1. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION
E-tourism
Electronic Commerce Strategies for Development:
Promoting an International Dialogue
Tunis, June
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

2. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION
Access
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

3. The On-line Market is there
Forecast for European markets
300
250
212
216
237
244
223
230
200
192
200
208
150
100
- 64% of Internet sales are direct sales.
UK sales represent 34% of Western
Eurepean sales.
Airlines are 60% of total sales and half
of this is from low-cost airlines 50
12.8
14.7
0.227
0.811
2.64
4.73
6.77
8.45
10.9
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Market M€(000)
Internet salesM€(000)
Market share 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0%
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

4. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION
Distribution costs are a growing area of potential savings
$ 20 billion per annum: 4% of overall costs and growing.
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

5. The Electronic Marketplace in tourism –
eBusiness
Business
Consumer
Government
B2B
Extranets between
Hoteliers and tour
operators
B2C
eCommerce applications where consumers purchase air tickets
B2G
Business interacting with government departments, e.g. hotel developer requires planning permission
C2B
Consumers registering
their preferences on airline or hotel loyalty/executive clubs
C2C
Consumers informing other consumers over good or bad practice (e.g.
C2G
Consumers applying for visas, requesting maps and local destination information
G2B
Government informing hotels about food safety legislation or taxation
G2C
Government informing consumers on regulations, visa or vaccination requirements
G2G
Governments interacting in tourism policy matters or asking technical assistance through organizations such as the World Tourism Organization
Source: Buhalis D., “eTourism”
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6. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION
New Business Models
Tiscover
GTREX
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7. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION
Three online firms now control over 55 percent of all online travel bookings
Source: Peter O’Connor, IMHI, 2003
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8. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION
WTO activities in E-tourism:
Publications:
Marketing Tourism Destinations Online, 1999
E-Business for Tourism, 2001
Seminars
Capacity building:
Courses for National Tourism officials of
WTO member States
Partnership with IFITT
Bench-marking scheme for Destination Web Sites
Harmonise
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

9. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

10. As it was in the beginning….
Hotel
DMS
Switch
GDS
Travel Agents
TICs
Customer
3rd Party CRS
CRS
Traditional Intermediaries
Electronic Intermediaries
Source: Peter O’Connor, IMHI, 2003
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

11. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION
Is now…..
CRS
Hotel
Web Intermediary
GDS
Travel Agent
Customer
Rep Company
DMS
Switch
DMS Web site
Rep Company Web site
TIC
GDS-based Web site
Switch Co Web Site
Hotel Web site
CRS Web site
Source: Peter O’Connor, IMHI, 2003
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

12. Critical tourism and hospitality functions supported by ICTs
Front office: reservations, check-in, payments
Back office: accounting, payroll, human resources management, marketing
Customer entertainment and service
Communication with consumers and partners
Marketing research
Reaction and management of unexpected events
Flexible and dynamic pricing through yield management
Differentiation and personalization of products
Monitoring performance indicators and building feedback mechanisms
Control of business processes and personnel
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

13. Examples of information technology applications used in tourism
Entire range of hardware, software and netware
Stand alone computers and network devices
Office automation, reservation, accounting, payroll and procurement management applications
Portable/wireless communication devices
Internal management tools such as management support systems, decision support systems and management information systems
Tailor-made internal management applications
Databases and knowledge management systems
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

14. Examples of information technology applications used in tourism
Internet/intranets/extranets
Networks with partners for regular transactions (EDI or extranets)
Networking and open distribution of products through the Internet
Computer reservation systems (CRSs)
Global distribution systems (GDSs) (e.g. Galileo, SABRE, Amadeus, Worldspan)
Switch applications for hospitality organizations (e.g. THISCO and WIZCOM)
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

15. Examples of information technology applications used in tourism
Destination management systems (DMSs)
Internet-based travel intermediaries (e.g. Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Preview Travel, Priceline.com, etc.)
Mobile/WAP-based reservation systems
Traditional distribution technologies supporting automated systems (e.g. videotext)
Calling centres
Interactive digital television (IDTV)
CD-ROMs
Kiosks and touch-screen terminals
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

16. Internal systems and intranets
Improving capacity management and operations efficiency
Facilitating central room inventory control
Providing last room availability information
Offering yield management capability
Providing better database access for management purposes
Supporting extensive marketing, sales and operational reports
Facilitating marketing research and planning
Providing travel agency tracking and commission payment
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

17. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION
The small e-business
The ICT illiteracy of the entrepreneurs
Lack of marketing and technology understanding
The cost of ICT’s being perceived as prohibitive for entrepreneurs
Inability to control the equipment
Perceived dependence on trained staff
Lack of standardization and, often, professionalism
Seasonality and limited period of operations in resorts
Insufficient training and established organizational practices
Small size multiplies the administration required by CRS’s to deal with each property
The unwillingness of SMTE’s to lose control over their property
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION

18. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION
“Tourism is a very information intensive activity.
In few other areas of activity are the generation,
gathering, processing, application and
communication of information as important
for day-to-day operations as they are for
the travel and tourism industry”
Poon 1993
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION