What engages web users when comparing destinations on a travel site? How they look and compare destinations, how fitting is the information presented, or is it the aesthetic quality of the pictures displayed? This exploratory research investigates which factors engage web users comparing 12 hotel resorts organised in a choice set. Action-based comparisons is assessed with behavioural metrics from both marketing and technology research and practice. Our methodology uses a custom-built ‘data acquisition’ technology that remotely traces behaviour within achoice set linked to 12 hotel web pages. A 7-point Likert scale survey is used for the assessment of cognitive variables. Results reveal that neither action-based comparisons nor the choice set’s information organisation engages users. However, picture aesthetics shows a significant influence on engagement, which in turn leads to five important managerial consequences. Contrary to widely used industry-based clickstream metrics, focus should be placed on picture aesthetics when wanting to obtain engagement.