Use of ICT and Develepoment of Tourism Sector in Albania

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is increasingly playing an important role in developing a competitive economy based on knowledge and innovation. Use of ICT enables the provision of a higher quality of citizen’s life; it helps ease and efficiency of business processes and increase the efficiency and transformation of management. The use of ICT in different sectors of the Albanian economy has begun to be realized rapidly, improving economic and financial performance and expanding the range of services that are offered to users. ICT has been used massively also a sector which in Albania brings an important impact on GDP it is the tourism sector, however, it is noted that the use of ICT in this sector is at levels lower than in other countries of Europe as well as the region. The use of ICT and the Internet in the tourism sector in the world but also in Albania has enabled the creation of a new business environment, the global distribution of information as a very important element for the tourism sector and the creation of new channels of distribution, transforming the tourism sector globally. The tourism sector in Albania, which is competing strongly from neighboring countries after the period of its establishment and strengthening, currently faces the challenge of the massive use of ICT in the provision of information and the enhancement of services for its clients. The purpose of this paper is to evidence the level of use of ICT in the tourism sector in Albania, and based on analysis of data collected, presents recommendations on the use of ICT in the sector, aimed at increasing performance, expanding services and improving the quality of services provided to customers

Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research

This paper reviews the published articles on eTourism in the past 20 years. Using a wide variety of sources, mainly in the tourism literature, this paper comprehensively reviews and analyzes prior studies in the context of Internet applications to Tourism. The paper also projects future developments in eTourism and demonstrates critical changes that will influence the tourism industry structure. A major contribution of this paper is its overview of the research and development efforts that have been endeavoured in the field, and the challenges that tourism researchers are, and will be, facing

ICTs, disruptive forces and the production paradox in tourism: Present and future issues in the Visitor Attraction sector

En el marco de colaboración entre la Glasgow Caledonian University (Escocia, Reino Unido) y la Universidad de Alicante (España) y con el objetivo de dar a conocer la producción investigadora de docentes e investigadores involucrados en el convenio de colaboración entre ambas universidades, publicamos este libro como medio de difusión científica para visibilizar, compendiar y compartir las investigaciones. El valor fundamental de la obra es el carácter internacional y multidisciplinar de las investigaciones en el área de ciencias sociales y económicas, enfocadas en temáticas tan diversas como el marketing, la economía, la comunicación o la moda, entre otras.As part of the cooperation between Glasgow Caledonian University (Scotland, United Kingdom) and the University of Alicante (Spain) and in order to publicize the research production of teachers and researchers involved in the collaboration agreement between the two universities, we publish this book as a means of scientific dissemination to visualize, summarize and share research. The fundamental value of the work is international and multidisciplinary research in the area of social and economic sciences, focused on topics as diverse as marketing, economics, communication and fashion, among others

Factors Influencing Hotel Managers’ Perceptions Regarding the Use of Mobile Apps to Gain a Competitive Advantage

The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine the opinions of hotel managers regarding the use of mobile applications in the hotel industry and to analyse the influence of these applications on a hotel’s perceived competitive advantage. Factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were performed to analyse the data collected from 106 hotel managers in Turkey. The results of the study indicate that the factors connection and assistance had a significant impact on hotel managers’ perceived competitive advantage. The findings of this study, one of the few that have examined managers’ attitudes toward the use of mobile apps in the hotel industry, provide valuable information that will help to guide technology vendors and software companies that develop mobile apps for hotel

Global innovations in tourism

The article is devoted to the increasing role of tourism in the world economy. The dynamics of international tourism indicators is investigated. The main global innovations in the tourism industry are identified: the growth of tourism types; the application of qualitatively new solutions of scientific and methodological and applied character; growing of tourism influence on the society; the existence of synergistic effect in the tourist industry as a result of combination of subjects efforts at all management levels; changing of the role of internal and external factors that encourage innovative tourism development. In the article, the interaction of global processes on tourism innovations is defined. These processes are: intellectualization, informatization, cooperation, formation of the global tourism market, liberalization of the national tourism markets, increased competition and the spread of transnationalization

Smart destinations and the evolution of ICTs: a new scenario for destination management?

[EN] The impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on tourism and their foreseeable future evolution seem to be shaping a new scenario for destination management. This new context has given rise to the need for new management models. One of these models is the emerging smart tourism destination (STD), although it requires greater conceptual precision in order to become a new paradigm for destination management. This paper proposes a systemic model for STDs which facilitates the interpretation of the role of ICTs in the management of tourism destinations. Accordingly, the Delphi technique has been applied so as to determine the opinion of experts regarding the feasibility of the STD approach, its advantages and limitations and also the size of the impact of ICTs on the management and marketing of tourism destinations. This prospective exercise highlights the intensification of the impact of ICTs over the coming years which will shape a new scenario for management characterised by technology and data management. However, the efficiency of the STD approach will not depend exclusively only on technology but also on an appropriate governance of the destination that systematically incorporates the three levels of the STD, namely the strategic¿relational, instrumental and applied levels.This research has been carried out within the framework of the project "New approaches for tourism destinations planning and management: conceptualization, case studies and problems. Definition of smart tourist destinations models" (CSO2014-59193-R) under the Spanish National R&D&I Plan financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.Ivars-Baidal, JA.; Celdrán-Bernabeu, MA.; Mazón, JN.; Perles Ivars, A. (2019). Smart destinations and the evolution of ICTs: a new scenario for destination management?. 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Temporary Clusters and Knowledge Creation: The Case of Tourism@

With respect to the knowledge-based-view and management science, innovations contribute to a company's competitiveness. And for successful innovation process, companies need to share, create and combine their internal knowledge as well as managing their external relationships and opportunities. Consequently, it is widely accepted that clusters - systemic and local configurations - by supporting horizontal and vertical knowledge exchange could be a fundamental mean for innovation. However, the prolific literature on clusters analyse them only as durable and permanent entities. Yet, interestingly, some forms of temporary organizations as trade fairs, conventions and other professional gatherings, are similar to permanent clusters, but in a temporary, repeated and intensified form. Maskell, Bathelt and Malmberg (2004) even call them “temporary cluster” using the concept to define a short-lived hotspot of intense knowledge exchange, network building and idea generation. It gathers heterogeneous participants in the same spot enabling them to bring together their specific knowledge through intensive interactions. Nevertheless, to date, we observed that the literature focusing on temporary clusters is limited. Notwithstanding, it requires growing attention for management science. In fact, the literature existing on temporary clusters, had asserted that these transient events are important for companies to access markets and knowledge pools in different part of the world. Therefore we consider temporary clusters as a significant vector for the building of trans-local business relations in common situations of incomplete knowledge and uncertainty. Besides, temporary clusters help developing global knowledge pipelines to benefit from outside knowledge.In this context, the paper will analyze a specific empirical case of temporary organization related to the tourism industry. Two arguments support this choice. On the one hand, as stated by Maskell et al. (2005), ‘identifying, selecting, approaching and interacting with new partners is a tricky and costly process' and, we think, even more in the tourism industry. Indeed, the tourism industry is structured by dispersed activities in nature, time and space that need to be combined and assembled dynamically. On the other hand, the tourism industry has been one of the most innovative activities related to the development of ICT, almost 50% of the innovations in the e-commerce activity come from e-tourism or m-tourism. Therefore, the analysis of a temporary cluster dedicated to this ‘dispersed' activity is particularly relevant.The paper will thus focus on such an event called Tourism@. This major event gathers the main actors of e-tourism and is dedicated to the usages of ICT in the tourism industry. It appears as a unique international trade fair in Europe dedicated to start up innovative companies, high tech SMEs, academic research, as well as large multinationals. Tourism@' specificity lies in the fact that each year, since 2001, the event includes the organization of a competition rewarding projects for their creativity and commitment in developing and implementing either new technologies or new uses for the tourism industry. The projects involved in this competition (175 since 2001) will be the basic elements of the temporal database we have build, in which the nature of the projects is extensively described (nature of the firm, of the technology, of the team, capabilities implemented, level of innovation...). In order to analyze the evolution of innovative activities in e-tourism, the initial step will be to characterize the projects through three main features: the market they address, nature of the technology and their innovative intensity. The study reveals that, each year, a main technology or a main innovation in terms of uses emerges showing some kind of self organization. Then, two points of the case study will be examined: first, the evolution of the dominant technology over time, and secondly, the diffusion of the emerging technology. Therefrom, the empirical study will aim at analyzing if temporary proximity allows the different actors from tourism industry to set up or mobilize knowledge and social links without requiring durable co-location. Furthermore, it will aim at identifying if, in a dynamic context of annual event, the repeated face to face temporary relations can result in trust and durable cooperation between different organizations. It might be expected that Tourism@ trade fair, in the role of a temporary cluster, enables to develop or implement innovative solutions, supports technology transfers and backs the creation of new markets as well as the fostering of horizontal and vertical relations between stakeholders.The paper is structured as follows. First section will investigate the theory field of temporary clusters and question in what extent a temporary cluster can be considered as a specific temporary organization regarding the interactions it support that lead to knowledge creation. Section two will present the Tourism@ case study; the methodology used and will develop the statistical analysis of the database. Lastly, the third section will be dedicated to the discussion of temporary clusters as a specific form of inter-firm organization that allows intensive exchange of knowledge.Knowledge creation; Temporary cluster; Tourism; Technological innovation

Mobile travel services: the effect of moderating context factors

This article has two objectives: (1) to draw an international comparison regarding the acceptance of mobile travel services in three countries with different profiles when it comes to travelling and mobile telecommunications, and (2) to extend relevant literature on mobile applications, more specifically travel services, by including context-related concepts, taking moderating factors like location, mobility of users, physical, and social context into account. Based on surveys that were carried out in 2009, structural equation modelling is used to identify differences in patterns in the use of mobile travel services and in the role of context-related variables. the conclusion of this article is that context-related factors, that is, mobility and (physical and social) context, have an impact on the relationship between the core concepts of technology Acceptance model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation (DoI) research. many studies on the acceptance and use of mobile services indicate that a deep understanding is needed of individual, context-related, and technological characteristics and the way they interact. this is also highly relevant to the travel industry, which wants to utilize the opportunities provided by mobile technology

Usages of the internet and e-tourism. Towards a new economy of tourism

This paper analyses the impact of internet on the organization of industry and the marketdynamics in the tourism activities, focusing in the European scene. Tourism incorporates many features ofthe contemporaneous information and communication economy. Even if e-tourism still stands for a smallshare of the whole tourism activity, the paper establishes that the internet basically explains theorganization of the activities and markets that emerge today. A relevant analytical framework able toapprehend these dynamics is first defined. The concept of sectoral system of production and innovation isshown to provide a relevant analytical framework to grasp the basic changes of the tourism industry. Thepaper enlightens on this basis the evolution resulting from the emergence of e-tourism and the uses ofinternet, their impacts on the coordination of the activities and the markets, with a special focus on theEuropean caseTourism; Sectoral Systems of Production and Innovation;ICT; Virtual Communities; GDS

El reto de vincular reputación online de destinos turísticos con competitividad

The aim of this study is to evidence how 2.0 conversations in social media impact the reputation of destinations. Additionally, the influence of co-creation practices is analysed. The five most competitive destinations worldwide have been chosen for the research. This paper demonstrates that monitoring social media is a challenge in tourism and is a strategic tool to support process decision making and for destination brand building in a sustainable way. Currently, there are several monitoring and analytic tools, but there is a lack of models to systematise and harness it for the Destination Management Organization (DMOs). In conclusion, how tourists play the main role in the competitiveness of Destinations with their experiences and opinions are considered, along with some keys for successful management of social media are given in the view of the results.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio