported, as we had hypothesized that the moderating effect would be in a positive direction. The Political Instability × Utilitarian Value interaction had a significant negative moderating effect on the relationship between utilitarian value and behavioral intention (β =  − 0.122, t  =  − 2.977**), so H8a was supported. However, the Social Influence × Epistemic Value (β =  − 0.032, t  =  − 0.684, p  > 0.05) and Political Instability × Epistemic Value (β =  − 0.024, t  =  − 0.473, p  > 0.05) interactions had nonsignificant moderating effects on the relationship between epistemic value and behavioral intention. H7b and H8b were therefore not supported.

Plot diagram: The moderating effect of social influence on the relationship between utilitarian value and behavioral intention

Plot diagram: The moderating effect of political instability on the relationship between utilitarian value and behavioral intention

4.4 A comparison of the effects of OTA platforms and social media

As shown in Fig.  2 and Table 4 , service experience through OTA platforms directly influenced utilitarian value, not epistemic value. This is possibly because the four elements of online attributes—ratings and reviews, information on accommodations, visual appeal, and service bundling—are standard features that customers expect when using an OTA website or application; therefore, they do not satisfy the customer’s curiosity to acquire new information. Meanwhile, service experience through social media significantly influenced both utilitarian value and epistemic value.

When we compared the impacts of the two service experience dimensions on utilitarian value, the empirical findings proved that the significant positive effect of OTA platforms (β = 0.739, t  = 5.349***) was larger than that of social media (β = 0.093, t  = 2.021*). This is in line with the theory that utilitarian value is based on functionality, which can be derived from the four elements of online attributes. In contrast, social media may effectively facilitate the use of OTA platforms, but its direct influence on utilitarian value is less crucial than that of OTA platforms.

Service experience through social media was significantly related to epistemic value in the positive direction (β = 0.419, t  = 7.638***), which implies that the flow of information through social networks efficiently satisfies customers’ curiosity to obtain new information. The information spread through social media is abundant and diverse. Thus, it stimulates epistemic value related to the need for novelty. Figure  5 shows the significant relationships and effect size comparisons in the S–O–R model for OTA service experience.

Stimulus–organism–response model for OTA service experience. Solid lines indicate strong relationships, and dashed lines indicate weaker ones. OTA online travel agency

5 Discussion and implications

5.1 research findings.

Our proposed model determined the two dimensions of service experience of OTA users—OTA platforms and social media—to evaluate their impacts on utilitarian and epistemic value and future behavioral intention. Service experience through OTA platforms positively affected utilitarian value (H1 was supported). This result suggests that all four elements of OTA platforms play important roles in terms of utilitarian value for customers booking through OTAs. However, the online elements of OTA platforms had no impact on epistemic value (H2 was not supported). Possible reasons for this include customers’ inability to learn new skills from these services and their failure to arouse customers’ curiosity about trying OTA systems, leading to dissatisfaction in knowledge seeking. In contrast, service experience through social media positively affected both utilitarian and epistemic value (supporting H3 and H4, respectively), which indicates that content on OTAs’ social media is necessary for creating utilitarian and epistemic value. In terms of utilitarian value, content on OTAs’ social media may provide extensive information for customers, enabling them to find information online with minimal effort (Liu and Park 2015 ). The effect of social media engagement on epistemic value was more robust than that of utilitarian value. Social media content may actively stimulate customers to learn something new, arouse curiosity, and support knowledge acquisition. In addition, the results showed that utilitarian and epistemic value had positive effects on behavioral intention (H5 and H6 were supported), which confirms that obtaining high utilitarian and epistemic value from OTAs can encourage customers to continue booking through OTAs.

Social influence and political instability had negative moderating effects on the relationship between utilitarian value and behavioral intention. As social influence was hypothesized to act in the positive direction, H7a was not supported. The negative moderating effects of social influence indicate that the effect of the interaction term is weaker than the sum of single-variable effects. Thus, the effect of utilitarian value is more crucial than that of social influence when considering booking online via OTAs. One plausible reason for this is that because utilitarian-oriented customers probably expect to obtain benefits or appropriate services from companies, undesirable experiences or feedback from family or friends may diminish their intention to book with OTAs. As shown in Fig.  4 and Table 5 , the gap between the low-and the high-social influence groups was smaller when utilitarian value was high rather than low. This result suggests that social influence dampened the effect of utilitarian value on behavioral intention even though it had a significant positive effect on behavioral intention (β = 0.218, t  = 5.483***). The moderating effect of political instability on the relationship between utilitarian value and behavioral intention turned out to be significant in the negative direction, as hypothesized; therefore, H8a was supported. A possible reason for this is that customers with high utilitarian value are more likely to accomplish their goals; however, high political instability may reduce their sense of security and their intention to travel or book through OTAs to minimize risk. Because inconveniences may arise during violent political situations, the influence of utilitarian value on the intention to book online decreases when the risk of political instability increases. As shown in Fig.  5 and Table 5 , the gap between the low- and high-political instability groups was smaller when utilitarian value was high rather than low. This result suggests that political instability weakened the effect of utilitarian value on behavioral intention even though it had a significant positive effect on behavioral intention (β = 0.122, t  = 3.002**). However, neither social influence (β =  − 0.032, t  =  − 0.648, p  > 0.05) nor political instability (β =  − 0.024, t  =  − 0.473, p  > 0.05) had a moderating effect on the relationship between epistemic value and behavioral intention (H7b and H8b were not supported). A possible reason for this is that epistemic responses are typically described as feelings of authenticity, uniqueness, novelty, and curiosity (Prebensen and Rosengren 2016 ), so epistemic customers may not let others (social influence) or unusual conditions (including political instability) affect their intention to use a system.

5.2 Theoretical implications

The current study contributes to tourism and hospitality research using S–O–R theory in the OTA context. First, the research framework considered two dimensions of service experience—OTA platforms and social media—as stimuli (S). Comparing the two dimensions allowed us to understand the different antecedent effects on customer value. OTA platforms only relate to utilitarian value, whereas social media impacts both utilitarian and epistemic value. We identified four elements of direct OTA platforms: ratings and reviews, information on accommodations, visual appeal, and service bundling. Utilitarian customers would find these elements beneficial, and the elements would drive their future purchase intention via booking online. In contrast, epistemic customers would not consider these elements complements for their curiosity because none of the content would be new. Regarding the antecedent roles of social media, social media encourages both utilitarian and epistemic value via the circulation of information among social networks. Note that its antecedent effects on epistemic value are much stronger than its effects on utilitarian value. This is aligned with the phenomenon that epistemic value involves product-arousing curiosity that provides novelty or the desire to change one’s pace (van den Berge et al. 2021 ), and social media assists the customer in obtaining unexpected and unstructured information. As shown in the previous literature (Appel et al. 2020 ), social media has become the central arena in which individuals receive large amounts of data, exchange knowledge, share content and stories from their lives with others, and receive information about the world around them. This makes social media culturally relevant even if the information might be of questionable accuracy. Note that combining both stimuli (S; OTA platforms and social media) would drive better organisms (O; customer value) and therefore lead to a better response (R; the intention to book online).

Second, in addition to utilitarian value, which mainly focuses on functionality, our model also included epistemic value, which pays attention to the novelty of information that satisfies customers’ curiosity. By using S–O–R theory, this study extends the investigation of epistemic value in the tourism and hospitality sectors. The S–O–R paradigm has been applied to various topics, such as pro-environmental behaviors and online shopping. Still, we are among the first to develop an S–O–R model for OTA settings. Our findings prove that utilitarian value plays a more crucial role than epistemic value in stimulating the intention to book online via OTAs, which implies that behavioral intention in our focal context is more functionality driven than curiosity driven. General benefits are still the base of customers’ selection and usage intention. Furthermore, although social media significantly impacts both utilitarian and epistemic value, its direct positive effect on epistemic value is more prominent. Empirically speaking, epistemic value is aroused by service experience through social media, which implies that the flow of unexpected content within a social network effectively responds to customers’ need for new information, mainly WOM. For instance, people may rely more on reviews that spread through social networks than on the official reviews on OTA platforms. Hence, the role of epistemic value as the organism (O) should be encouraged by allowing a greater presence on social media to increase pleasant service experience.

Third, the model revealed negative moderating effects of social influence on utilitarian value and intention to book online. This stands in contrast with our prediction that social influence would positively moderate utilitarian value. However, social influence did not significantly impact epistemic value or behavioral intention. Fourth, we contribute to tourism and hospitality research by including political instability as a moderator of the relationship between customer value and intention to book online. As predicted, political instability negatively moderated the relationship between utilitarian value and intention, which confirms that negative macro-environments, such as political instability, can lessen OTAs’ opportunities. In contrast, political instability did not significantly influence the relationship between epistemic value and intention.

5.3 Managerial implications

This study has several implications for management. First, it is essential to enhance service experience and customer value through both OTA platforms and social media. OTA platforms should properly provide the four elements studied here—ratings and reviews, information on accommodations, visual appeal, and service bundling—to encourage utilitarian value. For instance, appropriately designed hotel reviews without biased information would help maintain a positive customer service experience and facilitate future booking decisions. Moreover, active visual design may promote quality, support customers’ service experience, and attract more prospective customers. Apart from focusing on company platforms, OTAs should enhance their presence on social media to stimulate not only utilitarian value but also epistemic value among customers. Furthermore, as customers are coming to rely more on social media as a source of information, advertising with unexpected content via social media is the most powerful strategy for rebuilding after the COVID-19 pandemic, when people tended not to travel because of health and safety preventions.

Second, managers can stimulate customers’ intention to book through OTAs by mainly communicating utilitarian value (e.g., convenience, functional benefits, and a goal-oriented experience) and simultaneously promoting epistemic value. Regarding utilitarian value, posting ratings and reviews by expert reviewers may improve the reliability of content, thereby increasing convenience and favorability ratings among customers. Moreover, clear information on accommodations, user-friendly visual appeal, and attractive service bundling are the basic attributes of OTA platforms that lead to positive utilitarian value. In terms of epistemic value, managers may use social media networks to drive future intention to book. Customers are more likely to be active on social media—by commenting on, liking, and sharing brand-related content—when they are satisfied with and enjoying the content. Thus, presenting useful advice, tips, and ideas on social media may have both utilitarian and epistemic value for customers. For example, posting unknown facts about a destination on social media may provide knowledge and draw people’s attention to that destination. Furthermore, social media allows customers to actively participate in value cocreation with brands based on their knowledge and preferences for information sharing, which contributes to the development of OTAs and thus helps leverage marketing strategies.

Third, managers should avoid negative social influence and WOM by ensuring that customers’ unsatisfactory experiences and complaints are resolved properly. Negative feedback, bad experiences, and negative WOM can decrease customers’ intention to use OTAs. Fourth, OTAs should consider political instability, especially when entering new markets, such as foreign countries. OTAs should also develop business contingency plans that are effective when instability arises and pay attention to relevant government policies (e.g., national/fiscal policies, campaigns). Because people tend to avoid going out when political instability arises, companies can reduce the price of tourism services or promote the safety of facilities to encourage demand. Finally, managers can use these findings to develop marketing plans for the post-COVID-19 era. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to large losses in the tourism industry. As the global pandemic has come under control, many countries have lessened travel restrictions, and there are now more opportunities for OTAs. To boost customer intention to book online, OTAs should clearly promote safety measures in the information on accommodations and reviews shown on their platforms and social media networks.

5.4 Limitations and future research directions

This study investigated OTA service experience in general without a focus on any specific OTA. However, features of OTA platforms vary based on travelers’ perceptions, so future research should be limited to one or two OTAs to better understand customer service quality. In addition, this study focused solely on the tourism industry; thus, future research should include other industries. As only Thai respondents were included in this study, future research should attempt to replicate this study in other countries with different cultural settings. Moreover, we did not limit the number of responses to one per IP address when collecting the data via online questionnaires, to allow respondents working in offices and sharing a network to complete the survey. Future research may do this to improve the quality of data collected via online platforms. Also, this study discussed only two types of value, four elements of service experience through OTA platforms, and service experience through social media; it did not consider customers’ overall perceptions. Finally, future research can examine the behavior of customers who have never used OTAs to determine whether they would be willing to use these services in the future.

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This work was partially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan with Grant number: MoST 107-2410-H-155-037-MY3.

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Appendix: study questionnaire

• SFL Standardized Factor Loading, OTA online travel agency. Asterisks denote items deleted during the data analysis.

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Chen, JS., Kamalanon, P. & Janupiboon, T.P. Company websites and mobile apps versus social media: which service experience creates more customer value for online travel agencies?. Serv Bus 16 , 1081–1110 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-022-00511-x

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Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

ISSN : 1757-9880

Article publication date: 25 June 2021

Issue publication date: 5 August 2021

Research on service innovation management of online travel agencies (OTAs) remains relatively scarce. This study aims to illuminate the detailed components of managing service innovations at OTAs.

Design/methodology/approach

An in-depth case study is conducted at Trip, the largest OTA in China. A coherent framework of managing service innovations at OTAs is proposed through refining an existing framework from new service development (NSD), and concerning the success factors of service innovation. Based on theoretical synthesis and empirical analysis, the NSD framework is adapted, restructured and refined for service innovation management at OTAs.

The proposed framework contains three facets and associated managerial elements: (1) resources, including stakeholders, technologies and systems; (2) contexts, including innovation strategy, structure and culture; and (3) ideation, including idea generation and idea application. Different success factors are attached to the managerial elements. The facets, managerial elements and success factors serve as the components in the framework.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides academia with an analytical framework to understand and interpret service innovation management at OTAs, which can be used as a point of departure for future research.

Practical implications

The analytical framework inspires OTA managers to adopt a structured approach in service innovation management, and policymakers to design related interventions.

Originality/value

This study offers a first step toward the investigation of service innovation management at OTAs, specifically in China. The proposed framework is potentially applicable to other industries.

目前关于在线旅行社(OTA) 的服务创新管理的研究相对贫乏。本研究旨在阐明OTA的服务创新管理的具体元素。

研究设计/方法/途径：

本研究以携程网（中国最大的在线旅行社）为对象进行深入案例分析。通过改善已有的基于新服务开发;理论（NSD）, 以及综合服务创新成功要素的理论框架从而提出一项连贯的服务创新管理理论框架。基于理论综合以及实证分析，本研究改编，整合和改善了NSD理论框架从而为在线旅行社的服务创新管理框架所适用。

被提议的理论框架包括三个层面以及相关管理元素：1） 资源，包括利益相关者，科技和系统；2）应用环境，包括创新战略，结构和文化；以及3）构思能力，包括概念生成，概念应用。管理元素与不同的成功要素相结合。这些层面，管理元素和成功因素作为提出框架的组成部分。

本研究为学术领域提供了分析框架，从而进一步了解和诠释了在线旅行社的服务创新，从而作为今后研究的起点。

本分析框架促使在线旅社管理者在服务创新中借用更加结构化的方法，并且鼓励政策制定者来设计相关的干预措施

本研究提供了在中国的环境下迈向在线旅社服务创新的第一步。提议的框架对其他产业也存在潜在贡献。

• Service innovation
• Travel agency
• Online service
• Case study method

Acknowledgements

Funding : This work is supported in part by 2020 Chengdu Planning Project of Philosophy and Social Science (grant number 2020BS003).

Mu, Y. , Bossink, B. , Vinig, T. and You, S. (2021), "Managing service innovations at online travel agencies: evidence from China", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology , Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 533-547. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-08-2020-0190

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Bibliometric Analysis of Online Collaboration in Travel Agencies

• Jorge Raúl Avilas Hernández Tourism Department, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Holguin, Cuba http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2924-7501
• Nolberto Cruz Aguilera Tourism Department, Faculty of Economic Sciences , University of Holguin, Cuba http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1881-4953
• Félix Díaz Pompa Tourism Department, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Holguin, Cuba http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2666-1849
• Maja Borlinič Gačnik Faculty of Tourism, University of Maribor, Brežice, Slovenia http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3804-4749

With the integration of ict in the distribution channels, the client is increasingly independent and autonomous in obtaining tourist services and products. The covid-19 pandemic and global physical distancing policies reinforced this, detrimentally for traditional travel agents, who have been forced to migrate totally or partially to an online business model. However, working online is not enough since it is necessary to have online collaboration strategies that facilitate the positioning of each participant in a hostile competitive environment. The research is developed through a bibliometric study, using the information obtained in the Scopus database to establish the state of knowledge about online collaboration in travel agencies. Various Excel, Bibexcel, EndNote x20,Pajeck, SciMath, and VOSViewer software were used to analyse indicators and map bibliometric networks. The results show that the state of cooperation between travel agencies as a factor of advantage in the new tourist environments is characterized by fierce competition and the strong impact of the digital age, which constitute the main innovative contribution of the study. It is also determined that the research topic has not had high productivity in the database. Among the main research gaps identified are online collaboration in traditional travel agencies and the impacts of cooperation on customer perception and cybersecurity. The study identifies the field’s most influential authors, journals, publications, key themes and trends that have emerged over time. By identifying the critical success factors and challenges of online collaboration in the travel industry, this study can help organizations to improve their collaboration practices.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis, online collaboration, Scopus, travel agency

Author Biographies

Jorge raúl avilas hernández, tourism department, faculty of economic sciences, university of holguin, cuba, nolberto cruz aguilera, tourism department, faculty of economic sciences , university of holguin, cuba, félix díaz pompa, tourism department, faculty of economic sciences, university of holguin, cuba, maja borlinič gačnik, faculty of tourism, university of maribor, brežice, slovenia.

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Huang, L. (2006). Building up a B2B e-commerce strategic alliance model under an uncertain environment for Taiwan’s travel agencies. Tourism Management, 27, 1308-1320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2005.06.005

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Vieira, P., & Panyik, E. (2019). Online Competition in the Distribution Chain: The Retailer’s Perspective. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-8434-6.ch00

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U.S. to Speed Up Passport Processing With Online Renewals and More Agencies

Dawit Habtemariam , Skift

June 21st, 2024 at 5:49 PM EDT

With faster passport renewals, Americans will have an easier time traveling internationally.

Dawit Habtemariam

In December 2023, the State Department said it had brought passport processing times to their pre-pandemic levels of six to eight weeks. Two moves in the past two weeks could help bring them down further.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said his office is establishing a half-dozen new passport agencies to meet the demand. This will bring the State Department’s total network to 35 and over 7,400 public passport acceptance facilities nationwide.

And a beta test launched last week allows eligible citizens to renew their passports online. This digital fast-track is available to Americans over 25 living in the U.S., with a limited number of slots opening daily at 1 p.m. Eastern.

“Once fully launched, we expect five million customers to be eligible to renew their passports online each year,” a spokesperson told Skift. “We estimate this would represent two-thirds of annual passport renewals and roughly 25% of all passport applications.”

The new agencies and online renewal option come as passport demand soars to new heights. In fiscal year 2023, the State Department issued a record-breaking 24 million passport books and cards. Today, nearly half of all Americans have passports.

The State Department began beta testing the online renewal option last week and plans to continue for “several months.”

During the pandemic, the State Department had experienced long passport processing times – in 2021, the average wait time reached 18 weeks.

Passports to Feed American Hunger for International Travel

The number of destinations American passport holders can enter visa-free has weakened in the past year. The U.S. passport’s power has fallen from sixth to eighth place, according to the Henley Passport Index , a global immigration consultancy firm.

Americans continue to travel abroad in high numbers this year. Over 9 million citizens departed from the U.S. in March 2024, up 15.4% from last year, according to the International Trade Administration’s latest data.

American hunger for travel, driven in part by a strong dollar , is expected to be a driving force in Europe’s tourism recovery this year, according to UN Tourism.

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Japan to launch online travel authorization system for visitors

On Friday, the government announced a plan to implement an online system for travel authorization of visa-exempt visitors.

The new system will have foreign visitors who are exempted from obtaining short-stay visas declare online their information such as the purpose of their stay before entering Japan.

The system's introduction aims to prevent illegal stays. The Immigration Services Agency will decide on details of the scheme by referring to the U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, which the United States operates partly in an effort to prevent terrorism.

The Japanese government initially compiled the comprehensive package in 2018 and has revised it annually since then.

The latest revision involved the addition of 218 measures, including supporting foreigners' Japanese language ability development. This is with an eye on the planned launch of a new on-the-job skill development program in the country that will replace the current foreign technical intern scheme.

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Ready to renew your US passport? You can now apply online

FILE - The cover of a U.S. Passport is displayed in Tigard, Ore., Dec. 11, 2021. The State Department has opened a trial run allowing a limited number of people to apply to renew their passports online. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s an easier way to renew your passport — online.

The State Department has opened a trial run allowing a limited number of people to apply for their updated travel documents with a few clicks. You can’t just start anytime — windows will open at midday Eastern time each day and then close once the system has reached its daily limit.

The department says it’s taking it slow so it can monitor how the system is working. There are also a series of requirements to meet to be able to apply online, including:

— You’re 25 or older.

— You’re renewing a passport issued between 2009 and 2015.

— You aren’t changing any personal information.

— You won’t travel overseas for at least eight weeks after you apply.

There are plenty of other criteria on the State Department’s travel website , where you have to create an account to renew online. Expedited service still has to be done by mail.

It comes after travelers faced massive wait times to renew their documents amid a backlog blamed on lingering pandemic effects like staffing shortages and a pause in online processing last year that flooded the agency with applications.

Current processing time for a routine passport renewal is six to eight weeks.

TSA officers arrested for allegedly stealing from travelers

Three Transportation Security Administration officers at Miami International Airport were arrested last week for allegedly stealing from travelers.

Court records show 20-year-old Josue Gonzalez, 22-year-old Elizabeth Fuster and 33-year-old Labarrius Williams were arrested on July 6 on charges of organized schemes to defraud.

The officers were captured on surveillance video conspiring to distract passengers and steal money from them as they went through security, according to arrest affidavits. At one point, Gonzalez and Williams could allegedly be seen taking $600 out of a flyer’s wallet, and the trio was seen conspiring together to steal on multiple other occasions.

In a formal interview at TSA Command Center, Gonzalez and Fuster waived their rights and gave written statements confessing to being involved in various thefts, according to the affidavits. They admitted to stealing about $1,000 per day on average while they worked together.

Williams did not waive his rights and refused to speak, the affidavits said.

“The Transportation Security Administration holds its Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to the highest professional and ethical standards and has no tolerance for misconduct in the workplace,” the TSA told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. “We actively and aggressively investigated these allegations of misconduct and presented our findings to (the Miami-Dade Police Department), and are working closely with them. Any employee who fails to meet our fundamental ethical standards is held accountable.”

TSA firearm detections are on the rise: Here's what we saw at one of the airports with the most cases

TSA removed the officers from their screening duties pending the conclusion of the investigation and administrative actions.

Miami International Airport referred USA TODAY to the TSA’s statement.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

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Passports can now be renewed online. Here's how to apply.

By Khristopher J. Brooks

Edited By Anne Marie Lee

June 13, 2024 / 11:24 AM EDT / CBS News

U.S. travelers can now renew their passport online under a pilot program the U.S. Department of State launched on Thursday. 

The State Department's new online system will allow U.S. passport holders to start a renewal application for a short window of time every day, closing once the system has reached a designated number of new applications, officials said in a statement . The agency is preparing a full launch of the renewal system at some point after testing, but didn't provide an exact date. 

If successful, an online renewal system could shorten the sometimes monthslong process travelers experience when trying to update their passport. 

"During the next several months, we plan to continue to limit the number of applications accepted each day so we can monitor the system's performance in real time," the department said. "If you are unable to start your application, try again on another day."

Processing passports has become a growing problem for the State Department ever since COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted, with the agency bombarded with an overwhelming number of applications  each week. The passport application backlog grew so heavy last year that federal lawmakers from California, Colorado and Oklahoma introduced separate proposals to the Senate to speed up the application process. 

Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma  proposed legislation  that would improve the online tracking of passport applications and allow the State Department to hire more staff. Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Ted Lieu of California introduced the  PASSPORT Act  to streamline the passport application and renewal process.

The number of Americans holding valid U.S. passports has grown at roughly 10% faster than the population over the past three decades, said Jay Zagorsky, an economist at Boston University. Just 5% of Americans had a passport in 1990, according to the State Department. That number grew to 48% in December.

The State Department issued a record setting 24 million passports in 2023. Wait times for passport applications and renewals  returned to their normal 6-8 week time frame in December , the State Department  said . 

Renewing your passport online involves a six-step process:

• Create a free MyTravelGov online account. 
• After the account is created, log in and start a renewal application by clicking on the "Renew Your Passport" button.
• On the form that appears, fill in all the boxes with the information currently printed on your passport.
• Enter your plans to travel internationally if your departure is within the next eight weeks.
• Upload a jpeg photo of yourself. No selfies. 
• Pay the passport renewal fee and digitally sign the application.

Visit the State Department's online renewal website for more details. 

Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. He previously worked as a reporter for the Omaha World-Herald, Newsday and the Florida Times-Union. His reporting primarily focuses on the U.S. housing market, the business of sports and bankruptcy.

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