MKT01760 - Application of New Technologies in Australian Tourism

This report presents a position statement for Intro Travel, an Australian tour and travel company, detailing its roles, responsibilities, and internal/external influences. It analyzes opportunities and challenges in the Australian tourism sector, considering political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors. The report emphasizes the need for adopting a policy focused on integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance profitability, business processes, and relationships. It discusses the scope, approach, and implementation of the plan, including key trends and methods for assessing its success or failure, while addressing challenges such as competition and the need for sustainable practices. The document highlights the role of government and stakeholders in supporting the plan's objectives.

Running head: Application of new technologies in Tourism Industry
Application of new technologies in Tourism Industry
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1APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
Executive Summary
The objective of this paper is to present a position statement regarding Intro Travel, a tour
and travel company in Australia, describing the roles and responsibilities of the organization.
The paper also detail about the internal and external influences of the organization
highlighting its goals and objectives. This report gives a background picture of the
opportunities and challenges faced by the tourism sector in Australia analyzing the various
issues like political, economic, social, technological, economical and legal. The paper
comprehends the dire need of adopting a policy for the tourism company. The paper
describes vividly the scope of the plan giving a note of its advantages and disadvantages. The
key trends of the plan are also analyzed. At the last, the approach of the plan is discussed
describing its implementation .The paper also comprehends how the success or failure of the
plan can be assessed.

2APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................1
Position Statement......................................................................................................................3
Background Context...................................................................................................................4
Opportunities of Tourism Sector............................................................................................4
Challenges of Tourism Industry.............................................................................................4
Overview of Intro travels.......................................................................................................5
Issue Drivers...........................................................................................................................6
Statement of need.......................................................................................................................8
Need of new plan...................................................................................................................8
Role of Government and agencies.........................................................................................8
Stakeholders...........................................................................................................................9
Influence of new Technologies in Tourism Company...........................................................9
Challenges of using new technologies in Tourism Company..............................................10
Scope of the plan......................................................................................................................11
Proposed Process......................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................14

3APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
Position Statement
Intro Travel is one of the leading Travel and Tourism agency situated in Sydney,
Australia catering their services since 2005 (Introtravel.com 2018). Intro Travel is situated in
Australia however, it provide services organizing trips to Australia, Bali, Thailand, Srilanka,
Cambodia and Vietnam. Intro Travel also owns a guesthouse situated on the beach in Koh
Phangan located in Thailand, named Sarana Bungalows. Intro Travels also owns a private
villa in Bali, which is named Gayatri Villas. Travel agency like Intro Travel of Australia
plays an important role in boosting tourism promotion (Morrison 2013). They help the
people to choose and plan their holidays giving them details about the budget, advising them
about the tourist locations and events. The safety of the travelers is of prime importance for
the travel agency (George and Booyens 2014). Intro Travels provides the travelers a travel
insurance plan with their travel insurance partner, World Nomads. The responsibility duties
of Intro Travel include advising their clients about the travel destinations, arranging for
transport and accommodations. There are both internal and external influences that affect the
functioning of Into Travel (Cohen, Prayag and Moital 2014) .The internal influence of Intro
travel includes the intrinsic factors of motivation, which highlights attitudes, and perception
of tourists, beliefs and personality of tourists. The external influences of Intro Travel include
extrinsic motivation such as place of origin, culture, family and market of tourism.
Information Technology (IT) can be used more extensively in the company Intro travel as
well as in the tourism industry for their benefits (Werthner et al. 2015). Information
Technology finds its application for both social and economic development. There is a dire
need for implementation of ICT (Information and Communication technology) in tourism
industry. The major threat that Intro Travel faces is competition from the potential rivals in
the tourism industry of Australia. The implementation of ICT would allow Intro Travel to

4APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
achieve various goals like increase the profitability, advancement of processes of business
activities as well as building new business relationships.
Background Context
Opportunities of Tourism Sector
The opportunities of the tourism industry include:
 Diversification of tourism products would give the opportunity of the tour agencies
and companies to diversify their tourism packages.
 Depreciation of Australian dollar is likely to grow the economic value of the tourism
industry in Australia (Apergis and Papoulakos 2013).
 Softening of outbound demand, may lead to decrease in airfares, which will assist the
growth and competitiveness of tourism industry.
Challenges of Tourism Industry
The major challengers of the tourism industry that they are presently confronting and
needs to be addressed are –
 Taxation – Tourism is a sector that has to pay lot of taxes that includes taxes for
airline tickets and hotel rooms (Forsyth et al. 2014). Therefore, it is very important for
travel industry to provide competitive priced offerings .The government must also
realize that the taxes levied on the tourism sector should be decreased as the already
tourist contribute a lot to the local economy through travel, retail and other tourism
expenditures.
 Infrastructure – Tourism infrastructure in many places is not developed and obsolete
(Jovanović 2016). Tourism boards, governments and organization marketing

5APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
destinations should improve the present infrastructure that includes faster processes of
checkout in hotels, faster immigration in airports and others.
 Security – The tourism industry should develop better security infrastructure for the
travelers and the tourist .The government should engage more work force and
resources to boost the security and vigilance .The local government and city council
should pay more attention to this issue.
 Globalization – The tour and travel companies as well as the tourism boards should
develop better approaches to connect foreign travelers. They should create
multilingual websites, important signage and essential travel information by using
translational services that would guide the tourist in proper manner (Törnqvist
2013) .The tourist should be comfortable and be at ease when they are going to a
different location leaving their home.
 Regulatory issues – The regulatory issues are a major problem in the tourism
industry. The issues like delay in visa procedures and difficulty in getting a visa is a
major hindrance in tourism sector. Due to problems and issues related to visas many
tourists are debarred and deprived from visiting many locations. Lot of projects in the
tourism sector is delayed due to not receiving approvals and licenses on time.
Overview of Intro travels
Intro travels is located in Sydney, which is a city in Australia .Although Intro travels
is situated in Australia it has its villas in Asian countries like Bali and Thailand. The average
age of visitors of Intro Travels is 18 to 45 years. Every year around 55,889 travelers visit
different location through Intro travels .They conduct tour through six different countries.
The major challenges the employees of Intro Travels like all other employees in tourism
sector of Australia faces are poor pay and working condition. All the employees of tourism
and hospitality sector receives low hourly pay rates, have to work overtime without extra

6APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
pay ,have long working hours and are not offered sufficient breaks during the peak season
(Lee and Chen 2013).
Issue Drivers
The various issues of the companies in the tourism industry like Intro travels are as follows:
 Political – Political factor plays a major role in influencing tourism industry and
tourism companies like Intro Travels. Tourism industry can only flourish when there
is no political turmoil. The tourism sector is the major earner of foreign currency in a
country (Baker 2014).Political issue like Brexit and terrorism activities can cause lot
of harm to revenue of tourism industries .Therefore, it is to be noted that political
factors does not cause hindrance to the earnings of the tourism industry.
 Economic – The demand in tourism industry is only because of the economic factors.
The labor market has improved over the years, which is a good sign for the tourism
industry. The important factor of the tourism industry is the condition of the global
economy, as if there is a flourish in the economy the consumers would be able to
spend more on tour and travels .But if the economic condition is poor the tourism
industry is bound to suffer a setback.
 Social – Much like the economic factors, the social factors also plays an important
role in the growth of Tourism Company like Intro Travels (Yang, Ryan and Zhang
2013). Preference of the consumers is an important issue in tourism companies. The
preference of customers in matters of lodging has changed over the years. The
consumers prefer private accommodations; the consumers also prefer cab brands for
riding rather than the traditional taxi.
 Technological- The technological factors have brought a revolution in tourism
industry. They include airlines booking and marketing strategies with the help of

7APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
latest technology. The emergence of new tourist destination is also credited to the rise
of technology. Nowadays there is more use of kiosk and digital check ins. However
various aspects of ICT (Information and communication Technology) is still left
unexplored in the field of tourism industry .There are various other technologies
which can be brought to use like Internet of things (IOT) ,cloud technology for
storage and other mobile technologies .If these technological aspects are explored
properly it will surely help the tourism industry to flourish.
 Environmental – One of the major concerns of the tourism industry is sustainability.
The United Nations, encourage the tourism companies to shift to ecotourism and
attain sustainable tourism. The other environmental factors which are of key concern
are transport operators, restaurant and hotel brands. The tourism company like Intro
Travels considers the ecological impact to the waste management .Weather conditions
are also an important concern of tourism industry as planes cannot extreme conditions
of storm and other natural disaster (Ridderstaat et al.2014). The destination choices of
the tourist also depend on the weather condition in that particular location.
 Legal - Labor and public security are a major concern of tourism industry. Apart from
public safety and labor, laws there are other laws that influence the functionality of
tourism sector. To prevent legal hassles the travel companies like Intro Travels is
putting emphasis on staff training. Brands of tourism that includes the airlines should
focus on the risk management and safety of the passengers. For effective operations of
brands in several nations, it is important for the tourism company as Intro travels to be
aware of the local laws in order to prevent any legal problems or hassles.

8APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
Statement of need
Need of new plan
There is a dire need of implementation of Information and communication technology
(ICT) in tourism industry. The emergence of ICT will have a major impact on the tourism
industry, as the tourism company like Intro Travels will move to e-tourism .These changes
due to the influence of ICT will serve many basic goals of the tourism company like increase
of profitability and lead to establishment of new business. The technological factors brought
about a major change and development in the tourism industry. The applications of ICT in
tourism company deals with booking of airlines and development of strategies related to
market using ICT. Various new tourist destinations have also emerged over the years, this is
also due to the applications and emergence of new technologies. Kiosks are now frequently
used in tourism companies and digital check ins facilities are also now being used (Batada et
al. 2015). However it has been observed and noted that many aspects of technology is still
left unexplored in the field of tourism industry .There are many new emerging technologies
like Internet of things (IOT) ,cloud technology and various other mobile technologies, those
of which can be applied in growth of tourism companies . Thus, still many other new
technologies can be adopted with a proper plan for the optimization of tourism industry.
Role of Government and agencies
The tourism industry is one of the major earner of the foreign currency and GDP for a
country .It is necessary for the government of Australia that a provide proper infrastructure
for the tourism company like Intro Travels to do their business efficiently and enable them to
flourish as a major tourism company in Australia. The company Intro Travels should ensure
that they have proper resources and infrastructure for the optimized utilization of new
technologies in the company for their proper growth.

9APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
Stakeholders
Stakeholders are the people or the group of people who are affected or interested in a
particular business. The stake holders of the tour and travel company ,Intro Travel includes
both internal and external stake holders (Fernandez-Feijoo, Romero and Ruiz 2014).The
Internal stake holders of Intro travel includes the employees and agents working for Intro
Travel and the managers of the company. On the other hand, the external stake holders of the
company, Intro Travels includes visitors, travelers, customers and the government.
Influence of new Technologies in Tourism Company
The latest technology which can be made to use using the Internet of things (IOT) for
the benefit of Intro Travel or nay other tour and travel company are as follows:
Airbnb Style Homes - Cost is a key barrier between the traveler and their desired
destination. Intro Travel noticed that many travelers who showed interest previously for any
particular destination through their company opted out considering the limited budget
affordability of the traveler .Since Intro travels targets all travelers from 18 to 45 years, they
have lost many customers opting out on grounds of budget affordability. The solution to this
problem is Airnb (Guttentag, 2015). Airnb is a platform for rent that allows visitors to rent
full homes, spare bedroom, basement and garages for a fraction of amount of what the hotel
would charge. By the use of Airnb, travelers can visit their dream destination at lower budget
and get interesting accommodation.
Mobile boarding Passes – Using the latest technologies the mobile boarding passes can be
sent to the customers of Intro travel from a secure web server .This passes can be scanned by
the agent present at the gate before boarding the plane. By using mobile boarding passes long
queues of line at the airport can be avoided (Egger 2013).

10APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
Online Bookings – Online ticket booking or booking of package for holiday destination
through Intro Travel website can be made more user friendly using the latest
technologies .Booking of online tickets and opting for desired tour package was always easier
but the problem, has always been, the changing ,canceling and refunding . The travelers can
pay online tickets and may pay for the online bookings for a particular tour packager by
online payment. However, with the latest technology the booking sites can be made more
users friendly where all the changes and modifications can be done as easily as booking
tickets or booking a tour package.
Wi-Fi on flights – The flight services provided by Intro Travel, which are according to the
desired package of the travelers, should be Wi-Fi enabled .The traveler would be able to
access the internet, which will surely make them happy. The travelers who want to catch
connecting flights will be able to get vital information from their Wi-Fi network such as the
delays and cancellations of flights. In addition to this it also opens a marketing aspect also as
the travelers would get the scope to post photos in Instagram or access twitter for making
tweets and may also share updates in facebook .This would be helpful as it will advertise
about then company Intro Travel.
Use of SaaS Technology – SaaS (Software as a Service) is a new technology in cloud
computing that should be used immediately by Intro Travel. Saas is one of the categorizes of
cloud computing (Safari, Safari and Hasanzadeh 2015) .By using SaaS the organization do
not have to install and run applications in their respective computers eliminating hardware
maintenance and support.
Challenges of using new technologies in Tourism Company
Some of the drawback or challenges of using new technologies in a tourism company
like Intro Travel are:

11APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
Server issues – When there is a problem in the server or the server is down all the activities
has to be halted and wait for the restoration of server. Generally, the server problems occur
during the peak hours when large data packets are exchanged via internet. Therefore, tour and
Travel Company like Intro travel must ensure that the routers, switches and cables are up to
date.
Security – Security is a major concern when technologies are being used by any organization
(Hossain, Fotouhi and Hasan 2015). When payments are done using online transaction, safety
measures are a big issue. Data that are stored online contains vital information and personal
details, if this information or data are accessed by the hackers considering the rate of increase
of cyber crimes which are prevalent nowadays it will be a major cause of worry.
Scope of the plan
High speed Information and communication (ICT) infrastructure and software in
Tourism Company like Intro Travel is very crucial for their development. With the use of
ICT several aspects like supply chain management and customer management relations can
be integrated to form a single source to improve variety of operations like
ordering ,tracking ,payment, cost reduction and changes in demand and supply. By using new
technology and social media platforms like facebook ,twitter and blogs ,customers of Intro
travel would be able to share the information on destination, service quality globally which
would strengthen the brand image of Intro travels .
For the optimized implementation of new technologies in Intro travel and other
tourism companies there are certain instruments, which should be applied like cloud
computing, implementation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and other technologies
like Saas, IaaS and PaaS (Kavis 2014) . Proper infrastructure and monetary resources are
required for the proper implementation of new adopted technologies in the tourism company