This research investigates how the hospitality sector in Switzerland has embraced the new world of (online) distribution. It analyses the role of existing distribution channels, and gives insights into channel management methods used. Data is gathered through an online survey among Swiss hotels resulting in 196 usable questionnaires. Findings show that direct booking channels remain the dominant sales tools in Switzerland, although their proportion in the distribution mix has been decreasing steadily in the last years. The Internet Distribution System channel reaches 16.4% and thus is the channel with the highest growth rate in 2011. A cluster analysis on multi-channel distribution strategies results in four groups: multi-channel distributors, electronic distributors, real time distributors, and traditional distributors. Further, it is shown that more than half of the hotels manage rates and availabilities manually and only one out of four hotels has implemented a channel manager able to manage different channels
Integrated customer relationship management (CRM) processes between service providers and destination management organizations (DMOs) are essential to bring about the cooperation enabling a tourism region to remain competitive. While DMOs face the threat of disintermediation and need to respond with higher level services, service providers, particularly small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) have considerable potential within their CRM processes for efficiency improvement. One possible scenario to solve this dilemma would be a partnership between the service providers and the DM0 in the field of CRM processes. In this integrative CRM approach the DMO provides both the required information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure and the processing of specific tasks. Currently, the outsourcing of CRM processes is hardly practised in the DMO context. The derived research model explains which factors drive the service providers' intention to increase the outsourcing level, identifies destination management systems (DMS) as enablers of integrated electronic CRM and offers a thorough understanding of the critical factors influencing cooperative CRM between DMOs and SMTEs.
Ob die Sehnsucht nach Natur, der Wunsch nach Abstand oder eine Suche nach unverfälschten, authentischen Erlebnissen: Das wachsende Interesse vieler Reisenden am Landleben und ländlichen Regionen birgt unzählige Chancen und Spannungsfelder in der Tourismusentwicklung. Wie in deutschen und internationalen ländlichen Regionen ein profitabler, nachhaltiger und sozialverträglicher Tourismus entstehen kann, zeigen die vielfältigen Themen und Beiträge dieses Bandes. Ein facettenreicher Ein- und Ausblick, der die unterschiedlichen Dimensionen aktueller touristischer Potenziale des ländlichen Raums mit neuen Studien und vielen Fallbeispielen transparent macht.
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