Sofia Reino

ICT adoption and development: issues in rural accommodation

Purpose – The work described in this paper is of direct relevance to those with an interest in the phenomena surrounding information and communication technologies adoption by the rural accommodation sector. The paper aims to provide the results from a preliminary study, which examined differences in the level of inter‐firm technology adoption between rural and urban accommodation establishments within a major tourism destination, Scotland.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted, and the results set out here suggest that these differences are only presented with two types of technology, i.e. systems requiring networking infrastructure and sector‐specific applications.Findings – The discussion suggests that the neoclassical theory of growth and theory of development are contradictory but that they complementarily explain different levels of adoption between rural and urban setting.Research limitations/implications – Not only theoretical, but also industry implications and suggestions for furth...

The Contribution of Technology-Based Heritage Interpretation to the Visitor Satisfaction in Museums

The tradition of heritage interpretation is moving away from purely conservational and educational goals to an entertainment- and experience-oriented interpretative provision. New technologies are gaining prominence in museums to enhance visitors’ mindfulness, subsequent learning outcomes and satisfaction. Extant research literature reflects technology-based heritage interpretation; however, such studies implement predetermined outputs which have never been tested by the demand side. This paper seeks to assess technology-mediated heritage interpretation, merging both theory from the museums management and customer satisfaction literatures, and applying Importance-Performance Analysis. Results reveal that new technology does not represent a substitute for other interpretative applications. Its appropriate use in those museums with a traditional interpretative layout enhances displays’ multisensory provision and visitors’ perceived interactivity. The use of technology is more appreciated in traditional museums than in those with live interpretation.

What Matters to The Industry? An Evaluation Framework for the Adoptability of Online Tourism Distribution Platforms

Research identifying determinants of the adoption for Online Tourism Distribution Platforms by small operators is lacking. A number of solutions have been developed without addressing their needs. In an attempt to address this gap of research, this paper undertakes a series of interviews and focus groups of the European tourism industry. The findings provide the baseline for developing a framework to evaluate the adoptability of Online Tourism Distribution Platforms by SMEs. The framework is applied to evaluate a number of extant technological solutions. Theoretical, methodological and industry implications are outlined in the paper.

Listening to CEOs: A New Perspective to Study Technology Adoption in Hotels

Information and communication technology (ICT) continues to change the nature of contemporary tourism. ICT is particularly relevant to the hospitality industry, since it is regarded a main source of competitive advantage. Yet, reports published recently reveal that tourism is behind in technology adoption than other industrial sectors. Some works have analysed technology adoption in tourism. However, most come from other fields and the few examples relating the tourism sector are outdated. Thus, it is necessary to identify the reasons why technology adoption remains low in hotels and to find out the drivers of technology adoption in this sector. This paper analyses the data gathered from interviews and focus groups carried out with hoteliers. This phenomenological approach provided evidence on the problems with current technology, discovered some barriers and drivers of technology adoption and identified some ICT priorities.

Enhancing Cultural Tourism e-Services through Heritage Interpretation

Cultural heritage is a major contributor to tourism development. Cultural heritage tourism relies heavily on the communication process for attracting visitors and providing them with a satisfactory experience. The tourist encounter can be significantly enhanced through effective and engaging heritage interpretation. This paper argues that there are opportunities for the application of e-Services in the delivery of heritage interpretation through the Internet — optimising results for the fulfilment of both marketing and interpretation purposes. This paper investigates visitor satisfaction with museums, and explores the use of e-Services for both cultural attraction operators and destination managers over a two-stage empirical investigation. Firstly, this study identifies the contribution of heritage interpretation practices to overall visitor satisfaction in museums, and to the best and most memorable experiences during such visits. Secondly, the paper evaluates the integration of e-Services in cultural attraction and destination websites. The results are integrated and developed into practical industry implications for cultural attractions and destinations websites offer of online heritage interpretation.

Adopting interoperability solutions for online tourism distribution

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that make the adoption of interoperability solutions for online tourism distribution (OTD) more likely by small operators and to develop an evaluation framework for this solutions. Research identifying these determinants is missing. The resulting evaluation framework is then applied to evaluate a number of extant technological solutions focused on interoperability solutions for OTD. Design/methodology/approach – In an attempt to address this gap of research, this paper undertakes a series of interviews and focus groups of the European tourism industry. Findings – Findings partly aligned with the suggestion made by previous research about technology adoption by micro, small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs), they also highlighted some issues which are specific to the adoption of interoperability solutions for OTD. These related to the scarcity of information and communication technology (ICT) applications specifically designed for mini and...

A benchmarking framework for eTourism capability of destinations’ industries

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a framework for benchmarking the eTourism capability of a destination’s tourism industry, understanding the eTourism capability of a destination’s industry as the contribution that the information and communication technologies (ICT) uptake of that industry makes to its own performance. The impact of ICT in tourism has been suggested through extensive research. Previous work has urged the development of wide-angle studies to enable benchmarking of destinations and their industries. However, relevant research is limited. Macro-level studies in the area tend to focus on a single aspect of technology to evaluate adoption, are not sector-specific nor take into consideration the different levels of contribution that systems may bring to performance. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature on tourism, eTourism, benchmarking and technology adoption provided the baseline for developing this benchmarking tool. Findings – The literature supported the selection o...

A New Hotel Online Reputation Framework for Ontology Learning Development

Managing online reviews is fundamental to the marketing of hotels. Reputation Management Systems need strengthening their methodologies to support their aim efficiently. This paper develops a conceptual framework for Hotel Online Reputation and the kernel for Ontology Learning. This is done through a combination of a literature review of Corporate Reputation and the content analysis of Hotel Online Reviews. The results provided an insight into the perception that consumers have of hotels, the way these perceptions are portrayed through online reviews, and the elements and attributes which constitute the concept of Hotel Online Reputation. A detailed explanation of the elements involved in the development of Hotel Online Reputation, and how this framework supports the development of an ontology has also been provided. Implications for those involved in the software development of Reputation Management Systems, managers and scholars have also been introduced through the conclusions sections.

Desarrollo de un marco teórico para la evaluación de la capacidad de etourism en el destino turístico: in working process

En Espana el sector turistico ha desempenado un rol importante, desde la crisis financiera e inmobiliaria de 2008 es uno de los sectores que ha mostrado mejor comportamiento, es por ello que se ha de incidir en mejorar la competitividad turistica de las provincias espanolas y aprovechar asi la contribucion del turismo. Hemos seleccionado para este analisis las provincias del Mediterraneo por ser las que mayor cuota turistica acumulan respecto al conjunto nacional, y por sus caracteristicas comunes en el ambito turistico. La manera de analizar y posteriormente sugerir propuestas para mejorar la competitividad de los destinos turisticos del Mediterraneo, analizar a continuacion las valores de los indicadores que representan la competitividad de los destinos, para luego valorar mediante un panel de expertos la importancia de los factores en cada destino, y finalmente, sugerir actuaciones para aumentar la competitividad. ABSTRACT In Spain tourism sector has had a relevant role since financial and real state crisis in 2008, tourism is one of the few sectors that has helped to economic recovery and it is improving it performance year a year, so tourism competitiveness in the Spanish provinces must be enhanced taking advantage of the tourism good behavior. We have selected the Mediterranean area provinces because of their mayor acummulated tourism share above national, and because of their similar characteristics. The way of improving competitiveness, then to analyze the provinces which have worst performance on the indicators that form the factors, next to asses the factor importance through and expert panel, and finally to recommend actions for improving competitivenessNumerosos estudios han demostrado que las redes sociales influyen en las intenciones de los viajeros de visitar un destino. Sin embargo, la literatura ha prestado poca atencion a la relacion entre el comportamiento de busqueda de informacion y el desarrollo de la fidelidad a los destinos. En este sentido, este estudio analiza este fenomeno, considerando como los turistas no solo comparten su tiempo entre varias fuentes de informacion, sino que estas estan tambien influyendo en el tiempo que los turistas estan compartiendo entre varios destinos, no solo repitiendo la visita a un unico destino, sino tambien haciendose mas fieles a multiples destinos al mismo tiempo (fidelidad horizontal). Sin embargo, este tema no se ha destacado adecuadamente en el contexto turistico. Por lo tanto, el objetivo de este estudio es doble: 1) comprender mejor el comportamiento del turista con respecto al uso de las redes sociales, considerando las diferencias por nacionalidades, genero y edad; y 2) explorar la relacion entre el uso de las diferentes fuentes de informacion de los turistas (tradicionales y digitales) y su influencia en la posterior fidelidad (tanto a un solo destino como en la fidelidad horizontal), y considerando tanto la fidelidad conductual como la actitudinal. Estos resultados son utiles para tomar decisiones sobre estrategias de comunicacion digital y la gestion de los programas de fidelizacion por parte de los destinos turisticos. Palabras clave : Fidelidad Horizontal, Marketing Relacional, Fuentes de Informacion, Redes Sociales, Imagen ABSTRACT The visit to a tourist destination is influenced by the tourists use of social media. However, the literature has not focused its efforts on trying to understand the relationship between the use of social media and destinations loyalty. This study analyzes this phenomenon, considering how tourists not only share their time between several sources of information, but these are also influencing the time that the tourists are sharing between several destinations, not only repeating the visit to a single destination, but also becoming more loyal to multiple destinations at the same time (horizontal loyalty). However, this topic has not been adequately highlighted in the tourism context. This study tries to analyze the differences in the use of social media by nationalities, gender, age and income; and to shed light on their relationship with loyalty. These results are useful for making decisions about digital communication strategies and the management of loyalty programs by tourist destinations. Keywords : Horizontal Loyalty, Relationship Marketing, Information Sources, Social Media, ImageActualmente, los destinos de sol y playa afrontan la necesidad de renovacion y, en el Partido de Necochea, Argentina, se elaboro el Plan Estrategico de Turismo Sustentable de Necochea para responder a esta necesidad. La implementacion requiere analizar y evaluar de modo pragmatico y programatico las intervenciones territoriales para alcanzar las estrategias definidas de reposicionamiento. El articulo propone identificar las unidades de gestion del espacio, los modelos de intervencion para un escenario estrategico que contribuya a la gestion sustentable y reorientacion turistica y proporcionar bases para la reestructuracion territorial como eje transversal de politica publica ambiental y turistica. Para ello, respecto de la unidades se delimita el espacio turistico en funcion de las particularidades fisico-espaciales, los recursos turisticos y oportunidades recreativas y las disfuncionalidades o problematicas detectadas. Luego, se definen los contenidos concretos de los tipos de intervencion propuestos que reorienten la renovacion. Y por ultimo, se enuncian las bases para las actuaciones de reestructuracion territorial en funcion de un escenario estrategico. La renovacion ambiental de Necochea debe basarse en estrategias conducentes a la cualificacion del espacio turistico, la diferenciacion basada en la naturaleza, la potenciacion del entorno urbano y la inclusion de lo ambiental en la gestion turistica.