Tourism in Europe: the emergence of ICT and e-business

Résumé du document

This project is a global analysis of the European tourism industry. It tempts to establish a comprehensive panorama of the Tourism in Europe, throughout the actors, the major destinations, and the key figures. This report then underlines the significant changes the European tourism industry in the last several years. Internet and ICTs has become the favorite channels of distribution. Currently, the traditional travel agencies are the main areas of concern. Their lack of adaptability and reactivity is a real problem. Incapable to adapt to Internet, they are loosing more and more customers while big tourism groups get rich. Tourism does not break away from globalization. In Europe, its importance attracts a lot of competitors, especially Americans. In a society which is continuously evolving, the tourism industry seems to benefit from the opportunities. The leisure society and the decreased work-time are the main examples of positive evolution for tourism companies. The future of Tourism is a cause for worry, as, after having wholly revolutionized the tourism industry, e-tourism could destroy it!

Extraits

[...] Health tourism exist since the dawn of time, however, it was popularised during the eighteenth century with spas. In England, Bath was the most well-know place, but Buxton, Harrogate and Tunbridge Wells, for examples, also flourished. Sea bathing or seaside holiday became very important when a large part of doctors argued its benefits under Prince Regent's command. With regard to leisure travel, it is closely related to the industrialization of United Kingdom. The origin of this new industry was, thus, a British invention. [...]

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France, Italy, UK The Forrester Institute is an independent technology and market research company. [...]

[...] This crowd can be explained by its exceptional natural and cultural environment. Indeed, France is really a diversified country and offers a full spectrum: diversified scenery, historic sites, a gastronomy which is renowned all over the world (particularly vines and cheeses), and a wide offer from the beaches of the Côte d'Azur to the mountain of the Alps and Massif Central. France offers more than 200 seaside resorts skiing areas which count 60 million arrivals per year and about a hundred thermal spas (http://www.lesannuaires.com r). [...]

[...] Internet favoured the low-costs companies' growth and thanks to online bookings, they save a lot of money (less costs). None tickets are delivered, only a number of reservation and an Identity card are required. This niche-market which initially targeted the “deal hunters” has become a mass-market which targets leisure and business travellers. With this image of discount, low-costs have revolutionized the tourism industry (http://lfonsek.free.fr/ From e-business to e-tourism ICT represent new opportunities in the field of tourism, but also new challenges. Indeed, Internet has stimulated the emergence of a new way to sell travels: the e-tourism. [...]

[...] The car is the means of travel which offers the most freedom. Tourists can move without restraint. In addition, nowadays, he has also become cheaper relative to public transport. In Europe, about half of all international tourists arrived over land by road to their destination in 2004, putting especially high pressure on some areas. For example, the majority of tourists who want to go to the Alps, in France, use the car because of the important lack of public transport. [...]