Tourism and Technology

Question: Discuss about theTourism and Technology. Answer: Introduction: The impact of technology had definitely brought some positive changes within the tourism and hospitality industry in United Kingdom. The implementation of advanced technology had not only enhanced the services provided by the tourism and hospitality industries to people but also had made it easy for the customers to gain accessibility to those services in an effective way. The use of technology had also improved the quality of services provided along with the up to date present trends within the sector. The main areas where technology had been used in this sector could be the communication and marketing. In this topic, the different kinds of issues and problems present in the two articles including the use of internet in travel planning and also tourism in technology dead areas or zones (Buhalis Law, 2008). Few of the theories would also be illustrated here for addressing the issues properly ands find out suitable solutions as well. Main Body The topic had mainly focused on the essential aspects of Tourism or Hospitality and use of technology, as could be seen from the two articles provided. The two articles mainly helped to identify the different kinds of issues which might be faced by the tourism and hospitality industry due to lack of technology. The first article Tourism in technology dead zones: documenting experiential dimensions by Philip Pearce James Cook University Ulrike Gretzel University of Wollongong, highlights the importance of technology in tourism and how tourists deal with tourist locations which have zero connectivity with their social world. The second article information technology and consumer behavior in travel and tourism: Insights from travel planning using the internet, by Zheng Xiang and Vincent PMagnini throws light yet agaon on how technology plays an important role in consumer behavior in travel and tourism in todays world. Key Issues The first issue or problem mainly faced by this industry was the absence of information technology that might affect the buying behavior of consumers and also provide inconvenience while making their travel planning or arrangements. There are many areas that do not have sufficient access to internet technology and have been suffering from outdated technological implications. As a result of this, the information technology was not implemented in these areas, thus resulting in no or very limited access to internet technology (Law et al, 2009). All these areas had been referred to as the technology dead zones, where there could be disruption or limited access or connectivity to internet technology, This could lead to various issues and problems like the hindering of social communication, communicate about work, gathering necessary knowledge and learning of skills, which could also create a sense of tensions between the tourists who were present in the technology dead zones. As the touri sts were mostly used to the normal technology support system of the tourism and hospitality industry, so when they go to some dead zones, they faced a lot of problems to communicate with people as a well as gain accessibility to the necessary services provided by the tourism and hospitality organisation (Mckercher et al, 2006). The second issue however is highlighting the importance of technology in todays world for understanding consumer behavior. This article highlights how travellers of generation Y uses the internet extensively for making their travel plans and are heavily dependent on the internet and on the other hand the very next article throws light on how these consumers who are highly dependent on this technology deal with the absence of the same in some tourist places which are cut off from these very technology. Theories, Concepts and Frameworks There are a number of theories, concepts and frameworks which have been related to the issues including the push and pull factor, the tourism system and also the tangible and intangible products related to the quality. Push and Pull Factor The push factors could be stated as the factors that could motivate the tourists to fulfill their needs and requirements while on the other hand the pull factors could be the actual knowledge or information that the tourists possessed about a certain location. Individuals often suffer from stress, as a result of which they need rest and some time for relaxation, which could be made possible with the help of visiting places by making necessary arrangements with the travel and tourism organizations through information technology support. The use of internet could easily change the behavior of tourists and make necessary travel planning and arrangements with ease and efficiency. The push factors could arise in this kind of situation where the tourists would feel to rest and relax, manage their health and fitness properly as well as look out for adventures and social interaction. The pull factors on the other hand could help them to know about the location whether they wanted to visit wi th the surfing of internet that could further raise interest among them, thus influencing the behavior of the tourists in an effective manner (Sigala et al, 2012). Thus the push factors could be the psychological motives for initiation of travel desire and facilitate social interaction while the pull factors could be the cultural motivational factors for gathering knowledge about the place and then make necessary travel arrangements with the sue of information technology. The information could be synthesized with the use of internet and in order to fulfill the desires of tourists, there had been numerous online travel agencies that could easily satisfy those needs and provide convenience across many segments of customers in the market (Williams, 2006). Tourism System The tourism and hospitality had been changing continuously from time to time. There were also present several rural areas which had been termed as technology dead zones, with little or no access to internet, thus creating inconvenience for the tourists, So, it had become essential for implementing the Tourism system which could enable changes in destinations, improve the distribution and communication channels, focus on the technology weak zones market segments and also change the modes of transportation. The implementation of information technology could enhance the reliability of this kind of system by fulfilling the demands of tourists in these dead zones and also ensure that they could remain connected with the tourism department through social interaction with the help of internet (Buhalis Law, 2008). The tourism system had basically improved the convenience and accessibility for the tourists by improving the intangible assets like services delivered by the tourism and hospital ity sectors and also the tangible assets like the goods offered including the infrastructure of the hotel, prices and also the design and cleanliness. Therefore, the tourism system could deliver excellence in the quality of services offered as well as make sure that the issues faced in technology dead zones were eradicated (Law et al, 2009). Conclusion The topic illustrated the various aspects of tourism and hospitality and technological impact within the industry. The purpose of addressing these issues to the tourism and hospitality was to find out ways or approaches and also how the theories of push and full factors and Tourism system were related to the resolving of those issues. The potential strategies had been addressed which mainly showed that with the advancement in technology and communication, the use of information technology could be beneficial for the sector to influence the consumer behavior and attitude to make travel planning and also ensure providing ease of accessibility for the tourists in technology dead areas (Mckercher et al, 2006). References Buhalis, D., Law, R. (2008). Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the InternetThe state of eTourism research.Tourism management,29(4), 609-623. https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1139context=buspapers https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zheng_Xiang5/publication/265415862_Information_technology_and_consumer_behavior_in_travel_and_tourism_Insights_from_travel_planning_using_the_internet/links/550b00980cf265693cef6197.pdf Law, R., Leung, R., Buhalis, D. (2009). Information technology applications in hospitality and tourism: a review of publications from 2005 to 2007.Journal of Travel Tourism Marketing,26(5-6), 599-623. Mckercher, B., Law, R., Lam, T. (2006). Rating tourism and hospitality journals.Tourism Management,27(6), 1235-1252. Sigala, M., Christou, E., Gretzel, U. (Eds.). (2012).Social media in travel, tourism and hospitality: Theory, practice and cases. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Williams, A. (2006). Tourism and hospitality marketing: fantasy, feeling and fun.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,18(6), 482-495.