Tourism Authority of Thailand

Interesting examples at the regional and national levels are the DMSs developed by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) and by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the decentralization of tourism marketing activities to the provincial tourism offices proved a failure and responsibility for tourist related promotional activities was restored to the national tourist office at the start of 2005.

M. André Abitbol, Technical Advisor, national du tourisme, Paris, France

Information supplied by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Tourist Police

Bangkok Tourist Bureau

Mr. Tuan Anh Le, Director of Tourism Information Technology Center, National Administration of Tourism, Viet Nam

Eco tourism, cultural and natural heritage tourism, health and medical tourism and adventure tourism are some of the tourism niches that are increasingly marketed by destinations and tourism enterprises in developing countries.

The main beneficiaries of a DMS are potential travelers, the providers of tourism products and services, national travel agents and outbound travel agents, national tourism institutions, IT providers and investors.

These figures relate only to international travel in most countries the volume of domestic tourism is significantly greater than international arrivals.

The distribution of tourism products on the Internet complements traditional distribution channels (travel agents, national tourism offices, tourism producers, call centers, etc.) because a large number of DMOs do not yet have the capacity to develop an effective e tourism website and cannot rely only on uncertain online revenues.

According to the World Tourism Organization, the majority of tourist venues in the affected countries are able to welcome visitors again.

At the talkfest, the Baoji Tourism Development Committee and the Urumqi Tourist Administration signed a tourism strategic cooperation agreement between the two places.

Data released by the Czech Tourism Authority showed that the number of Chinese tourist arrivals to the Czech Republic has soared from 80,000 in 2010 to 250,000 in 2014.

Somebody from the travel bureau in town.

Tourism niches such as ecotourism one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry are increasingly promoted by DMOs in many developing countries, allowing them to diversify their tourism offer.

How do you expect them to travel in times like these?

Part C discusses key elements of national and regional e tourism strategies and policies put in place by developed and developing countries (including online marketing and new tourism products), as well as cooperation processes in the tourism industry.

With the deployment of ICTs in developing countries and the relatively improved access to the Internet in recent years, many national DMOs such as national tourism offices have developed e tourism websites with the objective of reaching consumers worldwide directly.

The Declaration also drew attention to the crucial role of tourism in small island developing States and other tourism dependent developing economies.

The Guam Visitors Bureau has set the goal of attracting 1.3 million visitors in 2005.29

The official website of the Office of Tourism notes that American Samoa is in the initial stages of tourism development.

Hotel and catering trade

The ETP will allow developing, least developed and small island countries to organize, market and sell their own tourism services online.

On the same day, China's first professional travel police team members of Tourism Police Detachment, Sanya City, Hainan Province Public Security Bureau came to the Red Square in Moscow, and communicated with the local police on duty.

Developing countries' target tourism markets are likely to be organizing their travel arrangements online.

(b) Strengthening the capacity for expanding the tourism sector in developing countries, with particular focus on tour operators, travel agencies and other suppliers

Proportionately, tourism will grow faster in less developed countries than in developed economies over the next ten years, and there is a growing market interest in rural and activity tourism compared with staying in traditional resorts.

Mr. de Villiers (Observer for the World Tourism Organization) said that tourism must not only maintain environmental health, but also provide opportunities for both developing and developed countries to benefit from the industry.

Public authorities contribute to the development of a national brand image and the integration of tourism enterprises in DMSs, coordinate the interests of the various stakeholders and provide initial resources.

Consideration of the full arc of the consumer travel lifecycle should also be a central part of any tourism e tourism strategy, comprising in country travel and post travel follow up.

A review of the status of e tourism initiatives undertaken by national DMOs in LDCs, based on an informal survey of national tourism websites, highlighted the main challenges encountered in the development of an effective DMS. Resilient barriers still hamper DMOs' efforts to fully exploit the potential of the Internet and compete on an equal footing.

The online promotion of tourism niches by developing countries complements the product offer of online travel distributors from developed countries, which often promote static packages (versus dynamic packages that allow consumers to customize their travel) and international hotel chains in developing countries.

However, the experience of several DMSs in both developing and developed countries shows that a free subscription for tourism enterprises guarantees their larger participation in the DMS.

At the same time, ICTs reduce operating costs, improve business processes, and provide tourism producers with additional opportunities to present and sell their products, as well as to naturally establish partnerships with carriers, global distribution systems (GDS), tour operators, travel agencies and national tourism offices.

Part A considers the role of ICTs for tourism development in developing countries and the strategic challenges for local tourism enterprises to successfully participate in international tourism markets.

The promotion of tourism niches by developing countries for which many of them enjoy a competitive advantage and the development of DMSs that offer tourism enterprises and consumers respectively an innovative way to promote and obtain tourism information (e.g. search engine, trip planner, interactive maps and virtual tours) are contributing factors to the creation of value.

Contributing factors for the successful integration of local tourism enterprises into international tourism markets are adequate e tourism strategies that focus on tourism innovation in terms of tourism products and adoption of e business tools such as destination management systems.

In terms of reservation services, the majority of DMOs in developing countries support the promotion of tourism in their country mainly by advertising the contact details of tourism providers.

Considering the constraints faced by developing countries in terms of infrastructure, human capacity and limited local adoption of e business, public authorities and DMOs at the national, regional and local levels should play a central role in encouraging the participation and inclusion of tourism enterprises in global tourism markets.

The above environmental impacts of tourism need to be addressed by international agencies (information on the activities of the United Nations Environment Programme in the area of tourism may be found in document UNEP GCSS.IX INF 12), Governments, non governmental organizations, local communities and private sector tourism enterprises, working together.

World Tourism Organization (WTO)

WTO World Tourism Organization.

WTO (Tourism) World Tourism Organization