Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
25
Contextualizing the past,
conceptualizing the future
Tourism distribution and
the impact of ICTs
Andrew J. Spencer and Dimitrios Buhalis
Introduction
This chapter gives an overview of the use of information and communication technologies
and their impact on the present and future of tourism distribution. Undoubtedly, ICTs have and
are continuing to change the way that most industries operate and function and have evolved
from being imaginary futuristic tools to being necessary to competitiveness and effi ciency in the
marketing of products and daily operation of lucrative businesses. This is no different for
the global tourism industry which is now more than ever, dependent on ICTs to provide an ever
evolving technologically savvy market with the goods, services and products which it demands.
A background to the concept of ICTs in the travel industry is given, with specifi c focus on
the Internet. It will also examine the literature related to distribution strategies while giving
practical examples of the way the travel supply chain has evolved over time. Technology
Diffusion and Adoption will also be discussed with focus on the
Technology Acceptance Model
of
Davis (1989) which has advanced ideas related to adoption drivers with specifi c emphasis
on individual and personal adoption. The concepts of diffusion and adoption will be taken as two
semantically different but relevant concepts in this discussion of tourism distribution. Adoption
here refers to making use of an innovation within operational practices and processes while
diffusion addresses how information about the innovation is transmitted in a group (Rogers
1994). We contend that these two concepts are very interrelated and symbiotic as knowledge
transmission may affect the decision to use (adoption) and inversely adoption will necessitate
diffusion. Finally, the work will highlight the critical and often overlooked determinant of the
adoption and acceptance of ICTs in tourism distribution; that of the leadership of fi rms and
close with a discussion of the trends, future prospects and challenges that may greet this dynamic
industry in the areas of distribution and marketing.
The ICT debate: an evolution of perspectives
The concept of using ICTs in the travel industry is not a novel one and stems from the fi rst
reservation systems in the 1950s to the tourist information systems like TIS and Gulliver of the
