Functionalities and services of DMSs

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.

In order to set up a DMS, Governments and DMOs should organize consultative meetings with relevant partners.

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.

In order to ensure the long term sustainability of a DMS, DMOs should develop accurate business models according to local conditions.

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.

They facilitate the linkages between local tourism providers and help them manage their tourism resources and contribute to their valorization.

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.

DMSs are the IT infrastructure used by DMOs for the collection, storage, management and distribution of information and for the transaction of reservations and other commercial activities.

The systems should facilitate interoperability between local tourism enterprises and foreign brokers and tourism portals, including traditional tour operators, online agencies, Internet travel specific search engines or online intermediaries specialized in tourism niches.

Business models should provide technological, financial and marketing solutions for the providers and users of the DMS, namely tourism providers (accommodation, transport and leisure companies), travel agents, tour operators, and consumers.

The use of ICT tools such as DMSs should assist them in their efforts to market their tourism offer globally and to ensure the strategic management of their destinations to ultimately improve their competitiveness on tourism markets.

Defining a tourism strategy based on destination resources, consumer demand and the interest of local communities is the first step in engaging in an e tourism strategy and starting to build the image of the destination, using a DMS as a promotional tool and eventually as an online reservation system.

With regard to B2B, DMSs provide tourism enterprises with the means to be better integrated into tourism supply chains by promoting personalized and enriched tourism experiences directly to a large number of consumers.

An annual fee could be charged according to the level of services supplied by the DMS.

By integrating these SMEs into their DMS, DMOs bring them into the new e business environment of the tourism industry and offer them the technological tools to conduct their operations online.

Distribution systems have reduced the market share of traditional travel agents, although high street travel agents still dominate the market in terms of distribution.

One of the major challenges is to foster the support and commitment of local tourism providers, and it is therefore crucial to create awareness among tourism producers of the benefits of a DMS at an early stage.

Some DMOs have developed booking engines in partnership with ICT providers and have defined transaction fees applicable to the different participants in the DMS.

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.

Get rid of those Wingdows Viruses!

While considerable resources are being invested by tourism providers in developed countries to design user friendly DMSs offering various functionalities (e.g. online booking systems and customer relationship management), developing countries have so far mainly developed simple e tourism websites offering information that could satisfy consumer expectations in travel planning but do not offer secure booking or payment facilities.

KNetWalk, a game for system administrators.

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

Speakers suggested that to accommodate the tourism needs and behaviour of the new tourists, DMOs and tourism providers must provide clear and accurate information online, as well as facilitating the booking process using available systems if they are not in a position to develop their own.

Managing and promoting destinations

Tourism is dependent on an intact ecosystem and hence environmental disaster preparedness and management are particularly relevant in the view of the vulnerability of many tourist destinations to natural disasters (tsunamis, etc.).

For example, given the possibility that tourism systems in a given developing country market may be fragmented, it may be preferable to first develop a pilot DMS rather than a full fledged one.

DMOs should advertise the existence of their e tourism website.

Mr. Haga Tsialonina Rasolofoniaina, Director of Information Systems, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Madagascar

DMSs can provide solutions for business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) e commerce.

eTourism information technology for strategic tourism management. D. Buhalis, 2003.

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.

In order to promote e tourism development, UNCTAD has developed a DMS as part of the E Tourism Initiative, a technical assistance package aimed at promoting the application of ICTs in tourism so as to enable developing countries to exploit their tourism resources.

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.

In addition, the Municipal Tourism Commission has continuously improved the electronic travel itinerary information system of the tour group to ensure that each group is included in the electronic itinerary platform supervision.

While a growing number of destination management organizations (DMOs) in developing countries have developed an online presence in the last few years, only a small share have so far been able to offer a fully fledged services web portal in the form of a destination management system (DMS) that would propose effective booking and transaction facilities.

Depending on the level of requirements and the availability of resources, different functions of a DMS can be implemented gradually.

Looking at the e tourism system in its entirety, some experts suggested that it needs to be managed as an enterprise in and of itself.

DMOs begin with the management of information on tourism products and services and their online promotion.

Building effective DMSs supposes that DMOs integrate accurate information about all tourism resources, as well as a wide range of dynamic services in the form of personalized advice or brochures to respond to consumer expectations with regard to things to do or places to stay.

The private sector should drive the commercial activities, and, to facilitate the participation of tourism enterprises in a DMS, their inclusion should be free of charge.

Although the guidelines were developed for protected areas and vulnerable ecosystems, they have general applicability to tourism in any ecosystem, and to tourism in relation to conservation of particular species.

The private sector is better prepared to exploit DMSs commercially, and the experience of developed and developing countries in this regard shows that in many cases efficiency is achieved by concluding a partnership with ICT companies that will develop and operate the DMS.

A revenue analysis should be carried out in order to define the best options for a cost revenue model to differentiate the costs and revenues according to the different categories of tourism providers and final users of the DMS.