Impact of Information Technology in Tourism- MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theImpact of Information Technology in Tourism. Answer: Introduction Tourism can be defined as travel and stay of non-resident (Ham, Kim Jeong, 2005). The travel can be either for recreational, business purposes or leisure. Travel involves various components such as accommodation, transport, and attraction. On the other hand, information technology (IT) is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, numerical and textual information by microelectronics based on a combination of telecommunications and computing. Information technology is highly needed in any tourism industry. It is because travel involves processes pertaining business to business, business to consumer, networking of trading partners and instantaneous means of accessing knowledge which needs the help of internet (Inkpen, 1998). The ease of access which is facilitated by internet and depth information has resulted in the emergence of new breed of tourists who are independent and prefer to look for destination places online without necessarily having to co ntact the agents. Through such processes internet has become the primary source of tourists destinations information. Incorporation of informatics in the tourism industry has outpaced the traditional sources of information to tourists destinations. Information technology is a very crucial tool for the survival of the African Eagle tourism company today. Almost all activities involving travel are conducted with application of IT. Today tourist needs to get information online at the destination he or she would wish to go for tourism purposes. The traditional ways of having to travel without explicit knowledge of where you are heading to or contacting agents have been outdated (Ham, Kim Jeong, 2005). African Eagle Tourism Company should design a website and make it available to everybody regardless of the physical location. The site should contain all information relevant to the firm. Potential tourists from anywhere in the world have to visit the website and go precisely through the available information to ensure that they get all that they expect. Once the tourists (customers) find the destination to satisfy their requirements, they end up booking and make payments primarily deposits. After the bookings, the firm becomes able to plan and budget for the expected number of tourists at a particular time. Currently, almost every tourism company has adopted information technology in its operation. For African Eagle Company to compete successfully, then information technology has to been adopted and ensure application in a more beneficial way. It will therefore guarantee survival of the company and increase the profit margins. IT Requirements in the African Eagle Tourism Company Information technology application in the African Eagle tourism company will require an IT highly skilled personnel. The firm should therefore hire or even employ an IT expert as the first step. It is essential to acquire able IT step since he or she is expected to initiate all the activities pertaining IT. Firstly, the expert will provide a detailed plan and budget of IT incorporation to the management of the firm (Ma Buhalis, 2003). The primary task of the expert is to ensure that he or she designs a full website. The site will incorporate all the relevant information about African Eagle Tourism Company which any customer (tourist) would wish to know. The website should be accessible at anywhere in the world. The website should have an attractive outlook to attract people. The employees of the organization should be familiarized with the site so that they can detect any errors occurring (Oconnor Murphy, 2004). The expert will also be keen on the website to ensure that arising inf ormation is updated as soon as possible to avoid customer inconveniences. Details of the firm will also be made available on the social network to make sure that its familiar. The website serves marketing purposes, bookings, delivery of visitors experiences, customers relation follow-ups and digital coach program. Telecommunication sector also should be equipped fully with the required facilities. The equipment may consist of computers, telephones and if possible create a local network to ensure coordination of activities within the firm (Poon, 1993). African Eagle Tourism Company mainly concentrates on three components namely: transport, accommodation, and attraction. Telecommunication will ensure that employees in different departments will communicate effectively therefore ensuring customers enjoy the very best services. The computers aim at reducing computational errors and making tasks easy and quality (Ukpabi Karjaluoto, 2016). Application of IT in the African Eagle Tourism Company The adoption of information technology in African Eagle Tourism Company will incorporate all the stakeholders. It will run from the top employees to the junior staff and managers of different departments as well as employees (Law Jogaratam, 2005). The managers at various agencies such transport and accommodation will ensure that information is kept respectively as well as the records. The Communications will be made accessible and useful to their junior and fellow employees whenever an issue arises. The task will be made accessible and enjoyable by application of computing and telecommunication in the firm. The junior staff will be in a position to perform their duties adequately. Their work in different departments will be made easier. They will keep the records in a reliable way and communicate with the managing staff quickly whenever any need arises. Unnecessary movements within the organization will be curbed (Buhalis Law, 2008). The customers (tourists) will be involved fully in the implementation of the system. They will be in opposition to access the information about African Eagle Tourism Company. The customers will therefore choose the appropriate destination with respect to their requirements. Bookings will also be made online, and online communication will always present be during any time of the day to answer any rising question. Benefits of IT Application in African Eagle TourismIndustry Reduced Operating Cost Use of information technology in African Eagle Tourism Company will reduce the operating cost significantly. Initially, the firm had acquired many employees to perform different tasks. With the application of IT, many functions are performed by the computers. The booking of accommodation for the tourists is done online. They do not have to travel to the Centre for application purpose. Records are kept using computers therefore there is no need of books for the record keeping and hiring of so many employees for the same. The system is capital intensive to the firm (Sheldon, 1997). Convenience The system is convenient to all stakeholders in the firm. The employees will not have to make many computations since computers perform the tasks better (Sheldon, 1997). The management tasks have become comfortable. The customers find it very convenient since they can get the information of African Eagle Tourism Company online. Also, they will not have to travel to book but instead they do it online. Marketing initiatives are done by the use of social media. The potential clients are able to comment on their views about how they were served during their visit. Time-saving Computers usually perform tasks fast and give constant output. Telecommunication has ensured communication in the firm and minimizing unnecessary movements a process which saves a lot of time (Law Jogaratam, 2005). The use of online apps is able to move the tourists in the regions without the need of a tour guide. Hence IT has helped in time saving. Increased Profit Margins With the incorporation of IT in African Eagle Tourism Company, profits margins are likely to increase significantly. Firstly, the workers are reduced since a lot of work is performed by computers. The fact that the system is capital intensive a lot of gains are likely to be accrued (Buhalis Oconnor, 2005). Risks of IT Adoption in African Eagle Tourism Company Loss of Potential Customers African Eagle Tourism Company may end up losing potential customers who may not like their website. Tourist may not like the sites of some destinations which may not look attractive. Destinations may have the best facilities a client would love to have but unattractive designed website may mean losing the customer to other destinations (Ukpabi Karjaluoto, 2016). Security The online platforms of African Eagle Tourism Company may be hacked by cyber criminals making them inaccessible to clients. These definitely would result in losses especially when the firm relies wholly on online customers (Law Jogaratam, 2005). Failure of System Sometimes the systems used by tourists to make booking and payments may fail to operate. This risk can be resulted by working with incompetent IT staff. Failure of the system possesses a significant threat to the firm (Sheldon, 1997). When the systems fail, they may lead to total loss because the tourists will lack something to guide them if the app is not working., Monitoring IT in African Eagle Tourism Company The information technology system performs efficiently with the assistance of an IT expert. It is crucial for African Eagle Tourism Company to employ an IT personnel who will ensure that the system is implemented respectively. All stakeholders should put it into practice. The IT expert should make sure that updates are made as they occur as well as ensuring maintenance of the system. The IT personnel should be readily available in case of any failure (Buhalis Oconnor, 2005). Conclusions Information technology is essential in every organization tourism sector being not an exceptional. African Eagle Tourism Company should therefore adopt information technology in all its processes for easy management and increment in profit margin. To ensure that the activities flow smoothly in travel firm then IT has to be adopted. The company goals will be achieved at a fast rate as well as increasing the profit margins. Recommendations Currently, every organization should adopt information technology to perform its activities. The continuous development of technology and the willingness of the globe to exist as one village has made it mandatory for each and every organization to adopt information technology. The many transactions involving tourism industry requires information technology to make them very efficient thus improving on the gains and quality of services. References Buhalis, D. and Law, R., 2008. Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the InternetThe state of eTourism research. Tourism management, 29(4), pp.609-623. Buhalis, D. and O'Connor, P., 2005. Information communication technology revolutionizing tourism. Tourism recreation research, 30(3), pp.7-16. Frew, A.J., 2000. Information and communications technology research in the travel and tourism domain: Perspective and direction. Journal of Travel Research, 39(2), pp.136-145. Ham, S., Kim, W.G. and Jeong, S., 2005. Effect of information technology on performance in upscale hotels. 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