The Strategic Role of ICTs in Tourism in Developing Countries

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become pervasive in all industries contributing substantially to the growth of businesses. In developed contexts, the pervasive and transformational power of ICTs has been leveraged to the benefit of Hospitality and tourism sectors. Despite the remarkable social impact and business offerings made possible by ICTs, limited research exists regarding the influence of ICT on tourism especially in the context of developing countries. In this study, we explore the impact of ICT on tourism from the customers’ perspective, employee productivity and services offered by hotels in a developing country. Using a quantitative case study, we examined ICT intensity of use, availability and incidence of use index across model hotels that leveraged ICTs. The findings revealed that ICT incidence of use had a significant positive impact on tourism as well as a strong positive relationship with both customer satisfaction and operational productivity in the hotels. Our study provides insight for researchers and practitioners to consider further investigations into the impacts of service quality and innovation, as well as the effect of discount pricing, innovative products and services.

Keywords: ICT, Hospitality, Tourism, Developing Countries, Innovation, Service Quality