Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainable Tourism

Alisha Ali, Andrew J. Frew, Andrew Frew

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781135100254
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: E-Commerce
• Index: Economics

Sustainable development is a highly topical issue and is of critical importance to tourism as the environment is of utmost importance for the continued development and prosperity of the industry. There have been numerous texts written on sustainable tourism and the measures to mitigate and manage this but none which acknowledges Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a mechanism of doing so despite being an emerging area of research. ICT in this context refers to innovative tools which form an integrated system of software and networked equipment that facilitates data processing information sharing communication and the ability to search and select from an existing range of products and services for an organisation's benefits. Despite the symbiotic relationship, which exists between ICT and sustainable tourism, there has been little research, which has considered how the use of such technology can be used to make sustainable tourism development a more workable reality.

This opportune book is the first to provide a focus on the interrelationship of these two important topics demonstrating their synergies and providing insight into a new and innovative approach to managing sustainable tourism development. It considers the use of technology to reduce the negative impacts of tourism from both the demand and supply side perspectives. A critical review of a range of cutting edge technologies used by tourists and businesses to assess their usefulness in managing sustainable tourism development from the macro to the micro level is also discussed. It further integrates examples and practical applications to show how ICT can be an invaluable mechanism in the management of sustainable tourism development.

This cutting-edge volume provides a wealth of information on an important yet neglected subject. This book will be invaluable reading for students, researchers, academics and members of the tourism industry looking for new and innovate ways of fostering a more sustainable tourism industry.

1 Introduction to technology and sustainable tourism

Learning outcomes

This chapter provides an overview of the relationship between technology and sustainable tourism. After reading this chapter you should be able to understand:

• the importance of technology for sustainable tourism;
• why there has been little uptake of technology for sustainable tourism; and
• who would benefit from using technology for sustainable tourism.

Background

Tourism continues to develop as a major economic activity. Forecasts currently predict that international arrivals should reach one billion in 2012, representing a contribution of 5 per cent to world GDP and 6 per cent of total exports, and employing one in twelve people (United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) 2012). These economic gains related to tourism development have led to debate on its development as an industry (McCool and Lime 2001; Holloway 2002; Croes 2006; Page and Connell 2006) – tourism has been and continues to be regarded as a cure for the fiscal challenges of many countries (Saveriades 2000; Pforr 2001; Andereck et al. 2005). Today it is still promoted by numerous developing and developed countries as a lucrative means of diversifying their economies, especially in these times of recession. This dominant focus on the economic aspects of tourism, however, has prevented the subject from being developed with the environmental concerns which should be considered from the outset (Barrow 2006).

Like any economic activity, tourism has produced detrimental environmental and socio-economic effects (Becken and Patterson 2006) which are destroying tourism’s chief product: the environment (Poon 1993; Murphy 1985). Furthermore, irresponsible tourism management has led to degradation of environments, with many destinations having experienced damage as a result of ad hoc and unplanned tourism development (Choi and Sirakaya 2006; Ruhanen 2008). Often these effects are irreversible and this may leave many destinations with a legacy of economic, environmental and social problems, which harm both the local community and the tourists (Hall and Lew 1998). In the literature there is no shortage of examples of the negative impacts of tourism – they have been well documented (see for example Inskeep 1991; Coccossis 1996; Swarbrooke 1999; Mason 2003; Andereck et al. 2005; Archer et al.2005; Cooper et al. 2005; Wall and Mathieson 2006). The tourism industry is therefore increasingly confronted with the problem of finding the right balance between the level of economic growth and maintenance of the environment (Edgell 2006).

Tourism’s continued success depends on all environments being maintained, protected and preserved for the future. The continued growth of the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) will contribute to the environmental problems that the industry already faces, with more people now travelling from these countries, as will the new growth markets, such as Nigeria, Vietnam, Turkey and Mexico.

Another burgeoning concern for the industry is climate change (Gössling 2009). On 20 March 2009, Prince Charles of the UK warned there could be as little as 100 months left to save the world from the irreversible damage of climate change. The clock is ticking. Tourism’s contribution to climate change is attributed mainly to greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation industry (Gössling and Hall 2006) and this will no doubt intensify with the growth of the emerging markets, low-cost airlines and cheap holidays. The main concerns for tourism in relation to climate are the threat to low-lying coastal destinations caused by rising sea levels and increasing desertification and damage to sports and sightseeing activities in polar and mountainous areas as snow and ice-covered areas ebb. Destinations’ levels of preparedness for these environmental threats will be a critical factor for the continued prosperity of the industry. Tourists are also continuously changing their tastes and values and are now insisting on a higher quality environment, more exotic forms of activities and better value for money. This places greater demands on resources, leading to worsening impacts on the environment.

Taken collectively, the tourism industry has responded to these challenges by applying the concept of sustainable development to tourism policy and planning– i.e. sustainable tourism (Butler 1991; Hardy and Beeton 2001; Choi and Sirakaya 2006). This is reflected in the growth of sustainable tourism policy statements, guidelines, strategies and initiatives being developed by local communities and at all levels of institutions at the destination (Hardy and Beeton 2001). Sustainable tourism has been regarded as a mechanism for achieving economic development whilst protecting, preserving and enhancing the environment (Swarbrooke 1999; UNWTO 2004a).

Enormous efforts have been made since the Earth Summit in 1992 (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 1992) to apply the principles of sustainable development to tourism, with the hope of ensuring the industry’s continued viability and its contribution to sustainable development (de Sausmarez 2007). A plethora of ideas, techniques and philosophies have been developed due to growing concern about how destinations can develop in a sustainable manner (Swarbrooke 1999; Hasse 2003). However, most of the work on sustainable tourism has focused on theorising and policy formulation. Theorising is a useful method of putting issues into context, but there needs to be some way to implement the theory of sustainable tourism (Bramwell and Lane 1993; Liu 2003; Ruhanen 2008). The challenge lies in finding practical tools for tourism professionals to transform theory into action (Coccossis 1996; Wright 1998). An article by Pigram (1990: 8) stated that sustainable tourism ‘runs the risk of remaining irrelevant and inert as a feasible policy option for the real world of tourism development without the development of effective means of translating the ideal into action’. This statement still applies to the industry today. Ruhanen (2008) undertook a study which examined the transfer of academic knowledge in sustainable tourism to the public sector in Queensland, Australia. This research found that despite the vast body of knowledge on sustainable tourism, there has been little diffusion of this knowledge to the people who need to use it to plan and manage tourism at the destination level.

The research work on sustainable tourism development has not progressed beyond formulation and discussion of the principles and assumptions of sustainable tourism, and the alternative forms of tourism provide no more than a minimal solution to a larger issue (Liu 2003). Attempts have been made to apply the concept of sustainable tourism by developing indicators, monitoring, eco-labelling, codes of conduct, educating the tourist and other best practices. Most of these attempts, however, have been identified with ‘lack of quality, technical content, reliability, maturity, equity and effectiveness’ (van der Duim and van Marwijk 2006: 449). Buckley (2012) observed that measures such as self-regulation and eco-certification have been fruitless. Moreover, many stakeholders have tended to adopt a narrow view of sustainability by only considering the environmental sphere, and this has led to the development of models which lack practicality in destination management (Ko 2005; Choi and Sirakaya 2006). In reality there appears to be a widening gap between the principles of sustainable tourism and what is actually being achieved (Trousdale 1999), and no real progressis seeming to be made towards solving the problems of tourism development (Hall 2000).

Future trends therefore indicate that stakeholders need to find a solution to ensure that tourism is developed along the principles of sustainable tourism development and that theorising and policy making are translated into practical applications. In view of the above, this book develops the proposition that sustainable tourism can become an effective concept in tourism planning and development through the use and application of technology. In this text, when we refer to technology, we are specifically making reference to Information and Communication Technology (ICT). ICT is the technology required for information processing and flow: innovative tools that form an integrated system of software and networked equipment that facilitates data processing, information sharing, communication and the ability to search and select from an existing range of products and services for an organisation’s benefits. It is an umbrella term that refers to any product that stores, retrieves, manipulates, transmits and receives digital data, and to how these differing applications work with each other (Buhalis 2003).

Many developmental problems can be alleviated through the use of ICT (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2004). The use of ICT in tourism is not a new idea; rather, the tourism industry has been influenced by ICT for the past thirty years (European Commission 2006), and it continues to be one of its greatest influences, fuelling dramatic changes within the industry (Werthner and Klein 1999; Frew 2000). The strength of ICT for sustainable tourism will revolve around the way in which it is used by tourism stakeholders rather than in technical functions. Tourism impacts can be ‘managed, mitigated and controlled’, but this depends on the effort that participants in the tourism process are willing to expend (McCool and Lime 2001: 381).

ICT and sustainable tourism — a symbiotic relationship

It is agreed that sustainable tourism is a valuable concept, but its implementation has resulted in difficulties (Ahn et al. 2002; Wall and Mathieson 2006). There has been a lack of common sense, with over-emphasis on strategy formulation and limited emphasis on strategy implementation (Swarbrooke 1999; Page 2005). The most radical solution that can be proposed is to reduce the future growth of tourism by decreasing the amount of travel (air, rail, bus, coach) that occurs. This solution, however, is neither feasible nor beneficial to anyone. Tourism is a fact of life and the associated problems need to be corrected as soon as possible(Theobald 2005). The difficulties associated with sustainable tourism should not lead us to be critical and complacent; rather, we should develop realistic, and practical solutions to progress (Bramwell and Lane 1993).

For tourism to be sustainable in the long run, significant changes are required (Gössling 2000). Management action is needed before destinations deteriorate beyond repair (Wall and Mathieson 2006). It is time for new and innovative methods for tackling the problems of sustainable tourism development to be introduced. Re-evaluation of tourism and current sustainable tourism practices is necessary and new approaches and management techniques are required (Gezici 2005; Saarinen 2006).

Moreover, tourism managers are faced, on a daily basis, with numerous challenges and decisions with respect to the proper planning and developing of their destinations. Many of these decisions and challenges are related to sustainability concerns. Managers need to be equipped with practical tools and mechanisms to ensure they make the most accurate and reliable decisions with respect to the sustainable tourism development of their destinations and businesses. The application of ICT to sustainable tourism development can be the kind of useful mechanism that tourism professionals require. Evidence exists which demonstrates that ICT can play an invaluable role in an organisation’s efficiency and productivity (Buhalis 1998) and in dealing with environmental sustainability (Erdmann and Goodman 2004). ICT has also been deemed as essential to the success or failure of the impacts of tourism at a destination (Buhalis and Spada 2000).

The intention of this book is to demonstrate that technology can be used for sustainable tourism, the ways in which this can be done, and who can use such technology. New technologies offer considerable promise for dealing with environmental degradation whilst simultaneously promoting economic growth (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] 2002). There is no doubt of the value of ICT for tourism. Numerous noteworthy publications have been written on this (see for example Poon 1993; Sheldon 1997; Buhalis 2003). This publication does not seek to repeat what has been written in these previous texts, but rather to expand knowledge on an area of the ICT-sustainable tourism research domain which has been relatively under-researched.

There is indeed an interaction between technology and sustainable tourism development. In the academic and professional tourism community there has been much discussion of the challenges and benefits of using ICT for sustainable tourism, but there has been limited concrete work done in this avenue. Mention must, however, be made of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) efforts to promote the use of ICT in sustainable tourism development as part of their eTourism initiative. The work of the ENTER conference must also be credited, as in recent years they have devoted a research stream and workshops to understanding this topic. This conference is held yearly by the International Federation for Information Technologies in Travel and Tourism (IFITT) and it focuses on state-of-the-art and topical issues in eTourism.

As it is a heavily discussed topic, one may wonder why there has been little application or practical use. A variety of reasons can be offered for this. Despite the immense growth in tourism research, there has been poor dissemination and usage of this research by tourism businesses (Cooper et al. 2004). This may be attributed to inadequate linkages between industry and academia (Stamboulis and Skayannis 2003), with tourism businesses viewing this research as difficult to ac...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Acronyms and abbreviations
• 1 Introduction to technology and sustainable tourism
• 2 Sustainable technologies
• 3 Destinations and sustainable tourism
• 4 A business perspective on sustainable tourism
• 5 Technology-supported supply chain management for sustainable tourism
• 6 Tourist use of technology for sustainable tourism
• 7 The value of social media to sustainable tourism
• 8 Influencing factors for technology uptake for sustainable tourism
• 9 The way forward
• Epilogue
• Glossary
• References
• Index