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Abstract
The direct interaction of the consumer with the travel products and services, combined with the way in which the smartphones and the internet are redesigning the tourism & travel industry led to a re-evaluation of the industry's products and services and their adaptation to meet the consumers' needs. Technological advances resulted in a much easier and faster access to all travel-related services: online check-in, virtual boarding passes, virtual hotel check-ins, real-time news and updates, maps, GPS guidance, instant messaging and photo services, all are now tied to the same mobile device, the smartphone. Smartphones not only impacted a single aspect of the travel experience, they actually improved all of them.
Keywords: technology, online marketing, social media, CRM, GDS, travel, vacations
JEL Classification: M30, L83.
1.Introduction
New technologies have altered the power balance between business and customers, offering the latter valuable information used for travel planning. The World Travel & Tourism Council research studies show that 92% of the consumers trust the recommendations from others, while 33% use social media to research and plan their vacations.
In 2015, the global online market for tourism services is far from being mature, continuing the constant growth trends across all categories and geographical regions, led by the emerging markets and followed by the developed ones. In 2013, North America was the top region for online travel sales, but the expected growth rate for the next 5 years is ranked last among the world's regions at 7%. It is anticipated that the Western Europe will catch up with North America by 2017, while the Asia-Pacific region is expected to have the highest growth rate over the same 5-year period, reaching $155 billion in online travel sales in 2017, double the $78 billion from 2012. This growth is driven by the investments in new technologies that will allow more sophisticated targeting and access to personalized services.
2.The Impact of Technology on the Modern Travel
By definition, the travel industry requires access to a wide range of information and, therefore, is positioned to greatly benefit from the new communication technologies, multimedia applications and information systems.
Technological advances and the travel industry moved forward together throughout the years, and this partnership contributed directly to the globalization of tourism. The first Computer...