Role of Information Technology in Tourism

Anand V. Nath
PGDIT, IIITMK.
anandv.pg3@iiitmk.ac.in
Deepa Menon
PGDIT, IIITMK.
deepa.pg3@iiitmk.ac.in


Abstract


The importance of information technology in
tourism, especially of the World Wide Web, has
increased tremendously over the past years and
this trend will certainly continue. However, since
the technology itself is now available to almost
everyone, its use alone does not necessarily
bring a competitive advantage anymore. The
integration of IT into the organizational fabric of
the destination marketing organization (DMO) is
an important key to success. Integration means
that technology, advertising strategy and overall
organizational mission/goals are coordinated to
achieve the desired effectiveness. Traditional
advertising strategies should be reconfigured to
reflect the new realities (i.e., availability,
interactivity, and research capabilities) of
Internet technologies and of the rapidly
changing business environment.

It is difficult for most destination marketing
organizations to keep pace with the evolution of
new technologies, the emergence of innovative
advertising strategies, the changes in the
consumer market, and the growing competition
due to increasing globalization. They often have
to struggle with limited financial and human
resources, a lack of technological expertise, and
time constraints.

Accordingly, various high tech information and
communication technologies are in use in the
tourism sector around the world. They are used
for tourism product development, marketing,
distribution and training of tourism sector
personnel. These technologies are so
indispensable in order to find out and satisfy the
ever-changing demands for tourism products.

One of the unique characteristics of tourism
products is the need of the role played by the so-
called travel intermediaries. These travel
intermediaries are travel agents, tour operators,
conference organizers booking agents etc. They
are so important because of the nature of the
tourism product, perishablity and intangibility.

These travel agencies are performing this
indispensable task of being intermediary by the
use of computers and computer reservation
systems (CRS). GDSs are systems, which
distribute reservation, and information services
to sales outlets around the world. Unlike the
CRSs used solely by an airline or hotel chain,
GDS distribute more than one CRS to users who
are usually travel agents. GDSs were formed
Facilitation is one important aspect of enhancing
tourism business. Facilitation includes, issuing
of visa, customs clearing and immigration check
in ports. Lack of appropriate management in
giving fast and efficient service to tourists in this
area will deter the tourist flow substantially.
Recently, development has come about in using
electronic


Introduction


Though there are many definitions for tourism, it
could be simply defined as a travel and stay of a
non-resident. In order to travel to a particular
area there must be a reason. For example a
person may travel for leisure, business, visiting
friends and relatives, health, education etc.
He/she chooses a destination for one or the other
reason. Transport is necessary to travel and
accommodation to stay at the destination. So,
tourism as an industry has three major
components: Attraction, Accommodation and
Transport. In the developed world, today, all
these components have reached at their zenith in
satisfying their customers needs aided by
modern technology. These components have also
came a long way to offer a range of products
which suit the needs of multitude tourists around
the world, and are still working hard to cater to
an ever changing test of them.

Tourism is ranking the top ahead of all other
categories of international trade. This growth of
tourism activity clearly marks tourism as one of
the most remarkable economic and social
phenomena in the world.


1. The Tourism Industry Components
and Requirements of the Tourists


As indicated above the tourism industry is made
up of three major components: namely,
(i) Attraction sector which comprises
manmade and natural attractions which
are developed to satisfy visitors
educational, recreational, aesthetic
needs etc.
(ii) Advertising sector, which includes
advertising through mass media and the
Internet.
(iii) Accommodation sector, all types of
establishments that offers lodging to
visitors (Hotel, Motel, Guest houses,
caravans etc.)
(iv) Transport sector, which includes air,
water and surface transport.


1.1 Attraction Sector


In the case of attractions both manmade and
natural attraction owners need to communicate
or inform their customers and potential
customers about their production. Information
about the kind of attraction, where they are
located and how to get there is of vital
importance. The attraction owners particularly
the national tourist offices discharge their duty of
promoting their countrys tourist attractions
using the information technology products.
Information through promotional videos, Internet
web Sites, television advertisements and travel
documentaries are the main information
dissemination tools.


1.2 Accommodation Sector


In the accommodation sector also the
contribution of information technology is
prominent. Any individual or group wishing to
travel to any part of the world now has an easy
access to the accommodation service providers.
A visitor can access information about the kind
of hotels at the destination, their ranges of
product, the price and other relevant information
without leaving his/her office or home. What one
has to do is to ring up a travel agency and get the
expert advice. This will help any visitor greatly
as to where to stay during any kind of away from
home. Here the information can be obtained
aided by still or moving pictures in order to give
an exact feature of an accommodation, facilities
and services of ones choice. At a destination also
visitors are at ease during their stay in every
respect, in getting information about their
business, family or other information back home.
They are also at ease to relax with the videos and
television entertainment programs, which
nowadays are part and parcel of many
accommodation units.


1.3 Advertising Sector


Travel and tourism fit especially well with
interactive media because they are an
information intensive industry where
transactions can be made online, and current
Web users are heavy users of travel and tourism
products and services. Interactive media call for
interactive marketing. The essence of
interactive marketing is the use of information
from the customer rather than about the
customer. It differs from traditional marketing
since it is based on a dialogue instead of a one-
way communication, and it deals with individual
consumers instead of mass markets. According
to Parsons, the success factors for marketing on
the Web are:
1. Attracting users,
2. Engaging users interest and participation,
3. Retaining users and ensuring they return,
4. Learning about user preferences, and
5. Relating back to users to provide customized
interactions


Fig. Interactive Marketing Framework

Activity What How
Attract
Attract
consumers
to the
application
Audience creation
Mnemonic branding
Piggy-back advertising
Engage
Generate
interest and
participation
Intuitive interface or
navigation
Interactive content
User-generated content
Retain
Make sure
costumers
come back
Dynamic content
Transaction capabilities
Online Communities
Learn
Learn about
consumers
preferences
Information capture
Continuous preference
learning
Relate
Customize
interaction
and value
delivery
Personalized/customized
communications
and products/services
Real-time interactions
Linkage to core business

Table 1: Explanation to Figure


1.4 Transport Sector


Transport provides the essential link between
tourism origin and destination areas and
facilitates the movement of holidaymakers,
business travelers, people visiting friends and
relatives and those undertaking educational and
health tourism. Before setting out on a journey of
any kind, every traveler makes sure which
Transport Company has a good safety record.

To this effect, airplanes coaches and even taxis
are equipped with good communication
equipment. An Airplane flies with the help of
modern information technology equipment,
which provides information ranging from
weather, altitude and other information to the
pilot to communication made during emergency
by the pilot with other airplanes and air traffic
control stations. In-flight entertainment is also a
product of information technology, video games,
video films are examples.

In the case of buses/coaches and taxis, in many
countries with developed tourism business, they
are equipped with radio communication systems
for various uses. For example, the driver or the
tour guide updates the Tour Company
headquarters about the progress of the tour
throughout the touring period. This
communication ensures the safety of tourists.
Fast and easy information flow is of paramount
importance to build confidence in the traveling
public. In recent years, the confidence built due
to the use of modern IT has been demonstrated
by a tremendous increase in the number of
travelers worldwide.


2. New and Innovative Technologies


2.1 Collaborative Filtering


Collaborative filtering is a data mining type of
software. This type of application uses the power
of customer databases to identify customers who
have similar profiles like preferences, interests,
and travel patterns, etc. based on previously
accumulated customer knowledge. The findings
are used for direct marketing. Great examples
today are Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble and
SkyMall.


2.2 Personalization Software/Profiling.


Personalization software is also a form of data
mining. This software rests on the belief that
people live busy lives and want other people to
look after their needs. This type of software
tracks and monitors the preferences and
purchasing behaviors of consumers. Thus, it can
customize products/services based on needs and
preferences and perform direct marketing
accordingly.


2.3 Knowledge-Based Software.


This software is based on the belief that people
want more choices but they just do not want to
be burdened with those choices. This type of
software takes criteria set by customers and goes
into digital databases. It then gets available
choices for the customers. This type of software
not only automatically finds information for
customers but also narrows down the choices
and lets customers find the best deal. The
emergence of this type of software may
challenge the services and products of
intermediaries and DMOs. In this scenario,
products/services have to be extremely
competitive to be picked. In addition, customers
will not rely on advertising to obtain the desired
information, which is a threat to the very nature
of advertising.


2.4 Electronic payment.


This type of software enables electronic
transactions. It has five significant impacts on
business operations. These impacts are:
1. It simplifies a very complex buying-
payment process that leads to a
bypassing of intermediaries,
2. It assists in monitoring/tracking causal
relationships to understand the
relationship between the effect of ads
and purchase patterns
3. It facilitates the efforts required for
niche marketing and narrow casting,
4. It lowers the entry barriers into the
tourism industry and increases
competition, and
5. It augments the competitive capability
of small organizations to expand their
business.


2.5 Video Conferencing.


Video conferencing is the type of software that
allows people to communicate with each other
visually, regardless of their physical location. It
helps geographically dispersed businesses to
cooperate. That may reduce the need for business
travel. However, this technology is still in an
infant stage and communications are difficult
because certain clues are missing.


2.6 Virtual Reality and Web Casting.


Virtual reality displays three-dimensional
worlds. Web casting provides online live videos
and events. Two things could happen: One is the
loss of intrigue. Intrigue is one of the reasons
that motivate people to travel. If people can go
on the Internet and experience cyberspace
vacations, they may lose their motivation to visit
that place in the real world. The other thing is the
balance between advertisement and reality. If
people obtain an accurate view of the destination
before they visit it, they are going to have really
well formulated expectations of what they will
see at their travel destination.


2.7 Online Word of Mouth (WOM)
Monitoring.


Consumer-to-consumer interaction contributes
the most to the success of web-based advertising.
Like through conventional communication
channels such as phone and mail, people share
their travel experience on the Web. Statistical
evidence shows that there are more and more
people using different features of the Internet
(i.e. email, chat) to keep in contact with their
friends and relatives. Tourism organizations have
the ability to influence conversations related to
the travel product and the end destination
through WOM. Providing a virtual community
for people to share their experience and stories is
the most common example.


2.8 Knowledge-based systems.


Knowledge is the key resource for DMOs
because they are not really in the tourism
business; they are in the business of shifting
information and knowledge. Knowledge-based
systems facilitate the acquisition of knowledge
and encourage learning. Besides learning, they
foster information creation/storage/management,
interaction, and knowledge sharing. The question
is how to build a system that effectively
incorporates available technologies. AskDan, a
knowledge-based system developed by the
National Laboratory for Tourism and
eCommerce, is a framework that intends to
change organizational knowledge management.
It consists of five components:
1. Market intelligence,
2. Data warehouse,
3. Knowledge tool box,
4. Knowledge builder (online research
reports/documents), and
5. Community builder.
The nature and speed of change represents new
challenges for DMOs. Knowledge-based systems
help them in increasing their competitive
capabilities in this dynamic environment.


2.9 CRS (Computer Reservation System)


The airline CRS systems were the pioneers of
computer applications in the 1950s and are now
virtually indispensable to airlines because they
enable their revenue streams to be maximized by
efficient inventory control (an inventory in this
context refers to an airlines stock of passenger
seats that is available for sale). However, these
days, hotel and car hiring companies by renting
the service from the airline companies are also
employed these systems. The technology works
by using computers of special kind and leased
telephone lines. The travel agent is connected on
line to the central host computer system or CRS.
The host computer is almost always a mainframe
with massive database attached. The mainframe
host polls each travel agent terminal every
second or so, to see if it has any messages to
send. In this system it is possible that airliners,
Hotels and car rental companies can talk to the
travel agent and vise versa. This system
contributes to a great extent in increasing sales
volume and giving precise information on the
availability and selling the products efficiently
ensuring substantial profit gain.


2.10 GDS (Global Distribution Systems)


GDSs are systems, which distribute reservation,
and information services to sales outlets around
the world. Unlike the CRSs used solely by an
airline or hotel chain, GDS distribute more than
one CRS to users who are usually travel agents.
Some leading GDS are Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre
and World Span.

These world leading GDSs are switches or
simply computers that are connected on the one
side to many different supplier systems and on
the other side to many end users. The end users
of switch comprise travel agents with a single
reservation system to support the sale of airline
seats and related travel products such as hotel
and car hire, via a single computer terminal,
usually a Personal Computer. GDSs require
massive investment because they are extremely
large computer systems that link several airlines
and travel principals into a complex network of
PCs, telecommunications and large mainframe
computers.


2.11 GIS Applications In Tourism Planning


Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is now
recognized widely as a valuable tool for
managing, analyzing, and displaying large
volumes of diverse data pertinent to many local
and regional planning activities. Due to the
complex nature of tourism planning issues, the
potential of GIS in resolving these issues is
increasingly acknowledged. Generally, GIS
applications in tourism have been confined to
recreational facility inventory, tourism-based
land management, visitor impact assessment, and
recreation-wildlife conflict; and have been
limited by lack of funding, and uncoordinated
and inadequate data collection procedures


2.11.1 Implementation of GIS


Three different landscape features usually
characterize tourism destinations:
1. Points,
2. Lines, and
3. Polygons.
Point features are individual tourist attractions,
for example, a campground in a park, or a
historic site along the highway. Coastal beaches
and resorts often follow a linear pattern, while
big theme parks or natural parks are
characteristics of a polygon feature. These
location attributes are essential to a geographic
information system. It is apparent that GIS has
tremendous potential for application in tourism.
However, due to the general lack of tourism
databases and inconsistencies in data, its
applications are limited. For example, there is
very little site-specific information about sources
of visitors origin and estination, travel
motivation, spatial patterns of recreation and
tourism use, visitor expenditure patterns, levels
of use and impacts, and suitability of sites for
recreation/tourism development - all of which
are suitable application areas of GIS.

Functional
Capabilities
of a GIS
GIS Basic
Questions
Tourism
Applications
Data entry,
storage and
manipulation
Location
What is
at?
Tourism Resource
Inventories
Map
production
Condition
Where is
it?
Identify most
suitable locations
for development
Database
integration
and
management
Trend
What has
changed?
Measure tourism
impacts
Data queries
and searches
Routing
Which is
the best
route?
Visitor
management/flows
Spatial
analysis
Pattern
What is
the
pattern?
Analyze
relationships
associated with
resource use
Spatial
modeling

Modelling
What
if?
Assess potential
impacts of tourism
development
Decision
support


Table 2: Capabilities of a GIS

Problem GIS Application
Benchmark/database
Systematic inventory
of tourism resources
Environmental management
Facilitating
monitoring of specific
indicators
Conflicts
Mapping recreational
conflicts: recreation-
wildlife; user conflict
Tourism behavior
Wilderness
perceptions
Prediction
Carrying capacity
Identify suitable
locations for
tourism/recreation
development
Simulating and
modeling spatial
outcomes of proposed
tourism development
Data integration
Integrating socio-
economic and
environmental
datasets within a
given spatial unit
Development control and
direction
Decision support
systems


Table 3: Common tourism-related issues and
GIS applications



Conclusion

The paper discusses the fields related to Tourism
and the various technologies available to
enhance the existing infrastructure. The
technologies mentioned are mostly applicable in
advertising and attraction sectors. Using the
modern technologies, the present situation of
tourism in whole India and especially Kerala can
be improved tremendously.

Acknowledgements
We are indebted to Dr. K.R Srivathsan,
Director, IIITMK for his keen interest in this
work and providing all support and guidance.
References
1. White Paper on Advertising Strategy
and Information Technology in Tourism
by Ulrike Gretzel, Yulan Yuan,
Daniel R. Fesenmaier (NLTeC).
2. Information Technology: Its Uses in
Tourism Industry by Mekonnen G and
Egziabher (Catering and Tourism
Training Institute)
3. GIS applications in tourism planning
(GIS Seminar paper).