Evaluation, Synthesis and Formulation of Proposals for the Use of ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

«Evaluation, Synthesis and Formulation of Proposals for the Use of ICTin the Tourism Sector»4. ICT and Tourism: International Trends and DevelopmentsIn the present chapter, a brief description of the main international trends and developments in the e-tourism is given. These modern trends constitute the reference base for the analysis of the currentsituation in Greece and the formulation of proposals, presented in subsequent chapters. Brieflyspeaking, the main international trends are:• The integrated electronic destination management.• The electronic Customer Relationship Management (e-CRM).• The use of modern e-marketing methods.• The use of mobile platform technologies in tourism (m-tourism).• The use of advanced multimedia technologies, digital maps and virtual reality techniques for thepromotion of tourist destinations.• The “intelligent” data measurement/analysis systems for tourism, especially those which arebased on data mining techniques and are used for targeted tourist marketing purposes.• The use of ICT methods to make tourist websites accessible by people with special needs and theelderly.In the following, these main trends are described, together with certain other cases that are notstrictly included in them, but stand out and are worth mentioning. Some more technical subjects, suchas the modern trends in the interoperability of systems, the use of open standards, the use of specialhardware, software and protocols for the provision of web services etc. are out of scope in this briefpresentation which concentrates more in the business aspects. The discussion of some of these moretechnical issues is included in the next chapter, on the basis of the existing situation in Greece.The integrated electronic destination managementOne of the most important trends that have appeared in e-tourism concerns the integrated electronicdestination management paradigm. This is about the design and implementation of softwareapplications that cover all the travel stages (stay, transport means, visits to museums, theatre ticketsetc.) and allow personalization and customization to the specific needs of the potential traveller. Theintegration dimension in these applications is, first of all, the result of a strategic collaborationbetween bodies/ organizations and other players at various geographic levels, from the local, theregional and the national level, to the global international market. Such co operations may involve thesharing of infrastructures in regions or countries, and thus favour the integrated provision of touristproducts and services, further to the simple packaging of destinations.Version 1Month: December Year: 200714
«Evaluation, Synthesis and Formulation of Proposals for the Use of ICTin the Tourism Sector»Apart from the cooperation at the geographical level which is evident in the integrated electronicdestination management, another important factor is the cooperation in the implementation and/oroperation of the software applications. An obvious benefit is the combination of know-how. Also, theinvestment cost for the development of such systems is very high and cannot be carried by one partyonly. As a consequence, in integrated electronic destination management implementations, onefrequently finds successful co operations and partnerships between the public and the private sector(PPPs – Public Private Partnerships). One of the most characteristic examples is the tourist portalwww.bonjourquebec.com developed jointly by the Ministry of Tourism Development in the Quebecregion in Canada and the Bell Canada corporation.At the level of users, these applications provide personalized services, targeting therefore especiallythe market of individual (i.e. not group) travellers whose needs and demands are continuouslyincreasing and can only be satisfied by dynamic tourist packages.Leading countries in such applications are the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Austria and Switzerland. Inparticular, in these countries there were found some of the best practices related to the integratedelectronic destination management. More specifically, notable cases are those of TIScover 3 , Voyagessnfc.com4 , MySwitzerland.com 5 , the well known Expedia and the BonjourQuebec portal mentionedbefore. All these five cases are comprehensive e-tourism applications and are considered exemplary inthe provision of integrated electronic destination management. The web interfaces employed arespecialized and provide a rich variety of information without creating a visual congestion effect. Allthese sites are oriented to personalized services and provide excellent integrated e-booking services.The electronic Customer Relationship Management (e-CRM)The introduction of Customer Relationship Management in the internet is of strategic importance. Theworldwide players in the tourism sector operate in an especially competitive environment. In theseconditions, e-CRM applications can largely differentiate a business or a tourist services promotionorganization and lead to a strong competitive advantage. Furthermore, the philosophy of e-CRMapplications is based on a well tested and successful e-marketing strategy, which is much morefocused and customer-centric than the mass electronic advertisement methods.3 An advanced electronic destination management system operated by TIScover AG, Austria.4 The French national railway organization’s (SNFC) portal. SNFC is the largest online distributor of touristproducts (flights, hotel bookings etc.) in France.5 The Swiss national tourism organization’s portal.Version 1Month: December Year: 200715
Page 1 and 2: Project Title“Study for the Penet
Page 3 and 4: «Evaluation, Synthesis and Formula
Page 13: «Evaluation, Synthesis and Formula
Page 65 and 66:
«Evaluation, Synthesis and Formula
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107:
show all

Evaluation, Synthesis and Formulation of Proposals for the Use of ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?