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

Multidimensional Analyses of Social Media Related Geographic Information: a Study Concerning the Urban Area of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy)

The widespread diffusion of tourism social media platforms is playing an increasingly important role as information source both for tourists, who gather reliable information supporting destinations’ choice and services from peers, and for businesses, who can use the same information for improving their marketing strategies. The use of this type of information could also offer new opportunities for decision-support in tourism planning. By means of improved understanding of the travel motivations and by tailoring tourism service supply, decision making can be facilitated by emphasising the strengths of tourist destinations for past and potential visitors. However, information about tourists’ perceptions and opinions is not always properly analysed by planners. User satisfaction depends on factors related to the location and the services quality that the local industry proposes. Moreover, its understanding may offer valuable knowledge in tourism planning at the regional and local levels. The goal of the study of the paper is to propose an integrated approach to investigate, qualitatively and quantitatively, the relationships between tourists’ satisfaction, geographic locations and tourist enterprises in supporting decision-making processes. The methodology implemented in the study includes data collection from Booking and TripAdvisor.com and their integration with authoritative territorial data. Spatial and statistical analysis techniques are applied in order to assess tourists’ perceptions on success factors, which may be used as planning support tools. The case study concerns the municipality of Cagliari and demonstrates the value of social media-related data integrated by authoritative information in tourism planning. Finally, the paper proposes a critical discussion on the effectiveness of using the implemented integrated approach in order to address other planning issues. The discussion underlines the potential of the proposed approach in order to address other planning questions as well

Evaluation of cyber-tools in cultural tourism

Nowadays, e-services technology has demonstrated a pervasive character in the modern tourism industry. E-services implemented by the tourism industry, e.g., e-tourism, appeared to produce significant cost reductions and market efficiencies. Since online services are continuously accessible, time and geographic differences do not hinder the interaction between tourism service providers and their customers anymore. By usingICTs, (small) tourism organisations can enlarge their markets or operate in niche markets by serving a specific group of customers. The increased use of ICTs has thus resulted in a significant change in the structure of the tourism industry. The present paper aims to provide an overview of experiences and findings that address the socioeconomic impacts of e-services for the (cultural) tourist industry, on the basis of a systematic impact analysis. We use a SWOT approach to organise a systematic evaluation of various e-services effects, which are specifically differentiated for e-services and e-tourism (including cultural heritage) of socioeconomic importance. The main sources to identify the strengths and weaknesses of e-services are the academic and management literature that describes the experience in practice of various stakeholders. Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Do que falam os turistas sobre o Parque Estadual Lagoa da Jansen em São Luís/Maranhão no Tripadvisor?

A tecnologia tem favorecido a divulgação e promoção da imagem de um destino turístico, mediante sites específicos de turismo, como o TripAdvisor. Pois, neste é possível à inserção de comentários (positivos e negativos) acerca dos atrativos, empresas e serviços prestados no local visitado. Desta forma, objetiva-se no presente trabalho compreender a imagem percebida pelos turistas quanto a Lagoa da Jansen mediante análise de comentários no site TripAdvisor. A metodologia é considerada aplicada, descritivo-exploratório, de análise quantitativa e qualitativa. A amostra foi composta por quarenta e dois comentários dos turistas no site, quanto a “Lagoa da Jansen” na cidade de São Luís (Maranhão). A coleta de dados foi realizada nos meses de dezembro de 2015 a fevereiro de 2016. Analisou-se todos os comentários, utilizando o programa Excel para tabulação. Os principais resultados indicam que existe predominância de comentários negativos sobre a Lagoa da Jansen, mas que alguns positivos destacam aspectos quanto à paisagem e opção de lazer e entretenimento do lugar

SMGI in tourism planning: the role of customers’ preferences in spatial decision support.

The dissertation deals with the role of social media platform is playing as an information resource in tourism both for customers (i.e. the tourists), who gather trustworthy information supporting the choice of destinations and services from peers, and for businesses, which can use the same information for improving their marketing strategies. The use of social media data can also offer new opportunities for decision‐support in tourism planning. With improved understanding of the motivations of tourists and tailoring tourism service supply, decision making can be facilitated by emphasizing the strengths of tourist destinations for past and potential visitors. However, this kind of information about tourists’ perceptions and opinions is not always properly analysed by planners. Understanding the user satisfaction, which depends on factors related to both the location and the services that the local industry proposes, may offer valuable information in tourism planning at regional and local level. In the light of the above premises, the goal of this study is to propose an integrated approach to investigate the relationships between tourists’ satisfaction, destination resources and tourism industry for supporting design and decision‐making in regional tourism planning. The methodology implemented in the thesis includes data collection from Booking and TripAdvisor.com and their integration with authoritative territorial data. Spatial and statistical analysis techniques are applied in order to assess tourists’ perceptions on success factors, which may be used as planning support tools. Four cases study demonstrates the value of social media‐related data integrated by authoritative information in tourism planning. Finally, the dissertation proposes a critical discussion on the effectiveness of using the implemented integrated approach in order to address other planning issues. The discussion underlines the potential of the proposed approach in order to address other planning questions as well

SMGI in tourism planning: the role of customers’ preferences in spatial decision support.

The dissertation deals with the role of social media platform is playing as an information resource in tourism both for customers (i.e. the tourists), who gather trustworthy information supporting the choice of destinations and services from peers, and for businesses, which can use the same information for improving their marketing strategies. The use of social media data can also offer new opportunities for decision‐support in tourism planning. With improved understanding of the motivations of tourists and tailoring tourism service supply, decision making can be facilitated by emphasizing the strengths of tourist destinations for past and potential visitors. However, this kind of information about tourists’ perceptions and opinions is not always properly analysed by planners. Understanding the user satisfaction, which depends on factors related to both the location and the services that the local industry proposes, may offer valuable information in tourism planning at regional and local level. In the light of the above premises, the goal of this study is to propose an integrated approach to investigate the relationships between tourists’ satisfaction, destination resources and tourism industry for supporting design and decision‐making in regional tourism planning. The methodology implemented in the thesis includes data collection from Booking and TripAdvisor.com and their integration with authoritative territorial data. Spatial and statistical analysis techniques are applied in order to assess tourists’ perceptions on success factors, which may be used as planning support tools. Four cases study demonstrates the value of social media‐related data integrated by authoritative information in tourism planning. Finally, the dissertation proposes a critical discussion on the effectiveness of using the implemented integrated approach in order to address other planning issues. The discussion underlines the potential of the proposed approach in order to address other planning questions as well