ICT and e-business in the tourism industry ICT adoption ... - empirica

Tourism
The difference is plausible, as many of the smaller companies start with issuing and
sending e-invoices; this can be done in a web based environment, often supported by
their bank or other financial institutions, or by adding a module to the accounting
software, similar to online banking. Adapting the software systems for receiving invoices
electronically can be more complicated.
The e-Business Survey 2006 reveals that there are significant differences between
individual sectors in the use of e-invoicing. Tourism and the ICT related sectors, as well
as hospitals, reported the highest average share of invoices sent or received
electronically among the ten sectors studied by e-Business W@tch in 2006.
3.5 e-Procurement and Supply Chain Management
Efficient management of procurement is a fundamental activity along a sector value chain
which is as complex and fragmented like the tourism industry. Due to a relatively large
number of transactions, even slight improvements in this domain can result in significant
overall cost savings. Online procurement can be carried out without having to integrate
one’s system with suppliers, for instance by making bookings at a supplier's or partner’s
website. It is often the first step towards a more comprehensive and integrated use of ICT
in business processes.
Similarly as in other service sectors, the characteristics and the quality control of these
services are of utmost importance. Unlike other sectors in which goods or services are
more standardised (e.g. in the telecommunications industry), this can be a barrier to the
full deployment of e-procurement schemes unless commonly agreed standards for
product or service quality have been introduced.
3.5.1 B2B online trading: companies placing orders online
Online orders and the average share of e-procurement
About 40% of all firms active in the tourism industry in the EU-10 countries said that they
place orders to suppliers online, compared to a respective cross-sectoral average of
48%. 38 Frequency of online procurement increases with company size class – from 38%
of micro enterprises up to 80% of large companies (see Exhibit 3-19). In terms of
employment-weighted data, the results for the tourism industry are similar to those of the
other sectors (with companies procuring online representing about 60% of employment in
the sector). However, some significant differences can be observed between the three
38
Note that the underlying question in the e-Business Survey 2006 was changed compared to
previous years. In 2006, companies where asked whether they "use the internet or other
computer-mediated networks to place orders for goods or services online". In previous surveys,
the question was whether they "use the internet or other computer-mediated networks to
purchase goods or services online". Thus, a direct comparison of figures, e.g. with those for
tourism in 2005, is not recommended.
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