Skip to main content

Reviewing the Use of Online Services by the Tourism Industry in an Emerging Market: The Case of Thailand

  • Conference paper
Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2007
  • 2434 Accesses

Abstract

This paper investigates the use of online services within the tourism industry in Thailand, by first assessing the adoption of the internet channel by Thai travel-related companies, and secondly evaluating the effectiveness of their Email use. Previous related research has focused on the developed world, where modern information and communication technologies (ICT) are already pervasive; here we focus on an emerging market with relatively lower internet proliferation, IT infrastructure availability and stability. An interesting case study is presented in Thailand, where its well established, mature tourism industry is contrasted by a developing ICT infrastructure still in its infancy. Despite government driven projects to develop Thailand as a regional ICT leader, we find ICT adoption by the tourism sector is low in quantity and poor in quality. As tourism is a key industry for Thailand, we investigate the reasons for our findings and present recommendations for better utilisation of this channel.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Applegate, A., Austin, R., & McFarlan, F. (2003). Corporate Information Strategy and Management: Text and Cases. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buhalis, D. (2001). The future eTourism intermediaries. Tourism Management, 23, 207–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ching-biu Tse, A. (2003). Disintermediation of travel agencies in the hotel industry. Hospitality Management, 22, 453–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, T., & Law, R. (2003). Developing a performance indicator for hotel websites. Journal of Hospitality Management, 22, 119–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, B., & Koelzer, W. (2004). Stickiness: Internet marketing in hospitality. New Jersey: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doolin, B., Burgess, L., & Cooper, J. (2002). Evaluating the use of the web for tourism marketing: a case study from New Zealand. Journal of Tourism Management, 23, 557–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, S., Schegg, R., & Murphy, J. (2002). Email customer service in the Swiss hotel industry. Tourism and Hospitality Research. 4(3), 198–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, W. G., Ma, X., & Kim, D.J. (2004). Determinants of Chinese hotel customers’ e-satisfaction and purchase intentions. Journal of Tourism Management, 27(5), 890–900.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehnert, G. W. (2002). Light on the web: essentials to make the network for you. United States of Americe: Addison Wesley Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Limayem, A., Hiller, M., & Vogel, D. (2003). Sophistication of Online Tourism Websites in Hong Kong: an Exploratory Study. Americas Conference on Information Systems, Tampa: USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matzler, K., Pechlaner, H., Abfalter, D. & Wolf, M. (2003). Determinants of response to customer e-mail enquiries to hotels: evidence from Austria. Tourism Management, 26, 249–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, J., Olaru, D., Schegg, R. & Frey, S. (2003). The Bandwagon effect: Swiss Hotel’s Website and E-mail Management, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 44(1), 71–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, J., & Tan, I. (2003). Journey to nowhere? E-mail customer service by travel agents in Singapore. Tourism Management, 24, 543–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadkarni, S. & Peng, C. (2001). The relevance of travel agencies in the era of e-commerce and globalization. http://www.mca.org.mo/

    Google Scholar 

  • Nasingkun, K. (2003). How Thailand Should Utilise Information Technology. http://www.cicc.or.jp

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, P. (1999). Electronic Information Distribution in Tourism and Hospitality. Oxford: CABI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peacock, M. (1995). Change: Unravelling the process. Information Technology in the hospitality industry. England: Redwood Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pechlaner, H., Rienzner, H., Matzler, K., & Osti, L. (2002). Response attitudes and behavior of hotel industry to electronic info requests. In Wober, K. W., Frew, A. J., & Hitz, M. (Eds.), Proceedings of the ENTER 2002 conference. Innsbruck: Springer, pp. 177–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Picozzi, L. (2005). Understand Online Customer Service. http://www.score.org

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice, S., & Todd, G. (2005). A guide to becoming a travel professional. U.S.A.: Delmar Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teal, K. (2005). Online worlds and offline worlds — what are some customer service differences, http://www.netspoke.com

    Google Scholar 

  • Travel + Leisure, (2006). Florence Named World’s Best City. Travel + Leisure Magazine, August, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Tourism Organization: WTO (2001). E-Business for Tourism — Practical Guidelines for Tourism Destinations and Businesses. Madrid, Spain: The World Tourism Organisation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, Z. (2004). E-commerce and information technology in hospitality and tourism. Canada: Delmar.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2007 Springer-Verlag Wien

About this paper

Cite this paper

Cosh, K., Assenov, I. (2007). Reviewing the Use of Online Services by the Tourism Industry in an Emerging Market: The Case of Thailand. In: Sigala, M., Mich, L., Murphy, J. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2007. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-69566-1_45

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-69566-1_45

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-211-69564-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-211-69566-1

Publish with us

Policies and ethics