| CODE | TTC2102 | ||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | E-Tourism: Theory and Practice | ||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Tourism Management | ||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will introduce ICTs and their implications in tourism and heritage organisations. Students will be introduced to dynamic interaction between ICT and Tourism, the demand and supply chains generated through ICT and the use of ICT as a sales, marketing and customer relationship management tool. Students will also be exposed to the basics of web development and online content management in order to apply the principles described. This will involve the creation of web-based material for tourism organisations. Study-unit Aims: The major issues associated with the revolution brought about by information and communication technologies (ICT) particularly in relation to the tourism industry. ICT's have become a major tool in business for accessing information, promoting company (or country) image and managing a business. The most topical subject in the IT and Business worlds at present is electronic commerce and it is particularly relevant in the case of tourism management since it is the most convenient and widely used form of communication with overseas clients. This study-unit addresses the digitization of all processes and value chains in the tourism, travel, hospitality and catering industries. By exploring new technologies trends it will provide the student with a solid basis for analysing the impacts of the Information Communication Technology revolution on the Tourism industry. It will demonstrate that ICTs increasingly determine the competitiveness of tourism organisations, and therefore, they are critical for the competitiveness of the industry in general. The main aspects that one needs to consider when generating content for web-based platforms will also be discussed. They will be illustrated within the context of website creation and management and applied to tourism/hospitality/heritage related activities. This dynamic and changing discipline is as much about business management and marketing as technology issues and for students wishing to enter either of these environments a sound knowledge of the topic is essential. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Define the appropriate use of ICT in heritage and tourism; - Explain the effectiveness of ICT tools versus the more traditional tools used in tourism and heritage; - Have an awareness of various Information Systems (IS) related aspects relevant to tourism, travel and culture; - Explain the role of ICT as a management tool; - Define e-Tourism within an e-business perspective; - Identify the most effective ways to display tourism and heritage-related websites; - Demonstrate that they have learnt the best practices in web design; - Build ICT-based inventories that can be used in the heritage and tourism sector. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Describe the role of ICT in tourism; - Identify the most appropriate ICT tools that need to be used in specific tourism and heritage environments; - Apply e-business related concepts to tourism, travel and culture related scenarios; - Create websites that are effective for today’s tourism activity; - Develop analytical skills needed in the ICT environment; - Upload and manage information that is effective and oriented towards generating inward activities. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Buhalis, D., eTourism, Information technology for strategic tourism management. Essex, UK: FT Prentice Hall, 2003. - Turban, E., & King, D. Electronic Commerce 2012: Managerial and Social Perspectives, 7th Ed, Prentice Hall. Other supplementary readings: (to be provided via the UOM VLE) - Tahayori,R , Moharrer, M., E-Tourism: The Role of ICTin the Tourism Industry, Roles and Perspectives. Retrieved from: http://195.130.87.21:8080/dspace/bitstream/123456789/778/1/E-tourism%20%20the%20role%20of%20ICT.pdf - Buhalis, D., and Jun, S. H., (2011), E-Tourism. Oxford. Goodfellow Publishers Ltd. - Shanker, D., (2008), ICT and Tourism: Challenges and Opportunities. Proceedings of Conference on Tourism in India 15-18 May, IIMK. Links to tools such as content management systems will also be provided by lecturer. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Independent Study and Project | ||||||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Simon Caruana |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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