Importance of Information Technology in Tourism Industry

Question: Discuss about the Importance of Information Technology in Tourism Industry. Answer: Introduction Information technology is very important part for every organization. There are many organizations in different industries that are using information technology in the business operations as they understand the importance and benefits of information technology. Not only organization, governments operating in the different countries are also using information technology in their management system. With the information technology, employees in the organizations feel relaxed as information technology are very helpful in reducing their workload in the business operations. Due to information technology, employees are able to manage the data of their work. In starting, employees can face difficulties in managing data on computers who are still managing data on paper but by the training, they would be comfortable with the information technology. In this report, for the discussion, Ritz-Carlton millennia hotel will be taken as this company is using information technology in its business oper ations. Ritz-Carlton millennia hotels information technology Ritz-Carlton millennia hotel is the largest company in the retail sector. Having the tagline of Always low prices, Ritz-Carlton millennia hotel always has low pricing strategy. On the basis of this strategy, the company has adopted and implemented the information technology in the business operations. Ritz-Carlton millennia hotel has used the information technology for the major business operations i.e. supplier and customer management, supply chain management, inventory management and customer services. In this report, the importance of the information technology in the business of Ritz-Carlton millennia hotel will be examined and importance of information technology in the company will be defined. This hotel is run by the Ritz Carlton group which has around 84 luxury hotels in around 26 countries. The main branch of this hotel is in Singapore. The hotel has superb structure which attracts the travelers. The hotel has also the perfect venue for the occasions such as reception and we ddings because the hotel provides high class facilities to the customers. The management of the hotel also provides cheap holiday packages to the customers and also provides the facility of e-bookings by online commerce system. Need of information technology There are four main aspects of information technology that can be used by any organization. Those four factors are hardware or external devices, software, telecommunication services, and human ware which include the strategies and techniques to manage the customers effectively. By the use of telecommunication software such as Google plus app, social media app, travel apps, Smartphone apps, tourism industry is able to help the managers and consumers of the tourism industry are able to connect all over the world. The hardware such as smart phones, laptops, computers and digital televisions, online payments systems which have decreased the operational cost as well as time in the tourism industry. From some years, the organizations in the tourism industry have implemented innovative human software system such customer relationship management (CRM), data base management system (DBMS), and management information system (MIS) to improve the management system to fulfill the demands of the cu stomers. Basically, an organization can make effective e decisions by the help of information technology. By implementing the information technology in the business, the organization will also be able to manage the process and procedures of the business to attract and target more and more customers. Importance of Information Technology Every organization builds up an information technology for improving the business strategy. The information technology can be described as a set of interconnected essentials that work together to accomplish a common goal and objective. Technology has become an important part of business organization from last few years. So, the use of information technology is become vital in the business. Along with this, increasing competition in the market is also a reason to adopt information technology in the business operations. Information technology is the key factor of increasing competitiveness of the organization in the market. Use of information technology in the tourism sector The tourism industry is continuously growing industry across the world as compared to the other industries. This industry is earning around more than 35% compared to other industries. The tourism organizations are using effective and high speed technology for the business operations and many software applications to manage the customers and supply chain within the organizations[6]. There are many benefits for the tourism companies by adopting the information technology in their business operations. Those benefits are as follows: The hotels and tourism companies are able to offer information individually and personally related to the travel packaged and hotel rates to the customers on their websites. By the economic and social ratings of places and the hotels on the social media, customers are now able to select the preferred and appropriate destinations and hotels, By improving the brand image through promotions and discount packages among the customers, organization can attract more customers, By the customer relationship management technology, the company is able to acquire loyal customers. It can be possible by gathering valuable information of customers by using CRM software. Information technology is useful for communicating with the customers. Basically, the devices in Information technology are used to analyze the data of regular customers. By the CRM system, the hotels are able define the objectives and job descriptions to the employees effectively. By using the Information technology in the hotel management, employees are able to reduce the workload in the operations. By the data management of the employees through Information technology, hotels are able to satisfy the customers as well as employees. Benefits and advantage of IT in tourism sector The Information technology has many benefits for the travel and hotel industry. Information technology has provided many easy modes for making payments. There is e-payment system by which customers need not come physically to make payments for hotel bookings. They can easily do it by the online payment system. Through Information technology, hotels are able to create their own websites to create brand awareness among the customers. By providing information regarding hotel and travel packages on social media, hotels are able to get the reviews from the customers. On the various social sites, hotels have created the pages for interacting with the customers. Now, many of the websites are also providing mobile portability so that customers would be able to view them as and when they want. The implementation of Information technology in the business unit of tourism industry can provide wide benefits to the organization. In the tourism sector, Information technology can increase the efficiency of the operations of hotels. Along with this, Information technology provides various opportunities to the hotel as well as customers. The internet is the profitable medium for the hotel industry in terms of sales. The operational cost in the tourism industry has been decreased as product distribution and services of the hotels are no more dependent on the printed catalogues and information can be reached to millions of the customers by the internet. Risks IT brings in tourism industry Although, Information technology has provided various opportunities to the tourism industry but broad use of the technology may bring some negative outcomes in the business operations of the organization. There are risks by implementing new technologies in the business operations. It can create problems for the employees and staff because they are unaware of new system and technology. Information technology risk includes human error spam, failure of hardware and software, and virus attack. These risks can impact the privacy of the customers as well as hotels. The risks of Information technology can be related to privacy, security and confidentiality. There can be risk related to security of the customers. The extensive use of online payments can result of incorrect financial transactions. The wrong operation can affect the goodwill and brand image of the company. The information of hotel and travel packages on the social media may be misled by hackers. Managing and monitoring Information technology There is great importance of Information technology in the organization. Regarding the implementation of new technology, it can be said that it requires balance between individuals and departments. It is not easy to implement information technology in the business operations as it requires more time and a vast amount. To manage and monitor the information technology, Ritz-Carlton millennia hotel has to do proper planning of cooperation of employees. In starting, it may create some issues and losses in the business but the fact is that technology would bring global competitiveness for long term. Hotel needs to ensure that all the systems are interconnected to each other. Conclusion Information Technology in the tourism industry has brought development in recent years and it will grow continuously in the future. The hotels in the tourism industry are going ahead as compared to others industries. Information technology includes all kinds of new and modern technologies such as mobile apps, e systems, video conferencing, and satellites systems in the business which helps the tourism industry as well as all the industries to make proper management system for the business and customers. The information technology plays an important role in increasing the productivity and efficiency of the organization so that the organization can be able to improve the relationship with the customers in the business process. References Ali, A. and Frew, A. (2014), ICT for sustainable tourism: a challenging relationship?, Inf Technol Tourism, 14(4), pp.261-264 Andreu, L., Alds, J., Bign, J. and Mattila, A., (2010), An analysis of e-business adoption and its impact on relational quality in travel agencysupplier relationships: Tourism Management, 31(6), pp.777-787 Balaguer, J. and Pernas, J. 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