Managing hospitality through ICT services. Case of Albanian tourism industry

Abstract

The definitions of tourism innovation (e.g. product, service and technological innovations) remains unclear, with 
the exception maybe of the internet. New technologies can produce an essential contribution to tourism 
development. 
For tourism businesses, the Internet offers the potential to make information and booking facilities available to 
large numbers of tourists at relatively low costs. It also provides a tool for communication between tourism 
suppliers, intermediaries, as well as end – consumers. OECD (2000) revealed that the advent of Internet – based 
electronic commerce offers considerable opportunities for firms to expand their customer base, enter new 
product markets and rationalize their business. WTO (2001) also indicated that electronic business offers SMEs 
the opportunity to undertake their business in new and more cost-effective ways. 
According to WTO, the Internet is revolutionizing the distribution of tourism information and sales. An increasing 
proportion of Internet users are buying on-line and tourism will gain a larger and larger share of the online 
commerce market. Obviously, the Internet is having a major impact as a source of information for tourism. 
However, the SMTEs are facing more stringent impediments to the adoption of new information technology, in 
particular, e-business. Part of the problem relates to the scale and affordability of information technology, as well 
as the facility of implementation within rapidly growing and changing organizations. In addition, new solutions 
configured for large, stable, and internationally-oriented firms do not fit well for small, dynamic, and locally-based 
tourism firms.  
Despite these challenges, SMTEs with well developed and innovative Web sites can now have “equal Internet 
access” to international tourism markets. This implies equal access to telecom infrastructure, as well as to 
marketing management and education. According to a UN report (2001), “it is not the cost of being there, on the 
on-line market place, which must be reckoned with, but the cost of not being there.” It is certain that embracing 
digital communication and information technology is no longer an option, but a necessity. Thus, one of the most 
important characteristics of electronic commerce is the opportunity and promise it holds for SMTEs to extend 
their capabilities and grow.