StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Information Technology in the Tourism Industry - Literature review Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper 'Information Technology in the Tourism Industry' discusses Information Technology in relation to the tourism industry. IT development is a considerable global issue. This is because it is the main source of interconnectivity among societies, which is the greatest social-economic development of all times…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.5% of users find it useful

Extract of sample "Information Technology in the Tourism Industry"

Information Technology in the Tourism Industry Name Tutor Date Information Technology (IT) refers to every form of technology that is used in the creation, storage, utilization and exchanging of valuable information in various forms for instance conversations, motion pictures, business data, multi-media presentations and still images (Pease et al., 2007). According to Page & Connell (2006), it is the modern way through which computers are used in communication and acquisition of information through research on knowledge. Just like virtually all sectors in which it has penetrated, IT has various applications in the tourism industry. This paper discusses Information Technology in relation to the tourism industry. IT development is a considerable global issue. This is because it is the main source of interconnectivity among societies, which is the greatest social-economic development of all times. Globalization has implied that information is shared more widely and efficiently, and technology has strived to keep up with the need for efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of such information. Businesses, governments and even social relationships are sustained through the incorporation of IT (Tassiopoulos, 2008). IT is among the most crucial resources for economic growth. It leads to situations where companies use their resources in the most effective ways. It enables greater efficiency and speed in the processing, storage, distribution, manipulation and retrieval of information (Bazini & Elmazi, 2009). According to Neverauskaite & Ciutiene (2011), it reduces costs in the handling of information, raises the speed of information transfer and retrieval and increases customer involvement in transactions. It is characterized by flexibility in product specifications and reliability in the information transfer process. Hall & Lew (2009) explain that with a rapid rise in expectations by consumers, the drift towards more flexible and independent holidays and not package holidays and rise of a new generation that is largely computer literate, service providers have to identify new ways through which they will satisfy tourist needs. As a result, there are new IT opportunities within the tourism industry. Tourism has embraced Information Technology very well. This is because it heavily depends on the generation and exchanging of information across its distribution chain. According to Pena & Jamilena (2010), tourism-related services such as transportation are themselves interlinked with the technologies. Entertainment, which is a necessity in tourism, is also reliant on IT. In Spain for instance, rural tourism is a highly valuable tourism practice. The provision of services with greater competitiveness in the sector calls for the permanent inclusion of technological innovations into day to day operations, mainly by means of the internet and other kinds of ICT. The deployment of ICT is generally viewed as more important in settings that are either in emerging areas or those that have less economic development or limited services. According to Law et al. (2009), the internet is at the moment growing as a perfect platform for the direct delivery of the industry’s products to the customers. Tourism information systems that are web-based are expected to not only facilitate the provision of online brochures, but rather also offer both service and value in the process. In Albania for instance, the available Tourism Information System (TIS) always ensures the provision of high-quality access. In addition, the delivery of high quality is attained through making tourism information providers more able to maintain direct spread of products in addition to the integration of tourism information sources which are external. Lastly, the system is formulated in a way that makes its customization easy. Applications of IT in Tourism The tourism industry is among the most successful areas in which e-commerce has been applied due to its consumer-oriented nature and also the fact that information provision lies at its center. Tourism is a hybrid kind of industry. This is because although there is a predominance of information provision, it essentially sells a physical product. Because of this, there is always the need for a seamless integration of physical services and information. This has to be accompanied by flexible configurations in its informational and physical parts (Bhatia, 2007). According to Law et al. (2009), the main challenge that faces tourism operators is to provide localized and accurate data. This is increasingly reliant on IT. At the same time, one always has to maintain the operator-tourist relationship. Instead of just being a transaction, tourism has grown to require the building of relationships that are long-term, and this is done with the help of IT. The rapid growth in IT, especially the World Wide Web and Internet has given rise to both opportunities and challenges to every sector, including the tourism industry. It has caused a considerable change in the role that each player within the industry’s value-creation steps plays. IT plays a role in the attraction of tourists. Whether tourist attractions are natural or man-made, there is always the need for service providers to inform or communicate to current and potential customers about what is available. Information relating to the nature of an attraction, its location and means of getting to it is highly important. The owners of tourist attractions especially at the national level usually promote the available tourist destinations through the use of IT products. For instance, the main tools for information dissemination in tourism are websites on the internet, promotional videos, travel documentaries and television advertisements (Bazini & Elmazi, 2009). Pease et al. (2007) explain that the provision of tourist accommodation is supported by IT. Tourists are nowadays able to easily access the relevant providers of accommodation services. A potential tourist can easily gain access to the kinds of hotels that are available at the destination, the form of products that they offer, their prices and also other valuable information without the need to get out of one’s home or office. Through the facilitation of IT, this is very easy. One will just call up any travel agency and ask for expert advice. While at the destination, visitors are also able to be at ease as they spend their time. This is because they are enabled to access information relating to their families, businesses or anything else at home. In tourism advertising, there is a great compatibility between travel and tourism and interactive media. This is because the tourism industry is notably an information-intensive one. It is possible to make transactions online. Present day web-users are in many instances interested in tourism and travel services and products. Interactive marketing, which many tourism service providers use, is different from the preexistent marketing. This is because it is founded on dialogue rather than one-way communication. It uses information that is gained from the customers rather than information about customers (Bhatia, 2007). Page & Connell (2006) explain that in tourist transport, travelers usually try to ensure that the transport company that they opt for holds a positive safety record. Taxis, planes and coaches are therefore in many instances fitted with appropriate IT-related equipment. For instance, planes fly using modern IT equipment that transmits information on altitude and weather among others. There is also in-flight entertainment for instance movies and internet-based video-games which are also IT- based. Buses and other motor vehicles used in tours and travel are also fitted with radio communications systems for ease in coordination. There is a wide range of IT-related software which is used in tourism development. For instance, according to Dynaportal (2011), there is personalization software. This is a kind of data mining that is founded on the premise that people are busy with their lives and would therefore prefer that others work for them. Personalization software therefore monitors and tracks the consumers’ purchasing behaviors and preferences. It therefore becomes able to customize services or products depending on preferences and needs hence conduct the appropriate direct marketing. There is the use of knowledge based and electronic payment software. According to Bhatia (2007), knowledge-based software is founded on the premise that people need more choices but still avoid being burdened by the choices. It therefore takes up the criteria that is provided by customers and put into digital databases. The software both finds the information on behalf of customers and narrows them down so that the customers may pick out the deal that is best for them. Electronic payment software makes it possible for tourists to make their transactions with agencies electronically. This facilitates tourism business as it makes very complex payment processes far simpler and also reduces the need for intermediaries. Conclusion IT has a great influence on the tourism industry, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. It enables integration and makes it possible to customize tourism products in order to meet various individuals’ needs. Because of behavioral changes in tourists markets tend to become more segmented, and each consumer ends up belonging to different market segments at the same time. ITs most significant role in the tourism industry relates to its application in marketing. It helps in the discussion of marketing specifics and product characteristics within the industry. Tourism has a great economic impact whether at domestic, regional or international levels. It is one sector of business in which IT is almost exclusively applied. IT has an important role to play in tourism development. References Bazini, E and Elmazi, L. (2009). ICT Influences on Marketing Mix and Building a Tourism Information System, China-USA Business Review, 8 (2), 36-45 Bhatia, A. (2007). International Tourism Management. New Delhi: Sterling Books Dynaportal. (2011). Content Personalization Software. Retrieved on 21 October 2011 from http://www.dynaportal.com/software/personalization.cfm Hall, C and Lew, (2009). Managing Tourism Impacts: an Integrated Approach. New York: Taylor & Francis Law, Rob, Leung, R and Buhalis, D. (2009). Information Technology Applications in Hospitality and Tourism, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 26 (5), 599- 623 Neverauskaite, S and Ciutiene, R. (2011). Exigency of Changes in Tourism Sectors. Economics & Management, 16, 238-244 Page, S and Connell, J. (2006).Tourism: a Modern Synthesis. London: Thomson Pease, W, Rowe, M and Cooper, M. (2007). Information and Communication Technologies in Support of the Tourism Industry. Hershey: Idea Group Publishers Pena, A and Jamilena, D. (2010). The Relationship between Business Characteristics and ICT Deployment in the rural Tourism Sector. The Case of Spain, International Journal of Tourism Research, 12 (1), 34-48 Tassiopoulos, D. (2008). New Tourism Ventures: an Entrepreneurial and Managerial Approach. Cape Town: Juta Read More

According to Law et al. (2009), the internet is at the moment growing as a perfect platform for the direct delivery of the industry’s products to the customers. Tourism information systems that are web-based are expected to not only facilitate the provision of online brochures, but rather also offer both service and value in the process. In Albania for instance, the available Tourism Information System (TIS) always ensures the provision of high-quality access. In addition, the delivery of high quality is attained through making tourism information providers more able to maintain direct spread of products in addition to the integration of tourism information sources which are external.

Lastly, the system is formulated in a way that makes its customization easy. Applications of IT in Tourism The tourism industry is among the most successful areas in which e-commerce has been applied due to its consumer-oriented nature and also the fact that information provision lies at its center. Tourism is a hybrid kind of industry. This is because although there is a predominance of information provision, it essentially sells a physical product. Because of this, there is always the need for a seamless integration of physical services and information.

This has to be accompanied by flexible configurations in its informational and physical parts (Bhatia, 2007). According to Law et al. (2009), the main challenge that faces tourism operators is to provide localized and accurate data. This is increasingly reliant on IT. At the same time, one always has to maintain the operator-tourist relationship. Instead of just being a transaction, tourism has grown to require the building of relationships that are long-term, and this is done with the help of IT.

The rapid growth in IT, especially the World Wide Web and Internet has given rise to both opportunities and challenges to every sector, including the tourism industry. It has caused a considerable change in the role that each player within the industry’s value-creation steps plays. IT plays a role in the attraction of tourists. Whether tourist attractions are natural or man-made, there is always the need for service providers to inform or communicate to current and potential customers about what is available.

Information relating to the nature of an attraction, its location and means of getting to it is highly important. The owners of tourist attractions especially at the national level usually promote the available tourist destinations through the use of IT products. For instance, the main tools for information dissemination in tourism are websites on the internet, promotional videos, travel documentaries and television advertisements (Bazini & Elmazi, 2009). Pease et al. (2007) explain that the provision of tourist accommodation is supported by IT.

Tourists are nowadays able to easily access the relevant providers of accommodation services. A potential tourist can easily gain access to the kinds of hotels that are available at the destination, the form of products that they offer, their prices and also other valuable information without the need to get out of one’s home or office. Through the facilitation of IT, this is very easy. One will just call up any travel agency and ask for expert advice. While at the destination, visitors are also able to be at ease as they spend their time.

This is because they are enabled to access information relating to their families, businesses or anything else at home. In tourism advertising, there is a great compatibility between travel and tourism and interactive media. This is because the tourism industry is notably an information-intensive one. It is possible to make transactions online. Present day web-users are in many instances interested in tourism and travel services and products. Interactive marketing, which many tourism service providers use, is different from the preexistent marketing.

This is because it is founded on dialogue rather than one-way communication.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Information Technology in the Tourism Industry Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words, n.d.)
Information Technology in the Tourism Industry Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words. https://studentshare.org/information-technology/2059454-please-prepare-a-topic-information-technology-and-tourism-development-to-demonstrate-the
(Information Technology in the Tourism Industry Literature Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
Information Technology in the Tourism Industry Literature Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words. https://studentshare.org/information-technology/2059454-please-prepare-a-topic-information-technology-and-tourism-development-to-demonstrate-the.
“Information Technology in the Tourism Industry Literature Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”. https://studentshare.org/information-technology/2059454-please-prepare-a-topic-information-technology-and-tourism-development-to-demonstrate-the.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Information Technology in the Tourism Industry

Tourism in the German Kaiserstuhl Wine Region

Consequently, the tourism industry has turned out to be great in respect of providing multiple sources of entertainment and information to the tourists on the one hand, and in generating astounding revenues for the local and national economies on the other out of a constant increase in the number of tourists from different corners of the globe.... The main objective behind investigating the topic above-mentioned is to study the factors in the wake of exceptionally fast growth of the tourist industry during modern times, which observes the tremendous increase in its nature and scope....
60 Pages (15000 words) Dissertation

How Terorism Affects the Individual Decision Weather to Go to a Tourist Destenation

… The paper has paid special concentration upon the risk tourism by elaborating the financial aspects related to the tourism and tourists as well with the purpose of defining whether or not the curse of terrorism has challenged the financial position of the tourists on the one hand, and the individuals associated with the tourism industry on the other.... The paper also aims to elucidate the measures adopted by the authorities with regards to risk management in tourism industry....
34 Pages (8500 words) Term Paper

Contemporary Tourism Trends

1), who refers to vacations in the 21st century as ''Das gekaufte Paradies'' (the bought paradise), the tourism industry is increasingly subsuming the identity of an ''experience industry'', with tourists willing to pay tourism organizers to help find optimal experiences within the limited time available.... The Roman City of Bath has become a World heritage tourism spot since 1987 and its value of attraction is mainly the cultural and heritage aspects the place has to offer....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Assessing User Needs in Tourist Information Centers

The case study "Assessing User Needs in Tourist Information Centers" states that One important aim of tourism marketing is using the assessed information to impact travelers' tour in a state by extending the days of their stay and prompting visitors to spend more.... nbsp;… tourism departments and tourist promotion companies have stakes in providing tourists' new locations and making their experience in tourist information centers pleasant to fulfill their information needs....
8 Pages (2000 words) Case Study

Investigating the impact of Information Technology on a career

Furthermore, decision-making by means of modeling programs, databases, and decision support tools help tourism managers Information Technology in the Tourism Industry Information technology (IT) has drastically transformed the tourism sector and changed the competitiveness of tourist destinations and companies.... Information technology transforms how business is carried out in the tourism industry.... The fast growth of tourism demand and supply boosts the adoption and implementation of IT in the industry, particularly for… IT has become part of tourism operations and is regarded as a means to enhance competitive advantage....
1 Pages (250 words) Assignment

PEST and Five Force Analysis of the Brazil Tourism Industry

The study "PEST and Five Force Analysis of the Brazil tourism industry" resumes that overall Brazil tourism seems to have a moderately low entry barrier new participants, the intensity of competitiveness seems to be moderately high.... hellip; With an impressive growth of the global tourism industry, the Latin American travel and tourism industry has also forwarded its leaps in the past two decades.... One of the many reasons behind the growth of the global tourism industry is that Latin American countries have made certain numbers of market-oriented reforms aligned with the global trend to make their tourism industry more attractive....
8 Pages (2000 words) Case Study

Critically Evaluate How ICT Is Applied to Hospitality Industries

his paper will through light over the use of Information and Communication technology in the United Kingdom's tourism and hospitality businesses.... In addition, businesses are also using mobile technologies to restore their competitiveness and gain a competitive edge over their rivals in the same industry.... Indeed, tourism or hospitality businesses have now decent web presence through which they market themselves thereby informing potential customers about their services offering and prices besides providing tour guide....
11 Pages (2750 words) Research Paper

Tourism and Terrorism

This assignment "Tourism and Terrorism" presents an analysis of the impact of terrorism on the tourism industry.... As such, terrorism can have a tremendous impact on the tourism industry.... Hence, the governments of the nations, targeted by terrorism, should formulate policies and adopt security measures that can successfully counter terrorist attacks on the tourism industry.... This stems from the importance of the tourism industry....
6 Pages (1500 words) Assignment
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us