Research on the Internet's Impact on Tourism Distribution Channels in the Era of Smart Tourism

Abstract

In the era of Smart Tourism, the Internet of which the essence lies in the information dissemination inevitably affects the tourism distribution channels. This paper mainly analyzes the Internet's impact on the structure and the function of tourism distribution channel, holding that the Internet information technology is not only the incentive but also an important way for the changes of the function of tourism distribution channel. Then this paper points out the deficiencies of the current research about the Internet's impact on tourism distribution channels and points out that, in the era of Smart Tourism which mainly features in personalized, ubiquitous and convenient travel information services, the Internet big data can provide new tools, new methods and new paradigm for the strategy development of tourism distribution channel. Internet's Impact on the Structure of Tourism Distribution Channels Among the studies on the Internet's, impact on tourism distribution channels most of which pay attention to the influence on the structure of tourism distribution channels, including the judgment of future development trend of tourism distribution channels: disintermediation and re-intermediation. Disintermediation refers to that the Internet replace the middlemen (especially the traditional middlemen) in distribution function. The so-called re-intermediation refers to that the middlemen taking advantage of the convenience provided by the Internet, recombine their original function and mechanism and continue to play their unique advantages in the tourism distribution channels.

THE READINESS FOR IMPLEMENTING ICTs IN HOTEL INDUSTRY ORGANIZATIONS: EVIDENCE FROM THE REGIONAL LEVEL

“…Hotel organizations gain a competitive advantage in the market only if they are ready to apply innovations in their work. With the development of ICT, it becomes available to the tourist to find, book and pay accommodation in a short time of a few minutes via the Internet or in recent times through mobile applications (Wei 2016). The hypothesis is elaborated on the basis of creating a competitive advantage for the hotel implementing ICT in components that are related to complexity in the service provision process affect possible quality improvement.…”

“…Some of the possible effects of such results stem from insufficient skills of employees when performing business tasks related to ICTs, failure to achieve a sufficient level of education on the part of hotel management in digital tools, but also due to the existence of a gap in the labor market. From the aspect of demand for accommodation, technology has made it possible for potential users of hotel services, based on their budget and free time, to more easily research the locations of destinations, accommodation units, transport options and thus make more efficient decisions about travel and consumption of services (Verhoef et al 2021;Gruescu et al 2009;Wei 2016). This research aims to show the degree of readiness of hotel organizations for the implementation of ICT.…”

Applications of Social Media in the Tourism Industry: A Review

“…Tourists have realized that social media is considered as an essential instrument for them while choosing the destination for traveling, having food and beverages, and shopping compared to other tools. Simultaneously, users are becoming much more familiar with the Internet's encryption and personalized services (Wei, 2015). Moro & Rita (2018) stated that social media's application by any organization influences consumer perception towards a brand's products and services, such as customer satisfaction, outlook towards that brand, and purchase intention.…”

“…Thus, it is clear that the Internet has conceptualized how tourists find and buy the products and services of tourism, changing the delivery of tourism services and products, making the combination of the design of tourism services and products more tailored. Social media has steadily rebuilt the business process in all businesses in the distribution networks for the participants of the distribution channel with the provisions of redefining their key competitiveness (Wei, 2015). Sharda & Ponnada (2008) mentioned that travel organizations might generate revenue by linking e-commerce websites and organizations' booking platforms with travel blogs.…”