The impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is a significant issue in today's tourism industry. The development of the internet has made information easily accessible to consumers, and has therefore established a direct link between consumers and suppliers. As a result, traditional travel distribution channels are changing rapidly. A major feature of this change is "disintermediation", with principals such as airlines, hotels and rental car chains bypassing intermediaries and sell directly to consumers. Travel agents (TAs) are considered to be particularly vulnerable to this process. ICTs have the potential to replace their core competencies, which include transaction processing (ticketing and settlement) and information provision (raw product information provided by suppliers).This thesis focuses on the impact of ICTs on the TA sector, and specifically on the New Zealand TA case. A theoretical approach based on regulation theory combined with a mixed method approach was used to investigate the main issues in New Zealand. The research included a case study to identify the principal issues and trends in the TA sector, in-depth interviews with TAs and industry specialists to refine the main issues and allow the formulation of some theoretical assumptions, in-depth interviews with consumers regarding the role of TAs in the internet era and the quality of service they provide, and a fully-structured, national on-line survey of TAs to verify the assumptions made in the earlier interviews and test the applicability of the post-Fordism model for the New Zealand TA sector.Based on the findings, it is argued that disintermediation is particularly pronounced in the relationship between airlines and travel agents. To minimise the risk of disintermediation and improve business performance, TAs need to reposition themselves and review their core strategies to compete efficiently in the changing business environment. The thesis reveals that consumers perceive TAs as mainly "transaction facilitators". Nevertheless the thesis show that process of "reintermediation" is a reality for some New Zealand TAs.An application of regulation theory to the New Zealand TA case reveals that in its traditional form, the regulation theory cannot explain the complexities found in the modern TA environment. The thesis reveals several distinct modes in TA perceptions of their business environment and their survival strategies, which indicates a heterogeneous, clustered population. A "formula for success" is developed for TAs in New Zealand. In this respect, TAs that perceive ICT as a strategic tool and are orientated towards consumers appear to have a business advantage.

The focus of present thesis is the analysis of advertising press of ski centres. The thesis is divided into two parts; the first and theoretical part presents typical facets of advertising discourse, the second and practical part includes the analysis of French and Czech travel agencies catalogues, booklets and leaflets. The analysis focuses on the language means typically used for purposes of advertising discourse.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:33:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-08-27Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:44:53Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 almeida_np_dr_rcla.pdf: 2167828 bytes, checksum: d214c1828947a23b0368a75f5b8a834a (MD5) / Este trabalho analisa de forma sistemática o processo de “turistificação” do destino turístico de Bonito, a partir da caracterização dos elementos do espaço geográfico. Identifica e descreve a atuação dos homens, instituições, meio ecológico e principalmente das firmas, representadas neste trabalho, como Operadores de Turismo, enfocando principalmente a atuação e relação das Operadoras localizadas nos grandes centros e as Agências Receptivas, localizadas na cidade de Bonito. Analisa a transformação de município com características rurais para um destino de turismo internacional, tentando descrever a “nova” identidade sócio-cultural perante a nova realidade econômica, voltada basicamente para o turismo, e a intervenção decorrente dos próprios turistas e de novos investidores que chegaram com o desenvolvimento da atividade no local. A partir de procedimentos metodológicos, principalmente qualitativos, busca-se compreender a relação de poder entre os Operadores de Turismo na comercialização do destino turístico, fundamentado em discussões teóricas sobre território e territorialidades. O trabalho é caracterizado como um estudo de caso, que discute e analisa a atuação e posicionamento das Operadoras e das Agências Receptivas em uma relação de poder na comercialização do destino frente ao mercado nacional e internacional. Analisa também, as relações existentes com as instituições locais, principalmente na gestão do turismo na região, regulamentado por legislações locais e iniciativas que dão ao destino uma dimensão positiva quanto à oferta de um produto de ecoturismo diferenciado no mercado buscando sempre o benefício com o desenvolvimento sustentável. Relata a organização social e política do destino, dando ênfase à gestão, na criação e exigência do Voucher único para a visitação nos atrativos turísticos e a obrigatoriedade.. / The main purpose of this present work is to analyze in a systematic way the “touristification” process of the destiny Bonito-MS/Brazil, considering the elements of the geographic space. It identifies and describes the human action, Institutions, Environment and mainly the Enterprises, represented in this work by the Tour Operators, focusing the performances and also the relations among Tour Operators of big centers and Receptive Travel Agencies of Bonito-MS. It analyses the transformation process of a rural town into an international destiny, trying to describe the “new” Social-Cultural identity by a new Economic reality, basically focused on Tourism, as well as on the intervention resulted from the tourists themselves and new investors who just moved to the town due to the local development. Throughout the methodological procedures, especially the qualitative ones, the present work tried to understand the empowerment relation among the Tour Operators in the trading process of the Touristic destiny. It was based on Theoretical discussions about territory and territorialities. It is characterized as a Case Study and it discusses and analyses the action and positioning of Tour Operators and Receptive Travel Agencies in a empowerment relation into the Trading process of the Destiny by the National and International market. It also analyses the existent relations among the local institutions, especially the ones concerned to the Tourism Management in the region, regulated by local legislations and initiatives that give to the destiny a positive dimension, considering an offer of a differentiated ecotourism product, always looking for a sustainable development benefit. It relates both politic and social organization of the destiny, emphasizing the management, creation and requirement of the “Unique Voucher” to the visitation of the touristic attractions as well as the need... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Nowadays with the development of Internet, there is a shift from offline to online travel agencies. Challenges like customer loyalty go hand in hand with advantages such as fast speed and convenience. This paper aims to identify what are the determining factors that have an impact on customer loyalty to online travel agencies through an empirical study of Expedia, an online travel booking platform. According to the research of previous literature, this paper proposes seven factors that have an influence on customer loyalty in the environment of online travel agencies. Then a new framework is outlined and seven hypotheses are generated to address the research questions that are put forward. This study adopts an online questionnaire, a quantitative strategy, as the method to collect data. After analysis, the results support five outlined hypotheses and two are not supported. Finally, the findings will provide some managerial implications to improve the customer loyalty to Expedia and also be helpful for the whole online travel agency market.

Orientador: Ana Tereza Caceres Cortez / Banca: Silvia Aparecida Guarnieri Ortigoza / Banca: Tânia Maria Campos Leite / Banca: Milton A. Pasquotto Mariani / Banca: Paulo Roberto Jóia / Resumo: Este trabalho analisa de forma sistemática o processo de "turistificação" do destino turístico de Bonito, a partir da caracterização dos elementos do espaço geográfico. Identifica e descreve a atuação dos homens, instituições, meio ecológico e principalmente das firmas, representadas neste trabalho, como Operadores de Turismo, enfocando principalmente a atuação e relação das Operadoras localizadas nos grandes centros e as Agências Receptivas, localizadas na cidade de Bonito. Analisa a transformação de município com características rurais para um destino de turismo internacional, tentando descrever a "nova" identidade sócio-cultural perante a nova realidade econômica, voltada basicamente para o turismo, e a intervenção decorrente dos próprios turistas e de novos investidores que chegaram com o desenvolvimento da atividade no local. A partir de procedimentos metodológicos, principalmente qualitativos, busca-se compreender a relação de poder entre os Operadores de Turismo na comercialização do destino turístico, fundamentado em discussões teóricas sobre território e territorialidades. O trabalho é caracterizado como um estudo de caso, que discute e analisa a atuação e posicionamento das Operadoras e das Agências Receptivas em uma relação de poder na comercialização do destino frente ao mercado nacional e internacional. Analisa também, as relações existentes com as instituições locais, principalmente na gestão do turismo na região, regulamentado por legislações locais e iniciativas que dão ao destino uma dimensão positiva quanto à oferta de um produto de ecoturismo diferenciado no mercado buscando sempre o benefício com o desenvolvimento sustentável. Relata a organização social e política do destino, dando ênfase à gestão, na criação e exigência do Voucher único para a visitação nos atrativos turísticos e a obrigatoriedade.. (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The main purpose of this present work is to analyze in a systematic way the "touristification" process of the destiny Bonito-MS/Brazil, considering the elements of the geographic space. It identifies and describes the human action, Institutions, Environment and mainly the Enterprises, represented in this work by the Tour Operators, focusing the performances and also the relations among Tour Operators of big centers and Receptive Travel Agencies of Bonito-MS. It analyses the transformation process of a rural town into an international destiny, trying to describe the "new" Social-Cultural identity by a new Economic reality, basically focused on Tourism, as well as on the intervention resulted from the tourists themselves and new investors who just moved to the town due to the local development. Throughout the methodological procedures, especially the qualitative ones, the present work tried to understand the empowerment relation among the Tour Operators in the trading process of the Touristic destiny. It was based on Theoretical discussions about territory and territorialities. It is characterized as a Case Study and it discusses and analyses the action and positioning of Tour Operators and Receptive Travel Agencies in a empowerment relation into the Trading process of the Destiny by the National and International market. It also analyses the existent relations among the local institutions, especially the ones concerned to the Tourism Management in the region, regulated by local legislations and initiatives that give to the destiny a positive dimension, considering an offer of a differentiated ecotourism product, always looking for a sustainable development benefit. It relates both politic and social organization of the destiny, emphasizing the management, creation and requirement of the "Unique Voucher" to the visitation of the touristic attractions as well as the need... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:52:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MicheleGC.pdf: 957133 bytes, checksum: 3f82c2cd5e4c535ca96fccdc49920053 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-05-19 / The objective of the work was to investigate, from the vision of travel agents, the importance of environmental practices as a decision factor in the purchase of a tourist package. For in such a way, it was established as target population, the travel agencies and tourism linked to he Brazilian Association of Travel agencies ABAV, hearing the Brazilian travel agents that exerted the function in Natal, city in 2005. The election of the sample was accomplished using the simple random sampling technique. The amount of agents effectively searched was of 150 agents being distributed 150 questionnaires, with closed and opened questions, applied during the month of November in 2005. Results showed great variability of interviewed answers in that if it relates for sale of package tourist where the customer demonstrates enviromental concern with the environmental quality. Through multiple regression analyses, it was environmental concern with the environmental quality of the place and the perception of the practical importance of the existence environmental practices in the place as important factor in the decision of tourist package purchase / O objetivo do trabalho foi investigar, a partir da vis?o dos agentes de viagens, a import?ncia do emprego de pr?ticas ambientais como fator de decis?o de escolha de um pacote tur?stico. Para tanto foi estabelecida como popula??o alvo, as ag?ncias de viagens e turismo filiadas a Associa??o Brasileira de Ag?ncias de Viagens ABAV, tendo como amostra os agentes de viagens brasileiros que exerciam a fun??o na cidade de Natal em 2005. A sele??o da amostra foi efetivada utilizando-se a t?cnica de amostragem aleat?ria simples. A quantidade de agentes efetivamente pesquisados foi de 150 agentes sendo distribu?dos 150 question?rios, com perguntas fechadas e abertas, aplicados durante o m?s de novembro de 2005. Resultados mostraram grande variabilidade de respostas do entrevistado no que se refere ? venda de pacote tur?sticos onde o cliente demonstra a preocupa??o ambiental com a qualidade ambiental do local. Atrav?s de an?lises de regress?o m?ltipla, observou-se a exist?ncia de rela??o entre a venda de pacote tur?sticos onde o cliente demonstra a preocupa??o ambiental com a qualidade ambiental do local e a percep??o da import?ncia da exist?ncia de pr?ticas ambientais no local como fator importante na decis?o de compra de um pacote tur?stico

The main aim of my thesis is analysis of actuall business strategy of searching subject. The chosen company is travel agency Beryreisen.By the concrete analysis of marketing, business competition and market position of travel agency is created new business strategy, which presents a new product of travel agency. New product is created by the questionnaires made according to consumer´s preferences in turism.

In my master{\crq}s thesis I focused on problems of protection of consumer in travel agencies related sale tours, offering information, guaranties and at last but not least on situations in the case of bankruptcy. The main regulation in this thesis is the article 159/1999 Coll. and follow norms. One of the main goals of this paper work is the evaluation whether a travel agency as the servant is also servant of consumer defense. The basic element of consumer defense in a traveling agency is an insurance of the traveling agency for the case of bankruptcy according to the article 455/1991 Coll. The next very important step is also providing truthful and completed information towards their clients from the travel agency and their partners. Guarantee of consumer defense in tourism is irreplaceable and it is connected with consumers´ knowledge of rights and obligations.

The following master thesis is focused on the issue of marketing communication of travel agencies on the social media environment. It maps the current involvement of five selected social media to the promotion of the seven most important travel agencies in the Czech Republic. The author compares the real state of communication to social media with his own exploration of travel agent preferences. The comparison is based on a series of recommendations for the marketing communication of travel agencies on social media at the end of the work.

The dissertation has for its goal to analyse the supply of animation services by selected travel agencies for a families-with-children segment of customers in the Czech Republic. Based on a comparison of the supply together with a research into the actual situation on the side of the demand, a new competitive product of an animation service devised by the author is introduced. The theoretical part of the dissertation defines major terms in the realm of tourism and animation services. Throughout the empirical chapters, the author first analyses the market situation from the supply perspective. Second, using a method of a questionnaire survey, the market situation from the demand perspective is investigated. The last chapter deals with a creation of a new competitive product of animation services for families with children, implementing the findings from previous chapters.