The Internet and World Wide Web remain one of the most topical issues for travel
agents. Some analysts predict there will be no need for travel agents in the
future as consumers turn to the Internet to make their travel arrangements. The
aim of this research was to investigate the travel purchasing behaviour of
consumers and the future implications for traditional travel agencies. Primary
data for the study were collected in the USA, where it is generally recognised
that a high level of Internet usage exists. The results suggest that while
travel consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet, many are still
hesitant to book online. Many travellers surveyed had utilised the Internet for
purposes such as obtaining information, but few regularly book online. The main
barrier stopping consumers from booking travel via the Internet is the perceived
lack of a secure payment method. Other significant barriers stated were a lack
of confidence in the technology and a need for a personal service and human
interface. The results of this research conflict with suggestions in the
literature that travel agents will lose their client base overnight when secure
payment methods are developed and consumers become more experienced with the
technology. The study highlights that many experienced Internet users still
prefer to book their travel via traditional distribution channels and believe
there will be a need for travel agents in the future. The study also highlights
opportunities that may exist for travel agents, such as the promotion of their
services to more informed consumers who have already accessed the Internet.
Walle, A. H.
(1996)
‘Tourism and the Internet: Opportunities for Direct Marketing’
, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 35, No.
1, pp.
72-77
.
2.
Sheldon, P. J.
(1997) ‘Tourism Information
Technology’,
CAB, New York
.
3.
Dorren, C.
and
Frew, A.
(1997)
‘A Qualitative Analysis of Hotel List Providers on the World Wide Web’
, in
Tjoa, A. M.
(ed.) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism,
Proceedings of the ENTER97 conference in Edinburgh,
Springer, New York, pp.
221-230
.
4.
Schonland, A. M.
and
Williams, P. W.
(1996)
‘Using the Internet for Travel and Tourism Survey Research:
Experiences from the Net Traveller Survey’
, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 35, No.
2, pp.
81-87
.
5.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
6.
Schonland and Williams, ref. 4 above.
7.
eMarketer
(1999) ‘Women Catching Up with Men in Worldwide Net
Use’, 31st May. Available:
http://www.emarketer.com/estats/053199_women.html (2nd June, 1999).
8.
Travelweek (1997)
‘Travel Specialists Conduct 24% of Business over the Internet’
, No. 900, 27th August, p.
8
.
Diebold and Bertelsmann
(1997) ‘Digital Business: The International
Electronic Commerce Study’,
Bertelsmann Telemedia and Diebold, Diebold Deuschland GmbH/telemedia
GmbH, Eschborn
.
16.
Needle, D.
(1998)
‘Traveling the Information Highway’
, Upside, Vol. 10, No. 5, May, pp.
88-92
.
17.
Pratt, F.
(1996)
‘The Internet and its Impact on the Hospitality Industry’
, Hospitality: Food Service, Beverage, Accommodation, August,
p.
44
.
18.
Feinstein, A. H.et al.
(1996)
‘Tourism Based Internet Applications in South East Asia’
, Proceedings of 2nd International Conference, Tourism in
Indo-China: Opportunities for Investment, Development, and Marketing,
Ho Chi Minh City, 25th-27th April, pp.
91-103
.
19.
Williams, P. W.et al.
(1996)
‘Using the Internet for Tourism Research: “Information
Highway” or “Dirt Road”?’
, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 34, No.
4, pp.
63-72
.
20.
Dorren and Frew, ref. 3 above.
21.
Bennett, M. M.
(1995)
‘The Consumer Marketing Revolution: The Impact of IT on Tourism’
, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 1, No.
4, pp.
376-382
.
22.
in Tjoa, ref. 3 above, pp. 57-66.
23.
Richer, P.
(1996)
‘Should Travel Companies be Selling on-line?’
, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 2, No.
3, pp.
277-285
.
24.
Dreistadt, E.
(1996)
‘It’s Showtime for Tourism: New Products, Markets and Technologies’
, in Proceedings of the 27th Annual TTRA Conference Las
Vegas, 16th-19th June, Lexington,
pp.
134-138
.
25.
Passmann, C.et al.
(1997) ‘How to Assess WWW-applications for Tourism
Information Systems from the End-user Perspective. Methodical Design and
Empirical Evidence’, in Tjoa, ref. 3 above, pp. 208-220.
26.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
27.
Diebold and Bertelsmann, ref. 15 above.
28.
Buhalis, D.
(1996)
‘Information Technology as a Strategic Tool for Tourism’
, The Tourist Review, Vol. 2, pp.
34-36
.
29.
Reinders, J.
and
Baker, M.
(1997) ‘The Future for Direct Retailing of Travel
and Tourism Products: The Influence of Information Technology’,
in Tjoa, ref. 3 above, pp. 119-128.
30.
Coward, C.
(1998)
‘Bargain Hunting on the Web’
, Black Enterprise, Vol. 28, No. 12,
July, pp.
89-92
.
31.
Diebold and Bertelsmann, ref. 15 above.
32.
Cockerell, N.
(1995)
‘Technology: Changing the Rules of the Game’
, PATA Travel News Asia Pacific, October, pp.
6-10
.
33.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
34.
Reinders and Baker, ref. 29 above.
35.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
36.
Smith, C.
and
Jenner, P.
(1998)
‘Tourism and the Internet’
, Travel and Tourism Analyst, No. 1, pp.
62-81
.
37.
Travelweek (1996)
‘Abacus Advances into Internet’
, No. 882, 20th November, p.
22
.
38.
Murray, D.
(1996)
‘Will the Web Replace Your Travel Agent?’
, Medical Economics, Vol. 73, No. 18,
23rd September, pp.
159-167
.
39.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
40.
Shah, P. B.
(1995)
‘Hong Kong Watches Internet Effectiveness’
, PATA Travel News Asia Pacific, October, p.
13
.
41.
Lynch, A.
(1997)
‘Doubts Hinder Growth’
, The Australian, 25th November, Networking Liftout, p.
3
.
42.
Marcussen, C. H.
(1997) ‘Electronic Distribution of Holiday and
Business Hotels’, in Tjoa, ref. 3 above, pp. 191-198.
43.
Dietrich, B. L.et al.
(1997) ‘The Promise of Information Technology in
the Travel Industry’, in Tjoa, ref. 3 above, pp. 129-139.
44.
Reinders and Baker, ref. 29 above.
45.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
46.
Murray, ref. 38 above.
47.
Steiner, T.
(1997) ‘Distributed Software Agents for WWW-based
Tourism Information Systems (DATIS)’, in Tjoa, ref. 3 above, pp. 47-56.
48.
Mazumdar, ref. 22, above.
49.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
50.
Morrell, P. S.
(1998)
‘Airline Sales and Distribution Channels: The Impact of New Technology’
, Tourism Economics, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp.
5-19
.
51.
Friedenreich, K.
(1998)
‘Is the Bucket Brigade Your Next Travel Answer?’
, World Trade, Vol. 11, No. 3, March, pp.
84-85
.
52.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
53.
Reinders and Baker, ref. 29, above.
54.
The Age
(1997) ‘Net Tickets Launch New Era in
Travel’, 8th April, p. D5.
55.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
56.
Passmann, ref. 25 above.
57.
Hibbard, J.
(1998)
‘Airlines, Online Agencies Battle for Customers’
, Informationweek, No. 708, 9th November, p.
30
.
58.
Cockerell, ref. 32 above.
59.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
60.
Ibid.
61.
Haas, L.
(1998)
‘Internet: Source of Data and Sales’
, Computer Reseller News, No. 791, 1st June, pp.
91-96
.
62.
Travelweek, ref. 37 above.
63.
Murray, ref. 38 above.
64.
Walle, ref. 1 above.
65.
Lynch, ref. 41 above.
66.
Loban, S. R.
(1997)
‘A Framework for Computer Assisted Travel Consulting’
, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 24, No.
4, pp.
813-834
.
67.
Ibid.
68.
Schertler. W.et al.
(1995)
‘The End-User Acceptance of New Information and Communication
Technologies in Tourism’
, in
Schertler et al.
(eds) ‘Information and Communication Technologies in
Tourism, Proceedings of the ENTER95 conference in Innsbruck’,
Springer, New York, pp.
46-52
.
69.
van der Heijden, J. G. M.
(1996)
‘The Changing Value of Travel Agents in Tourism Networks: Towards
a Network Design Perspective’
, in
Klein, S.et al.
(eds) ‘Information and Communication Technologies in
Tourism, Proceedings of the ENTER96 conference in Innsbruck’,
Springer, New York, pp.
151-159
.
70.
Sheppard, T.
(1997)
‘Agents Should Worry About Extinction’
, Travelweek, No. 892, 7th May, p.
4
.
71.
Widener, P.
(1995)
‘Diethalm Shows the Way with Internet Entry’
, PATA Travel News Asia Pacific, October, p.
14
.
72.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
73.
Passmann, ref. 25 above.
74.
Boyers, K.
(1998)
‘Travel Industry Outlook Remains Strong’
, Association Management, Vol. 50, No. 2,
February, pp.
64-65
.
75.
Ibid.
76.
Buhalis, D.
(1998)
‘Strategic Use of Information Technologies in the Tourism Industry’
, Tourism Management, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp.
409-421
.
77.
Needle, ref. 16 above.
78.
Reinders and Baker, ref. 29 above.
79.
Walle, ref. 1 above.
80.
Wardell, D. J.
(1998)
‘The Impact of Electronic Distribution on Travel Agents’
, Travel and Tourism Analyst, No. 2, pp.
41-55
.
81.
Glab, J.
(1995)
‘Leisure Industries: Prospects for the US Travel Agency Sector’
, Travel and Tourism Analyst, No. 5, pp.
49-61
.
82.
Head, B.
(1995)
‘Tourism Gets Hitched to Technology’
, Australian Financial Review, 28th November, p.
43
.
83.
IBM
(1998) ‘How Travel and Transportation Will Change
in a Networked World’,
IBM Corporation White Paper
. Available:
http://www.ibm.com/IBM/publicaffairs/travel/index.html (5th February, 1998).
84.
Montgomery, J.
(1995)
‘The Information Superhighway: Highway of Broken Promises?’
, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 1, No.
3, pp.
291-300
.
85.
Racette, T.
(1995)
‘Move With the Times’
, PATA Travel News Asia Pacific, October, pp.
10-11
.
86.
Cockerell, ref. 32 above.
87.
Loban, ref. 66 above.
88.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
89.
Montgomery, ref. 84 above.
90.
Glab, ref. 81 above.
91.
Loban, ref. 66 above.
92.
McMahon, I.
(1998)
‘Virtual Travel Futures Market Looms’
, Travelweek, No. 926, 30th September, p.
1
.
93.
Loban, ref. 66 above.
94.
Cockerell, ref. 32 above.
95.
Racette, ref. 85 above.
96.
O’Brien, P.
and
Dunn, J.
(1998)
‘Opportunities for Retail Travel Agents in the World of
Electronic Commerce’
, in
Faulkner, B.et al.
(eds) ‘Progress in Tourism and Hospitality Research, 1998,
Part 1 - Proceedings of the Eighth Australian Tourism and Hospitality Research
Conference, Gold Coast, Queensland’, p.
209
.
97.
Manente, M.
,
Minghetti, V.et al.
(1998)
‘The Electronic Management of Business Travel. An Integrated Approach’
, in
Buhalis, D.et al.
(eds) ‘Information and Communication Technologies in
Tourism, Proceedings of the ENTER98 conference in Istanbul,
Turkey’, Springer, New
York, pp.
201-209
.
98.
Needham, P.
(1996)
‘Multiple Choice for Agents on CRS Renewal’
, Travelweek, No. 871, 18th June, p.
37
.
99.
Travelweek (1997)
‘Concorde Agent-only Site a First’
, No. 893, 21st May, p.
25
.
100.
Glab, ref. 81 above.
101.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
102.
Ibid.
103.
Reinders and Baker, ref. 29 above.
104.
Sheppard, ref. 70 above.
105.
Passmann, ref. 25 above.
106.
Sheldon, ref. 2 above.
107.
Fleck, R.
(1998) ‘Electronic Payment and Additional
Utilization of Smart Cards in the Tourism Industry’, in Buhalis,
ref. 97 above, pp. 308-317.
