THE APPLICATION OF WEB ANALYTICS BY OWNERS OF RURAL TOURISM FACILITIES IN POLAND – DIAGNOSIS AND AN ATTEMPT AT A MEASUREMENT

Abstract

Data analytics changes the way the enterprises operate, and allows them to both discover new business opportunities and offer innovative products and services. Data analytics can also be used to boost the performance of rural businesses. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify web analytics tools used by owners of rural tourism establishments in Poland. The study covered 965 websites hosted on selected paid domains. SEOptimer, an online application, and Google Tag Assistant were used in order to identify the analytical tools. Findings from the study were considered in the context of search engine optimization level and of the scale of business operations. In the sample covered by this study, a form of web analytics was found in 449 websites (46.5%); however, a data collection engine was probably implemented in 425 websites (44%). Google Analytics was the most frequent analytical tool. It was demonstrated that rural tourism establishments used analytical tools to a lesser extent than other businesses which rely on the Internet to promote and sell their products. Moreover, owners of higher-standard rural tourism establishments are more keen to use web analytics.

Keywords

• data analytics
• web analytics
• rural tourism
• optimisation
• Google Analytics
• digital marketing