| The
Internet appears to be playing a role in restructuring of
some traditional business sectors in which some organizations
profit and some decline. Travel agencies are being subjected
to increased competition from virtual on-line travel agencies.
These agencies do not possess the traditional retail outlets
but exist predominantly on the Web. In addition, airline
companies and travel wholesalers are beginning to market
their products directly to the consumer. Despite the threat
of disintermediation, the Internet has created opportunities
for the travel agency as it provides a method of providing
service around the clock and of being accessible from home
and workplace. This paper reports on an Australia-wide study
that has been undertaken to investigate: the take-up rates
of Web technology within travel agencies; the perception
of travel agents of the significance of the WWW on the industry;
the levels of planning and strategies used by travel agencies
when investigating the use of the WWW; the perceptions of
the key obstacles and barriers to adopting the WWW; the
key issues in the process of implementing the technology
in travel agencies. Whilst the pessimists forecast a very
bleak outlook for travel agencies, those that do re-engineer
with a new vision and strategy have the opportunity to be
amongst the leaders in the sector. Focusing on becoming
information service providers is one option that travel
agents can take. However, given the rapid rate of change
in electronic commerce and the varying patterns of adoption,
it is still not clear how severe the shake-out of this important
industry sector will be. |
