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

Tourism
CASE STUDY: RE-INTERMEDIATION ONLINE AND BEYOND THE
INTERNET AT ADRIATICA.NET, CROATIA
Abstract
adriatica.net is the largest Croatian online travel agency and tour operator based in
Zagreb. Established in February 2000, it employs more that 100 employees and has
subsidiaries in Prague, Warsaw, Trieste, Ljubljana, Bratislava and Vienna. Its web portal
comprises over 150,000 pages that have been translated into 11 languages.
The company aims at enabling their customers to search, plan and book travel arrangements
by means of web based search and booking functionalities. For this reason,
adriatica.net has developed its own booking technology. The business development of
adriatica.net reveals strong re-intermediating tendencies in online and traditional fields.
Case study fact sheet
Full name of the company:
Location (HQ / main branches):
Main business activity:
adriatica.net
Zagreb
Year of foundation: 2000
Number of employees:
Turnover in last financial year:
Primary customers:
Selling Croatian tourism products via internet
110 full-time and 20-40 part-time
€ 9.3 Million
Business and individual travellers
Most significant geographic market: Hungary (14%), France (12%), Italy (12%),
Germany (10%), Croatia (7%), Poland (6%), Czech
Republic (5%), Slovenia (4%), United Kingdom
(3%), Switzerland (3%), Austria (3%)
Focus of case study:
Key words:
Reservation and booking technology
Re-intermediation, online and traditional
intermediary, online booking platform
Background and objectives
Founded in 2000, adriatica.net is a travel agency and tour operator operating primarily
online in the business to consumer sector. 25% of its turnover accounts for traditional
channels like paper catalogues and travel agencies (business-to-business). On its
website, the company provides access to almost 10,000 accommodation units,
comprising hotels, private apartments, sail and charter boats, lighthouses, villas and car
rentals in over 250 destinations throughout the entire Croatian coast and islands.
Currently adriatica.net’s workforce consists of 110 full-time and 20 part-time employees.
Rationale and business objectives for implementing adriatica.net
Adriatica.net started as a project within the Emporion Company for investment and
informatics, founded in the beginning of the 1990s. The most significant of Emporion’s
business assignments was the setup and implementation of payment software systems
and database solutions. The following points summarise the emergence of adriatica.net.
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