The Determinants of Destination Management System (DMS) and CSFs Evaluation for Madagascar

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has revolutionized the tourism industry. The rapid development of information and communication technology in the distribution and the intermediation of tourism products have a set new competitive environment for the tourism industry. This technological innovation has developed the destination management system.  The DMS is the IT infrastructure used by a destination organization for the collect, the storage, the manipulation and the distribution of all kind of information in all its forms. It is also used for bookings and for other commercial activities.DMS is not yet implemented in Madagascar, but in the near future, the Malagasy tourist offices plan to adopt one. The goal of this study is to define the factors which allow the implementation and to evaluate the strength of each one of them through the CSFs system. The research will take the following three factors in consideration: environment, managerial, and technological. We will examine the influence of each factor according to the situation of the country. The CSFs will determine the interesting sub-factors which might have a significant impact on the success of the implementation of the device while the AHP analysis will evaluate the weight of each factor. The result will give the ranking in importance of the factors, in order to target political strategies. The 22 existing regional offices in Madagascar will be the population of the research; the study will mainly be qualitative and will be conducted through interviews. Besides, the research will suggest a policy on the implementation of the DMS in Madagascar, and the aim is to give a global vision in helping the tourist offices of Madagascar to successfully adopt the DMS. Therefore, this study will provide a new approach in the implementation of the DMS.

Keywords: Destination management system (DMS), determinants, Critical success factors (CSFs), Analytical hierarchy process (AHP), Madagascar