Abstract
Destination Management Organizations are using ICTs not only to reach individual tourists, but also to educate through eLearning courses travel agents on how to better sell tourism destinations. While the “supply side” of such training offers has been mapped, its “demand side” is still under-researched. In particular, awareness of and participation in destinational eLearning courses on the side of travel agents need to be investigated in order to provide a clearer picture of this area within eTourism environment. In this research, 462 British and Indian travel agents have been surveyed through phone interviews, in order to understand which factors influence their participation in and awareness of the existence of destinational eLearning courses. Results show that country where travel agents work has a significant influence on participation and awareness, while type of agency plays a significant role only on participation; gender, age and level of instruction do not play any relevant role.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baum, T., & Sigala, M. (2001). E-learning in hospitality and tourism. Education, Singapore’s Knowledge Industry Journal 32–34.
Bromley, H., & Apple, M. (1998). Education, technology, power: Educational computing as a social practice. New York: State University of New York Press.
Buhalis, D. (2001). Tourism distribution channels: Practices and processes. In D. Buhalis & E. Laws (Eds.), Tourism distribution channels: Practices, issues and transformations (pp. 7–32). London: Continuum.
Cantoni L. (2012). Special issue on eTourism and eLearning. Journal of information technology and tourism, 13, 1.
Cantoni, L., & Kalbaska, N. (2010). eLearning offers by destination management organizations. In U. Gretzel, R. Law., & M. Fuchs (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism (pp. 247–259). New York: Springer-Wien.
Cantoni, L., Kalbaska, N., & Inversini, A. (2009). eLearning in tourism and hospitality: A map. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 8(2), 148–156.
Cho, W., & Schmelzer, C. (2000). Just-in-time education: Tools for hospitality managers of the future? International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(1), 31–36.
Collins, C., Buhalis, D., & Peters, M. (2003). Enhancing small medium tourism enterprises’ business performances through the internet and e-learning platforms. Education and Training, 45(8/9), 483–494.
European Travel Commission. (2010). India. Market insights. Retrieved in November 2012 from www.etc-corporate.org/resources/uploads/ETCProfile-India-2010-dr4.pdf
Haven, C., & Botterill, D. (2003). Virtual learning environments in hospitality, leisure, tourism and sport: A review. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sports and Tourism Education, 2(1), 75–92.
Haven-Tang, C. (2005). Tourism SMEs, service quality, and destination competitiveness. Wallingford: CABI Publishing.
Kalbaska, N. (2012). Travel agents and destination management organizations: eLearning as a strategy to train tourism trade partners. Journal of Information Technology & Tourism, 13(1), 1–12.
Kalbaska, N., Lee, H. A., Cantoni, L., & Law, R. (2013). UK travel agents’ evaluation of eLearning courses offered by destinations: An exploratory study. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 12(1), 7–14.
Khare, A., & Khare, A. (2010). Travel and tourism industry yet to exploit the Internet fully in India. Database Marketing & Customer Strategy, 17(2), 106–119.
Klein, S. (2007). Handbook for achieving gender equity through education (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
Kuttainen, C., & Lexhagen, M. (2012). Overcoming barriers to SME E-commerce adoption using blended learning: A Swedish action research case study. Journal of Information Technology & Tourism, 13(1), 13–26.
Lawton, L., & Weaver, D. (2009). Travel agency threats and opportunities: The perspective of successful owners. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 10, 68–92.
Li, L. (2003). Synergies between export channels in mature and emerging markets. International Business Review, 45(5), 567–585.
Lominé, L. (2002). Online learning and teaching in hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism: Myths, opportunities and challenges. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, 1(1), 43–49.
Nadkarni, S., & Venema, M. (2012). Tourism capacity building in developing geographies: A case for open educational resources. Journal of Information Technology & Tourism, 13(1), 27–37.
O’Donnell, D. (2012). Trading places with interfaces: an investigation into online training for the travel agency sector within the United Kingdom. Master of tourism studies dissertation. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University of Technology.
Office of National Statistics. (2011). Supply Side of Tourism Report. Retrieved in April 2012, from www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_254770.pdf
Patterson, I. (2006). Growing older: Tourism and leisure behavior of older adults. Wallingford: CABI.
People 1st. (2011). State of the nation report. An analysis of labour market trends, skills, education and training within the UK hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industries. Retrieved in March 2013, from www.goskills.org/webfiles/Research/2011/State_of_the_Nation_2011.pdf
PhoCusWright. (2012). The once and future agent: PhoCusWright’s travel agency distribution landscape 2009–2013. Retrieved in November 2012, from www.phocuswright.com/products/4110
Rapetti, E., & Cantoni, L. (2010). Nativi digitali e apprendimento con le ICT. La ricerca GenY@work in Ticino, Svizzera. Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society, 6(1), 39–49.
Reid, L., & Pearce, D. (2008). Distribution channels for New Zealand outbound tourism. International Journal of Tourism Research, 10, 577–592.
Schweizer, H. (2004). E-Learning in business. Journal of Management Education, 28(6), 674–692.
Selwyn, N. (2009). The digital native—myth and reality. Aslib Proceedings, 61(4), 364–379.
Sigala, M. (2002). The evolution of internet pedagogy: Benefits for tourism and hospitality education. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, 1(2), 29–45.
UNWTO. (2008). Handbook on e-marketing for tourism destination. Madrid: World Tourism Organization & European Travel Commission.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Kalbaska, N., Cantoni, L. (2013). eLearning Courses Offered by Tourism Destinations: Factors Affecting Participation and Awareness Among British and Indian Travel Agents. In: Xiang, Z., Tussyadiah, I. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2014. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03973-2_55
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03973-2_55
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-03972-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-03973-2
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)