ICT and the Changing Landscape of Global Tourism Distribution

The travel and tourism sector has emerged as one of the most important sectors for developing as well as developed countries. Tourism incorporates many of the features of the information society such as globalization, mobility and information richness. People from all nations, social rank, professions are potential tourists. Tourism links a worldwide supplier community with consumers, equally distributed worldwide. Its physical and virtual networks enable worldwide travelling, bringing together very distant cultures and habits. The industry is diverse, the size of tourism principals varies from micro to global enterprises. While some are fragmented, other parts, like the airlines, are concentrated into an oligopoly of global alliances. Information systems (IS) in tourism have been among the pioneers of leading edge technology applications: Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) or Global Distribution Systems (GDS) have been among the first international inter-organizational systems. Yield management systems are among the most advanced data mining applications. Tourism marketing systems typically represent the forefront of multimedia and virtual-reality applications. The World Wide Web is profoundly changing the production, distribution and consumption of touristic products. Information and communication technology (ICT) is probably the strongest driving force for changes within the tourism industry. Both industries are not only growing above average, they will also be among the most important industries in the next century. Being closely interrelated