The Evolving Value of eTourism for Suppliers and Visitors

The Evolving Value of eTourism for Suppliers and Visitors

João V. Estêvão (Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Portugal), Maria João Carneiro (University of Aveiro, Portugal & Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies (GOVCOPP) Research Unit, Portugal) and Leonor Teixeira (University of Aveiro, Portugal & Institute of Electronics and Telematics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA), Portugal)
Copyright: © 2016 |Pages: 26
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8751-6.ch072

Abstract

The tourism industry is known to have an extensive use of the Internet, both on the supply and on the demand side. The steady and fast emergence of the Internet has dramatically changed the business processes within the sector, forcing suppliers and intermediaries to adapt to a scenario in which visitors have multiple and more flexible choices regarding the search, planning, booking, and purchase of tourism services and products. This chapter explores the main impacts and trends that the dynamic use of the Internet within the tourism sector—the so-called eTourism—has originated in each of the sector's main stakeholders, including suppliers, intermediaries, destination management organizations, and tourists.
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Background

Regarding the conceptual framework required to analyze the ideas conveyed in this chapter, it was considered adequate to start by approaching the concept of tourism system and, in a second moment, to illustrate the role of eTourism as an enhancer of tourism’s Supply Chain Management (SCM).

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