Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
Abstract
Whatever the activities of a community or business, they each communicate something about the community or business to consumers. Consumers receive this information through many different sources, or channels. These channels combine to form information systems, which are always functioning, regardless of whether you are managing them or not. If you represent a community or business, it is extremely important to know how to manage information systems to make them work for you. This article identifies the opportunities and needs of a tourism information and reservation system for tourism marketing organization and national tourism industry as a whole.
In general, an information system consists of all the ways that people communicate with others. Systems are composed of information channels. These channels may be formal or informal, personal or impersonal, and public or private. Different people, businesses, and communities use information channels in different ways and combinations.
A tourism information system is a specific type of information system. It consists of all information channels used in a business or community to promote itself as a tourism attraction. These information channels include commercials, ads, brochures, repeat visitors. employees, friends, and relatives.
Information and Communications Technologies are having a big impact on all aspects of tourism. Introducing and using advanced Management
Information Systems to transportation, travel, hospitality and entertainment will bring many benefits and changes to the tourism industry. In particular, the Internet, is playing an increasingly significant role in travel and tourism.
It has also been discussed that there are three characteristics that all
effective tourism information systems have:
1) Each channel the system has its own function. Travelers use different channels to get different kinds of information. An example is deciding where to go on vacation. A person may consult a friend or family member for that decision, but in deciding what to do when he/she gets there, the person may talk with a repeat visitor or employee at the destination site.
2) All the information channels used in the system relate to each other. A
tourism information system is like a novel because it has many different parts tied together by the theme. Even though a system's channels serve different functions in providing information, they are all tied together by the projected message.
3) All channels used in the system are interdependent. A tourism
information system functions like a puzzle. The different pieces of the system, the channels, are used to communicate with tourists. If any of the puzzle pieces are missing, the puzzle's picture is incomplete. If one or more of the channels used is not dispersing information effectively, or if the information dispersed does not relate to the rest of the system, then the system will not effectively communicate its whole message. If one or more of these characteristics are missing from a tourism information system, then its message will be inconsistent and ineffective.
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