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“While the tourism industry led the Internet revolution in the early 1990’s, they now lag many other industries in using communications technologies coming into the 21 st Century.”
Dr. Daniel Fesenmaier, Director of the National Laboratory for Tourism
and eCommerce (NLTeC), School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at
Temple University is in the process of conducting benchmark tourism studies
to evaluate the use of information technology within the United States
and Canada.
Dr. Fesenmaier and his colleagues focus on the patterns of use and adoption of information technology within tourism organizations. Their studies reveal that the majority of tourism marketing destination organizations are still using only the very basic information technology tools. Although these organizations use email and have created marketing websites, they have not adopted the more sophisticated ecommerce strategies. Whereas, most economic sectors are using information technologies to improve productivity, customer relationships and to expand sales, the tourism industry has not yet made this leap.
According to Fesenmaier, the primary reason for the tourism industry’s slow adoption of innovative information technologies can be explained by the lack of vision and understanding on the part of industry leaders. “The leadership within the tourism industry has failed to understand how the Internet and information and communication technologies can be used to transform this industry.” Dr. Fesenmaier identifies four initiatives that must be adopted by industry leaders to best move the tourism industry forward:
- The adoption of technology often comes from the top down; accordingly, tourism leaders will have a new and evolving role in defining the direction of growth of the tourism industry. Understanding this new role will help them direct the industry toward innovation.
- Integrate the potential of networked organizations in driving tourism development and productivity. That is, they need to become the agent of change that facilitates networking among the disparate components of the industry – hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc.
- Be prepared to accept how information technology will transform the way employees contribute to industry goals. The mix of qualifications and skills of the labor force is dramatically different when information technology drives operation.
- Be aware of how consumers use technology to make decisions regarding tourism products. Consumers are empowered with more sophisticated skills to make their destination and other travel related decisions; and therefore, the industry must understand how to respond to consumer demands which use communications and information technologies in making these decisions.
The goal of the Graduate Program in Temple’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management is to provide direction in educating the future leaders of the tourism industry in the use of information technology and ecommerce. Further, the National Laboratory for Tourism and eCommerce is to providing an opportunity for training students in cutting edge research of the intersection of information technology, ecommerce and tourism. Currently, Dr. Fesenmaier and his colleagues are working with the International Olympic Committee, the Northern Indiana Tourism Development Corporation, and the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to create online knowledge systems to enhance their ability to more effectively market their tourism destination.
Dr. Fesenmaier is a Cochran Fellow in the Fox School of Business and Management and is the Director of the National Laboratory for Tourism and eCommerce (NLTeC), Temple University. For more information about the NLTeC research program, contact Dr. Fesenmaier drfez@temple.edu.