Abstract
Travel and tourism is by now generally perceived to be the market with the biggest online potential for e-commerce. The success of major online travel agents and the growth numbers in online tourist expenditure are proof of that. As this was also recognised by the Flemish government, a research study into the effectiveness of the online communication of Flemish’ tourist destinations was commissioned. This paper reports on the findings resulting from a focus group session with twelve tour operators held in the Netherlands, the first foreign market for tourism in Flanders. It discusses issues such as dis-intermediation, use of the Internet by intermediaries themselves, and roles they play in the new market situation. It shows that, although traditional players are increasingly online, they are still a long way from understanding the new economy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Berryman, K., L. Harrington, D. Layton-Rodin, and V. Rerolle, ‘Electronic Commerce: Three emerging strategics’, The McKinsey Quarterly 1(1),1998,152–159.
CNN,‘Internet airline reservations begin to take off, Published by CNN, www.cnn.com. April 17, 1998.
Dombey, A., ’separating the emotion form the fact’, in: D. Buhalis, A.M. Tjoa, and J. Jafari (eds.) Proceedings of the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism (ENTER’98), Istanbul, Turkey, 1998, Wien-New York: Springer Verlag, 129–138.
Forrester Research Inc., in The virtual mall gets real, H. Green, Editor, 1998,48–49, (Referenced in Business Week, January 26), (1998).
Freesun News, ‘Airinfo’, Published by Freesun, www.freesun.be 1999, respective no. (a) 228(October 8), 230(October 12) & 231 (October 13).
Freesun News, ‘Travelinfo’, Published by Freesun, www.freesun.be. 1999, respective no. (a) 135(15 April) & 204(23 July) (b) 107(26 February) & 187(29 June) (c) 200(16 July) (d) 170(4 June) (e) 138(21 April) (f) 236(5 October).
Hospitality Net Editorial, ‘Travelocity Receives People’s Voice Award for Best Travel Web Site’, Published by Verdonk Otten Dirk & Wiegerink, www.vodw.nl/clsonly/tourist/. March 30, 1998.
Lobal, S.R., ‘Designing Effective Documents for Destination Information Systems’, in: D. Buhalis, A.M. Tjoa, and J. Jafari (eds.) Proceedings of the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism(ENTER’98), Istanbul, Turkey, 1998, Wien-New York: Springer Verlag, 73–83.
Milburn, R., ‘Online sales of travel products in Europe set to reach $1.7 billion in 2002’, Press Release, Published by Datamonitor, www.datamonitor.com. 24 May, 1999.
NBT, Digitale Revolutie in de Reisbranche, Voorschoten, 1997.
New York Post, ‘Online Travel Business Exploding’, Published by NUA Limited, www.nua.ie/surveys. October 2, 1998.
Nielsen Net Ratings, AOL Retains Top Web Property Slot, Nua Internet Surveys News-Series No. 4(38), Sorcha Ni hEilidhe (ed.): Nua Limited, www.nua.ie/surveys. September 27, 1999.
Pro-Active, Effecten van Internet op de Reisbranche, Diemen, februari, 1998.
Raaij, W.F.V., ‘Interactive Communication: Consumer power and initiative’, Journal of Marketing Communications, 4, 1998, 1–8.
Reisrevue, ‘NIPO: Steeds meer vakantiegangers schakelen reiswereid in’, 25 november, 1998,7.
Rekom, J.V., W. Teunissen, and F. Go, ‘Improving the Position of Business Travel Agencies: Coping with the information challenge’, Information Technology & Tourism, 2,1999,15–29.
Sarkar, M.B., B. Butler, and C. Stienfield, ‘Intermediaries and Cybermediaries: A Continuing Role for Mediating Players in the Electronic Marketplace’, JCMC, 1(3), 1997, http://shum.huji.ac.il/jcmc/voll/issue3.
Shirer, M., ‘Yahoo!, Travelocity, And Expedia Receive Top Rating for On-line Travel Sites From forrester’, Press Releases, Published by forrester Research Inc., www.forrester.com July 1, 1999.
Walle, A.R., ‘Tourism and the Internet: Opportunities for Direct Marketing’, Journal of Travel Research, summer, 1996, 72–77.
Werthner, R., ‘Editor’s Introduction’, Information Technology and Tourism, 1 Inaugural, 1998, 1–12.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer-Verlag Wien
About this paper
Cite this paper
Govers, R., Jansen-Verbeke, M., Go, F.M. (2000). Virtual Tourist Destinations: Assessing Their Communication Effectiveness With And Through Foreign Intermediaries. In: Fesenmaier, D.R., Klein, S., Buhalis, D. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2000. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6291-0_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6291-0_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna
Print ISBN: 978-3-211-83483-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-6291-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive