Enhancing competitiveness in the tourism industry through the use of business intelligence: a literature review

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relevance of business intelligence (BI) in businesses in general and tourism firms in particular. BI has been hailed as an innovation that can propel businesses that adopt the system to high productivity and efficiency. This paper confirms that view but further adds that BI also enhances a business’s competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews literature on the use of BI in tourism. Although current literature is largely fragmented, focusing on BI, the tourism industry and the notion of competitiveness separately, this paper makes an attempt to bring the three sub-themes in the same study and highlights their interconnectedness. The study adopts two environmental analysis models to better analyze this matter. First is the environmental analysis model as based on Downes’s modification of Porter’s five forces framework. The second model used is the resource-based view approach to business environmental analysis. Findings This paper affirms that the tourism industry is one of those industries that continue to benefit from the advantages that come with the adoption of a BI system. Literature shows that the tourism industry was one of those that first adopted BI in order to benefit from the benefits that come with its adoption. Such advantages include flexible and user friendly tourists’ data capture, storage, retrieval, processing and analytical capabilities. Research limitations/implications This was a largely literature review-based study. There is, therefore, room for strengthening its findings by conducting field work and mixed methods research for more robust results. Practical implications This study will surely benefit the tourism industry and business in general from its highly favorable conclusions to the benefits that come with the adoption of a BI system. It can also be used as a reference in to the tourism field, especially aggregating important concepts and literature that can help future practical studies. Social implications Society will also benefit from this study in terms of the new knowledge that has been generated. Members of society will then be in a position to demand products and services that are a result of innovation and informed decision making. Originality/value Although this paper is largely based on literature, the conclusions reached are those of the authors. A close assessment of the literature in BI and the tourism industry was done, resulting in the conclusions reached by the authors.

The Positive Impact of Implementation Business Intelligence and Big Data in Hospitality and Tourism Sector

“…Business intelligence is used to combine all different data from various sources to be processed into useful quality information [15]. By identifying industry-specific options so that the collection process yields information in sufficient quantity and quality [10].…”

“…In addition, security will inevitably be attached to the data storage system [10]. So, by implementing and using business intelligence can easily detect and prevent a criminal activity such as data theft, and so on [15].…”

“…Because the resources owned by users (companies) are allocated properly and accurately so that decisions can be made easily, quickly, and better than traditional methods [15].…”

“…The risks that may arise and be experienced by companies [15]. Users also can easily change their business knowledge to solve many business problems such as to identify their most profitable customer and the reasons for their loyalty, as well as identify future customer with comparable if not greater potential [15].…”

“…Cost Efficiency But still, generate a lot of revenue and profit because it can create and provide business reports that users need or want even in just seconds [15].…”