E-Tourism : the Role of Ict in Tourism Industry,
E-Tourism : The Role of ICT In Tourism Industry, Innovations and Challenges
Hooman Tahayori ¹ , Masoomeh Moharrer ²
1 - Shiraz University, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shiraz, IRAN 2 - Tarbiat Modarres University, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Tehran, IRAN tahayori@shirazu.ac.ir
Abstract
One of the major limitations of all of the information distribution channels in tourism industry, is that they, for the most part, all ultimately flow through the GDSs. Of course, this has several implications in terms of cost, audience and information content. As a result, many tourism suppliers would like to bypass the GDS route and use electronic distribution to sell directly to the consumer. With the phenomenal growth in the use of the Internet and the World Wide Web both in the home and in the workplace, and the opportunities presented by falling hardware and communications costs, the potential now exists for tourism suppliers to both distribute information to and process reservations from customers directly. In his paper by considering some of the trends shaping modern business strategies such as the mass customization of services, the interactive design of products with customers, the service envelope around the most basic products and the increasing information intensity of products, we illustrates how such trends apply to the tourism industry and describes the way ICT can support or enable such strategies. Then we analyse the role of ICT in tourism industry by introducing a framework to classify and analyze related organisations around three dimensions, distinguishing what happens (1) at the boundary of the firms, (2) in their relations with their customers and suppliers and (3) on the markets they reach. The actors that we primarily consider are the following: (1) the service providers (hotels, airlines, congress organizers, etc.), the travel agencies, and other intermediaries, (2) the final customers (both corporate and individual), and (3) the
Hooman Tahayori ¹ , Masoomeh Moharrer ²
1 - Shiraz University, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shiraz, IRAN 2 - Tarbiat Modarres University, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Tehran, IRAN tahayori@shirazu.ac.ir
Abstract
One of the major limitations of all of the information distribution channels in tourism industry, is that they, for the most part, all ultimately flow through the GDSs. Of course, this has several implications in terms of cost, audience and information content. As a result, many tourism suppliers would like to bypass the GDS route and use electronic distribution to sell directly to the consumer. With the phenomenal growth in the use of the Internet and the World Wide Web both in the home and in the workplace, and the opportunities presented by falling hardware and communications costs, the potential now exists for tourism suppliers to both distribute information to and process reservations from customers directly. In his paper by considering some of the trends shaping modern business strategies such as the mass customization of services, the interactive design of products with customers, the service envelope around the most basic products and the increasing information intensity of products, we illustrates how such trends apply to the tourism industry and describes the way ICT can support or enable such strategies. Then we analyse the role of ICT in tourism industry by introducing a framework to classify and analyze related organisations around three dimensions, distinguishing what happens (1) at the boundary of the firms, (2) in their relations with their customers and suppliers and (3) on the markets they reach. The actors that we primarily consider are the following: (1) the service providers (hotels, airlines, congress organizers, etc.), the travel agencies, and other intermediaries, (2) the final customers (both corporate and individual), and (3) the
References: [1] Peter O 'Connor, "Electronic Information Distribution in Tourism and Hospitality"; CABI Publishing, 1999. [2] Buhalis, D. “Strategic used of information technology in the tourism industry”. Tourism Management, 19 (5), pp 409-421. 1998. [3] Michael Bloch & Yves Pigneur; "The extended enterprise, a descriptive framework, some enabling technologies and case studies in the Lotus Notes environment"; Ecole des HEC, Université de Lausanne, M-94, June 1995. [4] Gary Inkpen; "Information Technology for Travel and Tourism"; Pitman, 1994 [5] Benn R. Konsynski; "Strategic control in the extended enterprise"; IBM Systems Journal; vol. 32, no. 1, January 1993, p. 11-45. [6] Regis McKenna; "Real-time marketing"; Harvard Business Review, July 1995 [7] Thomas Steiner; "Information technologies and destination management in tourism: a conceptual framework"; Master thesis, Ecole des HEC, Université de Lausanne, October 1995 [8] Beat Schmid; "Electronic Markets in Tourism"; Proceedings of the ENTER '94 Conference, Innsbruck, Austria, January 1994. [9] Deighton J. ;“The future of interactive marketing”. Harvard business review, Nov-Dec 1996, pp151-162