Paper 387

RIJSS Volume 3, Issue 5 (May. 2014) ISSN: 2250 3994

Journal of Radix International Educational and Research Consortium

1 | P a g e www.rierc.org

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE INFOTECH AGE TOURISM

A STUDY ON THE TRAVEL & TOURISM INDUSTRY IN RAJASTHAN

DR.PALLAVI RANAWAT

University Of Rajasthan

ABSTRACT

Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing industries of the present time. It has immensely been hit

by the technological revolutions and has transformed rather revolutionized the way the entire service based

industry operates. Being an industry associated with rendering its various services to its customers at all

time zones, The Service Based Industry is both People sensitive and People centric. Therefore services

to the people (customer) always come first. Owing to technological advancements, the way in which the

services are provided to customers has drastically changed and has indeed taken a new shape. With the

coming of e-technological innovations, the functioning of the trade has been greatly affected and equally

has increased knowledgeable customer demands. The study attempts to understand the latent

undercurrents related with technological revolutions and to examine customer satisfaction in this context.

Keywords-Technological revolution, Service based industry, Technological innovations, Customer

demands, Customer satisfaction.

INTRODUCTION

Tourism in the most simplest manner can be defined as The entire phase of attracting people to a

destination, transporting them there, housing, feeding and to entertain them upon arrival and safely

returning them back to their home If we take a closer look at the definition, it can be stated that every

aspect of tourism industry (accommodation, destination, transportation etc) is associated with rendering

its respective services to its customers. Meeting of customer needs, fulfilment of their demands and

desires, achieving their satisfaction yields to a positive feedback which eventually goes a big way in

generating more travel and which furthermore has been the prime motive of travel trade, tourism and

A Journal of Radix International Educational and

Research Consortium

RIJSS

RADIX INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF

RESEARCH IN SOCIAL SCIENCE




hospitality industry worldwide. Customer services and attaining their satisfaction is therefore curtail to

travel business survival.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE INFOTECH AGE TOURISM

One of the universal characteristics features of any and every possible business in the world today is its

information network and connectivity with the world. Time has brought about a drastic change in the

pattern of information services and delivery in comparison with the ancient and middle age systems. This is

nothing but a result of upcoming challenges, increment in demand and the need of improvement in the

quality and delivery of services to the customers. Information Technology (IT) or InfoTech is now becoming

embodied in all sorts of business and services. In fact InfoTech has become a part of our lives. In the field

of information, technology has revolutionized the way services are provided to the consumer of various

services. Different information techniques have now offered many opportunities for improving the delivery

of services. Rapid technological advances over the last decade have now transformed the various

information delivery systems making functioning of these extremely easy not only to the advantage of the

industries but also for the actual consumers of goods and service Inevitably the tourism industry is also

affected by the technological revolution. Because of the special characteristics of information in selling

tourism products, the use of ITs is more pronounced in the industry( Ndou, Valentina, Pelti Claudio,

,2007).Tourism being a service based industry has a need for not only an accurate but timely and easily

accessible information about destination, availability of services and other associated travel facilities. In

the travel trade and hotel industry what is being sold and distributed is particularly the information about

various facilities and services to be used by the tourist. (Bhatia, 2001) Communication therefore bears in

the activities of agents or medium in tourism trade and is also very important for the development of

tourism. (Grzona.J, 2001. The promotion of information has to be conducted by all those involved in the

travel trade and at each and every level as they directly or indirectly influence the trade and hence a big

tool for the promotion of the trade..

What is that satisfies customers? This has been a major issue of discussion. It is aptly marked that Tourism

is nothing but service business Customer service and their satisfaction therefore Tourism being a service

based industry has a need for not only an accurate but timely and easily accessible information about

destination, availability of services and other associated travel facilities. In the travel trade and hotel

industry what is being sold and distributed is particularly the information about various facilities and

services to be used by the tourist. (Bhatia, 2001) The promotion of information has to be conducted by all

those involved in the travel trade and at each and every level as they directly or indirectly influence the

trade. Communication therefore bears in the activities of agents or medium in tourism trade and is also

very important for the development of tourism. (Grzona.J, 2001 plays a vital role in order to promote a

travel product or destination. Higher the customer satisfaction more is the probability of tourist attraction

towards the similar product. It is rightly said One satisfied tourist leads to ten others Satisfied customers

are more likely to recommend the travel product to others which is in fact the most cheapest and most

effective form of marketing and promotion(Crosby,1993,S.oderlund,1998). It can thus be stated that only




a satisfied customer (tourist) can act as am influencing factor in motivating others to opt for the similar

travel product which has been tried and tested and has met their level of expectorations.

Every tourist travels with a different perspective. interest, mood and needs..Customer satisfaction is not

only affected by the quality of services but also by its price and perceived value of product/service

rendered to the customers of diverse range and varying attitudes. Customer satisfaction is important for

successful destination marketing because it influences the choice of destination, the consumption of

products and services and the decision to return(Kozak and Rimington,2000) Tourists, like other customers,

have an initial expectation of the type and quality of services to be offered at a particular destination.

These expectations are formed mostly through information provided via tourism advertisements,

commercials, brochures, mass media and informal information from friends and relatives. The extent to

which tourist expectations are met actually determine the level of satisfaction. If the overall performance,

while or after visiting the destination, exceeds or meets initial expectation then the tourist is considered as

satisfied (Moharrer Masoomeh, 2006). There is usually a positive association between tourist satisfaction

and destinations long term economic success.

Unlike goods, intangible tourism services cannot be experimented, tested, smelt, touched, seen or

physically displayed at the point of the sale or before purchasing. They are brought before the time of their

use and away from their place of consumption. Hence every tourist who purchases a tourism product fully

relies on the representation, description, illustration i.e. the altogether information about the particular

product he desires to purchase. Timely and accurate information relevant to customers need is often a key

to satisfaction of tourist demands and crucial for a successful business. It is solemnly, information

satisfaction that diverts a tourist's intention in purchasing a particular product. The better the layout of the

information, its clarity and attractiveness, more the satisfaction and easier the convincing of tourist. Being

aware of these fast and the sweeping changes taking place in society, tourism organization are making the

efforts to meet the new challenges of obtaining, handling, upgrading and servicing information by

adoption of upcoming and latest trends in IT.

RESEARCH METHEDOLOGY This empirical study is an important endeavor to multi dimensional repercussions. Hence it makes an

attempt to motivate government for utilizing IT extensively for the growth of travel, tourism and

hospitality sector.

1 To understand the nature of tourist travel in context of e-connectivity

2 To examine how far has IT proved a leading pathway for development of tourism in the state

3 To evaluate the success in terms of customer satisfaction with upcoming e-innovations in travel, tourism

and hospitality industry.

4 To suggest methods for improvement in digital means to facilitate and endorse the trade

To get a more penetrative view, the target groups for this study included Administrators, Local

Entrepreneurs and Tourists from Dhundhar travel circuit of Rajasthan (Jaipur,Dausa,Tonk). The instruments

for the study have incorporated Web-based Survey, Face to Face Interview, E-mail Statements, Telephonic




Interview and Questionnaire. Some research studies on tourism were also used as reference works for the

research study. Researcher has obtained Convenience Sample by selecting whatever sample units were

available for the two target groups ie local entrepreneur and tourists of Dhundhar Circuit. However for the

administrators, Stratified Random Sampling method was used by drawing sample from each stratum

proportionate to the size of total administrators listed on the record including the Commissioner of

Tourism to the different Tourist Officers deputed in the region. The SPSS 16 and Microsoft Excel are widely

used in drawing the inferences from the hypotheses constructed.

TABLE 1: SAMPLE: PROPOSED N=300; ACTUAL N=200

Proposed Actual

Administrators

(Commissioner-TO)

50 30

Local Entrepreneurs

(Hoteliers; Travel Agents; Tourist Emporium, Cyber operators etc.)

90 30

Tourists ( Domestic and International) 160 140

Total Respondents 300 200

The major limitations of the research study have been 1 Lack of willingness to attempt all questions 2 Reluctance among administrators 3 Lack of awareness in regards to Information Technology 4 Extra efforts to motivate respondents 5 Delay in returning questionnaire. 6 Limited bibliographic support 7 Incomplete questionnaires 8 Few typing errors caused due to manual limitations, might be pointed out

TABLE 2 TWO- CELL REPRESENTATIONS OF VARIABLES

Dependent Variable Independent Variables

ET (E-Tourism)

Information Accessibility (ia) Administrative Environment (ae) Crime Control (cc) Local Entrepreneurship (le) Tourist Satisfaction (ts)

Source: Researcher

This Study is basically an attempt to explore the relationship between different causative variables and e- tourism. HYPOTHESES 1. Information accessibility through Internet will give extra leverage to e-tourism. 2. The flexible, specialized, interactive and transparent administrative environment would promote e- tourism.




3. Conventional Crimes can be controlled with the adoption of upcoming e- technology. 4. The local entrepreneurship is likely to be generated with adherence to the e-tourism. 5. Tourists will have a greater sense of satisfaction if they can organize their travel electronically. TOURISM IN THE WORLD OF INFOTECH Information technology has opened new avenues and infarct a bigger market for the trade. Organization

and destinations that need to compete in the global marketplace are forced to compute (Buhalis, 1998) i.e.

adopt upcoming information and communication tools and techniques. In the past ten years, nothing has

changed within the tourism sector as much as information and communication technology (ICT).

Information technology becomes instrumental in development and prosperity of regions as they determine

their competitiveness in the global marketplace. IT therefore have a strong impact on the travel trade as it

has brought both opportunities and challenges for the industry. It is undeniable that information

technology has taken over the operational side of travel trade, tourism and hospitality industry. As

"INFORMATION" is the "LIFE BLOOD OF TOURISM", effect of it is pivotal. Various information and

communication technology are today in use in the sector globe over. They are being used for the product

development, marketing, distribution and training of personnel. The new sophisticated, knowledgeable

and demanding consumers are increasingly becoming familiar with the emerging IT sand require

systematic, flexible, specialized, accessible, interactive product. Travel and tourism being a service based

industry have enabled to achieve the above characteristics by adopting the modern ICT in the trade as that

has enabled travel business to systematize working and plays an important and now inevitable role.. The

rapidly developing information technology has revolutionized information processing, storage,

dissemination and distribution and has been the chief instrument and the major contributing factor to

changes in society. These technologies are not merely rapidly developing, but they also are converging and

integrating, giving an unprecedented push to growth and development in every area including tourism.

Fig. 3.6: A Medium of Exchanging Services, Linking Buyers with Sellers




The electronic travel market place is a global arena where millions of buyers (Travel agents and public) and

sellers (hotels, airlines, car rental, companies etc.) work together to exchange travel services. Among the

"Shelves" on which the buyers search for travel services are world global distribution systems (GDS) and

Internet distribution systems. These systems have become electronic super market linking both buyers and

sellers and allowing reservation to be made quickly and easily (Dos Samipatra, 2002). Technology has the

great advantage that it allows tourism industries to replace expensive human labor with technological

labor, thus not only reducing labor costs but also avoiding issues of customer service. Most of us are now

used to booking and paying our airlines, railways ,car rentals, holidays, hotel and more online dealing with

mobile, internet and other cost saving applications and techniques. These technological advances have

empowered customers to make their own decisions and book at their convenience. On the other side of

the equation, travellers use more technology than ever before and often the tourism industry has taken

advantage of this desire to stay in touch with its clients right from planning a holiday, finalizing on a tour

package, during ongoing tour to concluding a tour and attaining feedback. Now we have entered into the

world of e-marketing, a system that may be called an advanced form of spam. Technology touches

almost every aspect of the tourism industry and is practically proving successful for tourism business

functioning and added customer satisfaction. If we are smart enough to use the benefits of technology

such as convenience, speed, and accuracy and avoid some of the pitfalls, lack of human contact, user

friendliness, size of lettering, and lack of human contact, then technology can be a great time and cost

saver( JCcabincrew, 2011 )

IT has opened new communication possibilities due to its network, platform and very low software

installation and maintenance cost. Since inception, the Internet has opened a new world of Digital

Information. Likewise, with the rise of Internet boom, the tourism sector also by no means is left behind.

Internet has brought about a massive change in the methods of sales and marketing of different tourism

product, reservation systems in airlines, railways, hotel and entire operation and regulation of the trade

effecting both the provider and consumer of these products. Information technology is a growing sector

and many tourism businesses today are involved in developing their Internet services including traditional

travel agencies, hotels and other accommodation providers and car hire firms.

IT BASED TOURISM BUSINESS: IMPACT AND INFLUENCE Given the dynamics of the sector the emerging competitive electronic market nearly all stakeholders have

implemented their internet strategy. Since tourism is an information based business, it fits well with their

respective background. The Internet development leads to an evolution of the market best described as an

ongoing interaction of concentration versus the simultaneous entering of new players. The increased

complexity generates the need for new services such as providing transport, access or price comparison.

This enforces the design and deployment of more specialized service, such a process will quite naturally

create new business opportunity, accelerating competition and putting even more emphasis on technical

innovation.




Deregulation, globalization and radical shifts in leisure and tourism behaviour on the demand side have

driven the tourism industry towards information-oriented activities. The increasing use of the internet for

destination marketing, direct sales and booking has given rise to Electronic tourism market (EM) and at

present tourism is among the most important application domains in the World Wide Web (www). The

development of websites has made possible the direct delivery of comprehensive travel information about

tourism suppliers to potential traveller. Text based websites with photos; video and much improved

graphics linked to websites of tourism suppliers at the destination is another innovative approach to

marketing. Website information today may not only enables a virtual sightseeing of the travel destination,

hotel, entertainment, try out, add on or any other travel product but has also given Lesser Known

Destinations a chance to compete in the global market place. Developing an effective travel websites with

online booking and payment facility have now assumed importance for obvious reasons. International

tourists are increasing using various travel website as on the internet. Internet helps to make travel

products globally accessible at much lower cost with transaction costs and the cost of intermediaries and

has comparatively low entrance barriers with regard for financial resources. For many suppliers, tourism-

marketing effort is increasingly focusing on Internet users. A new business environment and new ways of

doing business have come up as a result of easy, user-friendly, anytime and anywhere accessibility of

travel information by customers and which is bringing tourism business and consumer (tourist), buyers and

suppliers online. Internet technology is a driving force behind the growth of e-business. Although the

computers were in use in some way or the other in various branches of tourism industry since the early

sixties, today these are considered indispensable. These are extensively used in almost all branches of

travel industry. They are part and parcel of travel agency and are playing a key role in making travel service

an easy affair increasing customer satisfaction along with.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The another set of questionnaire comprising of five questions on different dimensions of e-tourism was

instituted by the Researcher to collect data to measure the degree of variation on the spectrum of Strongly

Satisfied to Strongly Dissatisfied

TABLE 4.1: THE DEGREE OF VARIATIONS AMONGST LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS N=30

SS MM SD

User friendly web site 6 24 0

Completeness of web information 6 20 4

e-tools helping in controlling crimes 0 17 13

e-tools in making tourism innovative 13 15 2

Job avenues 10 18 2




Fig.4.2: Bar Representation

Source: Study Results

SS- Strongly satisfied; MS-Moderately satisfied; SD- Strongly Dissatisfied.

The contents of Table 4.2 reflect the trends amongst local entrepreneurs. To Question no. 1, 24 responded

in the mid-category of Moderately Satisfied which means mostly they found the websites to be user-

friendly; to Question no. 2, 20 responses were again in the category of Moderately Satisfied which indicate

that information posted on the websites was complete; to Question no. 3, 17 responses were for the

Moderately Satisfied and 13 were for the category of Strongly Dissatisfied which reflects that as far as the

crime control through e-tools is concerned there has been 60-40 ratio of responses to last two categories

hence it has yet to emerge as the effective tool of crime control ; to Question no. 4, 15 were for the

Moderately Satisfied and 13 were for the Strongly Satisfied which indicates that the element of

innovativeness has been enhanced through e- interventions and lastly to the Question no. 5, 18 were for

the Moderately Satisfied and 10 for the Strongly Satisfied owing to the fact that job avenues have been

increased . The left numbers were in the respective categories, which are not significant as far as the

analysis is concerned. Summarizing the data it can be said that local entrepreneurs were satisfied, as on an

average it has opened new avenues for them to support their livelihood.

TABLE 4.3 THE DEGREE OF VARIATIONS AMONGST ADMINISTRATORS N= 30

SS MS SD





Job avenues 11 15 4




Fig. 4.4 bar Representation


The above data reveal trend amongst administrators to the same set of questions as instituted for the

earlier category show the results as follows. To Question no. 1, 20 responses were registered in the

category of Strongly Satisfied and 10 responded to the category of Moderately Satisfied which means

administrators found websites to be exceptionally user-friendly; to Question no. 2, 17 responses were in

the category of Moderately Satisfied and 11 were in the category of Strongly Satisfied which means

complete information is normally uploaded on the websites regarding Tourism; to Question no. 3, 16

responded for the category of Moderately Satisfied and 9 for the Strongly Satisfied which means similar

trend as of the Local Entrepreneurs is noted here as far as the crime control is concerned; to Question no.

4,16 responding in the category of Strongly Satisfied and 13 in Moderately Satisfied show that innovative

tourism is possible with the help of e-tourism and to the last Question no. 5, 15 responded for Moderately

Satisfied and 11 for Strongly Satisfied favouring the widening of job avenues. The residual numbers are not

significant as their effect on the final analysis is negligible.

TABLE 4.5 THE DEGREE OF VARIATIONS AMONGST TOURISTS

N= 150-20=130

SS MS SD





Job avenues 32 78 20




Fig. 4.6 bar Representation


SS- Strongly Satisfied; MS-Moderately satisfied; SD- Strongly Dissatisfied

The contents of Table 4.5 points out the trend amongst tourists both the domestic and foreign tourists to

the same set of questions as instituted for the earlier two categories show the results as follows. To

Question no. 1, 80 responded to the category of Moderately Satisfied and 42 to the Strongly Satisfied

specify that they found the websites user-friendly; to Question no. 2, 91 responded in the category of

Moderately Satisfied and 30 in the category of the Strongly Satisfied points out to the overall satisfaction

as far as the completeness of information is concerned; to Question no. 3, 75 responded to the category of

Moderately Satisfied, 23 to the category of Strongly Satisfied and 32 to the Strongly Dissatisfied reflects the

scattered trend though the maximum value is for the category of Moderately Satisfied. This reveals that

the tourists are not so sure about controlling the crimes with the advent of e- tools; to Question no.4, 65

responded for the category of Moderately Satisfied 52 to the category of Strongly Satisfied show that the

element of innovativeness can be enhanced with the help of e-technologies; to Question no.5, 78

responded to the category of Moderately Satisfied and 32 to Strongly Satisfied reflect the inclination of

creating more job avenues with the advent of e- technology.

On the more comprehensive scale it can be said that in all three categories maximum responses have been

registered in the category of Moderately Satisfied to the Questions Nos. 2, 3 and 5 which indicate that

websites on tourism for this particular region so developed are user-friendly, informative and open more

job opportunities. This interpretation is based on the analysis of data collected from the respondents on

the five questions so framed by the Researcher.




AREA O F IMPROVISATIONS

To be precise, tourism in the State can flourish only if it ensures proper e-interventions and works for

resolving the problems encountered by the tourist, local entrepreneurs and administrators. The results

have indicated few areas in which government must take initiatives to enhance the efficacy of the travel

sector. The discussed interpretations lead to the identification of following areas,

To have authorization and recognition of the private travel and promotional websites by the

government with a view to provide authenticity.

To lay down some set standard, rules and regulations for every travel and tourism website.

To ensure clarity in reaching a destination and initiating advanced map in websites.

To extend web-links of private stakeholders with the official governments website with a motive to

provide a more rigorous information to the tourists.

To design web-portals such that it generates curiosity amongst tourists thus by putting neglected and

lesser known destinations on travel map.

To introduce a strong provision of online booking and payment facilities ranging from Airline ticketing,

accommodations, entertainment, transportation and connectivity with other destinations and other

governmental and non-governmental services.

Acceptance of debit cards to increase bag packer traffic must be made.

To professionalize web-information in a way that it intensively provides even minute aspect of the

related region to the visiting tourist, such as places of cultural importance, of connection with other

destinations, of modes of transportation, of emergency contacts etc.

To develop websites providing clear information regarding whom to contact, where to contact and how

to contact in the situation of crisis and helplessness by enabling tourists to help themselves as they

often carry digital devices while touring.

To introduce a column of registering the customer grievances online by any tourist who logs on to

governmental travel websites.

To respond promptly to the tourists grievances, mails, queries if and whenever sought by the tourist.

To create independent e- information centres offering their services round the clock as travel market

functions at different time zones

To infuse properly organized marketing system and quick access to tourism related websites so that

anybody planning to travel to India, especially Rajasthan can prepare his itinerary in a shorter time and

with clear focus.

To facilitate Internet accessibility by making important tourist destination Wi-Fi. Also to extend the

touch screen facility in such a manner that maximum information can be scripted into minimum words.

Training and rtraining pf administrators in e-technology must be made compulsory in order to make

them self-sufficient




FUTURE OF INFOTECH ORIENTED TOURISM The future of tourism will strongly sustain on the availability and affordability of internet services for a greater population by specifically taking into account the following Availability of easy-access

Affordability to mass population

Awareness of e-tools in citizens

Adoption of e-technology in regional language

Amalgamation of visual display on websites.

The aforesaid suggestions are not possible unless and until these are incorporated into the policy

documents. Equally important is to bring about changes in the mindsets of the administrators particularly

as their attitudes are the causes and stimulants of rejuvenating the entire sector. The utmost responsibility

of satisfying tourists from domestic and foreign destinations lies with the government. There are certain

cultural legacies which when put rightly with the present compulsions while keeping future in focus can

yield the best output at the users end. The ramifications are multifold but so are the future centric

apprehensions. Nevertheless right onus with clear perceptions about the transformations essential for the

prospective thrusts must be translated into action through precise policies.

REFERENCES

Bhatia.A.k,(2001)International Tourism Management ,Sterling publishing house ,NewDelhi,p.300

Buhalis Dimitrious, (1998) Strategic use of information technology in the tourism industry University of

Westminster, London.

Dos Samipatra (, 200)2Global Distribution Systems in present times, HVS International.

Grzona.J,(2001)Significance Of Marketing communication in Tourism,DAAM

International,Veina,Australia

JCcabincrew,( 2011) | 3 Pages (680 Words) | 1416 Views

Jump up^ "Impacts of the World Recession and Economic Crisis on Tourism: North

America". JournalistsResource.org. Retrieved 22 June 2012

Jump up^ "Sustainable Tourism: Turning the Tide". Towards Earth Summit 2002.Stakeholder Forum for

a Sustainable Future. August 2002. Retrieved 22 January 2012.

Kozak and Rimington,(2000) Tourism Management,pp.391-401

Mosomeh Modarner,(2006) Electronic Satisfaction in Tourism Industry Lulea university of

technology,p.11.

Maylle,Steve.Moenaert, Rudy, Despontin, Mars.(2004),The Conceptualization and empirical validation

of website user satisfaction, Information Managament,pp.543-560.

Ndou, Valentina, Pelti Claudio, (2007) DMS Business Model Designated Destination Configuration:

Choice and Implementation issues

Documents

Paper 387