25,175 research outputs found
Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the InternetâThe 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
Information Technology Applications in Hospitality and Tourism: A Review of Publications from 2005 to 2007
The tourism and hospitality industries have widely adopted information
technology (IT) to reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency, and most importantly to
improve service quality and customer experience. This article offers a comprehensive review of
articles that were published in 57 tourism and hospitality research journals from 2005 to 2007.
Grouping the findings into the categories of consumers, technologies, and suppliers, the article
sheds light on the evolution of IT applications in the tourism and hospitality industries. The
article demonstrates that IT is increasingly becoming critical for the competitive operations of
the tourism and hospitality organizations as well as for managing the distribution and
marketing of organizations on a global scale
Social media and tourism : a wishful relationship
For decades hospitality firms were used to domain the communication process. Thematic social network sites such as TripAdvisor became very important tools for travelers when deciding which hotels to book, and what restaurants and tourist attractions to visit, been a visible part of tourism communication evolution. Evidence suggests that e-WOM serves as a primary information source when tourists choose destinations, hotels, and other experiences. The role and use of social media in touristsâ decision making has been widely discuss in tourism and hospitality research, especially in the research phase of the touristâ travel planning process. With the wide adoption of social media the influence of customersâ word-of-mouth increased and influences not only the research phase, but the repetition and overall customersâ experiences. To answer these questions a model assessing e-wom was developed and data was gathering from TripAdvisor regarding customerâs opinion in restaurant experiences. The results found establish the bases for understanding touristsâ engagement level and profiles.N/
Central-Peripheral Information Behavior Theory
In researching information behavior theory, a significant gap has been revealed: How can information behavior theory comprehensively identify the information behaviors and needs of information communities without the foundational understanding of information, communication, and community, and their intersection? It is asserted in this paper that information behavior theory must clearly define information, communication and community, and how these terms intersect, to comprehensively identify information communitiesâ information behaviors and needs. To test this thesis, a qualitative study on the tourist information community has been conducted. Seen through the lens of the novel central-peripheral information behavior (CPIB) theory, the tourist information communityâs central information behaviors are acquisitional (encountering, seeking, browsing, and searching) and emotional (reacting and sensing). The communityâs peripheral information behaviors are collaborating, sharing, and creating. Key information access needs are Internet and mobile technology. Prominent information use needs include mobile applications (e.g., Tripit), social media sites (e.g., Pinterest, and blog sites), Travel 2.0 websites (e.g., TripAdvisor), and e-commerce sites (e.g., Expedia). The paperâs key findings about tourist information behaviors and needs can guide libraries in tailoring services to the tourist information community or hybrid (online and offline) information community member. Libraries have an opportunity to better serve the tourist information community by providing a trustworthy virtual space for members to get together through non-commercial travel cafes. Libraries are also uniquely positioned to help travelers become more culturally competent. In physical spaces of libraries, tourists can be attracted by offering strategically placed and spacious mobile device charging stations
Smart Tourism Destinations: Can the Destination Management Organizations Exploit Benefits of the ICTs? Evidences from a Multiple Case Study
Recent developments of ICTs enable new ways to experience tourism and conducted to the concept of smart tourism. The adoption of cutting-edge technologies and its combination with innovative organizational models fosters cooperation, knowledge sharing, and open innovation among service providers in tourism destination. Moreover, it offers innovative services to visitors. In few words, they become smart tourism destinations. In this paper, we report first results of the SMARTCAL project aimed at conceiving a digital platform assisting Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) in providing smart tourism services. A DMO is the organization charged with managing the tourism offer of a collaborative network, made up of service providers acting in a destination. In this paper, we adopted a multiple case studies approach to analyze five Italian DMOs. Our aims were to investigate (1) if, and how, successful DMOs were able to offer smart tourism services to visitors; (2) if the ICTs adoption level was related to the collaboration level among DMO partners. First results highlighted that use of smart technologies was still in an embryonic stage of development, and it did not depend from collaboration levels
Enhancing travel experience with the combination of information visualization, situation awareness, and distributed cognition
With the new forms of travel introduced by new technologies of transportation and communication, a satisfied travel experience could be affected by various factors before and during a trip. Especially for road trips, traveling by car provides freedom on time control while leading to more possibilities of rescheduling initial plans made under time constraints. When overwhelmed with the need for changed travel context to avoid unexpected events that will require a serious change of initial plans, travelers need to find and access helpful contextual information quickly. This is a context-related decision making process that requires amplifying human situation awareness and supporting distributed cognition, since travel information offers multiple choices. To solve this problem, I applied information visualization as the main design solution. When comparing it with a traditional representation of lists, information visualization displays the advantages of visual representation of abstract data to clarify and depict the information and amplify cognition while improving travel experience intuitively in the domain of user experience design. Therefore in this thesis I will address the approach of implementing recontextualized situation awareness, distributed cognition, and information visualization in a travel-aid system. By using both theoretical and practical design perspectives, I will discuss how to enhance travel experience with represented contextual information that users desire or expect before and during a road trip. I will also explore the new values of this design with strategic business support. Additionally, after conducting research and analysis on existing interaction design parts, I selected a smartphone app to serve as a proper platform with connected multifunctions. Briefly, I begin the thesis with a review of previous theories and aspects of travel planning, information visualization as it relates to travel, situation awareness, and distributed cognition in the design context and related smartphone apps. Then I discuss the process of identifying the specific issues to be solved or improved with a preliminary research of empirical study, followed by an interview, online survey, insights synthesis, and business model design. After a visual-system design was developed, heuristic evaluation was employed to assess the outcome. Lastly, a new round of refined design results is introduced based on outcomes of the evaluation
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Impact of Womenâs Query Formulation on Searching Satisfaction: Implications for Online Marketing in Hospitality and Tourism
The internetâs lack of organization and overwhelming size prohibits consumers from accessing useful and relevant information. The purpose of this study is to discern whether certain query types yield more satisfying search results for women during the vacation planning process. This research also addresses the discrepancies found between the internetâs ontology of hospitality and tourism offerings and womenâs conceptualization of corresponding topics by analyzing search satisfaction. The implications for hospitality and tourism are to have a clearer and more accurate online ontology in order to achieve better target marketing. Women are the focus of this study because they are documented to have decision making authority in areas of restaurant selection, lodging accommodations, shopping excursions and other at destination decisions
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The Effects of Social Media Usage on Travel Information Searching and Travel Experience Sharing
The study examined the different impacts of the use of social media in travel planning and travel experience sharing. Data for this study were generated by surveys to an online panel of respondents. A total of 543 completed surveys were used. The results indicated that different social media have different impacts on both travel planning and travel experience sharing following the trip. This study demonstrated the significance of examining different social media in order to understand its role in constructing travel consumption behaviors. Finally, recommendations are presented
Determinants of online leisure travel planning decision processes :a segmented approach
D.B.A. ThesisThere is an abundance of information sources on the Internet that consumers use to plan
and book their travel. This information reflects the fact that travel comprises a significant
part of the business conducted through the web. Consumers are sometimes faced with a
complex task of making purchasing decisions in the dynamic and fast-paced medium of
the Internet. In spite of the importance of travel and the intricacies of the decision
process, an integrated framework that identifies the various determinants of the online
leisure travel planning decision process and how they interact, is largely absent in travel
literature. This study aims to make a contribution by extracting from relevant literature
useful elements that could comprise such a framework. It also uses several phases of
qualitative research to refine the framework, and then a quantitative assessment of data
collected from an online questionnaire completed by 1,198 respondents to test specific
components of the framework that deal with online travel booking intention.
In the final model building stage, three logistic regression models were compared. The
first is a parsimonious one containing key determinants that lead to online travel booking
intention. These determinants emerged from theoretical frameworks of the theory of
reasoned action and innovation adoption theory. The second Model used strictly
involvement, motivation, and knowledge variables that are thought to influence online
booking intention. The third Model included a combination of relevant predictor
variables from the other two Models.
The relationship between various demographics and online travel booking intention was
investigated yielding some interesting insights. Consequently, this study recommends
these demographic variables be considered in segmenting travelers to find those more
likely to book online.
The determinants of online leisure travel booking decision processes could be used in
conjunction with demographic variables to more accurately predict leisure travel website
usage
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