Tourism in the world of technology

How does it draw the line between technology and personal service? There is no doubt that technology plays an important role in tourism and travel. Most of us are now used to booking our airline reservations on line, dealing with telephone trees and other cost saving devices. These technological advances have allowed corporations to save on manpower while at the same time empowering customers to make their own decisions.

On the other side of the equation, travelers use more technology than ever before and often the tourism industry has taken advantage of this desire (need) to stay in touch with its clientele. Most of us are now used to being almost harassed with on-line surveys or computer driven telephone calls. Now we have entered into the world of e-marketing, a system that may be called an advanced form of "spam."

Although many hotels do provide free internet services, many of the "better" hotels have added additional charges for local calls, for internet access and a per page fee to receive a fax. These additional charges combined with less personalized service often means that travelers have the idea that technology has become a one-way street. Technology is used to provide less personalized service and at the same time to generate additional revenue at hotels, on airplanes, and at transportation hubs.

Despite the misuse of technology, tourism and travel are highly dependent on technology and its use has made life a whole lot easier. There is no doubt that the cell phone has become a major part of our lives. And although technology etiquette may lag behind technology machinery the inconvenience of someone speaking too loud on a cell phone is more than outweighed by the safety, security and convenience that cell phones bring to most of us.

On the other hand, technology's growth has allowed worldwide terrorism to attack the tourism industry. Cell phones can save lives or detonate bombs; air conditioning units serve to make life bearable in hot climates, but also pollute the atmosphere and can be carriers of disease. The dawn of the computer age permits us to know weather forecasts around the world, allows business travelers to stay in touch with their offices and to supersede the problem of cross time zones negotiation, but can be used to destroy air travel.

Technology then has become a mixed bag for the tourism industry. It creates a great deal of conveniences while at the same time has been used as a way to increase revenues and to lessen customer service. The world of technology has made air travel safe and abundant but has also brought about the need to go through long security lines and daily hassles.

Certainly, some parts of the industry have begun to use technology prudently. When used ethically, technology can be a great help in increasing our communication and security. If on the other hand technology is used for selfish or destructive purposes than it can become a nemesis within the travel and tourism industry. Hamlet's question "to be or not to be" has never seemed more poignant in its relationship to travel and tourism.

To help you decide how much or how little technology is right for your tourism business, Tourism Tidbits offers the following suggestions:

Remember that tourism is about people "interfacing" with other people

No matter how good your technology may be, technology does not provide human warmth of take-home experiences. Be mindful that tourism is about the selling of memories and then ask yourself at what point are you willing to sacrifice memories for efficiency.

Make sure that your employees are well trained in the use of technology

Technology is only as good as the people who use it. Often tourism centers hire people who simply are not up to the task, misuse the technology and create more problems than they solve. Train, train and then train your people some more. Do not update so often that your employees' knowledge base lags behind the technology's capabilities.

Use technology wisely

While even the best computer can never substitute the care and love that comes from another human being, technology if used properly can solve many a problem in tourism. Among these are:

Issues of time: Nothing upsets the tourism industry's clientele as much as the misuse of time. The proper use of computers to facilitate both check-ins and check-outs of places such as hotels, allows the person-on-duty to attend to other problems.Clarity and consistency: In an interrelated multi-lingual world a great deal of information can be provided to guests in their own language without linguistic, pronunciation or grammatical errors.

Ease of place: Use technology and social networks to allow visitors to research from home and to gather basic information. However, many hotels and transportation companies seem to hide telephone numbers on their web sites. Combine basic information that can be given on a computer with the human side of information. Remember that if the tourist can never reach you, then you may find that your customer has found a more user-friendly location.

If we like it or not technology touches almost every aspect of the tourism industry. If we are smart enough to use the benefits of technology such as convenience, speed, and accuracy and avoid some of the pitfalls, user friendliness, size of lettering, and lack of human contact, then technology can be a great time and cost saver. But if the tourism industry forgets the importance of the human element and that tourism is all about the experience then it is making a major error.

Laos aims for billion dollar tourism industry by 2020

Around 50 participants attended the 3rd Quarterly Symposium on Tourism Sector Human Resources Development in Laos, which was organised by the Lao National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (LANITH) in collaboration with the Lao National Tourism Administration through the support of the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Project.

Chief Technical Advisor of LANITH Mr Peter Semone said “Attendees will plan future strategies to turn Lao tourism into a billion dollar industry. They will also learn about future changes to tourism in the country and what it will take to achieve them.”He said that in 2010, there were 2.5 million visitors to Laos and the Lao tourism sector received US$400 million in revenue, second only behind the mining sector.

Eighty percent of visitors were from within the region. However, most stayed only a short time in Laos, meaning they accounted for only 45 percent of revenue in the tourism sector, with the rest coming from tourists from other regions, Mr Semone said.

“So, today we will discuss how to manage tourism services and increase tourist stays per diem to achieve one billion dollars in revenue by 2020.”“It is not only up to us, the tourism sector, to achieve the goal, but all communities. Laos also needs to improve its quality of services through education and training programmes,” he added.

LANITH also asked Cornell University Hotel School’s former Associate Dean and Professor of Strategic Management, Human Resources and Management Dr Thomas P. Cullen to pick up his crystal ball and make some predictions about how tourism will look in Laos in the year 2020, he said.Technical Education Advisor of LANITH Ms Maeve O’Brien said the institute plans to open a school for hospitality, tourism and education at Pakpasak Technical College by 2014.

“Our institute currently offers short training programmes on tourism skills in Laos and we will have 18 well-equipped trainers by the end of the year,” she said, adding the short-term programmes take two to 10 days to complete.

World'sTop Value Destinations for Travellers on the Singapore Dollar

Online travel company Expedia has revealed some of the world’s top value destinations for travellers on the Singapore Dollar.According to the Expedia Foreign Exchange Index, which was developed in conjunction with foreign exchange specialist HiFX, Vietnam is currently the best-value destination, with the Singapore Dollar appreciating by more than 22% against the Vietnamese Dong in the past 12 months.

Hong Kong and India are also ranking high in the list, with the Singapore Dollar appreciating about 12% against the Hong Kong Dollar and Indian Rupee year-on-year.Other Asian countries that made the ‘Top 20 Best Value Destinations’ based on the value of the Singapore Dollar are Laos (up 8.7%), Sri Lanka (up 8.38%), the Philippines (up 7.82%), Indonesia (up 7.16%), China (up 6.64%) and South Korea (up 6.58%).

“Asia remains one of the best value-for-money destinations for travellers from Singapore. With the upcoming school and summer holidays, budget conscious travellers such as families and students should plan ahead now to take advantage of the strong currency and great offers available,” said Dan Lynn, Managing Director, Expedia Asia Pacific.

The Index also shows countries such as Kenya, Egypt, Argentina and Turkey in the top 20. The USA ranks as the eighth best value destination due to the Singapore Dollar performing well against the ‘Greenback’, delighting travellers looking to stretch their Singapore Dollars when shopping for popular brands on their overseas trips.

“The Singapore Dollar has been buoyed by strong economic growth, and with policy makers looking to allow the currency to appreciate to combat inflationary pressures, this is likely to continue. As a result, it’s a great time to be taking the Singapore Dollar abroad for shopping and overseas holidays’, explained Nick Brain, Consultant, HiFX.

From 24 May – 30 June, Expedia.com.sg is offering a discount of up to 50% off on hotels in some of the region’s top value destinations.Valid for travel till the end of August 2011, more than 10 Asian destinations will be on offer including Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Korea and China. Travellers will also receive an additional 10% discount coupon when booking their favourite Asian destination during this period.