Transcript Interaction between Target Groups and Personnel Management

Application of the web
based technologies in tourism
(The praxis of Bulgarian tour operators and travel
agencies)
Author: Tania Gorcheva, Associated Professor,
Dep. International Business, Tsenov Academy
of Economics
Svishtov, Bulgaria
Contents
• Introduction to the problem
• The relation “technical progress – tourism
•
business”
Survey – application of the web technologies in the praxis of Bulgarian firms
- Methodological fundament
- Survey results
Introduction to the problem
What are the web technologies as an
innovation in tourism for?
They translate the communication with
customers from the real to the virtual
space and make the distribution cost
lower, so the firms gain competitive
advantages.
The relation “technical progress –
tourism business”
The influence of modern technologies will
be studied in the following aspects:




Electronic nets
Semantic nets
Web sites
Computer animation
On the base of those aspects we construct
a profile of the web technologies in the
tour operators and agencies firms
Survey – application of the web technologies
in the praxis of Bulgarian firms
Methodological fundament of the estimation of
the present situation
а) Questionnaire to the – 584 tour operators and
agencies, no respondent - 165
b) Questionnaire includes three sections of
questions
– Observation information about the firm
– Profile of the applied web technologies in the firms
– Implementation problems and difficulties
First section. Study of the profile of the applied
technologies
• Structure of the observed firms in the field
•
•
•
of tourism
Character of the relation “level of
technology – level of firm development”
Possibilities to gain competitive
advantages through the web technologies
Possibilities for growing of the framework
with the help of technology
Structure of the
observed firms in the
field of tourism
-Name and location of the firm
-Type of the enterprise
-Scale of firm:
small/big/medium
- Main characteristics
- Structure measures;
- Share measures
Character of the relation “level
of technology – level of firm
development”
- Applied software products
- Type of the Internet-based
technologies
- Purpose of using the Internet
- Structure measures;
- Quality measures
Main connection for analysis
• Is there a connection between the size of
the firm and the level of the web
technology?
• What kind of connection exists between
the firm activity and the applied web
technology?
• What kind of technology finds priority in
the praxis?
• Are there any problems and barriers in the
process of implementation of web
technologies?
Results from the survey
А) Structure
of the observed firms in the field of tourism
medium, 6% big, 0%
small, 94%
Profile of the web technologies in the tour operator firms
b) Character of the relation “level of technology – level of firm
development”
Other products
46%
Accounting software
Integrated software
0
%
45%
20%
50%
Main aspects of using the Internet based
technologies
/
Advertising
88%
Submitting
information
86%
Communication
85%
with the customers
Market analyses
85%
Analyses of
competitors
We don’t use
72%
2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Character of the relation “level of
technology – level of firm development”
(web technology is exploited for)
Communication flow in the
firm
6%
Reservations – tickets,
hotels, product packages
6%
3%
For everything
Online payment operations
3%
Contact foreign partner
3%
Check of the normative
documents
2%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
Forms of innovation
We don’t have our own site/ portal
6%
We use other
11%
portals,
but don’t have our own
site
A Corporate site
Other portals
Without a portal /
site
Own site
or portal
83%
What kind of form does the firm use to present its own
activities to the public
Forms of innovation
"B to B"
43%
37%
"B to C"
none
12%
others
8%
"B to D"
Can’t understand
"D to D"
“D to D”
0%
5%
3%
2%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Applied forms of e-business
35%
40%
45%
50%
Possibilities to gain competitive
advantages from the web technologies
85%
Advertising
78%
PR information
68%
Reservations
E-payment
12%
Разплащания
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Application of the firm Internet site
70%
80%
90%
Possibilities for growing of the
framework with the help of technology
Bad or not a reliable Internet connection
6%
Problems of the small city
3%
Not enough personal qualification
2%
Because of thee-business the agencies
are not needed
2%
The customers are not informed enough
2%
There is not a terminal for e-payment in the city
2%
2%
The partners are cannot use the
web technologies
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
Barriers for applying the web technologies
5%
6%
7%
Possibilities for growing of the
framework with the help of technology
No difficulties
17%
High costs
15%
No qualified personnel
11%
6%
Technologies are too complicated
Not an efficient investment
5%
High cost of qualification
3%
Bad communications
2%
No motivation to apply innovations
The technology is
not needed
2%
0%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
Difficulties in applying the web technologies
16%
18%
CONCLUSIONS
• Compared to the world level of innovative technologies, Bulgarian
tour operators and agencies are far from this level. They use the
simplest form of the web technologies:
 The electronic and business nets and integrated reservation systems
are still rare;
 They are more expensive in the field of Internet based technologies
and direct reservation systems;
 They are convinced that the Internet technologies are appropriate for
purposes such as advertising, communication, PR – information, but
they do not use those technologies for e-payment or e – business.
• At present there are predominantly small and medium-sized firms
in Bulgaria, working in the field of tourism distribution. However,
we have not discovered a clear connection between the size of the
firm and the level of applied web technologies in their activities.
• The problems for Bulgarian tour operators and agencies in using
the web technologies are of different kind.