ict application in tourism

The integration of IT into the organizational fabric of the destination marketing organization (DMO) and other principals of tourism local development, is an important key to success. It is difficult for most principals however, to keep pace with the evolution of new technologies, the emergence of innovative advertising strategies, the changes in the consumer market, and the growing competition due to increasing globalization. They often have to struggle with limited financial and human resources, a lack of technological expertise, and time constraints. The question on how to move from the current way of doing business to one that is responsive to these changes becomes of vital concern and impacts the way regional tourism destinations are promoted and developed. The challenge for the tourism operator is to provide accurate, localised data, increasingly via IT, whilst maintaining a trust relationship with the tourist.