ognizant Communication Corporation

Information Technology & Tourism, Vol. 6, pp. 231-243
1098-3058/04 $20.00 + .00
Copyright © 2004 Cognizant Comm. Corp.
Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

Centre for Regional Innovation & Competitiveness, University of Ballarat, Ballarat, Vic 3353, Australia

This article reports the outcomes of a study on the nature of the change process when a regional tourism network seeks to adopt e-commerce. The study builds on Rogers' seminal work on the diffusion of innovations and makes a unique contribution to existing ICT diffusion studies by its focus on the nature of the network links and by its application of an action-oriented methodology to untangle the effects of the embedded network structure. The study suggests a strong relationship between diffusion and network positioning, both in terms of place (status and position in the network) and space (the geographic make-up of the network). Diffusion additionally hinged on network cohesion and actors' trust in and engagement with the network.

Key words: Tourism networks; e-Commerce; Collaboration; Learning; Social capital; Trust; Change

Address correspondence to Dr. Patrice Braun, Research Fellow, Centre for Regional Innovation & Competitiveness, University of Ballarat, PO Box 663, Ballarat, Vic 3353, Australia. Tel: 61-3-5327-9465; Fax: 61-3- 5327-9405; E-mail: p.braun@ballarat.edu.au

¹Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Sciences, Texas A&M University
²National Laboratory for Tourism and eCommerce, Temple University

The development of knowledge-based tourism business-to-business (B2B) communities requires the adoption of a multidimensional, multilevel perspective on system design that incorporates processes of knowledge creation and transformation and takes organizational stages of effective technology use into consideration. This article illustrates how the Illinois Tourism Network (ITN) as an example for an interorganizational, knowledge-based tourism information system/community has successfully integrated the management of information and knowledge flows in a way that appeals to tourism organizations in different stages of effective technology use and fosters capacity building among community members.

Key words: Marketing information systems; Knowledge-based systems; Interorganizational networks; B2B community; Stages of technology adoption

Address correspondence to Daniel R. Fesenmaier, National Laboratory for Tourism and eCommerce, Temple University, 201-C Vivacqua Hall (062-62), 1700 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122. Tel: (215) 204-5611; Fax: (215) 204-1455; E-mail: drfez@temple.edu

¹The University of Western Australia, Business School, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
²Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Institute for Tourism and Leisure Studies, Augasse 2-6, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
³University of Notre Dame Australia, School of Information Technology, 19 Mouat St, Fremantle, WA 6959, Australia

This study employs a novel method of Web content extraction and analysis to investigate the evolving competitive landscape in an important business-to-consumer (B2C) area: travel and tourism. Findings from a comprehensive Web mining endeavor and a supplier survey shed light on the effectiveness of tourism Web sites. Important dimensions of the automated measurement are ease of navigation, interactive elements such as reservation and booking features, volume of textual and graphical information, number of available languages, and the textual diversity of documents. Precise textual information and interactive features are crucial to the success of a hotel Web site, measured in terms of tourists' awareness, electronic inquiries, and online bookings. The article discusses differences between four European destinations and the implications of benchmarks for Web site management.

Key words: Content mining; Web site evaluation; Technology acceptance model

Address correspondence to Karl W. Wöber, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Institute for Tourism and Leisure Studies, Augasse 2-6, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. E-mail: karl.woeber@wu-wien.ac.at

Universitat de Girona, Institut d'Informàtica i Aplicacions, Agents Research Lab., Campus Montilivi, E-17071 Girona, Spain

This research focuses on the development of methodologies for tourism-related integration services. The authors define an adaptive Smart User Model and develop a methodology to build and manage this Smart User Model in the next generation of open environments in order to offer the user a variety of highly personalized services. In addition, the Smart User Model is able to capture any type of explicit or implicit information concerning the user from several domains in order to add this information to its knowledge of the user's preferences and interests.

Key words: Recommender systems; Smart user models; Tourism services; User modeling; User models management

Address correspondence to Gustavo González, Universitat de Girona, Institut d'Informàtica i Aplicacions, Agents Research Lab., Campus Montilivi, Building P4, E-17071 Girona, Spain. Tel: +34 972 41 84 78; Fax: +34 972 41 82 59; E-mail: gustavog@eia.udg.es

Anthropology Department, Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan

This study utilizes collected data of about 60 tourist sites in Jordan to develop management plans and to direct and guide future tourist developmental projects. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to construct an inductive model that finds suitable areas for the initiation of tourist developmental projects. Our results pointed to four suitable areas where developmental projects should be directed: Madaba, Karak, Aqaba, and Wadi Mousa. The absence of modern information technologies, the presence of traditional management, and the centralized administration within the tourism sector in Jordan have slowed the prosperity of tourism.

Key words: Jordan; Tourism; Development; Management; GIS

Address correspondence to Khalid Magablih, Ph.D., Anthropology Department, Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan. E-mail: magablih@yahoo.com