The Impact of a Marketing Information System: A Case Study of SMART-Baltimore

The purpose of this study is to use existing theories of technology and organizational change to assess the impact of technology implementation within the context of the tourism industry. The framework is applied as a case study to analyze the perceived implications of implementing a destination marketing information system by the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The results of the study indicate that the most important value of the system is the richness and timeliness of information. The key informants perceive that this system will not only impact the marketing activities at the organization but will not influence the overall organizational activities. Finally, this article discusses the importance of these findings for destination marketing

Information technology: shaping the past, present and future of tourism

Information technology has played a central role in the growth and development of the tourism industry. In the early years of mass global tourism (from the 1950s to the1970s), computer systems were used to support the internal functions of large operators in the transportation, hotel, and food service sectors. Also, central reservation systems (CRSs) and global distribution systems (GDSs)—Sabre, Amadeus, Galileo, and Worldspan—were developed first by airlines and then by hotel companies to enable travel agencies (and other similar businesses) to access schedule and pricing information and to request reservations for clients (Sheldon, 1997). These businesses became the primary users of travel information systems, thus providing important links between travelers and industry players (World Tourism Organization Business Council [WTOBC], 1999)

Persuasiveness of preference elicitation processes in destination recommendation systems

Destination recommendation systems not only recommend but also persuade. The goal of thisstudy was to investigate the potential influences of the relevance, transparency of and effortrequired by the preference elicitation process on the perceived fit of a destinationrecommendation, while simultaneously considering user perceptions of the elicitation process(perceived enjoyment and personalization). The findings indicate that the relevance,transparency and length of the preference elicitation process serve as important cues forpersonalization, which in turn, influences enjoyment with the process and the perceived fit ofthe recommendation with oneÿs preferences

Persuasion in recommender systems

Recommender systems persuade as well as recommend. This study investigated some factors that influence the perceived fit of the recommendations a system provides and user perceptions of the preference-elicitation process. The findings indicate that the relevance, transparency, duration, and required effort of the elicitation process are important cues for value, which in turn influences the user\u27s enjoyment of the process and the perceived fit of the recommendation with the user\u27s preferences

Assessing structure in American online purchase of travel products

The Internet has become the primary channel for the purchase of a number of travelrelated products including airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rental, tickets to events and attractions, etc. This study examines the pattern of travel-related products purchased online by American travelers. The results of this study indicate that there is a strong hierarchical structure in the purchasing of eight travel-related products. In addition, it appears that American travelers can be roughly classified into three travel product groups, ranging from the 'Core Internet Traveler' and 'Advanced Internet Traveler' to the 'Comprehensive Internet (or Complete) Traveler.' Finally, an analysis of the travelers indicates that they differ significantly in terms of demographic characteristics, information search behavior, and travel planning activities. These findings offer a number of important implications for destination marketing. © 2011 Taylor & Francis

Capturing sensory experiences through semi-structured elicitation questions

Tapping into the consumers\u27 mind is essential when designing tourism and leisure experiences and creating effective marketing tools to promote them. However, capturing perceptions and/or memories of experiences is far from easy. Much of consumers\u27 thinking occurs in their unconscious and only surfaces through metaphors and stories; yet, most research practices wrongly assume that consumers have easy access to memories or attitudes and can readily explain their thinking and behaviors (Zaltman, 2003). The challenge of capturing perceptions and memories of experiences is especially apparent for sensory aspects of experiences, as a lot of sensory information is unconsciously processed. Sensory descriptions or depictions of experiences are critical in the context of experiential marketing but are difficult to formulate if the sensory essence of experiences as perceived by the consumers is unknown and cannot be easily captured through traditional research approaches

Tourist activated networks: implications for dynamic packaging systems in tourism

This paper discusses tourist activated networks as a concept to inform technological applications supporting dynamic bundling and en-route recommendations. Empirical data was collected from travellers who visited a regional destination in the US and then analyzed with respect to its network structure. The results indicate that the tourist activated network for the destination is rather sparse and that there are clearly differences in core and peripheral nodes. The findings illustrate the structure of a tourist activated network and provide implications for technology design and tourism marketing