The tourism industry competitiveness and innovativeness indices

The aim of this paper is to compare five tourism destinations: Slovenia and its four neighbouring countries (Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia). The travel and tourism industry is growing throughout the world and is a vital component of many countries% economies. However, each country%s government tourism strategies and organisations of its tourism industry are distinct. This paper presents some statistics for these destinations and analyses the role of tourism in the countries% economy. It also presents the preliminary results of broader research in the area of innovativeness in tourism. Contrasts and similarities at the national level are highlighted

Sustainable Development

The technological advancement of our civilization has created a consumer society expanding faster than the planet's resources allow, with our resource and energy needs rising exponentially in the past century. Securing the future of the human race will require an improved understanding of the environment as well as of technological solutions, mindsets and behaviors in line with modes of development that the ecosphere of our planet can support. Sustainable development offers an approach that would be practical to fuse with the managerial strategies and assessment tools for policy and decision makers at the regional planning level

Clusters as a Factor of Rural Tourism Competitiveness: Montenegro Experiences

Background: The tourism cluster-approach is considered to be an appropriate strategy in emerging economies and less developed areas. Due to scarce resources and a great number of structural problems of rural areas in Montenegro, uniting all stakeholders and attractions into a competitive tourism cluster would ensure that the area could operate and become an effective and efficient rural tourism destination. Objectives: The objective of this paper is to highlight the key challenges of rural tourism clustering and provide new data and a wider understanding of the tourism-cluster approach in Montenegrin rural areas. Methods: Using the extensive literature, available secondary data from government bodies, NGOs, foreign development agencies, relevant international organisations and primary data collected from rural tourism operators in Montenegro, the paper investigates key challenges and factors associated with (in)efficiency of Montenegrin theme trails. Results: Several management and marketing issues are identified regarding the cluster approach implementation. Special importance and significance of information technologies and intelligent systems have been recognized in sense of cost-effective marketing implementation. Most Montenegrin trails are still in the first phase of cluster development, whereas just two of them have experienced a significant improvement in cooperative behaviour. Conclusions: Key benefits of the cluster approach are noted and clearly defined, but in the case of the Montenegrin rural tourism sector, these potentials are still, to a large extent, underused

Sistemas de gestão de destinos turísticos: contribuições para a sua adoção e implementação

The growing competition between tourist destinations, the progressively demanding tourist source markets, as well the complexity of the strategies to attract them, has led Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) to expand their attributions to assume themselves as central actors in the coordination of the stakeholders of respective destinations. Thus, some DMOs have implemented collaborative online networks, referred to as Destination Management Systems (DMSs), which connect all relevant tourist agents in a destination, facilitating communication and cooperation between them. These systems also provide online tourist portals for tourist destinations that offer more personalised travel planning experiences, including the possibility to purchase tourist products. However, only a residual number of tourist destinations has ever tried to adopt a DMS and a considerable portion of the them were unsuccessful. The challenges to the success of a DMS require a careful analysis of the factors that influence the willingness of the tourist agents of a destination to adopt them, as well as of the factors that determine the importance that these agents attribute to the functionalities of those same DMSs. However, research in this area is still limited. The main objectives of this thesis are to obtain an in-depth knowledge about the factors mentioned above, as well as on the characteristics and role of DMSs, in order to promote the implementation of these systems in tourist destinations. To achieve these objectives, a mixed methodology was adopted, starting with an extensive review of the literature on DMSs, exploratory interviews with the main companies providing DMS solutions and with DMOs that have successfully implemented these systems. At content analysis of those same DMSs was undertaken. This qualitative approach provided an in-depth knowledge regarding the characteristics of DMSs, the current business and management models of these systems, as well as their recent developments and future perspectives. Then, a quantitative approach was used to identify the factors that explain the willingness of destination-based stakeholders to adopt a DMS, as well as those influencing the importance attributed by these agents to the specific functionalities of DMSs. Thus, a questionnaire survey was applied to different types of tourist agents from a regional destination lacking a DMS: The Portuguese Centre region. The results of the quantitative investigation indicate that the predisposition to adopt a DMS is positively influenced by factors such as: (i) cooperation within the destination; (ii) pressure from the external environment (e.g. from competing destinations); (iii) perceived benefits and usefulness of the DMS; (iv) DMO's leadership and strategic vision; (v) resources and strategic vision of the tourist actors in the destination. On the other hand, two factors which are still absent from research on this topic were found to negatively influence the predisposition to adopt a DMS, namely: (i) alternative online platforms and (ii) the lack of a DMS in neighbouring regions or at the national level. The results also demonstrate that the importance attributed to the specific functionalities of a DMS by destination-based stakeholders is positively influenced (i) by its resources and strategic vision, (ii) by its knowledge on the DMO’s initiatives in the field of the Information and Communication and Technologies, (iii) the condition of affiliated member of a DMO; and (iv) by the tourist agent sub-sector, since it was found that tourism accommodation providers value collaborative functionalities of a DMS less than others. The thesis ends with conclusions and implications for the tourism sector, mainly for agents responsible for the development of tourist destinations.A crescente competição entre destinos turísticos, bem como a progressiva exigência da procura turística e da complexidade das estratégias para a atrair, levou as Organizações de Gestão de Destinos (OGD) a ampliarem as suas atribuições para se assumirem como atores centrais na coordenação dos stakeholders dos respetivos destinos. Assim, algumas OGDs implementaram redes colaborativas online, designadas de Sistemas de Gestão de Destinos (SGDs), que interligam todos os agentes turísticos relevantes de um destino, facilitando a comunicação e a cooperação entre eles. Estes sistemas também proporcionam à procura turística portais online de destinos turísticos que oferecem experiências de planeamento de viagens mais personalizadas, incluindo a possibilidade de comprar produtos turísticos. Porém, apenas um número residual de destinos turísticos tentou adotar um SGD e uma parcela considerável dos SGDs não tiveram sucesso. Os desafios para garantir o sucesso dos SGD exigem uma análise cuidada dos fatores que influenciam a predisposição dos agentes turísticos de um destino para os adotar, bem como dos fatores que determinam a importância que estes agentes atribuem às funcionalidades dos SGD. No entanto, a investigação neste âmbito é ainda limitada. A presente tese tem como principais objetivos obter um conhecimento aprofundado sobre os fatores anteriormente referidos, bem como sobre as características e papel dos SGD, no sentido de promover a implementação destes sistemas nos destinos. Para alcançar os objetivos estabelecidos, adotou-se uma metodologia mista, começando com uma extensiva revisão da literatura sobre SGD, entrevistas exploratórias às principais empresas fornecedoras de soluções de SGD e a OGD que implementaram estes sistemas com sucesso, bem como análises de conteúdo de SGD. Esta abordagem qualitativa permitiu um conhecimento mais aprofundado relativamente às características dos SGD, aos atuais modelos de negócios e de gestão destes sistemas, bem como aos seus recentes desenvolvimentos e perspetivas futuras. Seguidamente uma abordagem quantitativa foi utlizada para identificar os fatores que explicam a predisposição dos agentes turísticos de um destino para adotar um SGD, bem como os fatores que influenciam a importância atribuída por estes agentes às funcionalidades específicas dos SGD. Assim, um inquérito por questionário foi aplicado a diferentes tipos de agentes turísticos de um destino regional que não dispõe de um SGD: a região Centro de Portugal. Os resultados da investigação quantitativa indicam que a predisposição para adotar um SGD é influenciada positivamente por fatores como: (i) cooperação no destino; (ii) pressão do ambiente externo (ex. de destinos concorrentes); (iii) benefícios percebidos e utilidade do SGD; (iv) liderança e visão estratégica da OGD; (v) recursos e visão estratégica dos atores turísticos do destino. Por outro lado, dois fatores até agora ausentes da investigação influenciam negativamente a predisposição para adotar um SGD, nomeadamente: (i) as plataformas alternativas online e (ii) a falta de um SGD em regiões vizinhas ou a nível nacional. Os resultados demonstram ainda que a importância atribuída às funcionalidades específicas de um SGD pelos agentes turísticos de um destino é influenciada positivamente (i) pelos seus recursos e visão estratégica, (ii) pelo seu conhecimento sobre as iniciativas da OGD no âmbito das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação, (iii) por ser membro afiliado da OGD; e (iv) pelo subsetor do agente turístico, observando-se que os fornecedores de alojamento turístico valorizam menos as funcionalidades de cariz colaborativo do que outro tipo de agentes. A tese termina com conclusões e implicações para o setor do turismo, principalmente para agentes responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento turístico.Programa Doutoral em Turism

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN ROMANIA

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main opportunities and limitations of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The survey was defined with the aim to involve the highest possible number of relevant CSR topics and give the issue a more wholesome perspective. It provides a basis for further comprehension and deeper analyses of specific CSR areas. The conditions determining the success of CSR in Romania have been defined in the paper on the basis of the previously cumulative knowledge as well as the results of various researches. This paper provides knowledge which may be useful in the programs promoting CSR.Corporate social responsibility, Supportive policies, Romania

Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2022

This open access book presents the proceedings of the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT)’s 29th Annual International eTourism Conference, which assembles the latest research presented at the ENTER2022 conference, which will be held on January 11–14, 2022. The book provides an extensive overview of how information and communication technologies can be used to develop tourism and hospitality. It covers the latest research on various topics within the field, including augmented and virtual reality, website development, social media use, e-learning, big data, analytics, and recommendation systems. The readers will gain insights and ideas on how information and communication technologies can be used in tourism and hospitality. Academics working in the eTourism field, as well as students and practitioners, will find up-to-date information on the status of research

Relationship between Information and Communication Technology and competitiveness in the tourism industry: A mapping review

[EN] The main goal of this study is to review several previously published papers about the relationship between Information and Communication Technology and competitiveness in the tourism industry, to determine trends, research approaches and contextualization of former studies. Ninety papers were selected from the most visited journal databases of scientist papers related to tourism and technology: ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, EBSCO, DOAJ, and Emerald. Once applied the Systematic Mapping Review methodology, it was found that there are four major categories in which the relationship between the constructs can be grouped competitiveness and Information and Communication Technology; direct positive relationship, negative relationship, no relationship and positive relationship through other factors. Currently, there is consensus between researchers and professionals about the positive relationship between Information and Communication Technology and competitiveness on the tourism industry from the macroeconomic point of view. However, at a microeconomic level, the discussion has not yet been resolved since the adoption of technology or any other type of resource can generate dissimilar results in different companies given the characteristics of each firm. Future lines of research should focus on determining what the factors are,and under what conditions the digitalization of firms translates into improvements in their productivity and competitiveness.Villa-Espinosa, DM.; González-Ladrón-De-Guevara, F.; Miñana Terol, JL. (2018). Relationship between Information and Communication Technology and competitiveness in the tourism industry: A mapping review. Revista Iberoamericana de Turismo. 8(2):143-173. https://doi.org/10.2436/20.8070.01.106S1431738