The Chinese inbound tourism market to SA has been acknowledged as an emerging market. However, South African tour operators experience difficulties in establishing and developing viable partner relationships with Chinese travel agents. Recognizing the size, importance and complexity of this market, the major purpose of this research is to explore and investigate the crucial process of developing Sino-South African partnership relationships in the tourism industry, to facilitate the establishment of business relationships with Chinese travel agents. This study is draws on applied marketing, management and cross-cultural theories on networking to explore the process of developing partnership relationships in the Chinese inbound tourism market to SA. The literature on networking, the development of networking relationships, and the effect of guanxi (connection), a key feature of Chinese business networking on partnership relations are reviewed. Given the limited research conducted on this topic and its cross-country nature, a quantitative research method was adopted for this study. Specifically, this study utilized e-mail survey techniques to explore the relationships between South African inbound tour operators and Chinese travel agents. This study identifies that the process of developing partnership relationships between Chinese travel agents and South African inbound tour operators is culturally embedded. They are giving rise to communication problems that affect partnership relationships. A new stage model of the development of partnership relationships between South African inbound tour operators and Chinese travel agents is therefore developed. In particular, the study identifies important factors in the process of developing business relationships. For example, mutual commitment, the pricing issue, word-of-mouth, and quality of services are all considered crucial in attaining long-term stable partnership relationships. Guanxi plays a significant, but not decisive role in the process of developing partnership relationships between Chinese travel agents and South African inbound tour operators. However, guanxi relationships can provide added value to the partnership relationships.

The aim of this research was to compare the distribution channel relationships in two different tourism markets: the mature market of Britain and the evolving market in Poland, with a view to assessing likely courses of tourism development in Poland. Relationships in channels of distribution can be understood as all the interactions, processes and flows taking place between companies involved in exchange of products and services. The focus of the research was an investigation of channel relationships between travel agents and tour operators. The evolution of tourism channel relationships in Britain and Poland was investigated in three stages: initiation, implementation and review, following the Kale and McIntyre (1991) and Crotts et al. (1998) models. Analysis of existing literature established that historical, political and economic backgrounds, as well as demand and supply, impact in different ways upon the structure of such channels in each country. Following that recognition two phases of empirical research were conducted using a mixed methods approach. The exploratory phase was based on interviews with British and Polish travel agents and tour operators, and from this phase a set of propositions was developed regarding travel agents' and tour operators' attitudes towards channel relationships. These propositions were explored using data collected from a detailed questionnaire survey distributed to a sample of British and Polish tour operators and travel agents. The results from this quantitative research were qualitatively augmented by outcomes from indepth interviews. The key findings from the research were that the Polish distribution system resembled to some extent the old British tourism structure. It was, however, unable to directly follow the development route undertaken by British companies. The pattern of operation was different in both countries due to four factors. Firstly, the distortions in operations in Poland originated from the post-socialist business structure; secondly, the diversity of business in Poland was much greater than in Britain, whilst, thirdly, the level of vertical integration between companies and the level of the development of information technology was more extensive in Britain. Finally, although the relationship development process consisted of similar stages in both countries, the field investigations showed differences in partners' selection, monitoring and support. The Polish companies relied heavily on social bonding and social ties in the selection stage, while in Britain the transparency and higher stability in the market reduced the necessity of close social bonding between employees and companies. The overall conclusion from the research is that the Polish travel companies are likely to follow many aspects of the British route, though with some specifically Polish characteristics. The initial evaluation of channel partners and the evaluation of the relationship between agents and tour operators would be strengthened in Poland, if there were a strong, regulatory and advisory association in the Polish market such as ABTA in Britain. Further research is recommended in terms of the impact of information technology on channel relationships in tourism and the role of tourism associations in the organisation of the tourism market.

Information technology plays an important role in the hospitality and tourismindustry. The internet has reshaped the distribution channels and thus suppliers andconsumers can contact directly. It also changes consumers searching and bookingbehaviors. So information technology brings online travel agents some challenges inthe marketing strategy.Literature Review includes the theoretical background of online travel bookingindustry and summaries the previous researches in the field of hospitality and tourismindustry. The analytical framework of this study mainly includes the impact ofinformation technology on the Porter’s five forces model which was used forgathering and analyzing the empirical data and the PEST model. Nowadays,intelligent travel is highly efficient and trendy.In conducting this study, I adopted a qualitative approach to analyze challengesfaced by online travel agents. I chose two sample companies Ctrip.com andQunar.com from China. The empirical data were mainly collected from twosemi-structured interviews and secondary data such as the official website andtravel-related information.The conclusion is that the information technology has a great impact on thetourism enterprises. The competition is fierce and consumers are more demanding.Through cooperating and integrating travel-related information resources, the tourismenterprises can provide better products and professional services to consumers andimprove their travel experiences.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, 2004. / Title from title screen (viewed on January 11, 2006).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Tourism is an international industry; constant evolution is taking place in the marketing of tourism products and the expectation levels of hotel guests. Online Travel Agents have become more dominant in recent years. This dominance has been assisted by travellers’ more frequent use of the internet to search for information, by the bundling of heterogeneous products and by these agents’ use of the social media. Guest satisfaction levels and expectations are impacted by changes in lifestyle, reasons for travel and the information accessed prior to making their reservations. The basis of this study was establishing the impact of the information supplied by Online Travel Agents on guest satisfaction levels at The Monarch Hotel. The evolution and function of the tourism distribution channel and the factors affecting guest satisfaction and its measurement were explored.

Price bundling, offering two or more separate products/services together in a single package at a different price from the sum of the components’ prices, is one of the most prevalent marketing practices in many industries, including hospitality and travel. Virtually all types of firms in the hospitality and travel industry, from suppliers such as hotels and airlines to intermediaries such as travel agents, are encouraging customers to purchase travel “packages” rather than a single component of travel. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the practice of price bundling by online travel agents is associated with actual monetary savings to consumers. Conventional economics theories generally assume that price bundling results in consumer savings in comparison with purchasing the same component products separately, and this is what travel agents are highlighting in their advertisements for selling travel packages. This study also investigated whether the magnitude of bundle discounts vary by four relevant variables such as travel agent, destination city, hotel class, and the timing of purchase. The results show that purchasing a travel bundle results in significantly lower consumer prices than purchasing the component products separately. However, the magnitude of the bundle savings is inconsistent across the relevant variables. In particular, Travelocity tends to offer significantly greater bundle savings than Expedia; bundles including upper-class hotels appear to provide greater absolute discounts than lower-class-hotel bundles, but those two are not significantly different in terms of percentage discounts. Some important implications of the results are discussed, along with the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research.

by Wan Man-fong Sylvia. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Bibliography: leaves 58-59.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

SMEs are often described as slow adopters of technology. However, adopting e-commerce is one of many strategies taken by travel agents to re-intermediate themselves in the global travel market against the threat of disintermediation. Exploratory studies have revealed that Egyptian travel agents are laggards when it comes to technology adoption, although they perceive e-commerce as a beneficial tool that can increase their chances of survival. As many as 59.2% of Egyptian travel agents were found not to have websites (Egyptian Travel Agents Association, 2008), this study investigates the factors affecting e-commerce adoption by travel agents. Past literature has shown that there are three main factors affecting the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs. Environmental pressures push SMEs to adopt in order to bolster their survival chances. The benefits of adoption are critical factors considered by managers when making the adoption decision. Finally, there are barriers to e-commerce adoption. By modifying the technology acceptance model, this research conceptualizes the causal relationships amongst these three types of factors. The benefits and barriers to e-commerce adoption are found to mediate the relationship between environmental pressures and e-commerce adoption. This study employs mixed methods starting with a quantitative survey and following it up with qualitative interviews. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 411 adopter and non-adopter e-commerce travel agents. Later, 22 interviews were conducted with the managers of travel agents. Structural equation modelling produced findings reveal that environmental pressures significantly affect the perceived benefits of and barriers to adoption, in addition to having an indirect effect on adoption behaviour. This study contributes to theory as it responds to the claim that the factors affecting e-commerce adoption have not been well documented in the travel sector (Hung et al., 2011, Thomas et al., 2011), especially in the context of developing countries (Thulani et al., 2010). The findings reveal that the modified technology acceptance model successfully interprets e-commerce adoption. The study compares other adoption models with the research model and provides statistical criteria for this comparison. Its contribution to practice is twofold, affecting the managers of travel agencies and policy makers. Recognizing the factors affecting adoption would enable managers to devise strategies and prepare better agendas for expanding their businesses, while at the same time identifying any defects and training needs that present barriers. Meanwhile, recognizing the barriers to adoption could encourage government bodies and policy makers to implement appropriate measures, such as introducing protective and financial legislation to encourage SMEs to adopt technology, or to formulate national policies and initiatives aimed specifically at supporting the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs.