The notion of e-tourism

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1 Critically discuss the changing role of Information Technology in relation to the Tourism Industry. Make full use of practical examples. Information Technology is a growing field which is affecting many areas and not only tourism. We all know that tourism is very dynamic and it can be easily effected by even the smallest change. Advances in technology make our life more easier and so the main purpose of IT with relation to tourism is that to make things for those involved in the tourism industry more easier. This is done by further enhancing methods and practices used within the industry with the aid of IT. The main concept that can put this issue under one umbrella is the notion of e-tourism. In this essay I will be discussing further the following points The notion of e-tourism New reservation methods Online airlines Online booking Advantages & Disadvantages of ICT in Tourism. The notion of e-tourism E-tourism is mainly related to the use of the internet to sell tourism products. We can easily compare e-tourism to example e-banking whereby e-banking uses the internet for banking services online. E-Tourism can be also a form of e-commerce whereby users can pay for their booking and services immediately using their credit/debit cards. We are seeing an increase of people that use the various services available online to plan their trip. One can prepare his trip online with a few clicks. This includes flights, Page 1

2 trains, ferries, accommodation., car rental, excursions, and many more. That person just needs to go to the airport,train station or port and start his / her trip. Various countries are admitting that this new innovative idea is boosting their tourism industry and that it is something that one should invest int. Back in 2002 the UK granted 3.6 million to the English Tourism Council so as to give a major boost to the development of a world-class on-line tourism network for England and enable the latest local tourism information to be made available anywhere. This is being done under the name of EnglandNet. One can visit the website for further info regarding this project. Previously an Impact study was carried out by the UK to investigate how well British tourism businesses were using ICT to carry out their business. This is a result of the increasing number of people that are using the internet to plan and book their travel needs If we consider now Malta we can see that we are also making a move with relation to e-tourism. Websites such as etc.. all have the aim to attract tourists to Malta by using the internet. Another example is the African State of Namibia, whereby it has a website by which it can promote safari trips online. Persons cannot actually book trips but they can at least see what they should expect at that destination and also to have more information in hand. In my opinion there are 2 types of e-tourism websites. They vary only in what they offer to the traveller who wants to plan and see everything from the comfort of his home/ internet café or place of work. Page 2

3 The first type is that which offers only information such as the Namibia site These sites are not limited only to information about a specific country but they also incorporate hotels and museums. The Second type is that which offers both information and the ability to book online. A great example is Convincing statistics from the United states prove that the popularity of e-tourism is increasing. A separate study was conducted in April 2002 surveying both leisure and business travellers. This study showed that 39 % of American leisure travellers think that the internet is faster for travel planning than a travel agent. 32% of the surveyed leisure travellers actually had made an online reservation in the previous twelve. months. The figure for business travellers was that of 33%. Furthermore 90% of American internet users actually search information on e-tourism websites. One must note also that 66% of American users think that e-tourism websites offer better service than travel agents. I can also judge these statistics and all that I talked about in the previous paragraphs from personal experience. I work part time in reception in a local 4 star hotel. This summer we had a number of visitors who had an accommodation voucher printed from one of the online tourism businesses. Personally also when some prospective guests come to ask about our hotel, together with the printed material and my verbal explanation I also refer them to the hotel s website for further info and to book their stay with us. Many hotels offer the possibility of online bookings. Some offer this facility through their own website and some offer this facility through other sites such as ( This is a branch under the popular search engine yahoo). Page 3

4 This depends on the amount of money that the hotel is prepared to invest on online methods. The fact is that it could be a risky choice for the hotel as although one provides the facility it does not mean that he is guaranteeing more bookings. e-tickets,automated check ins and e-arlines ICT methods are not limited only to hotels and country information. Airlines are seeing as well that the internet is a new way of making business. Some airlines now use an e-ticket instead of the conventional paper ticket. To go into more detail about e-tickets I am going to use British Airways as a case study.in fact this ticketing method is more straightforward and flexible and it offers various benefits to the traveller.. A traveller does not have to worry about loosing his ticket because his information is securely stored electronically in the airline s systems. This method will make the experience from booking to boarding hassle free and faster and will surely be beneficial for the airline s customer satisfaction ratings in terms of check in.. According to the British Airways website the e-ticket has the following benefits. No need to wait for the ticket to arrive in the post e-tickets cannot be lost, stolen or forgotten e-tickets lets you amend your flight details up to 30 minutes before minimum check in times subject to the normal fare restrictions Ticketing is faster: ticket changes can be done on the telephone and reduces the need for face to face changes. Check in procedure is simpler as one can use self service check in kiosks and online check-in, where available Easy and simple to read e-ticket receipt Page 4

5 The change to e-tickets by British Airways is going ver well in fact e-ticket is currently available on over 70% of British Airways routes and paper tickets will no longer be available on these routes. The airline also offers a simple online check- in procedure. Figure 1 On can easily check in and reserve a seat prior to leaving to the airport from the comfort of his home by going to the airline s website Then during the procedure one gets to print the boarding pass immediately and head to the airport. Figure 2 Some airlines also are especially made for e-tourism. One example is easy jet whereby it s full name is easyjet.com. In fact you see easyjet.com painted on all it s Page 5

6 aircraft.. The interesting thing is that the airline as shown in figure 2 is making it possible for it s clients to book everything through it. I personally booked my last flight when I went to Catania to visit some friends online through Air Malta s website. Figure 3 I think that it is a very fast method as you just need to go and collect your ready ticket from the airport or a branch. Hotel Reservation & Management systems The tourism industry obviously includes hotels and any other accommodation facilities. To make things more efficient for the hotel and to be able to give a better service to clients hotels now incorporate computer systems to carry out their business. I am going to mention one popular software that I use in my part time work and which many other hotels use. This software is called FIDELIO. Well personally I do not know how hotels used to run smoothly without such software. The software is very user friendly with a graphical interface. However I am not going to go in detail on how this software works as that is not the purpose of this essay. Mainly my main point in regards to this is the fact that by such software we can give immediate service to the guest. IF for example a guest is not happy with his room and he wants to change it we can just display all the rooms in the hotel instantly and find a clean and empty room so as to minimize the room change time. This software is the brain of the Page 6

7 hotel. If at one time it has a malfunction than the hotel is paralysed. This proves the point that tourism services are ICT intensive. Points of Discussion We can all admit that the tourism industry is changing rapidly into a more ICT dependant one. Like all other industries the tourism industry also has been exposed to the new world of ICT. This change has started way back in 1953 with the first airline computer system (SABRE) which was developed by IBM and American Airlines. So after talking all about these things a good question arises. What are the driving forces of e-tourism? The answer to this question can be obtained by analyzing the consumer society of today. The new consumer with new changing values and changing lifestyle is different from the consume of the past. Nowadays consumers are looking at methods which enable them to stay at their own home and still purchase what they want. However when it comes to e-tourism in the sense for payment purposes some are still afraid to use their Credit/ Debit card on the internet as they are afraid of fraudulent use. This is quite a misconception as you only encounter problems with such usage only if you do not pay attention. If we consider Air Malta example it works in a different way. When purchasing a ticket online your credit card details are used just as a guarantee for the reservation. That is you will not actually be billed for your ticket. The payment is done when the ticket/s are collected. Figure 4 Page 7

8 Another trick which Air Malta uses to get people to buy online is to give extra points to your frequent flyer card when you purchase a ticket online. Figure 4 shows an extract from the airline s site. e-tourism for developing countries. Some developing countries are aiming to increase their tourism activity. A recent conference was held in Geneva with the title ICT and Tourism for Development. One issue which was discussed was in fact that ICT can help such countries, tourism wise. The provisional agenda contained the following phrase which is really interesting. The increasing number of consumers that use the Internet to plan leisure or business trips represents a major incentive for developing countries to organize and develop their tourism offer and its promotion over the Internet. I fully agree with this quote and I wish to add that such issues are quite challenging for developing countries. On the other hand it is a fact also that the use of ICT for tourism development will help the local economy by generating more revenue and contributing to the local development. Conclusion To conclude this essay I would like to point out some advantages and disadvantages of e-tourism. This relationship between tourism and ICT offers various advantages which were already pointed out in the previous paragraphs. Page 8

9 The following is a point form summary of advantages of e-tourism. Everything can be done from the comfort of one s home. Fast and secure method One can plan his/ her trip in a few minutes. Packaged sites to buy flights, accommodation, car rentals in one go. The following is a point form summary of disadvantages of e-tourism People who do not have access to a computer or internet cannot benefit from e-tourism. The stakeholders involved need to put extra investment for a computerized system. In the near future we will surely see more and more people using ICT to make transactions related to their travel needs. This will be a great opportunity for people to get motivated to travel as the hassle required is reduced. Page 9