Hosted Application Provision for Small and Medium Sized Tourism Enterprises: Are We Ready for This?

The concept of "hosted application" in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) outsourcing is not new. The technological advances in computer connectivity and the Internet, has enabled the emergence of a new business model called Application Service Provider (ASP). An ASP is a company that hosts applications for third parties over an intranet or the Internet, charging them a negotiated fee for their use. Small and medium-sized tourism enterprises may benefit from the ASP model by access to cheaper high-end applications, specialised ICT support and expertise, "invisible" upgrades and fast application deployment. This study, over 106 small hotels in the UK and in Greece, shows that although these benefits are acknowledged, there is some reluctance to adopt the model. Apart from their idiosyncratic approach to decision-making and the concerns expressed on operational and security issues of ASPs, the respondents felt that, ICT does not offer them any competitive but only relative advantage.