Intro The hospitality and tourism industry has probably been the most affected industry by the Internet The industry depends on the distribution of information about its products and services Hospitality ID: 733570
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Slide1
E-Commerce in Tourism
HFT3444Slide2
Intro
The hospitality and tourism industry has probably been the most affected industry by the Internet.
The
industry depends on the distribution of information about its products and services.
Hospitality
and tourism suppliers have been looking for new ways to expand channels of distribution so that they can reach target travelers in a more efficient and effective way.Slide3
Tourism Industry
Tourism is an information rich industry…
Information is the ‘lifeblood’ of the industry…
Tourists are unable to pretest an intangible hospitality or tourism product…
O’Conner, P. (1999).
Electronic Information Distribution in Tourism and Hospitality
. Oxford: CABI.Slide4
Tourism Industry
Tourism industry operators depend on finding and developing new means to distribute information-based travel products and services, marketing information to customers at their convenience…
Zhou, Z. (2004).
E-commerce and information technology in hospitality and tourism.
Canada: Delmar.
Clearly the development of internet services by players in the tourism industry assists with this goal as e-tourism offers opportunities for speedy communication and global access with minimal expense…
Buhalis
, D. (2001). The future of
eTourism
intermediaries.
Tourism Management,
23, 207-220.
Slide5
Tourism Industry
As well as providing an opportunity for the tourism industry to market its wares, there is substantial evidence to point to tourists demanding access to travel information through electronic channels. Trends point clearly towards a changing face of the travel industry: for instance the opportunity of disintermediation allows final product or service providers to bypass the services of travel agents to directly target their customers resulting in travel agents being forced to adapt their business model from a intermediary to an infomediary…
Nadkarni, S. & Peng, C. (2001). The relevance of travel agencies in the era of e-commerce and globalization.
http://www.mca.org.mo/Slide6
Tourism Industry
Travel agents are repositioning themselves as a consultant or trusted, independent advisor…
Ching-biu
Tse
, A. (2003). Disintermediation of travel agencies in the hotel industry.
Hospitality Management
, 22, 453-460
The nature of information provision, whether through intermediary or provider, is also changing as new communication tools are developed and offered, with email, live chat rooms or bulletin boards allowing asynchronous or synchronous communication to suit the circumstances…
Cox, B., &
Koelzer
, W. (2004).
Stickiness: Internet marketing in hospitality.
New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Picozzi
, L. (2005).
Understand Online Customer Service
. http://www.score.orgSlide7
Introduction
E-commerce: doing business over the Internet
Another
way of doing
businessSlide8
Definitions
Electronic commerce is a set of technologies, applications, and business processes that link business, consumers, and communities.
For buying, selling, and delivering products and services
For integrating and optimizing processes within and between businesses.Slide9
New Types of Intermediaries
With the birth of dot-com sites such as Expedia.com, Priceline.com, and Travelocity.com the hospitality industry has had to change how they do businessSlide10
Customization
Technology has been useful in assisting companies in understanding their customers and potential customers on an individual level and developing marketing to their specific wants.Slide11
Benefits to Buyers
Convenient
Easy and private
Greater product access and selection
Offers comparative information
Immediate and interactiveSlide12
Benefits to Sellers
Builds customer relationships
Reduces costs
Quick and efficient
Reduces communication costsSlide13
E-Commerce Domains
B2C (business to consumer)
B2B (business to business)
C2B (consumer to business)
C2C (consumer to consumer)Slide14
Designing Attractive Web Sites
The key is to create enough value and excitement to get consumers to come to the site, stick around, and come back again
Slide15
Content
Convey what the company is and what the company has to offer
Project brand image
Easy to navigate
Attractive
Have a “contact us” page
Ask permission to send information on specials
Able to purchase products onlineSlide16
Legal and Ethical Issues
Online Privacy and Security
Online privacy
is perhaps the number-one e-commerce concern
Identification theft and commercial espionage are security fears of consumers and companies alike Slide17
Some E-Commerce
Business Models
Advertising
Auctioning
E-marketsSlide18
E-Marketing
Crawlers (Spiders)
Directory (Human Powered)
Paid Listings
Meta-Tag: descriptions and Keywords
Entire Web site scanned for relevant words and links to other web sites
PayingSlide19
Internet Business Models and Integration Requirements
Internet enables new models for marketplaces, trading communities, outsourcing, open sourcing, buying consortia, supply chain integration and “virtual enterprises” that are fundamentally differentSlide20
Components of an on-line store
Display mechanism
Registration system for customers
Transaction and Order Processing System
Shopping cart
Order processing system
Secure transaction path to “payment gateway”Slide21
Airlines
For decades, airlines have been heavily dependent on travel
intermediaries
The Internet has changed everything, enabling airlines to find a way to bypass intermediaries to reach their customers directly and save money at the same
time
Their first move was to cut commissions they paid to the travel agentsSlide22
Airlines Cont’d
The airlines use strategies such as online pricing and incentives to lure travelers to book and plan travel on their sites.
Today,
all
major airlines own their own Web sites that are capable of taking reservations online as well as conducting other travel services.
In fact, all major airlines are aggressively investing in the e-commerce, using all kinds of marketing strategies to lure customers to book and shop at their Web sites.
At the heart of the popularity of online booking and reservations is the idea of customization of travel products and services. Slide23
These online booking capabilities reduce costs by eliminating transactional fees and providing real-time reporting tools for travel managers
.
Before the Internet online reservation, this customization process was done through the travel agents, airline products and services are not that complicated to customize and therefore the Internet becomes a perfect channel of distribution of airline travel products and services.
Airlines Cont’dSlide24
Cruise Lines
Cruises
are designed to replicate the many variety of amenities and activities available at the world’s leading land resorts.
To
book a cruise requires the consumer to make a variety of major decisions that can include elements of three major travel categories, airlines, hotel and cruises.Slide25
Cruise Lines (cont.)
With the emergence of Internet e-commerce in the travel industry, the cruise lines were tempted several times to follow the airlines in offering direct online marketing and reservations.
Intangible partSlide26
Lodging
The lodging sector of the travel industry, though starting late in e-commerce, is fast catching up.
Hotel
industry room nights and revenue booked electronically in 2001 by travel agents and consumers grew at a rapid rate.
This growth was spurred by GDS booking both by consumers directly and through
third-party travel
Web sites such as Travelocity.com and Expedia.comSlide27
Lodging (cont.)
Today, all major lodging chains have invested in e-commerce and information technology to various degrees.
These investments include in-room high-speed Internet connections, online direct booking Web sites, and online procurement of services and products.
Small bed-and-breakfast properties, too, are either setting up their own Web sites or joining major bed-and-breakfast marketing sites.Slide28
A survey of Major Lodging Websites.
Company and URL
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Online Booking
The Four Seasons Hotel
www.fourseasons.com
Picture links to vacation getaways, business travel and rates, availability, residential properties.
Yes
The Ritz Carlton Hotel
www.ritzcarlton.com
Reservations and explore the hotels. Each different hotel link has extensive information on all hotel services, packages.
Yes
Embassy Suites
www.hilton.com/en
Reservations, check rates, find a hotel, special offers, hotel locator, by city, state, country.
Yes
Marriott Hotel
www.marriott.com
Find a hotel, reservations, hotel directories, route planner, frequent visitors, links to all Marriott Properties.
Yes
The Adams Mark Hotel
www.adamsmark.com
Choosing a location of an Adams Mark Hotel, reservations; search rates & availability by city, state, country.
Yes
Hyatt Hotels
www.hyatt.com
Rates & reservations, special offers, Gold Passport Program, Hyatt Resorts, Hyatt Extra Email Subscription Search for Hyatt worldwide hotels.
YesSlide29
Rental Car Industry
With its quiet start in the early 20th century, the rental car industry has gone a long way toward embracing technology.
Beginning in the 1990s, the industry started to adopt technology to improve its reservation systems
Online booking and marketing of vehicles has helped rental companies streamline their business, increase its reach and efficiency and at the same time better serve the customers’ needs and wants.
Rental car companies are targeting their Web strategies not only at leisure travel customers but also at the corporate travel market. Slide30
Questions