Can we use big data analytics to leverage tourism in rural tourism destinations?

Tourism is an increasingly important global economic activity. The proliferation of technology-based mechanisms applied to this activity, has been prompted by a growing number of more demanding consumers, well informed and receptive to new tools to access information and also by the fact that tourism is an information-intensive activity. However, in what concerns peripheral rural tourism destinations, which are to a large extend made up of micro and small enterprises, there is a lack of evidence that the maturity of data that is captured, processed and maintained, by tourism organizations, has a sufficient level of maturity to support the application of Big Data Analytics techniques. This paper, which intends to examine peripheral and mainly rural tourism destinations, analyses the key issues about technology on tourism and proposes a matrix so that we can gauge if the data currently available, and its maturity level, are sufficient to support the use of Big Data Analytics, with all the inherent benefits that rural tourism destinations could arise from its use.UNIAG, R&D unit funded by the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. .info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Development of an Evaluation Framework for Determining the Productivity and Effectiveness of Internet Room Diagramming Solutions

Internet Room Diagramming Solutions (RDS) has been regarded as not only one of the most innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) marketing media for raising the profiles of hotel and convention centre properties, but also as a practical tool to try out and to communicate planners' ideas on meeting and event designs. However, there is little research specific to RDS in the hospitality management and the event management research fields. In the first phase of this research, a three-round modified Delphi technique was employed with an expert panel to generate, validate and prioritise a comprehensive set of dimensions and criteria for measuring the productivity and effectiveness of a leading RDS in the marketplace, and a hierarchical structure of these dimensions and criteria is presented. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used in the third round to generate relative priorities and to give weightings of these dimensions and criteria. In the phase two of this research, an AHP survey was conducted with the venue operators in the U.S. chain hotel systems for revalidation of the priorities and weightings of the dimensions/criteria which had been previously identified by the Delphi Panel experts. The client base of the leading RDS provider, MeetingMatrix, was used to conduct this survey. Forty-eight effective responses from the survey results have successfully revalidated some of the relative priorities in comparison with the Delphi results. Consistency exists in the priorities of criteria in Impact on Business Partner Relationships, Impact on Customer Satisfaction and Organisational Context. The criteria identified in this research could be adopted in order to conduct further research concerning performance measurements such as the ICT Balanced Scorecard for strategic management. The research methodology and approaches used could also be applied to performance measurements for general innovative ICT applications such as social media.sub_behunpub1809_ethesesunpu

A Framework to assess the value of web services

Large organizations often begin to adopt new software technologies prior to establishing appropriate value frameworks. This approach may produce sub-optimal investment decisions and technology adoption rates, and introduce excessive risk. In this thesis, a value-based framework is developed for assessing the impact of Web Services technology investments on business systems development. The value factors included in the framework are data management, application development and deployment, system integration, and response time to market opportunities

Graduate catalog 2002-2003

The SNHU graduate catalog features information for graduate certificate and continuing education programs, admission and program requirements, tuition and fee information, financial aid information, academic support services, and information about non-academic on-campus features such as athletics and residence life

Transformation theory and e-commerce adoption

This thesis investigates business transformation on the Internet; particularly the nature and significance of Cyber transformation theory and the Marketspace Model as a framework for E-commerce adoption. E-commerce can raise a firm\u27s productivity, transform customer relationships and open up new markets. The extent to which nations become adopters of E-commerce is set to become a source of comparative national competitive advantage (or disadvantage) in the twenty first century

The First 25 Years of the Bled eConference: Themes and Impacts

The Bled eConference is the longest-running themed conference associated with the Information Systems discipline. The focus throughout its first quarter-century has been the application of electronic tools, migrating progressively from Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) via Inter-Organisational Systems (IOS) and eCommerce to encompass all aspects of the use of networking facilities in industry and government, and more recently by individuals, groups and society as a whole. This paper reports on an examination of the conference titles and of the titles and abstracts of the 773 refereed papers published in the Proceedings since 1995. This identified a long and strong focus on categories of electronic business and corporate perspectives, which has broadened in recent years to encompass the democratic, the social and the personal. The conference\u27s extend well beyond the papers and their thousands of citations and tens of thousands of downloads. Other impacts have included innovative forms of support for the development of large numbers of graduate students, and the many international research collaborations that have been conceived and developed in a beautiful lake-side setting in Slovenia

A Location-Planning Decision-Support Tool for Tradeshows and Conventions

This report introduces a strategic decision-support tool for location planning in tradeshows and conventions. This decision support tool is based on a multi-year research project that examined tradeshow participants preferences, including a comparison of attributes sought by attendees and by exhibitors. The study, supported by the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research and ASAE Foundation, included a survey of over 2,500 tradeshow participants who indicated that the show’s location is one of the top criteria. In addition to its examination of tradeshow attributes, this report describes the research process, gives an outline of customer choice, and explains how the tool can be used in an effective location and planning decision process for tradeshows considering attendees’ and exhibitors’ preferences

2003-2004 graduate catalog

The SNHU graduate catalog features information for graduate certificate and continuing education programs, admission and program requirements, tuition and fee information, financial aid information, academic support services, and information about non-academic on-campus features such as athletics and residence life

American College Students\u27 Perceptions of Saudi Arabia as a Travel Destination

Destination image is a critical factor for customers making a travel decision. The recent fluctuation in oil prices has forced the Government of Saudi Arabia to focus on tourism to revive its economy. The terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, affected the image of Saudi Arabia in the minds of people in other countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate American college students’ perceptions of Saudi Arabia as a travel destination and to provide information to help Saudi Arabia’s tourism authority to develop marketing strategies that will attract potential tourists

Technology adoption determinants: strategic management implications for small, owner-managed travel firms in Jamaica.

This thesis begins by thoroughly reviewing classical theories of adoption such as the diffusion of innovation theory, and the technology acceptance model, and subsequently analyses literature on pertinent theories which have been highlighted as drivers of adoption such as the Resource-Based View, Firm Strategy, Culture and the Digital Divide. Prior to this however, the afore-mentioned classical adoption theories were contrasted with the Post-Internet debate which explored Information Asymetry and Disintermediation. Having conducted this review it was determined that the leadership/ownership role had not been sufficiently emphasized in technology adoption, therefore this work sought to more clearly identify these personal factors in combination with the previously explored factors. The overarching theory of Organizational Decision-Making was used to provide a framework to identify drivers of decision-making processes in general and then apply these to the internet adoption context. This thesis aims to identify the combination of antecedents of technology adoption for travel firms and distil factors to identify the key determinant of the adoption of the internet for sales and marketing purposes in small, owner-managed travel firms. It examines the firm characteristics which are associated with adoption behaviour such as strategy and resources, as well as external factors such as culture and the digital divide. In addition to external and firm factors, personal factors such as ownership and leadership are explored at various stages of adoption. A predominantly qualitative methodology was used to interview travel agencies in the context of Jamaica. All firms which have similar characteristics in terms of ownership and management structure, in particular where owners are themselves the managers and provide leadership for the organization, were interviewed. The owner-managers of these firms were interviewed to gather deep perspectives from local industry experts on industry challenges, current technology involvement and future directions. Exploratory descriptive quantitative methods were used to analyze firm characteristics and their relationships to internet adoption for sales and marketing as well as the intention to use these technologies in firms, while a deeper exploration into owner-managers was achieved through qualitative enquiry. A pilot study and 2 phases of data collection were carried out. The findings indicate that the leadership role is more significant than has been previously posited. The contribution to knowledge is new in that it takes a unique approach to an understanding of technology adoption in firms by creating a comprehensive conceptual framework for adoption based on previous research and then creates a model that shows the factors and variables that drive adoption at each stage of the adoption process from a personal leadership perspective as well as the organizational perspective. Ultimately it is hoped that this focus on each stage of adoption will provide insights into firm adoption behaviour as a consequence of leadership characteristics