The Virtual Dimension in Tourism: Criteria Catalogue for the Assessment of eTourism Applications
Lydia Bauer\ Philipp Boksberger^, Josef Herget^ Sonja Hierl\ and Noelene Orsolini^
University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Chur ^ Swiss Institute for Information Science
^Institute for Tourism and Leisure Research Ringstrasse/Pulvermiihlestrasse 57, 7000 Chur
{lydia.bauer, phiHpp.boksberger, josef herget, sonja.hierl, noelene.orsoHni}@fh-htwchur.ch
Abstract Digitalisation can be viewed as the motor of transformation for the tourism industry in the age of the internet economy. While the increase of digitalised or completely virtualised products in tourism reflects this development, current eTourism applications are rather fragmented with regards to conceptualisation, structure and layout. However, in the increasing competitive internet economy, a systematic and methodical comparison of heterogeneous eTourism applications as a foundation for future developments is quintessential. This paper presents a classification scheme that is developed in the form of a criteria catalogue with a unified rating for assessment. The suggested criteria catalogue was tested on real cases resulting in a preliminary international benchmarking.
Keywords: eTourism Applications, Criteria Catalogue, International Benchmarking.
1 Introduction As development trends evolved from industrialisation to that of an information generation, affecting most aspects of society, the most evident consequences were observed in the trade and service industries. These changes have significantly affected the global travel market and therefore it is essential that the application potential of the intemet economy in tourism is fully exploited. The opportunities and threats of the virtual market place and related business networks can no longer be ignored by industry players as the combination of service and technology is one of the key factors of success for the tourism industry (Gratzer et al. 2004, WTOBC 1999). As many studies indicate, the importance of the online travel market will grow over the next few years resulting into escalating profits. This trend, according to the prognosis of PhoCusWright (2005) will further develop; as indicated by a forecast that the online travel market within Europe will reach 26% by 2008. This growing trend places enormous pressure on the tourism industry to change, with particular focus on "information bundling" (Buhalis 2003, EC 2005, Gratzer et al. 2002, WTOBC 2001). "Information bundling" requires the tourism industry actors to implement an alternative strategy which includes the use of an integrated network and mutual cooperation from all service providers. Furthermore the service providers will have to be able to access a central data bank which is actively managed and regularly updated. Essentially this application makes all the information of the service offers public, i.e. providing an optimal holistic marketing platform for tourism products (Joo 2002, Richtie & Richtie 2002, Scamato 2003, Sussmann & Baker 1996).
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This paper specifically analyses the subject of "information bundling" and describes the necessary steps and measures to be taken by tourism actors to adapt their current and future web presence to the requirements of an internet economy, whilst ensuring they remain competitive. Furthermore, an appropriate classification system in which all the possibilities existing in eTourism appliances are clarified and defined is presented. In this manner the salient features of the web presence of tourism actors are identified, fi*om which conclusions may be drawn.. In the assessment, the current recommendable features of web tourism applications are put forward in the form of a comprehensive catalogue which includes the varying aspects and the necessary primary requirements for an eTourism apphcation from different perspectives. User friendliness and customer support are the crucial prerequisites. In addition to technological support functions,, further aspects such as usability, the composition of information and the development of various new methods necessary for creating an "added value" for the tourist searching for information are focussed on. In closing, a case study presenting international examples within different categories from eTourism (and their classification thereof) is put forward. Sample applications used in leading destinations are assessed according to a three level benchmarking process and emphasise the innovative concepts within the fields of; information quality, infrastructure, technology development, marketing & sales, operations and service.
2 Internet Economy in Tourism Digitalisation can be viewed as the motor of transformation for the tourism industry in the age of the internet economy. Digitalisation can further be defined according to various intensity levels: from pure presentation and information (website), to a sales channel function (ecommerce), to business process integration (ebusiness) up to new business models with virtual products or services (Gratzer et al. 2002, Scamato 2003, Timmers 1998). The changes within the internet economy furthermore brought about changes within the tourism sector which have mainly focussed on four scientific developments and its drivers (Buhalis 2003, EC 2005, Watson et al. 2004).
Table 1. Development of the Internet Economy
Market Development Drivers
Intensified competition Increase of market transparency and the reduction of information industry market frictions. Reduction of switching barriers Break down of market entry barriers Disintermediation
Increased level of Increase level of virtualisation of most products and services virtualisation Increase of virtualisation in most organisations Increased complexity Increased speed of innovation
Fragmentation of markets Change in consumer Increase of power of demand markets behaviour Decrease of customer loyalty and increased problems with
customer retention
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Supporting this development is the gradual increase of digitalised or completely virtualised products in tourism. It is increasingly evident that more and more tourists are provided with information to facilitate service delivery, thereby ensuring it has a positive affect on the tourist's experience. Although no recipe for ebusiness in tourism exists, it is still considered an information business due to the intense flow of information of tourism products and services (WTOBC 1999). This presents a very good opportunity for tourism actors, as a well functioning, effective network allows tourism organisations to take full advantage of possible differentiation and discrimination strategies (Kanellopoulos & Panagopoulos 2006, Werthner 2003). Essentially an integrative process orientated towards a conceptual framework which considers the customer and the supplier perspectives must be achieved.
3 Assessment of eTourism Applications Current eTourism applications display a hugely fragmented design, particularly with regards to conceptualisation, structure and content layout. For the systematic acquisition and methodical comparison of heterogeneous offers, a common framework as a foundation is quintessential. Such a classification scheme as for example the criteria catalogue, in which the aspects to be investigated are determined and a unified rating for the assessment is provided. The goals of the criteria catalogue, as the foundation of assessment, are:
• Implementation of the systematic course of action to be followed thereby providing a holistic acquisition and appraisal of current offers.
• The creation of a solid base for extensive ongoing assessments of eTourism applications, from which all relevant aspects can be documented.
• Categorisation of relevant criteria for the analysis • Creation of a grid for the documentation and comparison of the ground principles
of eTourism applications.
3.1 Alternative Approaches when Assessing eTourism Applications
In the context of our research we explicitly needed to acquire an evaluation framework for the analysis of tourism websites, identifying strengths and weaknesses from all current developments such as the Web 2.0 and innovative technical web applications. A lot of research on the evaluation of e-commerce application has already been made, but the various evaluation measures either don't focus on tourism websites or if they do so, they vary broadly in context, depth and focus. Therefore we conducted a thoroughly literature analysis as basis for afterwards integrating and supplementing the various approaches to form a kind of meta-catalogue with evaluation criteria.
Literature review reveals that for the assessment of online presence of websites and portals a variety of existing heuristics, checklists and criteria catalogues which generally focus on usability and user guidance have been applied (Shneiderman & Plaisant 2005). Literature further concentrates on criteria for good web designs (Beier & Gizycki 2002, Thissen 2003). The elaborated assessment approach in this paper measures the quality of the information (e.g. how the information is formatted, how
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the information is presented graphically, if the information is easy for customer use, etc.). Since only general regulations and guidelines for the daily use and formation of such offers are common it is clear that the process orientated and the branch specific aspects are not taken into consideration. Moreover, the relevant literature in tourism pursues various objectives (Cox & Dale 2002, Wimmer & Rind 2006, Buhalis 2003, Adersberger 2005). For example the evaluation of the best tourism web sites of the year with focus on web design (Chrystal Webaward 2006) or the level of innovation and criteria required for the reduction of barriers (Destination 2004). Based on the arguments presented above the following abstracts present an integrative framework for eTourism applications.
3.2 Creation of a Criteria Catalogue for Assessment of eTourism Applications
Recommendations from literature advise that the formation of such a criteria catalogue must pay specific attention to the creation of added value for the tourist (Andersberger 2005, Ashkenas 1995, Porter 2000). The following suggested criteria catalogue is based on theoretical studies after which empirical findings from the field studies were analysed and adapted accordingly. The basic concept includes the following five categories:
Basic information Classification Levels of interaction Information quality Value chain
The resulting criteria catalogue with over 30 criteria, offers a detailed analysis and assessment of eTourism applications based on a common foundation. Each main category is made up of various criteria and sub criteria which are in turn, broken down into further key elements which can be individually assessed. By means of the combined qualitative and quantitative assessments it is possible to assess the structure as well as the content of the various aspects thereby ensuring that none of the features are overlooked. In this way a single foundation for a holistic assessment of eTourism applications is possible.
Basic Information and Classification. The first step involves the collection of the basic information regarding eTourism applications. The second step classifies the offers according to the dimensions: eDestination, eTransport, eHospitality, eintermediary, eActivity and einformation (according to Buhalis 2003 and Scamota 2003). This approach reduces the complexity and facilitates a comparison of the diverse eTourism apphcations. Herewith follows an explanation of the various dimensions:
eDestination: Includes all the forms of activities which are supported by ICT (information communication technologies) and conducts all the planning, product-offer, lobbying and marketing functions a destination requires. Examples include; collaborative product commerce, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, customer relationship management, etc.
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eTransport: Includes the special location fluctuations in tourism by means of information and communication technology assistance tools, taking into consideration the complete social, economic and technical institutions, structures or principles for which location adjustment are necessary. Examples include computer reservation systems, online travel plans and mobile ticketing. eHospitality: Refers to the fusion of information and communication technologies in eCommerce in commercial tourist accommodation. Examples include yield management systems and computer reservation systems, eintermediary: Includes all the travel agencies and tour operators, v^ho create a tourist product and sell it to the end user. Emphasis is on the horizontal and vertical integration of dynamic packaging taking into consideration the global distribution systems. eActivity: Includes all ICT support activities in tourism. Every feature of tourism consists of activities from people to leisure businesses or various other purposes that may be presented by the application of the global positioning system (GPS), einformation: Refers to the interactive advisory and supportive functions offered to guests as well as the transfer of knowledge of current changing facts, these are dynamic and therefore change over time. For example the global information system (GIS) and the product data management (PDM) for FAQ's and/or call centers especially for these categories.
Table 2. Aspects and Assessment Principles of the Levels of Interaction
Levels of Interaction Aspects Assessment Principles
Information
Communication
Social Networking
Transaction
General Information
Customised Information
Discussion Forum
Travel2.0 Collaboration
User-generated Content
Non-addressed Transactions
Individualised Transactions
General information about the advertised offer Advertised offers targeting the specific market. Existing contact or email addresses Opportunity for the website users to have discussions C2C, C2B or B2B possibilities to communicate with social software components
Website content (for example textual information, images, video) is contributed by users and not only by website provider
Opportunity for the users/customers to request quotes and make reservations Possibility to save the personal details of the user once reservation is being made
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Level of Interaction. The identification of the level of interaction of an eTourism application will be based on the model presented by the eGovemment initiative of the Federal Government (eVanti 2006). In the following structure the levels of interaction are categorised according to; information, communication and transaction. The detailed aspects of each category are differentiated and assessed.
Information Quality. In the category information quality the collection of summarised aspects of the preparation and presentation of the available information, the navigation quality and content layout assessment principles are individually supported and tested by means of the assessment principles. The underlying structure is based on the recommendations of Wimmer & Rind 2006, Harteveldt 2006 and Cox & Dale 2002.
Table 3. Aspects and Assessment Principles of Information Quality
Information Quality Aspects Assessment Principles
Preparation and presentation Comprehensiveness/ of Information Accuracy
Clarity
Navigational Quality
Content Layout
Amount of data
Structure & Menu Guide
Search function
Loading times
Ease of location, coverage, accessibility
Maintenance of standards
Text/ Graphics / Miscellaneous
Extent of detailed information given and accuracy thereof Concise information presented in consistent fashion, understandable layout The amount of data evident in the offers and number of pages Consistent with the ergonomic design rules and menu guides. The type and degree of search function. Conforming to average loading time of pages with offers Coverage of the application by means of extensive search engine Consistency of the up keep of layout norms Use of different media to transfer text, graphics, video
Value Chain. The last category is adapted from the value chain suggested by Ashkenas (1995) and Adersberger (2005) which is based on the much referred to value chain of Porter (2000), includes the following five primary activities:
Infrastructure Technology Development Marketing & Sales Operations Service
With the integration of the value chain in the criteria catalogue many of the primary activities have to be taken into consideration since the supporting activities have no
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affect on the layout of the eTourism apphcations. Based on the above mentioned activities the following structure presents the processed assessment principles upon which the eTourism applications may be analysed.
Table 4. Aspects and Assessment Principles of the Value Chain
Value Chain Aspects Assessment Principles
Infrastructure
Technology Development
Marketing & Sales
Operations
Service
Completeness/Up-to-date
Transitions & Links
Applied Technique
Functions
Connection of pages
Innovative Marketing Strategies
Content arrangement for target markets
Use of several languages
Information material
Package offers
Personalised packaged offers Reservation possibilities
Security features Communication Methods (C2C and C2B)
FAQ personaHsed contact / on line assistance Newsletter/Newsticker/per sonalised "push-info" Gadgets, turnover cards/web miles Documenting personal details.
Information which is current and accurate, i.e. the amount of „dead" links. Quality and symbolisation of links, the logic of the transfers, the differentiation between the internal and external links. The application of the latest technology Given functions and value added services Integration of value added services Dynamic Packaging, Guerilla Marketing, etc. Content specifically developed and arranged for specific individual groups of tourists The quality and the extent of languages offered. The availability of information in down loadable brochure format The availability of package offers The possibility of personalising the variety filled packages Methods of making reservations and on-line payment SSL coding Feed back mechanisms, user recommendations, questionnaires Degree of availability
Degree of availabihty
Degree of availability
Acquisition and maintenance of personal details and opinions.
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3.3 Procedure of Evaluation
The criteria catalogue as described above was used in the evaluation process of tourist websites and consolidated the well-established lists of criteria and concepts as described in chapter 3.2. Furthermore it integrated aspects of Web2.0 and included the evaluation of current and future web technologies and applications. It also builds the basis for future expert reviews where usabihty professionals with knowledge on tourism may conduct a thorough evaluation. This evaluation covered both quantitative and qualitative data: For each aspect, explicit and concrete criteria was formulated and qualitatively evaluated on a three-step scale, where possible. The quantitative evaluation involved the comparison of criteria with recognised standard measures (for example loading times of websites or the quantity of navigation or menu items). Thus, both quantitative and qualitative aspects were regarded and scientific insights on the ideal design of websites along with interaction concepts .were incorporated. The whole concept is soundly supported by current research and integrates both state-of-the-art approaches (for example the category "Degree of Interaction").
Figure 1. Framework for the evaluation of eTourism websites
• Platform Name
BASIC INFORMATION ] ^^^""^' P"""^'*^*'' Organization
• Contact Address
• eDestination • elntermediary CLASSIFICATION • elransport • eActivity
• eHospitality • einfo
DEGREE OF INTERACTION
Communication \ Social Networking
• Information Processing & Display INFORMATION QUALITY . Navigation Quality
• Presentation of Content
Va lue Cha in
e T o u r i s m Infrastructure ^ J ^ e l o p Z ^ " i r - ^ ^ o p e r a t i o n s ^ Service ^
4 International Benchmarking of eTourism Applications Based on the criteria catalogue an exemplary evaluation of international eTourism web pages was conducted in order to find valuable inputs to improve eTourism apphcations in Switzerland. The analysis was performed with a three-dimensional benchmarking approach, with special focus on the technology development (Web Technologies, Telecommunication, Media Technologies), services (Support, Marketing, Information Processing, Gadgets) and information quality (Content Structuring, Navigational Quality, Comprehensibility, Presentation of Information, Search) since these factors seemed to be crucial aspects for the success and the ease of use of eTourism applications (Lu & Lu 2004, Hepp et al. 2006, Doolin 2005). For each of the subcategories, exemplary applications or novel approaches were identified and overall 33 web pages could be identified. Their geographical allocation can be
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summarized as follows: Mainly western European, North American and Australian features could be identified as trendsetters - overall Austrian and US American applications were the most innovative. When briefly introducing the most exemplary results of the assessment it needs to be considered that all identified features were located on individual web pages, yet no page offers a comprehensive combination. Not many pages currently implement a few of the features from the three dimensions successfully, as www.newzealand.com and www.aspensnowmass.com, for example does. Thus it can be deduced that the international standards in eTourism applications are still evolving.
Technology Development. Technological aspects and features of a website in particular enable new virtual and mobile forms of interaction, manipulation and experience for potential customers. The web technology geotagging (http://www.venividiwiki.eu) defines the process of adding geographical identification metadata to other applications like websites, images or RSS newsfeeds. Venividiwiki is a mash-up of Google maps and a Wikipedia to collect, tag and map attractions around the world. Anyone can provide so called POI (point of interest) on a map and add as much information (for example name, category, description, website, photo and video) as required. With this tool travellers can place their individual travel experiences while a website user can search information either by selecting categories or by browsing through the map. This web technology is highly interactive and simultaneously collaborative.
Pictures and especially videos transport more subtle messages and emotions than pure textual information. The media technology TV over the web offers live TV or recorded TV sessions, documentaries and local commercials to enrich a destination's website with audio-visual information (http://www.newzealand.com). Videos are a perfect way to visualise the complex variety of a destination. Furthermore they assist travellers to focus on their holiday interests and help them to decide whether they like a certain offer or not since their impression of their selected travel details become more realistic. Due to the increase of Web 2.0 platforms like www.youtube.com the usage of videos on the net has become more common than ever before, so the marketing surplus of IP TV for the tourism sector is highly evident.
Services. Service delivery has always been an important success factor in the Tourism industry hence virtual eTourism applications need to provide similar web based concepts to their customers like regular travel agencies. Most notably the support service travel planer can be described as an important online service application (http://www.newzealand.com). The "electronic concierge" provides a set of web based tools for travellers to plan their holidays. Their selected personalized travel information can be saved, a calendar and a map of the destination are also available to help structure the trip. The itinerary itself can be saved, enlarged later or printed. If the planning process is completed the travel planer completes the reservation transactions.
The marketing service resource centre (http://www.tq.com.au) makes a collection of data available concerning development strategies, business tools, industry information
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and media assistance and fosters the B2B communication process. The main idea behind such a resource centre is the open access to the same information for all destination partners on the one hand and on the other to support research as well as the generation of new business knowledge. In general this web application serves as a comprehensive organisational destination knowledge base.
Information Quality. The growing importance of information as an input to all systems within economic sectors has been recognised in the context of increasing competitiveness in a globalised economy. It is crucial for eTourism websites to satisfy their user's information need, so therefore the structure, presentation and retrievability of information is highly relevant. An excellent feature on eTourism websites is an interactive orientation card (http://www.skiamade.at). This card especially helps tourists without any geographical knowledge about the destination to gain a better orientation. The orientation card is shovm on each sub-page and connects the displayed information with geographical positions and details. The card itself should not cover too much space in the content area of the page since detailed information could be displayed with an enlarged interactive destination map with further functionalities like travel time calculator, weather information or the selection of different views of a destination.
The performance of search functions integrated into eTourism pages need to be highly efficient since most information on websites either create revenue by leading to a reservation process or contain relevant additional surplus values for the customer like GPS information for hiking tours, location plans or additional holiday attractions. The traditional usage of search engines is mostly based on textual query processing. Novel improvements promote new search concepts like search engines with visualisations (http://www.visitdenmark.com). The example from Denmark enables an accommodation search on a map where the tourist is able to select the destined part of the country to add it to the search query and the access to information becomes more intuitive.
Recapitulating, the international benchmarking indicated that not one ideal example of an eTourism website could be identified which incorporates all analysed innovations, only few websites offer a combination of some of the novel features from the three dimensions, i.e., information quality, user services and technology development. However it must be said that, a broad variety of good practises were identified. The authors would further highly recommend comprehensive integration into existing websites.
5 Future Directives The virtualisation of tourism offers is advancing with great speed. As there are no physical barriers the internet economy offers new customer orientated services as well as the creation of a widespread destination service cluster. No longer is the focus on the creation of a tourism product, but it has widened to that of how knowledge of the tourism product, especially the design thereof has to be created in order to fulfil the needs of the target customer and how this information is transferred and presented.
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Tourists do not accept media failures when selecting tourism products. Committed, reliable communication channels - on line, mobile, accessibility and transaction efficiency are required. Howevfr the future presents more challenges that should not be overlooked. One for example is the development of the so called "social software" this refers to the loss of the information monopoly by the suppliers of tourism products. The users inform themselves and trust information from like minded folk, more than the actual information on offer. The pages consisting of hotel guest assessments and recommendations are only a pre taste of what's to follow, i.e. tour recommendations, critique, travel reports, photos, audio and videos made by the users, placed on the web by means of blogs, flickr or youtube and randomly published, would require future suppliers of tourism organisations to integrate all the activities into one tourism product offer. Interactivity and the possibility of considering the "user generated contents" should be promoted. Guest experiences remain a future important source of gaining the best information on potential target markets. Further potential prospects regarding customer relations and connections are evident in the development of parallel worlds (e.g. Second Life). Hybrid concepts are in great demand, tourists want to be orientated as realistically as possible about the experiences on offer, for example they should be able to „pre-experience" the product if possible and test it virtually on a non committal basis and then be able to exchange views on the product with other users. The realization of the above mentioned potential prospects requires the creation of specialised means to ensure all activities are canalized as efficiently as possible thereby creating new challenges for most of the concepts currentiy in place by the industry suppliers. Action and reaction to this narrow spiral would define itself more clearly by means of international benchmarking which will gain more importance as competitiveness increases.
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Acknowledgements We want to thank the following colleagues for the very inspiring cooperation and support in the conception of a criteria catalogue for the evaluation of tourism websites: Ms. C. Bieber, Ms. G. Schneider, Mr. J. Pfister (Swiss Institute for Information Science, HTW Chur), Mr. A. Schocher (Institute for Tourism Leisure Research) and Prof. Dr. B. Studer (Institute for Information and Communication Technolologies).
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