Q and A
What is e-tourism?
Ans: E-Tourism (Electronic Tourism) refers to the use of digital technologies and online platforms to enhance and streamline travel-related activities. It encompasses all aspects of the tourism industry that are facilitated by the internet. Major components playing role in enhancement of e-tourism are as follows:
Key Components of E-Tourism:
How B2B e-commerce can be of value for hotel businesses?
Hotels need a constant supply of items like linens, toiletries, food, beverages, cleaning supplies, and more. With B2B e-commerce platforms, they can:
What are the benefits of E-tourism?
Answer: Benefits of E-Tourism:
What are the challenges associate with E-tourism?
Challenges:
How digital marketing can be used in e-tourism?
Answer: Digital marketing plays a vital role in e-tourism by helping travel businesses attract, engage, and convert potential customers online. Different digital marketing strategies can be applied in the e-tourism industry:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Optimize travel websites for keywords like "best hotels in Bali" or "cheap flights to Europe." Local SEO for hotels, tour operators, and restaurants (Google My Business listings). Content marketing (blogs, guides, itineraries) to rank higher on search engines.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
PayPerClick (PPC) Advertising
Email Marketing
Influencer and Affiliate Marketing
Video Marketing and Virtual Tours
Chatbots and AIPowered Customer Service
Content Marketing and Storytelling
Mobile Marketing
Metaverse and AR/VR Experiences
What are the benefits of digital marketing in e-Tourism
Benefits of Digital Marketing in e-Tourism:What is AIDA (Awareness Interest Desire Act) strategy?
The AIDA model is a classic marketing framework used to guide customers through the purchase journey, from initial awareness to final action. It stands for:
Awareness (A) – Grab Attention
Make potential customers aware of your product/service. These tools can be used to create awareness: Social media ads, SEO optimized blog posts, Influencer collaborations showcasing destinations.
Interest (I) – Spark Curiosity
Engage users and keep them interested. Tools that can be used are: Engaging travel videos or virtual tours. Email newsletters with travel tips. Interactive quizzes
Desire (D) – Create Urge to Buy
Make customers emotionally connect and want the product. These strategies can be used: Limited time discounts ("Book now, 30% off!"), Customer testimonials and reviews. Luxury travel imagery.
Action (A) – Drive Conversion
Push the customer to take the final step (booking, signup). Strategies that can be used are: Clear CTA buttons ("Book Now", "Get Your Free Guide"), Easy booking process (1 click checkout), Abandoned cart emails ("Your dream trip is waiting!").
How AIDA Works in e-Tourism Marketing?
This questions can be answer with example like: e.g., Promoting a Pokhara Vacation Package
More Advanced AIDA Strategies can be implements for e-Tourism like:
What is Central Reservation System?
A Central Reservation System (CRS) is a computerized platform used by hotels, airlines, car rental companies, and travel agencies to manage and distribute inventory, rates, and bookings in real time across multiple sales channels. It acts as the "brain" of a hospitality business, connecting property management systems (PMS), global distribution systems (GDS), and online travel agencies (OTAs).
What are the key functions of CRS?
Key Functions of a CRS
Real Time Inventory Management Tracks room availability, flights, or tours across all booking channels (website, OTAs, travel agents). Prevents overbooking and ensures accurate availability.
Rate and Distribution Control: Updates pricing dynamically (seasonal rates, promotions, lastminute deals). Syncs rates across Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb, etc.
Channel Management Automatically distributes inventory to OTAs, GDS (Amadeus, Sabre), metasearch engines (Google Hotels), and direct bookings.
Reservation Processing Handles bookings, cancellations, and modifications from all sources in one dashboard.
Reporting and Analytics Generates data on occupancy rates, revenue, and booking trends.
How a CRS Works in e-Tourism?
Let’s elaborate working of CRS in e-tourism with an example:
Write benefits of a CRS.
Benefits of CRS are as follows:
How information technology helps hotel management?
Information Technology (IT) plays a transformational role in modern hotel management, streamlining operations, enhancing guest experiences, and boosting revenue. IT empowers the hospitality industry with the help of different kinds of system like:
Property Management Systems (PMS): PMS Centralizes front desk operations (check in/out, room assignments, billing). It automates manual tasks like housekeeping alerts. It also helps to integrate with CRS (Central Reservation Systems) for real time bookings.
Online Booking and Channel Management: This kind of software integrate website of hotels, restaurants to integrate with booking engines. Synchronizing with Online Travel Agencies (OTA). It also helps to distribute rooms across Expedia, Booking.com, etc., avoiding overbookings. It helps dynamic pricing that is adjusting rates based on demand.
Guest Experience Tech: There are software which helps guests to bypass the front desk, to get in room using Smart TVs, IoT thermostats, voice assistants (Amazon Alexa), 24/7 guest queries via WhatsApp or hotel apps.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): CRM helps to Personalize services for the guests. It does it by tracking guest preferences (e.g., pillow type, past stays). CRM also supports loyalty programs. It can send automated emails requesting reviews.
Housekeeping and Maintenance: Software to assign and track housekeeping duties can be used by hotels. Different IoT Sensors are available to monitor minibar usage or AC efficiency. AI systems can detect equipment issues before failures occur.
Data Analytics and Reporting: Data about guest can be analyzed to know guest occupancy, RevPAR, and guest demographics. Reviews from guests can be collected from sites like TripAdvisor/Google (e.g., ReviewPro) and those reviews can be analyzed to customize services.
Security and Compliance: Several security software and protocols are available which can be used to protect guest data, to encrypt data. Surveillance Systems can be implements to detect suspicious activities.
Sustainability and Cost Control: Technology can be used to save and manage energy like electricity, to do paperless operations and generate digital invoices and esignatures.
Emerging Tech Trends: Several emerging technologies lik e Metaverse/Virtual Tours can be used to preview rooms by guests’ rooms via VR. Blockchain technology can be used to secure, transparent loyalty point exchanges. Automated room service can be achieved with the help of robotics.
What are online analytics?
Online analytics is the process of collecting, measuring, analyzing, and interpreting data from digital platforms—primarily websites, mobile apps, and social media—to understand and improve online user behavior, performance, and decision-making. In simple terms It's about tracking how people use your online platforms and using that data to make smart business or content decisions.
It is useful to:
What are the challenges of using information technology in hotel business?
Challenges are as follows:
What are the objects about which restaurant must store data to smooth running of the business?
For a restaurant to operate smoothly, it must systematically store and manage data across multiple key areas. Here’s a breakdown of the essential objects/data categories a restaurant should track:
Menu and Inventory Management:
Inventory:
Customer Data
Sales and Transactions
Staff Management:
Reservations and Table Management
Supplier and Procurement
Marketing and Promotions
Equipment and Maintenance
Compliance and Safety
How transaction processing system can help hotels in operating their tasks?
A Transaction Processing System (TPS) can be a huge asset for hotel operations. It helps manage and streamline day-to-day transactions and ensures smooth, efficient functioning of key hotel tasks. A TPS is a computerized system that records, processes, and stores daily business transactions quickly and accurately. In hotels, this includes bookings, check-ins, payments, and more.
TPS helps in :
What is the importance of creating customer persona for hotel businesses?
Creating customer personas is super important for hotel businesses—it helps them truly understand their target guests and deliver better services, experiences, and marketing. A customer persona (also called a buyer persona) is a semi-fictional profile that represents your ideal guest based on real data, behavior, and demographics. It is important for hotel management: