The Future of Destination Management Systems essay
The modern industry of tourism and its development in the past at least 30 years is inextricably linked with the progress of information and communication technologies. The evidence of their penetration into all the processes of tourist business, travel organizations, and functioning of the hospitality industry is the formation of an innovative direction – e-tourism.
The first step in the formation of e-tourism can be considered the introduction of computer reservation systems (1970’s) and Global Distribution Systems (1980’s), which greatly improved the efficiency of intra-corporate information management and sales management. Since the late 1990’s, the Internet and information and communication technology (ICT) have greatly transformed functional, structural, strategic, and marketing levels of global interaction between suppliers, intermediaries and consumers worldwide (Sussmann and Baker, 1996; Nowak et al., 2010; Tribe, 2010).
In these terms Destination Management Systems (DMS) are the systems that combine and supply a vast number of tourism products through a range of platforms and channels, usually working on a specific area, and promoting the activities of a destination management organization in that area. DMS try to apply the customer-oriented approach in order to operate and sell the destination as a holistic unit, usually by providing relevant destination-focused information, applying real-time reservations, destination management tools and giving special importance to supporting small and independent suppliers of tourism products (Frew and Horan, 2007; Buhalis, 2008).
As can be concluded from the above definition a DMS is much more than simply a website or online reservation system. It offers a full set of tourism promotion, management, and implementation tools with product, based on businesses and visitor databases. Further, we’ll discuss strategic competitive advantages of contemporary DMSs and possible ways to provide their online marketing.
Competitive advantage of contemporary DMSs
It is obvious that the functioning of contemporary destination management is impossible without the use of modern methods of distribution of its services and operation inside global electronic sales channels. The largest of them are GDSs representing Internet reservation systems. To date, there are 4 global reservation systems: Amadeus, Galileo, Worldspan, and Sabre, applied by more than 800’000 travel agencies worldwide to book flight reservations, cruises, cars, hotels in real-time (Gretzel et al, 2010; Nowak et al., 2010).
In contrast to GDS, access to which is possible only for agents of tour companies, contemporary ADSs (alternative distribution systems) provide services for booking travel services to private clients. By accessing any of the ADS portals, the customer can choose the desired destination on one’s own, get information about it, book accommodation for specific dates in real time and receive instant confirmation of the reservation (Gretzel et al, 2010; Tribe, 2010; Buhalis, 2008). Nowadays, there are thousands of sites providing such services, including: Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, HRS.com, Travelocity.com, Hotels.com, Priceline.com.
At the same time, the abovementioned traditional tourist information and reservation systems are still not fully utilizing all the opportunities offered by electronic networks. In particular, in the aspect of the fact that actions in the tourist market are divided into two phases according to the decision-making process (the phase before the decision and the phase after the decision), traditional systems provide some information needed in the first stage.
Information necessary for tourists on the stage before a decision can be divided into static (general information about the proposed area of residence, its geography, history, transportation issues, etc.; general suggestions from travel agents, tour operators, etc.) and dynamic (news in the country, region, city, availability of places for booking; special offers; cascading proposals; detailed information of individual character, etc.) (Pechlaner and Raich, 2001). But it is assumed that DMSs can support both phases (Kim and Fesenmaier, 2008). Thus, the main issues that must be solved by the systems include (Ndou and Petti, 2007, p. 5-7; Wang and Russo, 2007; p. 192):
– Provision of traveler with detailed and timely information on the widest range of topics;
– Provision of small tourism organizations with the opportunity of promoting their services and offers in the market inexpensively and effectively;
– Provision of an inexpensive way to any organizations for distributing information through electronic networks;
– Offering an alternative system of marketing and distribution channels of information;
– Creation of an open economic system for sale of tourism services in the electronic form.
Thus, in general, the modern concept of e-tourism covers all business functions: e-commerce, e-marketing, e-finance, e-accounting, e-delivery, e-R&D, e-manufacturing, as well as e-strategy, e-planning and e-management in all the sectors of modern tourism: tourism, travel, transport, leisure, hospitality, principals and intermediaries, as well as public organizations (Buhalis, 2008; Frew and Horan, 2007). Thus, a DMS has three components: business management, information systems management, and factually tourism (Kim and Fesenmaier, 2008).
Through the prism e-tourism, it is most typically defined as an online service that provides direct sales of travel services to end users and uniting manufacturers, travel agents and intermediaries (B2B) (Dale, 2003, p.111). At the same time, there is now a great need for on-line information services that provide advice on all matters that may arise when planning trips. They can be classified as e-travel. Travel information systems service and provide information support and apply Travel Technology, implying the use of ICT in modern tourism industry (Buhalis, 2008; Formica and Kothari, 2008).
It is also clear that the spread of information technologies in tourism also depends on a number of additional socio-cultural, economic and political factors. By themselves, information technologies cannot create new combinations of tourist services, and only the connection of technologies with a number of social, institutional, socio-political and cultural factors can lead to the creation of new combinations of goods and services, methods, markets, etc. The use of telecommunication networks and each time more friendly interfaces help ensure that computer management systems become available directly to the traveler. In the case when the system is applied correctly, technologies provide high quality of services, thus, satisfying customer requirements in a higher degree. However, there’s also a need for maintaining balance between high-technology and personalization. Further, we’ll focus on applies advantages of DMSs for planning their strategic development and applying marketing methods for their promotion.
