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46 automation
It has been applied to tourism research since the
late 1970s. In 1990, some methodological improvements
were realised, mainly through validation
of AID results using discriminant analysis.
Fields of application include the identification of
target groups such as different tourist types, the
explanation of consumer or tourism behaviour,
the detection of market niches and gaps in the
tourism supply or quality deficiencies. The most
important underlying assumptions are correctly
drawn master samples with sample sizes of more
than 2,000 cases, and a fairly evenly distributed
dependent variable. With regard to the scaling
level, all types of variables may be used in the
analysis, the dependent variable being treated as
dichotomous �with values of zero and one).
Restrictive statistical assumptions are not required;
the data may contain non-linearities, correlations
and interaction effects.
The AID algorithm divides the master sample
sequentially into a symmetric tree diagram of nonoverlapping
subgroups �cells). It defines the target
group/cell by showing at each step or branch the
explanatory variable �or the combination of its
categories) with the highest significance. Each cell
is characterised by two parameters, cell size N and
cell mean Y. N represents the number of cases in
the cell as a percentage of all cases, while Y denotes
the portion of cases where the dependent variable
has the value of unity. At each partitioning step, the
pair of subgroups attaining the highest explanatory
power �explained variance) is computed by the
formula.
The technique's major advantages lie in the
transparency and the easy interpretation of its
results. Advanced applications may include the use
of combined dependent variables or factorised
predictors.
Further reading
Assael, H. �1970) `Segmenting markets by group
purchasing behaviour: an application of the AID
technique', Journal of Marketing Research 7: 153±8.
�Highlights the fundamental ideas of the AID
technique.)
Vavrik, U.A. and Mazanec, J.A. �1990) À priori
and a posteriori travel market segmentation:
tailoring automatic interaction detection and
cluster analysis for tourism marketing', Les
Cahiers du Tourisme, SeÁrie C, no. 62. �These
authors demonstrate how to combine AID and
discriminant analysis for significance testing.)
automation
URSULA A. L. VAVRIK, FRANCE
During the past several years, nothing has
increased professionalism or more greatly
enhanced customer services within the tourism
industry than automation. Technology will
continue to change the way tourism companies
plan, co-ordinate, control and evaluate operations.
Automated information system design and implementation
is one of the fastest changing aspects of
the industry. Future technological developments
will be more intuitive, object-oriented, global and
portable. The traditional approach of cultivating
an appropriate level of computer literacy in order
to render a more effective utilisation of technology
is rapidly changing.
As the industry continues to increase its Internet
participation through the development of
home pages and web sites, there is an increasing
worldwide exposure for global distribution of
products and services �see information technology).
Although a problem in the past, secure
electronic transactions are becoming more reliable
given sophisticated encryption schemes for encoding
and decoding proprietary data. Together,
higher transmission speeds and increased reliability
will create a much more feasible environment for
cyber-tourism and virtual commerce.
Advanced user interfaces have become increasingly
intuitive, thereby enabling clients to quickly
become familiar with applications that have
traditionally been in the domain of tourism
specialists. Newer applications require correspondingly
less formal training, and recent developments
in computer operating systems have resulted
in movement from a character user interface to a
graphical user interface. This factor has been of
significant importance in the design and implementation
of tourism information systems �see
marketing information system). The near
future development of a multimedia user