{"title":"Assessing the Global E-Readiness of Hotel Chain Websites","authors":"P. O'Connor","doi":"10.3727/109830512X13364362859984","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3727/109830512X13364362859984","url":null,"abstract":"Companies serving a truly global customer base need to adapt their websites to take the linguistic, culture and social differences of local markets into account. This study benchmarks the efforts of hotel chains to incorporate appropriately adapted content and facilities on their consumer websites as an indicator of their commitment to servicing international markets. Both individual findings and the summary Global e-Readiness Index suggest that most are not acting global in their e-commerce efforts. While many provide content in languages other than English, even the highest performers fail to take their internationalization efforts deep enough into the purchase process to facilitate purchases by international clients.","PeriodicalId":306718,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Tour.","volume":"252 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115838571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social Media and Crisis Management in Tourism: Applications and Implications for Research","authors":"M. Sigala","doi":"10.3727/109830512X13364362859812","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3727/109830512X13364362859812","url":null,"abstract":"Firms are increasingly facing crises events, while tourism is an industry that is highly vulnerable to numerous risks. Despite the wide adoption of social media in tourism and the previous research examining the use of the Internet for crisis, there is limited but emerging research on the use of social media for crisis management. This article aims to fill in this gap by reviewing the literature. The literature is critically analyzed with the aim to identify the use and the impact of social media for crisis management to both tourism suppliers/organizations and tourism demand. The implications of social media are exemplified with several examples. The literature clearly demonstrates how tourism organizations should exploit the inbound and outbound communication, networking, and collaboration capabilities of social media for including several other stakeholders into their crisis management strategies and activities. The article also discusses the practical and research implications of social media in crisis management for tourism policy makers, tourism suppliers, and researchers.","PeriodicalId":306718,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Tour.","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123954881","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Mixed-Method Study of User Behavior and Usability on an Online Travel Agency","authors":"B. Pan, Lixuan Zhang, Kevin Smith","doi":"10.3727/109830512X13364362859975","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3727/109830512X13364362859975","url":null,"abstract":"Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) play a more and more important role in the tourism and hospitality industry by contributing to a large volume of transactions and revenue. Many studies have evaluated tourism websites through different research methods. Website usability in general has improved dramatically but problems remain. Very few studies focus on the user behavior and usability of a single OTA website. This research uses a mixed-methods approach, including eye tracking methodology to study information search strategy and the usability problems of a major OTA site with a pre-defined information search task. The results show that users' information search is mostly utilitarian in nature; the complex interface and advertising messages either confuse or were ignored by most users. The study calls for a simpler and more intuitive interface. A MIXED-METHOD STUDY OF USER BEHAVIOR AND USABILITY ON AN ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCY","PeriodicalId":306718,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Tour.","volume":"105 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124687439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Behavioral Intention to Use Mobile Information Services in Tourism: The Case of the Tourist Guide Dolomitisuperski.Mobi","authors":"M. Fuchs, W. Höpken, Jörg Rasinger","doi":"10.3727/109830512X13364362859858","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3727/109830512X13364362859858","url":null,"abstract":"Mobile information services show great potential both as an on-site information source for customers and as a communication and distribution channel for tourism providers. Although in nontourism domains the adoption rate of using mobile technologies has been growing exponentially, comparable figures are only moderate in travel and tourism. Moreover, relatively little research has been conducted to understand travelers' behavioral intention to use mobile technologies. thus, the article proposes a technology acceptance model which is especially designed for mobile information services in the tourism domain. the model is an extension of the Unified theory of Acceptance and Use of technology, and is empirically tested through laboratory-based usage data obtained from users evaluating a mobile tourist guide developed for the ski resort DolomitiSuperski. Structural equation modeling (SeM) revealed that hedonic quality and social influence are main drivers of the behavioral intention to use mobile technologies in tourism, while monetary transparency and price fairness emerged as major usage barriers.","PeriodicalId":306718,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Tour.","volume":"69 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116781023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of DMS in Reshaping Tourism Destinations: An Analysis of the Portuguese Case","authors":"J. Estêvão, M. J. Carneiro, L. Teixeira","doi":"10.3727/109830512X13283928066751","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3727/109830512X13283928066751","url":null,"abstract":"the growing competition among tourism destinations, the diversity of tourism suppliers, and the sophistication of the tourism demand bring new challenges to destination competitiveness, making it a more dynamic and ongoing process. the emergence of the Internet as the main vehicle of promotion and distribution of tourism destinations’ offerings has been presenting considerable advantages, but also challenges, to destination managers. Among the several Internet-based solutions aiming at enhancing destination competitiveness, destination management systems (DMSs) have emerged as a relevant tool to increase destination competitiveness. the present article extends previous research by providing a literature review on the advantages of DMSs and by presenting a diagnosis analysis of potential benefits of creation of DMSs in Portugal and of the current conditions to establish these systems in this country. the analysis reveals that the adoption of DMSs may provide a wide range of advantages for destination management organizations (DMOs), the tourism industry, and potential visitors, namely, at the coordination, disintermediation, and promotion levels. the study also suggests that DMSs may bring several benefits to the Portuguese tourism system, such as the diversification of tourism destinations, products, origin markets, and distribution channels. Although some constraints seem to exist for creating DMSs in Portugal, the country’s current tourism policies, the recent restructuration of regional tourism boards, and some data concerning the e-Readiness of the Portuguese tourism industry seem to favor the creation of these systems.","PeriodicalId":306718,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Tour.","volume":"125 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129062846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tourist-Activated Networks: Implications for Dynamic Bundling and EN Route Recommendations","authors":"F. Zach, U. Gretzel","doi":"10.3727/109830512X13283928066959","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3727/109830512X13283928066959","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses tourist-activated networks as a concept to inform technological applications supporting dynamic bundling and en route recommendations. Empirical data were collected from travelers who visited a regional destination in the US and then analyzed with respect to its network structure. The results indicate that the tourist-activated network for the destination is rather sparse and that there are clearly differences in core and peripheral nodes. The findings illustrate the structure of a tourist-activated network and provide implications for technology design and tourism marketing.","PeriodicalId":306718,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Tour.","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116774526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Strategic Implications for Overcoming Communication Gaps in Tourism Caused by Digital Divide","authors":"Christiane Maurer, Veronika Lutz","doi":"10.3727/109830512X13283928066887","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3727/109830512X13283928066887","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":306718,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Tour.","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116641496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}