Tourism Promotion Services 1

Week 1: The Role of Automated Information System in Tourism Industry

The Role of Automated Information Systems in

the Tourism Industry

Learning Objectives

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

1. Identify information requirements appropriately

2. Discuss the role of automated information system in the tourism industry.
3. Identify sources of information and access the correct automated system
efficiently

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Automated Information System

An automated information system is a combination of computer

hardware, computer software, data, or telecommunications that performs
functions such as collecting, processing, storing, transmitting, and displaying
information (Glossary of Defense Acquisition Acronyms and Terms 2012). In the
tourism context, online travel agency websites and airline websites for online
bookings may be considered as automated information systems.

The role of automated information systems in the tourism industry

The tourism industry is the world's largest consumer of telecommunications
and the demand is growing. It is also defined as providing needs to assist tourists
throughout travelling. Nowadays, by using the internet our clients can access
their own information and make bookings themselves. If they seek information
from us they expect that we will provide the information they want in a timely
and accurate manner with the level of service they expect.

As we proceed through this module you will realize that our clients may
not only be travellers. They may be other tourism industry sector operators or
distributors (eg. Visitor Information Centers) who need an accurate and exact
information about a destination and its products. They are our clients because
they seek information to assist them to serve the final consumer - the traveller.

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Week 1: The Role of Automated Information System in Tourism Industry

As professionals in the tourism industry we need to ensure that the information

we give to clients is:

 Accurate
 Timely
 Relevant to their needs
 Sufficiently detailed to satisfy their needs.

A properly maintained Automated Information System (AIS) or

product information system will assist us to do this.
AIS manage the interaction between users and information
contained within a database and often uses an internet-based
interface to do this. As such, the AIS allow users (usually tourism
industry staff) to gain access to supplier and destination
information that is current and accurate.

Types of automated information systems

There are many different types of AIS available and used in the tourism industry. The first
time a computer and information network came together was in the 1960s when
American Airlines created the first Computer Reservations System (CRS). Many different
types of CRS have been created since then and those currently used reflect the
needs of the various sectors of the tourism industry.

A. Information databases

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These systems have been created to provide access to current and accurate information
on tourism products and services. Visitor Information Offices are seen as the experts on their
own particular destination by ensuring all information is up-to-date, thorough and accurate.
Automated information systems provide access to destination information and to the many
suppliers and services offered within a destination, region, or local area in a way that, if well
maintained, overcome these challenges.

The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW): http://www.atdw.com.au, is a centralized

database of Australian tourism product and destinations, and supplies New South Wales
product to a variety of websites (note that you will not be using this internet address to
access information during this module - this will be outlined where appropriate). The ATDW is

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Week 1: The Role of Automated Information System in Tourism Industry

a storage facility for the services and product data (or information) of State Tourism
Organisations (STO) in Australia. Each STO maintain sits own database. Whilst a consumer
may need to access each state/territory website separately the system allows for
consistency and quality assurance of data and presentation across the country.

Currently the majority of state/territory/regional destination information organisations use or

are moving to a system called State Tourism Data Warehouse (or STDW). For Tourism NSW,
STDW is a central database of New South Wales tourism product and destination
information. It is utilised by Tourism NSW staff and many Visitor Information Centres to answer
questions, to research tourism products and to market destinations. We will explore the STDW
in detail shortly. Visitor information offices within New South Wales and Western Australia are
able to update information on the STDW for their own destinations - other states must submit
information to their own Tourism authority for updating their central database. Some
suppliers of tourism services can also update their own information featured on the system.
There is a centralised area of quality control that checks all information that is recorded
according to set standards.

Some automated information systems are designed for use by clients and consumers as
well as staff, but not all areas of information will be accessible to client consumers. If you
access the automated information system via the Visit New South Waleswebsite
(http://www.visitnsw.com.au) you will find a series of appealing and well designed screens
that are designed for consumers with images and features which hopefully motivate the
consumer to travel. If you are a tourism industry user of STDWvia a visitor information office,
you will obtain access to the "product search" interface screens which give you more
detailed information but are presented in a manner not as accessible for consumers. To use
this you need a user ID and password(see your facilitator for more information).During this
module you will be accessing the STDW using the product search "purplescreens" interface
found at the website: http://stdwreports.tourism.nsw.gov.au. Thebenefit of this site is that it
allows access to both the consumer website and thespecialist STDW web interfaces. The
important thing to remember is that STDW is anautomated information system that feeds
information to the Visit NSW web site. Howyou access the information will impact upon its
presentation on the screen.

B. Computer reservations systems

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Some automated information systems allow us not only to source information but make
reservations also. These types of automated information systems are referred to as

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Week 1: The Role of Automated Information System in Tourism Industry

Computer Reservations Systems (or CRS). They allow tourism industry staff or consumers to
make reservations in addition to searching for the information they seek.

Some of these systems have evolved to the extent that they are referred to as Global
Distribution Systems (or GDS). "A GDS is defined as a CRS that has been modified, enhanced
or redesigned to distribute information in a number of different countries."(Harris and Howard
2001 p143). These types of systems are mainly used by retail travel agents to access current
information (particularly airline schedules and fares)and make reservations for their clients.
Examples of these types of automated information systems in the travel industry are Galileo,
Amadeus and Sabre, although there are others.

In its simplest form a CRS is a supplier's automated booking system. Originally these systems
were developed by major airlines throughout the world and as such only provided airline
information such as flights, seat allocations, fares and so on. Now these systems perform a
number of functions including:

 Storing of information concerning a huge range of supplier services and their

availability e.g. hotels, tour operators, attractions
 Providing destination information varying from weather conditions to visa
requirements
 Calculating fares for a multi destination journey in international currency
 Calculating time changes throughout the clients itinerary
 Providing reservations either by the industry, staff or the consumer via the Internet
 Recording client booking details and allowing these bookings to be retrieved and
altered if necessary
 Processing payment for travel arrangements made
 Printing tickets in voices and/or itineraries

. As you may imagine these systems are mainly used by retail travel agents as well as
wholesalers and airline staff. Not all the functions mentioned above can be performed by
consumers.

C. The Internet

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Week 1: The Role of Automated Information System in Tourism Industry

The Internet is a worldwide network of computers linked via telecommunication links .The
exchange of information is possible by using agreed rules, or protocols, to transmit and store
information referred to as either "content" or "data".

The protocol that most interests us in the tourism industry is that used by the World Wide Web
or WWW. Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the protocol that is used to retrieve information
connected with hyperlinks used by the WWW. It ensures that the data sent from one
computer is in a format supported by the receiving computer. As a reader follows a series of
hyperlinks, they will often be accessing information on a series of different computers. As the
links move from computer to computer, HTTP will negotiate with each one to ensure that the
transition is smooth and that the information is transferred. As you have experienced, using
the WWW we can link to pages or files that contain information in the form of text,
photographs, graphics, sound and video. When you click on a link you are actually
downloading a page or link that can show text or graphics or allow you to play audio or
video files. Email is an example of another protocol that runs on the internet.

The Internet and in particular the WWW allows suppliers of tourism products and services and
destination marketing organizations to develop sites, which are accessed for service and
destination information. Because of their efficiency automated information systems use
databases to transmit their information to outside organizations and consumers. The most
common example of this is the database-driven website of which STDW is one example.

D. Company designed systems

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Some organizations in the tourism industry have developed their own automated
information systems based upon their own products and services. This is done to allow staff
access to the information about their company efficiently and effectively. More and more
computer software companies are developing products that perform the job of information
storage and booking mechanisms for tourism organizations. Most of these systems are
accessed via Internet technology. One such system is called Book rite. It is an Internet-based
booking system that is used by some visitor information offices to carry out the booking
function. Not only can the visitor information office perform a booking for a client using this
system but because it is Internet based the supplier is usually alerted immediately to the
booking being made. Some organizations in the tourism industry use Book rite as a means of
allowing clients to make bookings via the Internet.

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Week 1: The Role of Automated Information System in Tourism Industry

Basic Steps in Operating an Automated Information System

1. Identify an automated system that is respected and trusted by most

people and easy to navigate. There are websites that provide information on
different tourism products. A wide array of hotel and resort rooms are
available in sites such Hotels.com or Tripadvisor.com. for airline bookings,
recommended websites include specific company websites such as
Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and Asia, or online platforms such as
OneTravel and CheapAir; and for travel deals, sites such as Smarter Travel,
Exepedia, Tripadvisor, and Agoda.
2. Using search engines such as Google and Yahoo, type in your website of
choice.
3. Click your item of interest.
4. Since prices normally vary depending on the date of the booking as well as
the date when the booking was made, the date of travel should be encoded.

Points to Remember When Using Automated Information Systems

1. Online services are good places to research and compare product types,
availability, cost and other relevant information.
2. Make time for reading comments posted by previous guests. This will help
give prospective clients ideas on what to expect from the service provider.
3. If booking has not been settled, prices are subject to change.
4. For easier reference in the future save the information in a separate file. This
may be done through print screen or copy-paste commands.
5. Always acknowledge the source when using photos and information from
websites to show prospective clients and the date when it was accessed.
6. Before finalizing any quote or making a booking, make sure you have
encoded the accurate and exact information.

References:

https://sielearning.tafensw.edu.au/MTH/7020/6672H-
v4/Travel/6672H_v4/topic1/6672h_r1_1.htm

Glossary of Defense Acquisition Acronyms and Terms. 2012. Automated

Information System Definition 15th edition. Retrieved August 17, 2015
https://dap.dau.mil/glossary/pages/1467.aspx accessed

https://www.academia.edu/27917438/Topic_1_The_role_of_automated_informa
tion_systems_in_the_tourism_industry

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