TYPOLOGIES OF E-

TOURISM
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To help you understand how to formulate e-
Tourism Business model

To explain the role of e-Tourism

intermediaries such as Global Distribution
Systems, Meta search engines and so on.

To highlight the current online travel

industry scenario
OUTCOMES
Explain the business model of an e-Tourism
business using the Business model

Appreciate the role played by intermediaries

in e-Tourism ecosystem

Identify and address the issues faced by

different product categories within e-Tourism
 BUSINESS MODEL
The business model is at the center of the business plan.

A business plan is a document that describes a firms

business model.

A business plan always takes into account the

competitive environment.

An e-commerce business model aims to use and

leverage the unique qualities of the Internet and the
World Wide Web.
 E-TRAVEL
INTERMEDIARIES
A third party that offers an intermediation service
between two trading parties is called an
intermediary.

The feasibility of intermediation as an industrial

sector depends upon whether it adds any extra
value to the original service that is tradable
directly between the producer and the consumer.
 TOUR OPERATOR & TRAVEL
AGENT
For example, when you go on a complicated
international route, you need not worry about
visa formalities, airport transfers, local
transportation, hotel rooms, excursion coupons,
travel insurance, food, language barriers, tour
guidance, etc.

If you prefer to make use of the service of a tour

operator rather than preferring to go alone.
DISINTERMEDIATION
The removal of intermediaries in a supply chain.

This means buyers bypass the middlemen in order to

buy directly from the service provider and thereby pay
less.

In the recent times, customers are increasingly being

enabled by technological advancements to overcome
this inherent bias that worked against their interests
so far.
 CONTD.,
For example, imagine that all the 55 airlines that operate
between points A and B have their own direct booking facilities
and a customer wants to find the best airline in terms of a
number of variables.

One option for him is to visit the fifty five websites, read the fine
print, make a comparison chart, and make the decision.

Another option for him is to visit a travel search engine like

Kayak.com and specify your criteria.

The latter simplifies the task of the customer a lot. The new
generation intermediaries like Kayak.com are examples of re-
intermediation.
KEY SERVICES OFFERED IN THE
ONLINE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
KEY SERVICES OFFERED
IN ONLINE TRAVEL
REVENUE SOURCES IN
ONLINE TRAVEL
 ISSUES IN THE ONLINE
HOTEL INDUSTRY
Managing a Diverse Supplier Base

While the airline ticketing segment may involve managing

relationships with six players, the hotel segment requires
a larger workforce to manage relationships with
thousands of hotels.

This requires the hiring of a substantial workforce to

manage relationship with hotels, resolve disputes
between customers and the hotels, and provide regular
updates of inventory in hotels.
 ISSUES IN THE ONLINE
HOTEL INDUSTRY
Overcoming Technological Constraints

The fragmented nature of the hotel industry in many

countries and low technological investment made by hotels
add to the challenges of maintaining a large workforce.

This poses problems in providing accurate updates on

inventory reserved for booking through OTAs.

The recent growth of organized hotel chains offers a

absolution to OTAs from these challenges.
ISSUES IN THE ONLINE
HOTEL INDUSTRY
Customer Experience

While the customer experience provided by

airlines is standardized and lasts around two to
three hours, engagements with hotel customers
are of a longer duration and can stretch to days.

OTAs need to ensure that they deliver on the

promises made to customers.
ISSUES IN THE ONLINE
HOTEL INDUSTRY
Authenticity of Information

OTAs need to ensure that hotels provide accurate

information on services offered and tariffs charged.

To address customers concerns about the validity of

information provided by hotels, OTAs could consider
performing regular audits of their hotel partners.

User-generated content may also help alleviate such

concerns.
ISSUES IN THE ONLINE
HOTEL INDUSTRY
Grievance Redressal

OTAs should focus on providing call center services

to customers seeking information and grievance
redressal.

Since customer experience is a prime focus area for

all e-Commerce companies, OTAs need to invest in
training customer care executives to ensure an
enhanced experience for customers.
 CONCLUSION
This lesson has provided an understanding of the
economic logic of a business using the concept of
Business model canvas as applied to Tourism businesses.

The online Tourism industry is characterized by the

presence of intermediaries such as the Global Distribution
Systems and intermediaries such as the Meta-search
engines.

Their roles and positions in the e-Tourism value chain

have been presented.