Tourism Information Technology Chapter One from Dr. Sheldon’s book TRM 360 DR. ZONGQING ZHOU
SYNERGY: TOURISM, INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGY Tourism: the world’s largest industry 200 million jobs worldwide in 1995 300 million jobs in 2005 Information technology: the most powerful mover of world economy
Flow of Tourism Information
Characteristics of Tourism Heterogeneity: 35 components that serve the travelers Intangibility: Information intensive Perishability: lose value if not sold International: cross border communication and transportation Service in nature: speed matters
TYPOLOGIES OF TOURISM INFORMATION Static versus dynamic Information that doesn’t change very often Information that is dynamic and need to be changed frequently Pre-trip versus in-trip Private versus public sector
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION Characteristics of Information Neither scarce nor depletable: expands as it is being used Can be used as substitutes for land, labor and capital. Concern with leakage: information security Impact of IT on different industries