A study of Australian small to medium tourism enterprises and their ICT adoption

This paper reports on research that examined the adoption of information and computing technology (ICT) by a group of Australian small tourisms enterprises (SMTEs). The study captured operator perceptions on Internet use, strategic application of computers and the general use of technology within their businesses. The primary benefits identified from using ICTs by many of the tourism operators related to improved efficiencies and increased revenue, with the marketing and customer service being the areas in which technology was noted as providing the greatest value. Minimal evidence was found that ICTs were being used for strategic positioning of the business or for new product/service development. The study found that a high proportion of businesses classed as having an upper level of ICT expertise had implemented relatively interactive websites when compared to the lower ICT expertise operators. Focus group and interviews were used by the researchers to gather rich insights into the benefits and application areas in which 20 SMTEs used their ICT. Arguably, the findings will have relevance for small tourism operators (and researchers) in countries other than Australia, given the common global operating environment found amongst these small entities.