The tourist industry plays an immense role in the socio-economic development of different regions. Destination Management Systems (DMS) are significant in developing e-tourism. DMS integrate data from Small and Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs) in order for tourists to find information about e.g. accommodation, restaurants and attractions of a certain location. Although being represented in a DMS has proven to be advantageous, not all SMTEs are participating in such systems. This thesis aims to explore the possible factors that influence, motivate and inhabited regional SMTEs to participate in DMS and to create a framework from these factors. Data was collected by semi-structured interviews performed with respondents from SMTEs in Jönköping County, Sweden and Liverpool City, United Kingdom. The transcriptions from the interviews were analyzed by content analysis in order to create categories of factors. The motivating factors were categorized in technological, organizational and external factors. Technological factors were user friendliness, system quality, effectiveness, information quality, system performance, system updates and information up-dates. The organizational factors were management support, available resources and the size of the organization. The external factors competitive pressure, cost effectiveness, distribution channel, user satisfaction and to provide quality services to customers. The inhibiting factors were categorized into administration factors and communication factors, where the predominant factor was lack of know-how. The communication factors were lack of available information and lack of communication between organizations. To increase SMTEs’ participations in DMS, Destination Management Organizations need to enhance communication, develop marketing strategies and clearly explain the benefits of participation the SMTEs.

The main goal of this dissertation thesis has been defined as the development and presentation of a model designed to show transparency of different effects of tourism in urban destinations and its practical application by destination management organizations. The resident sub-model was compiled, based on research in the selected destination as well as its statistical evaluation. This sub-model clearly demonstrates relationships that affect tourism. This decision model was focused on the socio-economic effects, primarily generated by residents, which influence tourists and basically tourism in urban destinations. The resident sub-model was subsequently incorporated into another decision model of the sustainable destination to show the resident influence on objective economic factors generated by tourism in urban destinations. These two models clearly illustrate how complicated system is the behaviour of residents and which significant negative / positive effects on tourism can generate. For the development of this solution system thinking was used as the main methodological approach. System thinking has been actually rarely used, but it is very effective method, because it can reveal complexity of diverse relationships and find possibilities how to influence and control these relationships; in this case by destination management organizations. This solution is intended primarily for these tourism institutions. This method was intentionally simplified to be applicable by the local organizations. However, it retains high level of efficiency, which can bring required objectivity in very subjective relationships between residents, tourist and basically tourism at urban destinations.